Research progress on optimization methods for batch scheduling of multiproduct pipelines

Most multiproduct pipelines adopt the back-to-back way to simultaneously transport several products. The essential task of operating a pipeline is drafting batch schedules in advance. Generating a high-quality batch schedule in a short time has a great significance of improving the efficiency and quality of the drafting work of batch schedules. This work summarized present research situations at home and abroad for the problem about optimizing batch schedules of a multiproduct pipeline. Firstly, from the perspective of mathematical programming method, intelligence algorithm, heuristic algorithm and decomposition strategy, five solving frameworks were put forward systematically to optimize batch schedules of a multiproduct pipeline. Then, the time and volume representation for establishing optimization models, the operation constraints to be satisfied and the objective functions to be considered were discussed. Finally, the two methods that are the time-recursion method and the space-recursion method for simulating batch schedules were described and analyzed. Moreover, the problems existing in the current study and future tendency of optimization of batch schedules of multiproduct pipelines were put forward in combination with the actual engineering requirements.