Method for operating a process plant

A method for operating a process plant comprising

• operating a process plant using a dynamic model, the dynamic model being based on at least one of thermo fluidic correlations, thermo dynamic correlations, phenomenological correlations, and equations, and being based on geometry and/or topology of components of the process plant, the dynamic model receiving process parameters of the process plant as input values, and the dynamic model being adapted to represent a transition from one state to another state of the process plant,
• wherein the dynamic model is used in an online mode, in which the dynamic model is used in parallel with operation of the process plant,
• wherein signals from a control system of the process plant are received and fed into the dynamic model, the signals representing values of at least one first process parameter, wherein the control system includes a model predictive controller, and
• wherein values of at least one second process parameter are determined based on the dynamic model, as outputs of the dynamic model, and wherein the determined values of the at least one second process parameter are then used for operating the process plant,
• wherein the dynamic model covers the entire operating range of the plant, including start-up, regular operation, and shut-down of the plant.