Scheduling mixed batch/continuous process plants with variable cycle time by splitting the optimisation problem

Nott, H.P. and Lee, P.L. (1998) Scheduling mixed batch/continuous process plants with variable cycle time by splitting the optimisation problem. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Optimization Techniques and Applications ICOTA’98, 11 - 13 February, Perth, Western Australia pp. 785-792.

Abstract

Effective scheduling of operations in the process industry has the potential for high economic returns. Process plants containing both batch and continuous units present a difficult scheduling problem. When batch cycle times are part of the decision process, the complexity is increased significantly. The incorporation of variable batch cycle times into the scheduling model is important as it enables the "best" cycle time to be selected.

This paper considers an alternative way to represent the problem, based on optimising the cycle time outside the remainder of the problem. This is achieved by parameterising the cycle time as a function of continuous variables. The motivation for this work is an existing scheduling problem in the sugar industry. A smaller problem is considered and performance comparisons with the job shop formulation are made. This smaller problem contains the important characteristics of the sugar problem.

Item Type:	Conference Paper
Murdoch Affiliation:	School of Engineering
Publisher:	School of Mathematics and Statistics, Curtin University of Technology
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/22367

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