OPTIMAL SCHEDULING OF MULTIPRODUCT BATCH PROCESSES FOR VARIOUS INTERMEDIATE STORAGE POLICIES

In this paper, we suggest optimal scheduling strategies for serial mul tiproduct batch processes to minimize the makespan as an objective fun ction. The strategies are formulated as mixed-integer nonlinear progra mming (MINLP) for various storage policies under consideration of nonz ero transfer and setup times. The major storage policies for multiprod uct multiunit batch processes considered in this paper are unlimited i ntermediate storage (UIS), no intermediate storage (NIS), finite inter mediate storage (FIS), zero wait (ZW), and mixed intermediate storage (MIS). The algorithms to calculate the process completion times are de veloped for each policy. Two examples are tested to evaluate the robus tness of this strategy and reasonable computational times.