Chemical Engineering Communications, Vol.192, No.8, 1067-1084, 2005
An MILP model for optimal scheduling of the lubricant production plant
In this article we are developing a model that can be used for determining the optimal production schedule in a lubricant production plant. The model includes all the main stages in the lubricant production process, contains both continuous and binary variables, and results in the formulation of a mixed integer linear programming ( MILP) problem that is solved using standard optimization techniques. The model can be easily adapted to any lube production facility, thus providing a valuable tool to refineries in their effort to automate the production scheduling process. The proposed tool can save valuable time and resources by eliminating the time-consuming search for a feasible production plan that production engineers go through in order to meet production demands.
Keywords:finite intermediate storage;production planning and scheduling;lubricants production;mixed integer linear programming