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EP-4738034-A1 - DEVICE FOR OPTIMIZING ENVIRONMENTAL CONSUMPTION

EP4738034A1EP 4738034 A1EP4738034 A1EP 4738034A1EP-4738034-A1

Abstract

Proposed a device for optimizing environmental consumption used by a production cycle of a production line and/or an industrial site for processing or manufacturing one or more products by said production cycle, the production line comprising one or more processing units interlinked to provide the production cycle, and the device comprising an input section with measuring devices and sensors capturing measuring parameters at the processing units, data transmission lines/networks to communicate the measured parameters from the measuring devices and sensors to the device.

Inventors

  • O'NIEN, Jay
  • MANZOLINI, Giulia
  • KEATING, Leon
  • DIK, Hendrik

Assignees

  • Bühler AG

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20241031

Claims (15)

  1. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) and/or an industrial site (1) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), the production line (10) comprising one or more processing units (101) [1011..101i] interlinked to provide the production cycle (21), and the device (11) comprising an input section (111) with measuring devices and sensors (1111) capturing measuring parameters (11111) at the processing units (101) [1011..101i], data transmission lines/networks (1112) to communicate the measured parameters (11111) from the measuring devices and sensors (1111) to the device (11), characterized, in that the device (11) comprises a determining module (112) configured to measure environmental consumption parameter values (31) of the production cycle (21) via the input section (111), the environmental consumption parameter values (31) indicating the environmental consumption (3) used by the production cycle (21) for manufacturing or processing the product (211), in that the determining module (112) is further configured to capture re-configuration parameters (221) for re-configuring the production cycle (21) to a re-configured production cycle (22) via the input section (111), the re-configured production cycle (22) used for manufacturing or processing one or more second products (222), and the re-configuration parameters (221) denoting one or more processing units (101) [1011.. 101i] and/or one or more structural elements (102) [1021..102i] and/or one or more input materials (103) to be replaced and/or adjusted and/or added to the production line (10) for manufacturing or processing the one or more second products (222), in that the determining module (112) is configured to forecast (i) second environmental consumption parameter values (32) of the re-configured production cycle (22) for manufacturing or processing the second product (222) and (ii) re-configuration environmental consumption parameter values (33) indicating the environmental consumption (3) used for the reconfiguration of the production cycle (21) to the re-configured production cycle (22) based on the re-configuration parameter values (221), in that the determining module (112) is configured to generate a time-dependent saving parameter value (131), the time-dependent saving parameter value (131) measuring the cumulated environmental-consumption given by the totaled second environmental consumption parameter values (32) used by the re-configured production cycle (22) and summed up by the totaled re-configuration environmental consumption parameter values (33), and subtracted by the environmental consumption parameter values (31) of the production cycle (21), thereby indicating the environmental savings of the re-configuration production cycle (22) for manufacturing or processing the second product (222) compared to the production cycle (21) for manufacturing or processing the product (211) over time, and in that the determining module (112) is configured to trigger a first control signal (132) if the time-dependent environmental-saving parameter value (131) becomes zero or negative indicating the point in time, where the environmental savings achieved by re-configuring the production cycle (21) to the re-configured production cycle (22) becomes positive.
  2. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claim 1, characterized, in that the input section (111) is configured to capture one or more third products (231), in that the determining module (112) is configured to forecast third environmental consumption parameter values (34) of the production or manufacturing of the one or more third products (231), the third environmental consumption parameter values (34) indicating the environmental consumption (3) used for the production or manufacturing of the one or more third products (231), in that the determining module (112) is configured to generate a time-dependent second saving parameter value (133), the time-dependent second saving parameter value (133) measuring the cumulated environmental-consumption given by the totaled second environmental consumption parameter values (32) used by the re-configured production cycle (22) and summed up by the totaled re-configuration environmental consumption parameter values (33), and subtracted by the third environmental consumption parameter values (34) of the one or more third products (231), thereby indicating the environmental savings of the re-configuration production cycle (22) for manufacturing or processing the second product (222) compared to the one or more third products (231) over time, and in that the determining module (112) is configured to trigger a second control signal (134) if the time-dependent second environmental-saving parameter value (133) becomes zero or negative indicating the point in time, where the environmental savings achieved by the re-configured production cycle (22) becomes positive.
  3. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claims 1 to 2, characterized, in that the environmental consumption parameters (3, 31, 32, 33, 34) denoting an energy consumption parameter and/or a CO2 emission parameter and/or a water consumption parameter and/or a land consumption parameter and/or a material consumption parameter and/or a capital consumption parameter and/or a biodiversity consumption parameter.
  4. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claims 1 to 3, characterized, in that the device (11) comprises a repository (114), the repository (114) comprising a historical environmental consumption data (1141) and/or an emission repository (1142) and/or a recipe data (1143) and data transmission lines/networks (1144) to transfer and handle data recorded in the repository (114) between the repository (114) and the control device (11) via the input section (111).
  5. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claim 4, characterized, in that in the emission repository (1142) comprising at least one emission record (11421), wherein each emission record (11421) is related to one of the input materials (103) or to one of the products (211, 222, 231) or to one of the structural elements (102) [1021..102i] or to one of the processing units (101) [1011..101i], and in that each emission record (11421) denotes an energy consumption intensity and/or a CO2e intensity and/or a land use intensity and/or a water use intensity and/or a biodiversity use intensity (i) per unit of processed material or manufactured product or (ii) per financial investment for the re-configuration of the production cycle (21) and/or production line (10) and/or the industrial site (1).
  6. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claims 4 to 5, characterized, in that in the recipe data (1143) comprising at least one recipe (11431) for manufacturing or processing the one or more first products (211) or the one or more second product (222) or the third product (231), and in that the recipe (11431) denotes a recipe ID and/or one or more recipe input materials each with a weight portion for quantifying the share of the recipe material of the corresponding product (211, 222, 231).
  7. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claims 1 to 6 characterized, in that the re-configured production cycle (22) manufactures or processes the one or more second products (222) during a production cycle period (223), and in that the determining module (112) is further configured to capture planning parameters (135), each planning parameter (135) denoting a product volume parameter (1351) for planning a number of units of the one or more second products (222) being manufactured or processed by the re-configured production cycle (22) and/or a financial investment parameter (1352) for defining the financial investment used for the reconfiguration of the production cycle (21) to the re-configured production cycle (22).
  8. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claim 7 characterized, in that the entire or a part of a production cycle period (223) is divided into several first time intervals (2231), the product volume parameter (1351) is time-dependent and is denoting a production volume value of the manufactured or processed one or more second products (222) by the reconfigured production cycle (22) for each of the first time intervals (2231).
  9. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claims 7 to 8 characterized, in that the entire or part of production cycle period (223) is divided into several second time intervals (2232), and In that the financial investment parameter (1352) is time-dependent and is denoting an investment amount value for each of the second time intervals (2232) indicating the financial investment for re-configuring the production cycle (21) to the re-configured production cycle (22).
  10. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claim 9 characterized, in that the first time interval (2231) and the second time interval (2232) comprise a identical duration of time.
  11. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claim 5, characterized, in that the device (11) comprises a predictive device (113) configured (i) to retrieve from the related recipe data (1143) stored in the repository (114) for each of the one or more products (211) manufactured or produced by the production cycle(21) and/or the corresponding recipe of the one or more second products (222) with the corresponding one or more recipe input materials and the corresponding weight portions, and in that the predictive device (102) is configured to retrieve for each retrieved recipe input material (11431) and/or for each processing unit (101) of the production cycle(21) and/or the processing units and/or input material replaced or adjusted or added the corresponding emission record (11421),
  12. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claim 8, characterized, in that the predictive device (102) is configured to generate time-dependent second environmental consumption parameter values (32), the generated time-dependent second environmental consumption parameter values (32) forecasting the totaled environmental consumption (3) of the manufacturing or processing of the one or more second products (231) for each of the first time intervals (2231 based on the corresponding emission records (11421) of (i) the recipe input materials with the corresponding weight portion of the recipe (11431) of each of the one or more second products (222) and/or the processing units (101) of the production cycle (21) and (ii) the processing units (101) and/or input materials (103) being replaced and/or adjusted and/or added to the production line (10) for manufacturing or processing the one or more second products (222) and (iii) the time dependent product volume parameter values (1351) of the reconfigured production cycle (22).
  13. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claim 9, characterized, in that the predictive device (102) is configured to generate time-dependent re-configuration environmental consumption parameter values (33), the time-dependent re-configuration environmental consumption parameter values (33) forecasting the totaled environmental consumption for each second time interval (2231) used by the reconfiguration of the production cycle (21) based on the emission records (11421) of the processing units (101) and/or structural elements (102) being replaced and/or adjusted and/or added to the production line (10) for manufacturing or processing the one or more second products (222) and the time dependent financial investment parameter values (1352).
  14. A device (11) for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), according to claim 12, characterized, in that the predictive device (102) configured to retrieve for each of the manufactured or produced one or more third products (231) the corresponding emission record (11421), and in that the predictive device (102) is configured to generate time-dependent third environmental consumption parameter values (34), the time-dependent third environmental consumption parameter values (34) forecasting the totaled environmental consumption (3) of the manufacturing or processing of the one or more third products (231) for each of the first time intervals (2231) based on retrieved emission records (11421) for each of the one or more third products (231) and the time-dependent product volume parameter values (1351) of the re-configurated production cycle (22).
  15. A Method for optimizing environmental consumption (3) used by a production cycle (21) of a production line (10) and/or a industrial site (1) for processing or manufacturing one or more products (211) by said production cycle (21), the production line (10) comprising one or more processing units (101) interlinked to provide the production cycle (21), and the device (11) comprising an input section (111) with measuring devices and sensors (1111) capturing measuring parameters (11111) at the processing units (101), data transmission lines/networks (1112) to communicate the measured parameters (11111) from the measuring devices and sensors (1111) to the device (11), characterized, in measuring environmental consumption parameter values (31) of the production cycle (21) via the input section (111), the environmental consumption parameter values (31) indicating the environmental consumption (3) used by the production cycle (21) for manufacturing or processing the product (211), in capturing re-configuration parameters (221) for re-configuring the production cycle (21) to a re-configured production cycle (22) via the input section (101), the re-configured production cycle (22) used for manufacturing or processing one or more second products (222), in forecasting second environmental consumption parameter values (32) of the re-configured production cycle (22) for manufacturing or processing the second product (222), in forecasting re-configuration energy consumption parameter values (33) indicating the environmental consumption (3) used for the reconfiguration of the production cycle (21) to the re-configured production cycle (22) based on the re-configuration parameter values (221), in generating a time-dependent saving parameter value (131) by (i) measuring the cumulated environmental-consumption given by the totaled second environmental consumption parameter values (32) used by the re-configured production cycle (22), (ii) summing up the totaled re-configuration environmental consumption parameter values (33), and (iii) subtracting the environmental consumption parameter values (31) of the production cycle (21), thereby indicating the environmental savings of the re-configuration production cycle (22) for manufacturing or processing the second product (222) compared to the production cycle (21) for manufacturing or processing the product (211) over time, and in triggering a first control signal (132) if the time-dependent saving parameter value (131) becomes zero or negative indicating the point in time, where the environmental savings achieved by re-configuring the production cycle (21) to the re-configured production cycle (22) becomes positive.

Description

Field of the Invention The present invention relates in general to a device for optimizing environmental consumption used by a production cycle of a production line and/or an industrial site for processing or manufacturing one or more products by said production cycle, the production line, that improve environmental consumption efficiency and are applicable in technical areas ( e.g. production processes), manufacturing industry (e.g. factories, plants, process lines), and tertiary areas ( e.g., buildings, transportation, etc.) for which it is desirable to reduce environmental consumption for example at least one of energy supply cost, CO2 (carbon dioxide) emission and primary energy consumption. Further, it relates to measuring and forecasting systems directed to the measurement and/or forecasting of environmental consumption quantification measures and environmental savings. Background of the Invention Industrial sites, when built and operated with sustainability in mind, can contribute positively to the environment. During the construction phase, employing responsible land use planning can help minimize habitat disruption and support biodiversity. Utilizing sustainable materials such as recycled steel and eco-friendly concrete reduces resource depletion and lowers greenhouse gas emissions. Energy-efficient construction practices and machinery contribute to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions and reliance on nonrenewable energy sources. Additionally, adopting water-saving techniques can mitigate the impact on local water resources, while strategies like repurposing construction waste can minimize landfill burden and promote recycling. Advanced dust suppression and noise reduction technologies safeguard air quality and community well-being, and careful handling of fuels and chemicals prevents soil contamination, protecting local ecosystems. Once the industrial site is operational, there are further opportunities for positive environmental impacts. Employing renewable energy sources and sophisticated energy management systems can significantly cut down greenhouse gas emissions, combating climate change. Efficient water usage practices help mitigate local water scarcity and pollution. Responsible sourcing of raw materials/input materials preserves biodiversity and reduces ecological impacts, while using safer chemicals and proper handling routines prevent soil and water contamination, protecting both human health and the environment. Effective waste management and recycling programs reduce landfill usage and support ecosystem health. Advanced filtration and emission control technologies improve air quality by reducing pollutants and noise control measures positively impact local communities and wildlife. Reducing transportation emissions through logistic efficiencies and greener fuels lowers the overall environmental footprint of food production. In the context of food and feed production, specific practices can make a substantial difference. Optimizing food production processes, such as milling and processing wheat, conserves critical resources by using less energy and water. Implementing energy-efficient technologies and using renewable energy sources can significantly lower CO2 emissions. Enhancing the use of by-products like bran and germ minimizes waste and optimizes resource use, while using recyclable and biodegradable packaging materials greatly reduces plastic waste and its impact on oceans and marine life. Adopting sustainable agricultural practices and shifting towards plant-based diets can further lower the environmental impact of food production. By adopting these sustainable practices, the environmental impacts of constructing and operating industrial sites can be significantly mitigated. Implementing renewable energy, efficient water management, safer chemical use, and effective waste management strategies not only reduce harmful impacts but also contribute to a healthier planet. Transitioning to more sustainable food production and consumption patterns can reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by up to70%, highlighting the substantial benefits of these changes. Through careful planning and responsible management, industrial sites can become environmentally friendly establishments that support ecological balance and community health. In this context, it is a known fact that feed and food production contribute substantially to the environmental consumption for example emissions of greenhouse gases, which are known to cause said global warming with serious environmental and economic threads. Industrial food and feed production processes, raw material processing and linked manufacturing operations are energy intensive where also used electricity is often generated by fossil fuels which are a major contributor of CO2 emissions. Furthermore, these processes consume a high amount of water for washing, cooking, and cleaning processes that can lead to local water shortages. And furthermore