Ad-hoc Scheduling /Planning Strategies in Distributed Computing Systems: An Application to Pipeless Batch Plants

摘要

The present work introduces a flexible scheduling framework based on a previously consolidated scheduling package. The core of the framework consists in a system co-ordinator that enables the proper actuation and communication of the different operating modules. The basic set of components should include a data module based on a hierarchical recipe representation, a timing module, a decision-making module and a series of tools for user and system interface. Over this framework, generic and/or specialised components may be incorporated, mainly in order to solve the basic decision-making associated to the scheduling problem. In the presented application, a dedicated component has been implemented and integrated in order to deal with the specific situations appearing in the scheduling of pipeless batch chemical plants, where the unloading, transport and loading of intermediates become the basic bottlenecks and their associated constraints are complex -even infeasible- to introduce in generic scheduling systems.