Artificial intelligence methodologies for agile refining: an overview

Agile manufacturing is the capability to prosper in a competitive environment of continuous and unpredictable changes by reacting quickly and effectively to the changing markets and other exogenous factors. Agility of petroleum refineries is determined by two factors - ability to control the process and ability to efficiently manage the supply chain. In this paper, we outline some challenges faced by refineries that seek to be lean, nimble, and proactive. These problems, which arise in supply chain management and operations management are seldom amenable to traditional, monolithic solutions. As discussed here using several examples, methodologies drawn from artificial intelligence - software agents, pattern recognition, expert systems - have a role to play in this path toward agility.