Scheduling

FlowState schedules the recipe of every procedure, works out the batch time, the minimum cycle time and the bottleneck, and from those the number of batches per year. Results appear on the Schedule tab and drive the annual material, utility and cost figures.

Key terms

Process settings

Open Tasks ▸ Process settings & scheduling…, the ⏱ Scheduling toolbar button, or ⚙ Process settings… in the Inspector. The Process Settings window contains:

• Plant mode: Batch or Continuous.
• Annual operating time in hours per year (default 7,920 h).
• Batches per year: tick Set to fix the number; otherwise FlowState uses the Maximum.
• Recipe cycle time: tick Set to fix it; otherwise it is the Minimum (bottleneck).
• Campaigns per year: each campaign restarts the batch train, so the annual operating time becomes AOT = (NB − k)·CT + k·BT for k campaigns.
• Notes and Sections. Sections group procedures by colour and can carry their own cost factors (Own cost factors) and a share of capital charged to the project.

Scheduling an operation

Every operation has a Scheduling block in its editor:

• Setup time, Process time and Turnaround. Tick Calculated to let the operation compute its own duration from rates or the model (for example, filtration time from the filter area).
• Start: Auto (after the previous operation), Relative to batch start, With start of another procedure’s operation, or After end of another operation, plus a Shift (positive or negative delay). These links let you model transfers in which the sending and receiving procedures run at the same time.
• Labor: the number of operators needed, used for the labour profile and cost.

Procedure-level scheduling

In a procedure’s Inspector:

• Cycles per batch: repeat the recipe several times per batch.
• Start offset: delay the procedure’s first operation.
• Scheduling & sharing ▸ Cycling: With recipe, or Independent with its own period (for utilities or continuous steps that cycle on their own).
• Scheduling & sharing ▸ Host equipment: Own equipment or Share another procedure’s equipment. FlowState checks shared equipment for conflicts between batches.
• Equipment ▸ Staggered sets: sets used alternately by consecutive batches, which divides the procedure’s contribution to the cycle time. Use it to break a bottleneck without a bigger vessel.
• Use across batches and Omit from scheduling flags.

Reading the Schedule tab

• Operations view: one row per procedure with a bar per operation, over the number of Batches you choose. Equipment occupancy view: one row per equipment item.
• Colours follow the operation family: Transfer, Thermal, Reaction, Separation, Cleaning, Hold.
• The bottleneck row is drawn in red.
• Cycle-time feasibility lists the ranges of cycle time for which no equipment is used by two batches at once, and says whether the current cycle time is feasible or conflicting.
• Equipment usage shows each item’s procedures, occupancy, busy fraction and mode (dedicated, shared, staggered or independent).
• Click a bar to select its procedure and operation. From the flowsheet, right-click a procedure ▸ Show in schedule.

Shared services, storage and limits

• Tasks ▸ Auxiliary equipment (CIP skids, SIP panels)… defines CIP skids and SIP panels that several procedures share; assign them in each procedure’s Equipment section.
• Tasks ▸ Storage units & resource limits… defines supply and receiving storage units with refill policies, and Availability limits for operators, electrical power and each heat-transfer agent (instantaneous, time-averaged or cumulative). Limits can warn or constrain; the Resources tab shows peak demand, hours over the limit and inventory charts.

Hybrid and continuous plants

In a Continuous plant, flows are per hour and the annual operating time sets the production. In a batch plant you can still set individual procedures to continuous operation. Surge tanks (Inspector ▸ Consumables, labor & hybrid operation) buffer between the two modes, and the Continuous sections in a batch plant group in Tasks ▸ Economic parameters… controls how those sections are costed.