STBS - A CONTINUOUS-TIME MILP OPTIMIZATION FOR SHORT-TERM SCHEDULING OF BATCH PLANTS

This is a paper on mixed integer linear programming models for short-t erm scheduling of batch plants as described by Pinto and Grossmann (19 95, 1996). The models rely on continuous-time representation and make use of pre-ordering constraints, which can be either imposed as a sepa rate set of constraints or can be included in the underlying represent ation for the model. We also describe the computer interface STBS whic h automatically formulates the models and generates solution outputs s uch as Gantt charts and order paths. As shown in the results, problems up to 50 orders in 25 machines and five stages can be solved in appro ximately 20 min. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.