Selection among alternative processes for the disposal of soapstock

The optimal solution for our case study was the selection of a process to obtain pre-soap to be sold to a neighbor factory that produces industrial detergents. Afterward, the price of pre-soap was halved, pretending that the closest detergent factory is located way far from the refinery. In this case, the model selects a process that separates oil to be recycled to the refining process, and FFAs to be used as fuel in the same refinery. Thus, the optimal solutions found are valid for the particular case studied, while the main contribution of this paper is the approach proposed to make a decision.