The integration of complete replanning and rule-based repairing for optimal operation of utility plants

The integration methodology of complete replanning and plan repairing is proposed to handle the prediction errors for energy demands during multiperiod operational planning. Complete replanning is implemented periodically and plan repairing is triggered during the execution interval. The plan repairing is constructed by a rule-based system because of real-time limitations. The efficiency index of a utility pump is introduced to determine startup/shutdown of equipment without integer programming in plan repairing. Case studies show that the proposed method is more profitable than the conventional replanning method. The total operating costs are reduced by 0.3-9.0% compared with the conventional replanning method.