Combined modelling of production of merchantable phosphoric ores using parallel processors and their transportation by pipeline

Abstract

This paper focuses on managing the production and transfer of phosphoric merchantable ores (MOs) in a pull-flow mode of a supply chain that is currently addressed with limited effectiveness. MOs are obtained by washing extracted source ores in parallel lines, using alternative routings that change their weight and composition, before blending in tanks to achieve the required quality defined by a set of compositional constraints. The pipe transfer program defines the batches to be transported and their schedule, considering downstream demand (a roughly stable demand from the chemistry and irregular export demands (export orders of large quantities of MOs)), preventive maintenance of pipe or washing lines and prevention of defusing and saturation in the tanks of the delivery pipe station. A daily used Decision Support System (DSS) encapsulates two models used sequentially and sharing technical, availability, capacity, and quality constraints; then, the optimal solution of the transfer model is adapted to create the order book processed by the original blending model to obtain an optimal joint production and pipe transfer program. It also provides ways to improve SC performance while considering its impact on the chemical production performance.