Development of an approach for the combined control of disassembly and postprocessing processes in plant dismantling

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Georg Ullmann
• Subject Area: Production Systems, Operations Management, Quality Management and Factory Planning
• Term: from 2013 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 244566591

Dismantling closed industrial plants of huge sizes and complexity (e. g. nuclear power plants or oil refineries) is a big challenge concerning the planning and scheduling of the logistical processes. If a plant is dismantled and the components are postprocessed on-site, e. g. due to safety regulations demanding special controlled areas in nuclear facilities, often logistical deficits are resulting. If disassembly and postprocessing are not coupled close enough often massive fluctuations of the working systems workload are resulting. A long duration of the whole dismantling process, high inventories of work in progress and alternating short- and over-capacities are the result. This can decrease the economic efficiency of a dismantling project. An approach for a combined control of disassembly and postprocessing considering the specialties of plant dismantling does not exist yet. The objective of this research proposal is to develop an approach for a combined control of disassembly and postprocessing processes in the field of plant dismantling. The approach shall start disassembly activities for specific parts of the plant considering sequence dependent restrictions in such a manner that a constant workload of the postprocessing working stations is achieved. It is also aspired to minimize the buffer stock of work in progress between disassembly and postprocessing. Also knowledge shall be generated concerning the limitations of the achieved approach. The question shall be answered, if a shifting of workloads by controlling the disassembly sequence can improve logistical goals compared to an isolated control of disassembly and postprocessing.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants