Large-scale Layout Optimization for Chemical Plant

Facility layout problem is a problem that has a major economic impact on the construction of industrial facilities. In addition, considering the potential factors and the efficiency of the process, the question of how to place the equipment is also a matter of considerable experience and creativity. A well-designed facility can lead to huge plant construction costs reduction, increased efficiency, and reduced use of the facility, and can handle emergencies well. Until now, plant equipment has been placed with experience by field experienced advisers in the field, but a design that relies solely on expert experience will not yield an optimized design that meets all constraints. Therefore, there is a need for optimization design using computers. This study aims to minimize the area and pipe length of the plant by optimizing the layout of multi-layer process plant equipment with the design data of the SRIP plant in Oman. Unlike previous studies, we propose an algorithm that creates an layout optimization that can be applied to the real industry by fusing the genetic algorithm (GA) and multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) methodologies. In conclusion, it is possible to optimize the multi-layer process plant equipment in the battery limit of the plant while satisfying numerous constraints, and to present a best equipment layout with an optimal area and pipe length.

Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (KSME 2022)