Refinery economics are extremely complex and involve massive amounts of operational data and decision-making processes; therefore, most refinery planners model and solve each sub-problem sequentially and independently. Obviously, this does not guarantee the globally optimal operation of the refinery because several features in a single and integrated model are not considered. Each sub-problem of integrated refinery planning (IRP) has been modelled, solved and well-published in the literature. Currently, research efforts are directed towards integrating the sub-problems and solving the resulting problem. In this article, the IRP problem is introduced and the solution methods with results are then outlined.

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