Sizing Problem of Intermediate Storages under Stochastic Operational Conditions

Abstract

The operation of intermediate storages is investigated in this paper. The input process is supposed to be a batch process and the output process is assumed to be a continuous one. The operational conditions in the input process are stochastic with respect to time and the amount of material. The goal is the determination of the required size of the buffer to a given reliability. For the solution, an auxiliary function is introduced and an integral equation is set up for it. Its analytical solution is presented in a special case. In general cases we present the approximation of the reliability with the help of a hyperbolic tangent family. We compare the exact and approximate solutions and present the solution of the sizing problem. We investigate the effects of dispersions to present the uncertainties.