A time scale-bridging approach for integrating production scheduling and process control

• New approach for integrating scheduling and control for continuous processes.
• Method reduces dimensions of integrated problem.
• Closed-loop process dynamics taken into account.
• Schedule is implemented in closed-loop.

In this paper, we propose a novel framework for integrating scheduling and nonlinear control of continuous processes. We introduce the time scale-bridging model (SBM) as an explicit, low-order representation of the closed-loop input–output dynamics of the process. The SBM then represents the process dynamics in a scheduling framework geared towards calculating the optimal time-varying setpoint vector for the process control system. The proposed framework accounts for process dynamics at the scheduling stage, while maintaining closed-loop stability and disturbance rejection properties via feedback control during the production cycle. Using two case studies, a CSTR and a polymerization reactor, we show that SBM-based scheduling has significant computational advantages compared to existing integrated scheduling and control formulations. Moreover, we show that the economic performance of our framework is comparable to that of existing approaches when a perfect process model is available, with the added benefit of superior robustness to plant-model mismatch.