The pooling problem is a nonlinear network flow problem that models the operation of the supply chain of petrochemicals where crude oils are mixed to produce intermediate quality streams that are blended at retail locations to produce the final products.
In the following repository we explore different linearization techniques based on the paper located at docs/[Gounaris_Misener_Floudas_2009_Comparison_Piecewise−Linear Relaxations_Pooling.pdf].
Currently, only 2 techniques have been implemented:
- Mc. Cormick envelopes
- Big M
The model has been developed in the java language following strong OOP (object-oriented programming) approach.
The optimization solver leverages on multiple open-sourced packages that are interfaced using Google OR-Tools library.
To ease its deployment, a Docker container has been set and it's available at Docker Hub repository under marcescandellmari/or-tools. There's also a Dockerfile for model deployment.
The different linearization techniques have been tested in an example that is listed under Introduction to Optimization Modelling slides produced and delivered by Dr. Khor Cheng Seong at Chemical Engineering Deparment, University Teknologi PETRONAS.
Please refer to slide n.9 under Working Session 1 (extension) - Refinery blending for further details on problem characteristics such as data used and network. Document can be found at docs/[DS-OptTraining_20191006_v4.pdf].