Max-cut and min-flow theorem for coal-transportation networks based on fault-tolerant routing

A transportation network for the coal-fired power plant is very complicated and custom-designed. It requires special transportation equipment such as coal sieving, crusher machines connecting transportation belts with different capability of input/output and speeds to different directions. In this paper, we analyze the max-cut and min-flow properties of the coal transportation network in a thermal power plant in Taiwan. Firstly, we analyze the current daily operational coal transportation and model several transportation modes based on minimum spanning tree from a dedicate ship uploaders to each coal-fired generators. Secondly, based on the derived modes, we propose fault-tolerant routing for one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many transportation in different operation cases. The routing algorithms are implemented with a web-based user friendly software using JAVA. Finally, the transportation performance is evaluated by using a max-cut min-flow theorem and we conclude this paper.