A method for operating an electrochemical reactor is disclosed. The reactor comprises, as electrodes, an anode and a cathode. Additionally, the reactor is configured to receive a feed of a starting material, to effect electrochemical reaction of the starting material into a product in the presence of a catalyst-coated electrode, and to output the product. The reactor is operated based on a set of operation parameters, the operation parameters at least comprising a voltage over the electrodes of the reactor and a dosage of catalyst solution and/or catalyst precursor solution into the feed of the starting material. The method comprises:
receiving a reactor model, the reactor model describing a behavior of the reactor, including at least a relation between the voltage over the electrodes, and the dosage of catalyst solution and/or catalyst precursor solution into the starting material feed,
determining an optimized dosage by optimizing the dosage of catalyst solution and/or the catalyst precursor into the starting material feed in order to minimize the voltage using the reactor model, and
outputting the optimized dosage for being used at operating the reactor.
Additionally, an according system is disclosed as well as a computer program product and a computer-readable storage medium.