Two-level algorithm for gasoline blend planning using inventory pinch points to reduce number of blend recipes

Complex EPA formulations for gasoline quality constraints are complex because they are highly nonlinear and require highly specialized algorithms to be solved. A two-level composite algorithm is put forward to solve the gasoline blend planning optimization problem while reducing the number of blend recipes. The first level deals with optimization of the blend recipes; in the second level, production volumes and inventory profiles are computed. The results obtained with the two-level algorithm are very close to those provided by the corresponding multi-period MINLP model. The number of different blend recipes computed by the algorithm is less than the number given by the MINLP solution. Moreover, the number of iterations is usually small and the algorithm is not affected by the blending components supply profile. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2013 AIChE Spring Meeting and 9th Global Congress on Process Safety (San Antonio, TX 4/28/2013-5/2/2013).