Loading and unloading scheduling of oil tanks in a transfer hub with two tank farms of a products pipeline network

The loading/unloading operation at oil tanks in the transfer hub with two tank farms of a products pipeline network shall not only meet the operation requirements of the pipeline network, but also satisfy the complex limitations on the operating processes of tank farms and tanks, so its plan preparation is difficult. In this paper, the sequential recursive method for preparing the loading/unloading plan of oil tanks in the transfer hub with two tank farms was developed for the given batch schedule of a products pipeline network. In this method, the priority of tanks and tank farms is set by introducing the empirical rules on maximum tank capacity, minimum tank capacity, operating continuity of tank, operating continuity of tank farm and settling time of oil products. In this way, the most suitable oil tanks for loading/unloading operation in each time interval can be selected, and the state (loading, unloading and standing) and loading/unloading rate of each oil tank in the transfer hub at any moment in the entire plan period can be determined. Then, this method was applied to a transfer hub with two tank farms of one certain products pipeline network, and it is verified to be feasible and practical. The computer software developed on the basis of this method can be used as an effective tool for preparing the loading/unloading plan of oil tanks in a transfer hub with two tank farms of a products pipeline network.