Gas-filling stations procurement problem with time windows using a heterogeneous fleet of full tankers

Abstract

In this paper, we address the problem of procurement related to the supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). We are interested in the issue of shipping large quantities of bulk gas (butane and propane) from storage terminals to filling stations storage capacities using a fleet of tankers. The procurement goal is the assignment of quantities of gas to be transferred for each filling station; then, the shipping of these quantities with a heterogeneous fleet of tankers which respects the time schedule of those stations. After a review of literature for the classes of vehicle routing problem with backhauls in oil and gas procurement problems, we will present an integer linear programming formulation (ILP), then, we attempt to solve the problem using a solver, following this by testing and discussing results.