Patent Document ID: 5457625
Application ID: 08226911
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for optimizing the relationship of variables associated with a plant process having inputs and outputs, comprising the steps of: (a) measuring variables of the process comprising controlled, manipulated, associated and disturbance variables; (b) employing a model predictive controller comprising a control routine for determining differential moves of the manipulated variables based on the controlled variable(s), one or more of the associated variables, one or more of the disturbance variables, and a permanent constraint target set at an artificially high value, comprising determining manipulated variable differential moves over a predetermined future time horizon to optimize controlled variable deviations with respect to associated setpoints by weighting at least one controlled variable relative to other controlled variables so as to prioritize errors associated with the controlled variables, by penalizing at least one future controlled variable for large manipulated variable movement to balance a reduction of future control error against large manipulated variable movement, by weighting at least one manipulated variable for reducing deviation of the manipulated variable from the target value set artificially high to allow preferential movement of at least one of the manipulated variables over another manipulated variable, and by applying a constraint deviation variable to effectuate deviations outside allowable bounds; and (c) controlling the plant operation in accordance with the differential moves determined in step (b).