Question
Refer to the MOLP problem presented below. Lee is the owner of a Mining Company, which operates two different coal mines in Wythe and Giles
Refer to the MOLP problem presented below.
Lee is the owner of a Mining Company, which operates two different coal mines in Wythe and Giles counties in Southwest Virginia. Due to increased commercial and residential development in the primary areas served by these mines, Lee is anticipating an increase in demand for coal in the coming year. Specifically, her projections indicate a ton increase in the demand for highgrade coal, a ton increase in the demand for mediumgrade coal, and a ton increase in the demand for lowgrade coal. To handle this increase in demand, Lee must schedule extra shifts of workers at the mines. It costs $ per month to run an extra shift of workers at the Wythe county mine and $ per month at the Giles mine. Only one additional shift can be scheduled each month at each mine. The amount of coal that can be produced in a month's time at each mine by a shift of workers is summarized in the following table.
Type of Coal Wythe Mine Giles Mine
High grade tons tons
Medium grade tons tons
Low grade tons tons
Unfortunately, the methods used to extract coal from these mines produce toxic water that enters the local groundwater aquifers. At the Wythe mine, running an extra shift will generate approximately gallons of toxic water per month, whereas the mine in Giles county will generate about gallons of toxic water. Although these amounts are within EPA Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, Lee is concerned about the environment and doesn't want to create any more pollution than is absolutely necessary. Additionally, although the company follows all OSHA safety guidelines, company records indicate that approximately lifethreatening accidents occur per shift each month at the Wythe mine whereas accidents occur per shift each month at the Giles mine. Lee knows that mining is a hazardous occupation, but she cares about the health and welfare of her workers and wants to keep the number of lifethreatening accidents to a minimum.
Define the variables of interest as follows.
X number of months to schedule an extra shift at the Wythe county mine
X number of months to schedule an extra shift at the Giles county mine
Define the three objective functions of interest as follows.
Minimize: XXproduction costs in $
Minimize: XXtoxic water produced in gallons
Minimize: XXlifethreatening accidents
Define the constraints of interest as follows.
XXhighgrade coal required
XXmediumgrade coal required
XXlowgrade coal required
X Xnonnegativity conditions
Considering each of the objective functions as it's own minimization problem subject to the constraints described above we arrive at the following solutions.
The total production cost is minimized at
X
and
X
resulting in a cost of $
The volume of toxic water produced is minimized at
X
and
X
resulting in gallons of toxic water.
The number of life threatening accidents is minimized at
X
and
X
resulting in life threatening accidents.
These results suggest the following target values and goals for total production, gallons of toxic water produced, and number of life threatening accidents.
Goal : The total production cost should be approximately $
Goal : The gallons of toxic water produced should be approximately
Goal : The number of lifethreatening accidents should be approximately
In the solutions shown above, each result in more than the required amount of one or more types of coal being produced, as summarized in the following table.
Excess Production
Solution Shown in: HighGrade Coal MediumGrade Coal LowGrade Coal
highgrade coal tons tons tons
mediumgrade coal tons tons tons
lowgrade coal tons tons tons
a
Formulate an LP model that could be solved to find the solution that minimizes the maximum amount of excess coal produced. Hint: Use a MINIMAX objective rather than a MAX function.
MIN: Q
Subject to:
highgrade coal
Correct: Your answer is correct.
Q
mediumgrade coal
Correct: Your answer is correct.
Q
lowgrade coal
Correct: Your answer is correct.
Q
X X
b
Implement your model in a spreadsheet and solve it What is the optimal solution? Round your answers to two decimal places.
X X
Correct: Your answer is correct.
c
Revise your model to find the solution that minimizes the maximum percentage of excess coal produced. What is the optimal solution? Round your answers to two decimal places.
X X
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