Utilities, such as steam and cooling water, are often shared by several production areas at an industrial site. In order to minimize the loss of revenue due to disturbances in the supply of utilities, the optimal supply of utilities to different areas has to be determined. It is not evident how utility resources should be divided, as both buffer tank levels, the connections between areas, and the profitability of different products must be considered. This paper presents a case study at Perstorp, the objectives of which were to identify the utilities causing the greatest revenue losses at the site, and suggest strategies for reducing this loss using an on/off modeling approach including buffer tanks between areas
