Patent ID: 7634417

Claim:
A controller for controlling an air pollution control (APC) process, in which a consumable is required to control emissions of a pollutant, the APC process having multiple process parameters (MPPs), one or more of the MPPs being controllable process parameters (CTPPs) and one of the MPPs being an amount of the pollutant (AOP) emitted, and having a defined AOP value (AOPV) representing a limit on an actual value (AV) of the emitted AOP, comprising: an interface configured to receive a value corresponding to a unit cost of the consumable; and a control processor configured with logic (i) to determine a first cost of performing the APC process based on the received value corresponding to the unit cost of the consumable and on a first respective value of each of at least one of the MPPs, and a second cost of performing the APC process based on the received value corresponding to the unit cost of the consumable and on a second respective value, different than the first respective value, of each of the at least one MPP, and (ii) to direct control of at least one of the one or more CTPPs based on a current value of that CTPP and either the determined first process performance cost or the determined second process performance cost.