The scheduling of converter aisle operation in a nickel smelting plant is a complex task with significant ramifications to plant profitability and production. An optimization-based scheduling formulation is developed using a continuous-time paradigm to accurately represent event timings. The formulation accounts for environmental restrictions on sulfur dioxide emissions, using event timing constraints. Flash furnaces are characterized by a continuous inlet flow and intermittent, discrete material removal, which is captured via novel semi-continuous modeling. An innovative sequencing and symmetry-breaking scheme is introduced to exploit identical units operating in parallel. A rolling horizon feature is included to accommodate real-time optimization. Tightening constraints are developed to improve the computational performance. A unique, multi-tiered procedure enhances the practicality of the solution and supports additional operability objectives, without compromising the optimality of the primary objective. The success of the approach is demonstrated via case studies arising from industrial production scenarios.

在镍冶炼厂中安排转炉过道操作是一项复杂的任务，对工厂的盈利能力和生产产生了重大影响。使用连续时间范式开发基于优化的计划表述，以准确表示事件时间。该公式使用事件时间约束来说明对二氧化硫排放的环境限制。闪蒸炉的特点是连续的进料流和间歇的，离散的物料去除，这通过新颖的半连续建模得以捕获。引入了创新的排序和对称破解方案，以利用并行运行的相同单元。包含滚动范围功能以适应实时优化。开发了严格的约束条件以提高计算性能。一个特别的，多层过程可提高解决方案的实用性，并支持其他可操作性目标，而不会损害主要目标的最优性。通过工业生产场景中的案例研究证明了该方法的成功。