Title: A simulation and optimisation model for the transport of refinery products

Authors: Razman Bin Mat Tahar, Waleed Khalid Abduljabbar

Addresses: Department of Technology Management, Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering and Technology Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Karung Berkunci 12, 25000 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. ' Department of Technology Management, Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering and Technology Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Karung Berkunci 12, 25000 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia

Abstract: The short-term oil refinery scheduling problem is one of the most challenging problems in operational research due to the complexity of the refinery scheduling operations and the corresponding process models. In this paper, a novel approach of transporting optimisation model for (AL-Dura, Iraq) oil refinery operations based on genetic algorithm (GA) was proposed. The proposed method also introduces decisions which should be able to help in choosing the amount of tanks, tank size and trucks| arrival rate in which turn to maximise total revenue on average per week at an oil terminal. Multifactor variance analysis is used to determine different levels of the three factors and the interactions between them which significantly affect the terminal|s profit. The simulation result shows that the model is able to 90% predict a set of factor levels that yields the highest average total profit per week, the cost of oil at the terminal, and tanker truck filling rates and price and income structure. [Received: August 14, 2009; Accepted: December 10, 2009]

Keywords: refinery operations; petroleum; oil transportation; supply chain policies; supply chain management; SCM; simulation; optimisation; modelling; refinery products; oil refinery scheduling; genetic algorithms; oil terminals; tank size; truck arrival rate; tanker trucks; filling rates; pricing structure; income structure.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2010.033562

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2010 Vol.3 No.2, pp.160 - 169

Published online: 04 Jun 2010 *

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