A novel proactive-reactive scheduling approach in chemical multiproduct batch plants

Abstract

Abstract This work addresses the challenge of combining the proactive and reactive scheduling approaches for enhanced manag ement of chemical multiproduct batch plants under uncertainty. First, a reactive MILP continuous-time sched uling model is adopted from previous contributions [1]. Afterwards, in order to make feasible the comparison between reactive and proactive approaches, the former model is appropriately reformulated into an equivalent proactive scheduling model. Both approaches are compared through several case studies in order to shed light on their specific features by using a performance criterion that provides quantitative measures of their respective efficiency. From this comparison originates the development of a new scheduling approach which aims to take advantage of the major assets of these two different scheduling approac hes dealing with uncertainty. The resulting scheme endeavors to tackle unforeseen events more efficiently and to improve the decision-making process in the scheduling of chemical multip roduct batch industries. Future work will focus on validation and further improvement of the proposed strategy.