Real Time Energy Efficient Manufacturing Scheduling for Flow Shops

Yuxin Zhai, Purdue University

Abstract

The scheduling of manufacturing apparatus is critical in production facilities, as it can help to increase profits or to reduce costs. Research on manufacturing scheduling has traditionally focused on increasing throughput and reduce makespan. However, the introduction of time-varying electricity pricing strategy by electricity providers has led to efforts to reduce energy cost by taking advantage of the electricity price fluctuation via production scheduling. This study proposes two methods to deal with time-varying electricity prices for a manufacturing facility with a pre-determined production quota, 1) electricity cost of a manufacturing facility subject to real-time electricity pricing can be reduced by dynamically changing operation schedules; 2) on-site renewable electricity generation combined with production scheduling represents another attractive option, as it can not only exploit the installed renewable energy capacity for electricity cost reduction but also reduce the carbon footprint associated with manufacturing processes. The renewable electricity is selected to be wind power here because it grows most rapidly in recent years.

Degree

M.S.M.E.

Advisors

Sutherland, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Mechanical engineering|Sustainability

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