Method for configuring a control system for a process plant

A method for configuring a control system for a process plant, using a dynamic model of the process plant, the method comprising:

• configuring the control system for the process plant using the dynamic model of the process plant, the dynamic model being a first principles model and being based on at least one of equations of state and physical properties of the plant and material and components used therein, 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, the dynamic model being adapted to represent a transition from one to another state of the process plant, and the dynamic model being a pressure driven model and covering the entire operating range of the process plant, wherein the entire operating range of the process plant includes the following operating phases of the plant:
• start-up, regular operation, and shut-down,
• wherein the dynamic model is used in an offline mode, in which the dynamic model is used in stand-alone fashion, to configure the control system prior to start-up of the plant, the control system using a controller being based on model predictive control, wherein the model predictive control has a control model,
• wherein, based on input and output values of the dynamic model, a behavior of the process plant is predicted,
• wherein the control model for the model predictive control is deduced from the dynamic model, based on the behavior of the process plant, and
• wherein, based on the predicted behavior of the process plant, the control system is configured.