MILP model for short-term scheduling of multi-purpose batch plants with batch distillation process

Fine chemical production must assure high-standard product quality as well as characterized as multi-product production in small volumes. Installing high-precision batch distillation is one of the common elements in the successful manufacturing of fine chemicals, and the importance of the process operation strategy with quality assurance cannot be overemphasized. In this study, we investigate the optimal operation strategy and production planning of a sequential multi-purpose plants consisting of batch processes and batch distillation with unlimited intermediate storage. We formulated this problem as an MILP model. A mixed-integer linear programming model is developed based on the time slot, which is used to determine the production sequence and the production path of each batch. Illustrative examples show the effectiveness of the approach.