Publication
An Improved Optimization Model for Scheduling of an Industrial Formulation Plant based on Integer Linear Programming
Vassilios Yfantis; Alexander Babskiy; Christian Klanke; Martin Ruskowski; Sebastian Engell
In: Yoshiyuki Yamashita; Manabu Kano. 14TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON PROCESS SYSTEMS ENGINEERING. Pages 487-492, Computer Aided Chemical Engineering, Vol. 49, ISBN 9780323851596, Elsevier, AMSTERDAM, 2022.
Abstract
This contribution deals with the development of an integer linear programming (ILP) model and a solution strategy for a two-stage industrial formulation plant with parallel production units for crop protection chemicals. Optimal scheduling of this plant is difficult, due to the number of units and operations that must be scheduled while at the same time a high degree of coupling between the operations is present. The problem is further complicated by the presence of optional intermediate storage that leads to alternative branches in the processing sequence of the products. The presented approach is compared to previous ones, namely a mixed-integer linear programming- and a constraint programming-based one. The ILP-based approach exhibits vastly superior computational performance, while still achieving the same solution quality.