Julian C. Smith Lecture Series: Ignacio Grossmann, Carnegie Mellon University

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Location

Olin Hall, Room 155

Description

Challenges in the Application of Mathematical Programming Approaches to Enterprise-wide Optimization of Process Industries

Ignacio E. Grossmann

Center for Advanced Process Decision-making

Department of Chemical Engineering

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, 15217, USA

Enterprise-wide optimization (EWO) is a new emerging area that lies at the interface of chemical engineering and operations research, and has become a major goal in the process industries due to the increasing pressures for remaining competitive in the global marketplace.  EWO involves optimizing the operations of supply, production and distribution activities of a company to reduce costs and inventories. A major focus in EWO is the optimization of manufacturing plants as part of the overall optimization of the supply chain. Major operational items include production planning, scheduling, and control.  This talk provides an overview of major modeling and computational challenges in the development of deterministic and stochastic linear/nonlinear mixed-integer optimization models for planning and scheduling for the optimization of plants and entire supply chains that are involved in EWO problems. We address the following major challenges in this area: a) multi-scale optimization, b) linear vs. nonlinear models, c) handling of uncertainty and disruption, d) multiobjective and multilevel optimization. We illustrate these challenges in areas such as industrial gases, petroleum processing, and chemical process networks. These problems have been addressed in collaboration with industry, and have led to substantial economic savings.