Simultaneous synthesis, sizing, and scheduling of multiproduct batch plants

The paper addresses the structural design problem of multiproduct batch plants for deciding which tasks to merge in what units and in what units to use parallel equipment and the sizing of these units while simultaneously accounting for the production scheduling. A systematic procedure is first proposed to generate the set of candidate units and thus the potential assignment of tasks. MINLP models are then developed that take into account the various complex economic trade-offs involved in these design decisions. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the scope of this model