Heuristics and Constraint Programming Hybridizations for a Real Pipeline Planning and Scheduling Problem

Pipeline network systems are considered the major option for transporting petroleum derivatives from refineries to local markets, in view of their many economic and environmental advantages. This article deals with a large real-world pipeline system planning and scheduling problem, in which different products should be transported in a pipeline network in order to supply market demands, while also satisfying hard operational constraints related to product sequencing, flow rates and tank capacities. We propose a novel hybrid approach based on two iterative phases comprised by a heuristic strategy and a Constraint Programming model. The resulting algorithm was tested with real-world instances yielding feasible solutions for all of them.