| Article ID: | iaor19881076 |
| Country: | United States |
| Volume: | 19 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Start Page Number: | 85 |
| End Page Number: | 101 |
| Publication Date: | Jan 1989 |
| Journal: | Interfaces |
| Authors: | DeWitt Calvin W., Lasdon Leon S., Brenner Donald A., Waren Allan D., Melhem Simon A. |
| Keywords: | programming: linear, programming: nonlinear |
Gasoline blending is a critical refinery operation. In 1980, Texaco began developing an improved, optimization based, decision support system for planning and scheduling its blending operations. The system, OMEGA, is implemented on personal computers and on larger computer systems. It relies on refinery data bases and on-line data acquisition and exploits detailed nonlinear models of gasoline attributes. Texaco uses OMEGA in all seven US refineries and its Canadian and Welsh refineries. Its benefits include an estimated $30 million annually, better quality control, improved planning and marketing information, and the ability to conduct a variety of what-if studies.