P-Graph Approach to Optimal Crisis Operations in Multi-Product Systems

Multi-product systems allow for efficient and sustainable production, but at the same time are also vulnerable to cascading failures caused by disruptions in process capacity or resource availability. In particular, climate change may cause significant perturbations in the supply of important process inputs. Thus, for multi-prioduct systems, proper risk management strategies must be developed as part of overall climate change adaptation and resilience measures. Rigorous modeling approaches are needed to ensure that economic losses resulting from a disruption are minimized. In this paper, a P-graph based methodology is used to determine optimal adjustments to crisis conditions in order to minimize manufacturing losses; this graph theoretic methodology has traditionally been used for process network synthesis problems, but has recently proven to be useful for related problem domains. A case study on the reallocation of streams in an aluminum production complex during a water shortage is used to illustrate the methodology.