Short-term scheduling for multiproduct batch chemical plants

Abstract A computer program is described for the short-term scheduling of multiproduct batch chemical plants. Given available equipment, product delivery dates and equipment requirements for each product, batches are sequenced to meet the delivery dates while taking account of penalties associated with product changeovers and storage costs. Precedence constraints are considered for intermediate products, as are constraints on the availability of shared resources which limit the operations that can be carried out in parallel.