The current decade sees a considerable growth in worldwide container transportation and with it an indispensable need for optimization. Also the interest in and availability of academic literatures as well as case reports are almost exploding. With this paper an earlier survey which proved to be of utmost importance for the community is updated and extended to provide the current state of the art in container terminal operations and operations research.

Operations research at container terminals: a literature update

The objective of this paper is to review the current status of ship routing and scheduling. We focus on literature published during the last decade. Because routing and scheduling problems are closely related to many other fleet planning problems, we have divided this review into several parts. We start at the strategic fleet planning level and discuss the design of fleets and sea transport systems. We continue with the tactical and operational fleet planning level and consider problems that comprise various ship routing and scheduling aspects. Here, we separately discuss the different modes of operations: industrial, tramp, and liner shipping. Finally, we take a glimpse at naval applications and other related problems that do not naturally fall into these categories. The paper also presents some perspectives regarding future developments and use of optimization-based decision-support systems for ship routing and scheduling. Several of the trends indicate both accelerating needs for and benefits from such systems and, hopefully, this paper will stimulate further research in this area.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/25769174.pdf

Ship Routing and Scheduling: Status and Perspectives

This paper is the second part of a comprehensive survey on pickup and delivery models. Basically, two problem classes can be distinguished. The first part dealt with the transportation of goods from the depot to linehaul customers and from backhaul customers to the depot. In this class four subtypes were considered, namely the Vehicle Routing Problem with Clustered Backhauls (VRPCB all linehauls before backhauls), the Vehicle Routing Problem with Mixed linehauls and Backhauls (VRPMB any sequence of linehauls and backhauls permitted), the Vehicle Routing Problem with Divisible Delivery and Pickup (VRPDDP customers demanding delivery and pickup service can be visited twice), and the Vehicle Routing Problem with Simultaneous Delivery and Pickup (VRPSDP customers demanding both services have to be visited exactly once). The second part now considers all those problems where goods are transported between pickup and delivery locations, denoted as Vehicle Routing Problems with Pickups and Deliveries (VRPPD). These are the Pickup and Delivery VRP (PDVRP unpaired pickup and delivery points), the classical Pickup and Delivery Problem (PDP paired pickup and delivery points), and the Dial-A-Ride Problem (DARP paired pickup and delivery points and user inconvenience taken into consideration). A single as well as a multi vehicle mathematical problem formulation for all three VRPPD types is given, and the respective exact, heuristic, and metaheuristic solution methods are discussed.

/pdf/a-survey-on-pickup-and-delivery-problems-part-ii-s8djcjjy1t.pdf

A survey on pickup and delivery problems: Part II: Transportation between pickup and delivery locations

Pickup and delivery problems constitute an important class of vehicle routing problems in which objects or people have to be collected and distributed. This paper introduces a general framework to model a large collection of pickup and delivery problems, as well as a three-field classification scheme for these problems. It surveys the methods used for solving them.

Static pickup and delivery problems: a classification scheme and survey

This paper is the first part of a comprehensive survey on pickup and delivery problems. Basically, two problem classes can be distinguished. The first class, discussed in this paper, deals with the transportation of goods from the depot to linehaul customers and from backhaul customers to the depot. This class is denoted as Vehicle Routing Problems with Backhauls (VRPB). Four subtypes can be considered, namely the Vehicle Routing Problem with Clustered Backhauls (VRPCB – all linehauls before backhauls), the Vehicle Routing Problem with Mixed linehauls and Backhauls (VRPMB – any sequence of linehauls and backhauls permitted), the Vehicle Routing Problem with Divisible Delivery and Pickup (VRPDDP – customers demanding delivery and pickup service can be visited twice), and the Vehicle Routing Problem with Simultaneous Delivery and Pickup (VRPSDP – customers demanding both services have to be visited exactly once). The second class, dealt with in the second part of this survey, refers to all those problems where goods are transported between pickup and delivery locations. These are the Pickup and Delivery Vehicle Routing Problem (PDVRP – unpaired pickup and delivery points), the classical Pickup and Delivery Problem (PDP – paired pickup and delivery points), and the Dial-A-Ride Problem (DARP – passenger transportation between paired pickup and delivery points and user inconvenience taken into consideration). Single as well as multi vehicle versions of the mathematical problem formulations are given for all four VRPB types, the corresponding exact, heuristic, and metaheuristic solution methods are discussed.

/pdf/a-survey-on-pickup-and-delivery-problems-4jg10ds2xx.pdf

A survey on pickup and delivery problems

An integrated model for market pricing of energy and ancillary services

A branch and price approach for deployment of multi-tier software services in clouds

Cloud services with a multi-tiered architecture are often difficult to evaluate in terms of performance and dependability. The tiered architecture complicates the resource capacity decisions of the service provider, and makes it more demanding to maintain a good balance between capacity and quality of service. In this work we present an approximation of the response time distribution of a multi-tier service, which should help the providers in their planning and operation. The approximation also takes into account failures in the virtual machines in which the service runs, and acknowledges replication of the tiers. We demonstrate that the approximation can be used as decision support for service providers.

Approximating the Response Time Distribution of Fault-Tolerant Multi-tier Cloud Services

Heat Integration is extended to the topic of Heat and Work Integration when pressure changing equipment such as compressors and expanders are included in heat exchanger network design. The latter topic is much more complex since heat and work have different energy qualities (exergy). Systematic graphical design methodologies have recently been developed for heat and work integration. The methodologies are based on a set of theorems that have been proven based on thermodynamic and mathematical analyses. The theorems show that minimum exergy consumption can be achieved in many cases when compression/expansion starts at the pinch temperature (Pinch Compression/Expansion). The Grand Composite Curve has been used to determine the maximum portions of streams using Pinch Compression/Expansion. However, the pinch temperatures for hot streams (hot pinch) and cold streams (cold Pinch) are different. They were not well distinguished in previous studies. Based on a recent mathematical optimisation study by the authors on the topic of heat and work integration, it is concluded that the pinch identity (hot or cold) should be the same as the identity of the stream at the inlet of compression/expansion. This paper introduces the new insight with an illustrative example. The insight is then verified by thermodynamic and mathematical analyses of various cases. A simple application of the insight to the self-heat recuperation scheme is investigated. An alternative scheme has been proposed. The total work consumption is reduced by 17.7 % in a thermal process with butane. The new insight is an important addition to the methodologies for heat and work integration that are established in previous studies.

Compression and Expansion at the Right Pinch Temperature

This chapter discusses various attempts to apply mathematical programming tools and techniques in field development planning for the Norwegian continental shelf. The paper has a form of a (non-complete) survey, with the aim of discussing and presenting various attempts, both within deterministic and stochastic modelling.

Bjørn Nygreen

Papers

An integrated model for market pricing of energy and ancillary services

A branch and price approach for deployment of multi-tier software services in clouds

Approximating the Response Time Distribution of Fault-Tolerant Multi-tier Cloud Services

Compression and Expansion at the Right Pinch Temperature

Applied Mathematical Programming in Norwegian Petroleum Field and Pipeline Development: Some Highlights from the Last 30 Years