ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Scheduling of Multi-Product Batch Processes with Regard to Market Demands

V. Hanta

Department of Computing and Control Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, CZ-166 28 Prague

E-mail: Vladimir. Hanta @vscht. cz

Abstract: A number of different products are produced on a multi-product batch line during a production campaign. Considering the limited capacity of the line, each product is to be produced in successive batches unless the amount of products demanded by customers is produced. Products are produced in a sequence that is determined by a process schedule. Expenses for cleaning of both production and intermediate storage units at a changeover to another product make the production more expensive. There are two kinds of cleaning: routine cleaning at a changeover to another batch of the same product and thorough cleaning at a changeover to another product. The algorithm searching for the optimum schedule considering market demands, the basic ideas of which are described in the contribution, enables to prove an interesting fact. The schedule with the minimum number of changeovers may paradoxically give a campaign with a greater makespan. The overall makespan for the campaign with the minimum number of changeovers is not necessarily the optimum one; surprisingly it may be greater than that for the campaign with the maximum number of changeovers.

Full paper in Portable Document Format: 545a307.pdf

Chemical Papers 54 (5) 307–314 (2000)