A 0/1 mixed integer linear programming approach to establish an effective preventive maintenance policy for power plant

Most generating unit maintenance scheduling packages consider the preventive maintenance schedule of generating units over a one or two year operational planning period in order to minimise the total operating cost while satisfying system energy requirements and maintenance constraints. This problem consists of ascertaining which generating units must be halt production. The generating unit is to be examined regularly for safety. It is very important because a failure in a power station may cause a general breakdown in an electric network. The main consequence is that the electricity demand of customers will not be satisfied in such cases. Therefore, reliability is the key point used in the methodology presented. The problem is approached as an optimisation issue. The model is developed by determining the objective function which is the net unit power reserve. Some constraints are used to obtain desired output.0/1 mixed integer linear programming is used to solve the model reached. A practical approach is carried out by implementing the model in a power plant. The result obtained is a schedule that allows the efficient organisation of preventive maintenance over a specific time.