Short-term scheduling of batch plants with multiple intermediate due dates

Abstract

The problem of short-term scheduling often involves the satisfaction of variable product demands at specific due dates within the time horizon under consideration. Ierapetritou and Floudas, [2, 3] presented a novel continuous time formulation to effectively address the problem of short-term scheduling in batch, continuous and mixed production facilities where product demands are specified at the end of time horizon. The primary objective of this paper is to extend the continuous time formulation so as to deal with intermediate due dates. The mathematical model is developed and the features of the problem are further exploited to result in the most efficient solution of the problem. Two examples are provided to illustrate the capabilities of the proposed approach.