Modeling and optimization for short-term scheduling of crude oil operations in refinery

For the short-term scheduling problem of crude oil operations, this paper studies the detailed scheduling problem to realize a given refining schedule. The problem is formulated as an integer programming model by using discrete-time representation. Since it is very difficult to solve in an exact way, it is transformed into a dynamic charging tank assignment problem such that heuristics are applicable. Then, a heuristic approach is developed to solve the problem. An industrial case study is used to show the application of the proposed method. It shows that performance is significantly improved and is applicable to real-life problems.