Efficient scheduling of batch processes in continuous processing lines

Abstract

This thesis focuses mainly on the development of efficient formulations for scheduling in industrial environments. Likewise, decisions over the processes more related to advanced process control or production planning are included in the scheduling; in this way, the schedule obtained will be more efficient than it would be if the additional restrictions were not considered. The formulations have to emphasize obtaining online implementations, as they are planned to be used in real plants. The most common scheduling problems handled in the industrial environments are: the assignment of tasks to units, the distribution of production among parallel units and the distribution of shared resources among concurrent processes. Most advances in this work are the result of a collaborative work.