Solving Planning and Design Problems in the Process Industry Using Mixed Integer and Global Optimization

This contribution gives an overview on the state-of-the-art and recent advances in mixed integer optimization to solve planning and design problems in the process industry. In some case studies specific aspects are stressed and the typical difficulties of real world problems are addressed. Mixed integer linear optimization is widely used to solve supply chain planning problems. Some of the complicating features such as origin tracing and shelf life constraints are discussed in more detail. If properly done the planning models can also be used to do product and customer portfolio analysis. We also stress the importance of multi-criteria optimization and correct modeling for optimization under uncertainty. Stochastic programming for continuous LP problems is now part of most optimization packages, and there is encouraging progress in the field of stochastic MILP and robust MILP. Process and network design problems often lead to nonconvex mixed integer nonlinear programming models. If the time to compute the solution is not bounded, there are already a commercial solvers available which can compute the global optima of such problems within hours. If time is more restricted, then tailored solution techniques are required.