A Mathematical Program for Scheduling Preventive Maintenance of Cogeneration Plants with Production

Khaled Alhamad, Rym M’Hallah and Cormac Lucas
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Khaled Alhamad: Laboratory Technology Department, College of Technological Studies, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, P.O. Box 42325, Shuwaikh 70654, Kuwait
Rym M’Hallah: Department of Engineering, Faculty of Natural, Mathematical, and Engineering Sciences, King’s College London, Strand S42.1, London WC2R 2ND, UK
Cormac Lucas: Department of Mathematical Sciences, Brunel University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK

Mathematics, 2021, vol. 9, issue 14, 1-12

Abstract: This paper considers the scheduling of preventive maintenance for the boilers, turbines, and distillers of power plants that produce electricity and desalinated water. It models the problem as a mathematical program (MP) that maximizes the sum of the minimal ratios of production to the demand of electricity and water during a planning time horizon. This objective encourages the plants’ production and enhances the chances of meeting consumers’ needs. It reduces the chance of power cuts and water shortages that may be caused by emergency disruptions of equipment on the network. To assess its performance and effectiveness, we test the MP on a real system consisting of 32 units and generate a preventive maintenance schedule for a time horizon of 52 weeks (one year). The generated schedule outperforms the schedule established by experts of the water plant; it induces, respectively, 16% and 12% increases in the surpluses while either matching or surpassing the total production. The sensitivity analysis further indicates that the generated schedule can handle unforeseen longer maintenance periods as well as a 120% increase in demand—a sizable realization in a country that heavily relies on electricity to acclimate to the harsh weather conditions. In addition, it suggests the robustness of the schedules with respect to increased demand. In summary, the MP model yields optimal systematic sustainable schedules.

Keywords: preventive maintenance; scheduling; optimization; mathematical programming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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