Modelling Techniques for Nonlinear Pooling Problems

Abstract

The pooling problem is frequently found in refinery modeling. It is in some sense similar in structure to the well known blending problem but is a nonlinear problem. The standard approach in the industry to solve pooling models is to use a recursive linear programming approach. In this paper, we discuss a modeling technique which makes it possible to describe a nonlinear mixing of several, for example, crude oils in one single model which is not the case for standard approaches. This is based on establishing approximate cumulative functions of evaporation curves. Results from a case study show that the proposed model accurately describes the real application and remains efficiently solvable with standard software.