Design of a chemical batch plant: a study of dedicated parallel lines with intermediate storage and the plant performance

Production plants worldwide face huge challenges in satisfying high service levels and outperforming competition. These challenges require appropriate strategic decisions on plant design and production strategies. In this paper, we focus on multiproduct chemical batch plants, which are typically equipped with multiple production lines and intermediate storage tanks. First we extend the existing MI(N) LP design models with the concept of parallel production lines, and optimise the assignment of products to these lines, together with the number and size of the equipment, by minimising capital costs. Next, we examine the cost effectiveness and asset efficiency, both Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) performance attributes, of the plant by introducing setup costs and asset-related opportunity costs. Finally, we analyse the influence of installing intermediate storage per production line on the different cost components. An example of a lubricant production plant demonstrates the applicability of our model.