INTERMEDIATE STORAGE IN BATCH PROCESSING SYSTEMS UNDER STOCHASTIC EQUIPMENT FAILURES

The role of intermediate storage in buffering a process train from the effects of stochastically varied equipment failures is studied. Two m odels of upstream failures are investigated Analytical formulae are de rived for the distributions of minimal and maximal values of the inter mediate storage hold up, by means of which the favorable storage volum e can be determined. Also, an algorithm and computer program is presen ted for designing the favorable volume of an intermediate storage. The program can also be used for studying the general behavior of such sy stems with the aid of simulation. An example is presented for illustra ting the applicability of the analytical formulae and the computer pro gram in sizing the intermediate storage in batch processing systems. ( C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.