SYSTEMATIC SYNTHESIS OF CLEANING PROCEDURES FOR PIPELINE NETWORKS USING PETRI NETS

Abstract: Cleaning pipeline networks is a routine operation in almost every chemical plant. Our aim is to develop a systematic strategy to generate the needed operating procedures with Petri-net models. Specically, the proper material-transfer routes are selected on the basis of the Petri-net representation of all possible paths. The equipment models are then attached to this path model according to network conguration to build a system model. By connecting the system model with a net representing the schedule manager, a recipe can be produced accordingly to achieve a multi-route sequential/concurrent schedule. The eectiveness of this approach is demonstrated with a realistic example. Copyright c 2005 IFAC