Patent Document ID: 9957959
Application ID: 14919706
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for scheduling a crude oil operation process in a refinery, the oil operation process, based on a predetermined short-term schedule as determined by a control-theoretic-based approach, comprising a plurality of tasks DTS s for oil delivering from a plurality of storage tanks to a plurality of charging tanks TK ij for maximizing productivity, the refinery comprising a pipeline system used to transport an amount of crude oil V ij from the plurality of storage tanks to the plurality of charging tanks TK ij to be charged by performing a task DTS ij from a time point Aij to a time Bij for feeding the amount of crude oil Vij to a distiller, the pipeline system comprising a pipeline and a number of pumping stations, and a number of sets of machines n usable at each of the pumping stations, the method comprising: dividing, by a processor, the amount of crude oil Vij into a plurality of parcels such that the amount of crude oil Vij can be transported by the task DTSij by feeding the plurality of parcels each with a different flow rate; and determining, by a processor, the number of sets of machines n usable at each of the pumping stations such that an energy consumption J for the process is minimized under a plurality of constraints based on a linear programming model, subject to: J = ∑ i ∈ G ⁢ ⁢ ∑ j ∈ N ki ⁢ ⁢ ∑ h ∈ S ⁢ ⁢ C h ⁢ x ijh ; τ 11 ≥ A 11 ; ∑ h ∈ S ⁢ ⁢ x 1 ⁢ ⁢ jh = V 1 ⁢ ⁢ j ; τ 11 + ∑ g = 1 j ⁢ ⁢ ∑ h ∈ S ⁢ ⁢ x 1 ⁢ gh / f h + Ω ≤ T 1 ⁢ ⁢ j ; τ i ⁢ ⁢ 1 ≥ A i ⁢ ⁢ 1 ; τ i ⁢ ⁢ 1 ≥ τ ( i - 1 ) ⁢ 1 + ∑ j ∈ N k ⁡ ( i - 1 ) ⁢ ⁢ ∑ h ∈ S ⁢ ⁢ x ( i - 1 ) ⁢ jh / f h ; ∑ h ∈ S ⁢ ⁢ x ijh = V ij ; τ i ⁢ ⁢ 1 + ∑ g = 1 j ⁢ ⁢ ∑ h ∈ S ⁢ ⁢ x igh / f h + Ω ≤ T ij ; x ijh ≥ 0 ⁢ ⁢ and ⁢ ⁢ τ i ⁢ ⁢ 1 ≥ 0 ; wherein: n is the number of sets of machines usable at each pumping station; h∈S={1, 2,. .. , n} is a set of the number of sets of machines n; d is a number of groups of DTSs; G={1, 2,. .. , d} is a set of the number of groups of DTSs d; i∈G{1}; j∈N ki ={1, 2,. .. , ki}; DTS ij is a j-th DTS in Group i∈G and j∈N ki that is decided by the predetermined short-term schedule; G i ={DTS i1 , DTS i2 ,. .. , DTS i(ki) }; A ij is the time point when TK ij starts to be charged by performing DTS ij as given by the predetermined short-term schedule; B ij is the time point when the charging of TK ij ends as given by the predetermined short-term schedule; T ij is a time point when TK ij charged by performing DTS ij begins to feed a distiller as given by the predetermined short-term schedule; Ω is an oil residency time; f i is a most energy-effective oil transportation flow rate when i sets of machines are used at each pumping station; C i is a cost coefficient when i sets of machines are used at each pumping station; x ijh is an amount of oil in DTS ij to be transported by using the most energy-efficient flow rate with h sets of machines being used at each pumping station; and τ i1 is a time point when TK i1 starts to be charged by performing DTS i1 after oil transportation rate is regulated, the linear programming model executed in a solver software and finding an optimized schedule with minimized power consumption based on the determined number of sets of machines n, and applying the optimized schedule to the refinery system to perform the plurality of tasks for delivering oil from the plurality of storage tanks to the plurality of charging tanks.