Patent Document ID: 20030100974
Application ID: 10298573
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A method for optimal operation of a power plant, where the method comprises the steps of a) determining a trajectory of input values (u(&tgr;),P(&tgr;)) b) determining, from the trajectory of input values (u(&tgr;),P(&tgr;)), corresponding trajectories of process variables P(&tgr;), c) computing a cost function (J&lsqb;u&rsqb;,J&lsqb;P&rsqb;) as an integral of an objective function that comprises at least one trajectory determined in the simulation, d) iteratively repeating steps a) through c) with an optimisation module ( 1 ) varying the trajectory of input values (u(&tgr;),P(&tgr;)) until an optimised lower value of the cost function (J&lsqb;u&rsqb;,J&lsqb;P&rsqb;) is arrived at, characterized in that in step b), a trajectory representing a lifetime LTp(&tgr;) of plant components is determined from the trajectory of input values (u(&tgr;),P(&tgr;)), and that, in step c), the objective function comprises a difference of said lifetime LTp(&tgr;) from a nominal lifetime trajectory LTn(&tgr;).