MINLP model for multiproduct scheduling on continuous parallel lines

Abstract: "This paper addresses the problem of long range, multiproduct scheduling on continuous parallel production lines. This plant configuration is typically used in the manufacturing of specialty chemicals. The problem is modeled as a large-scale mixed integer nonlinear program (MINLP) and a reformulation technique is applied to linearize it in the space of the integer variables. The Kuhn-Tucker optimality conditions are exploited in the resulting model in order to effectively apply Generalized Benders Decomposition. This avoids the explicit solution of extremely large nonlinear subproblems. At the same time, a computational scheme is proposed to strengthen the bounds of the master problem and therefore achieve fast convergence.The proposed technique was applied to a real world problem for a polymer production plant. The corresponding MINLP contained 780 binary variables, 23,000 continuous variables and 3,200 constraints."