Systematic Methods for the Design and Scheduling of Flexible Multiproduct Continuous Plants

化学工业的一个趋势是设计更小的 灵活的多产品工厂，位于靠近 消费市场。 建造这样一座城市的动机 植物不仅在于减少运输， 库存成本，但也增加了能力， 提供稳定的产品供应，并响应更多 快速适应每个市场的需求变化。 因此，灵活 多产品工厂提供了改善 化工企业的竞争力。 多产品工厂可以以间歇或连续模式运行， 或两者的组合。 的典型实例 前者包括制药厂、食品厂、 和特种化学品;后者的例子包括植物 用于制造许多聚合物产品、造纸米尔斯 和炼油厂。 主要区别在于 多产品工厂与大规模专用工厂相比 连续工厂的调度和生产计划 在这些工厂的运作中发挥着重要作用。 另一 问题是产品的不确定性和波动 在多产品工厂中，需求往往要大得多。 这项研究涉及系统方法的发展 用于设计和调度各种类型的灵活 连续操作的多产品化学过程 模式 这项工作涉及模型的开发， 同时设计与排程的求解技术 指植物由一系列阶段组成， 通过中间库存罐相互连接。 基本 目标是确定最佳权衡所产生的 选择设计变量、操作条件、 操作顺序、生产周期长度和 库存水平。 严格和简化的模型都将 以及评估和优化的方法 设计的灵活性，面对不确定的 要求。

A trend in the chemical industry is the design of smaller flexible multiproduct plants that are located close to the markets of consumption. The motivation in building such plants lies not only in the reduction of transportation and inventory costs, but also for increasing the capability to provide a steady supply of products, and for responding more quickly to demand changes in each market. Thus, flexible multiproduct plants offer the possibility of improving the competitiveness of chemical companies. Multiproduct plants can operate in batch or continuous mode, or with a combination of the two. Typical examples of the former include plants for manufacturing pharmaceuticals, food and specialty chemicals; examples of the latter include plants for manufacturing a number of polymer products, paper mills and petroleum refineries. The main difference that arises in multiproduct plants compared to large scale dedicated continuous plants is that scheduling and production planning play a major role in the operation of these plants. Another issue is that uncertainties and fluctuations in the product demands tend to be much greater in multiproduct plants. This research deals with the development of systematic methods for the design and scheduling of various types of flexible multiproduct chemical processes that operate in the continuous mode. The work involves the development of models and solution techniques for the simultaneous design and scheduling of plants that consist of a sequence of stages and that are interconnected by intermediate inventory tanks. The basic objective is to determine optimal trade-offs arising from the selection of design variables, operating conditions, sequencing of operations, length of production cycles and inventory levels. Both rigorous and simplified models will be investigated, as well as methods for assessing and optimizing the flexibility of the designs in the face of uncertain demands.