Replacement scheduling of brine heater desalination plant using binary integer programming method

Every equipment, both main and supporting, in electricity generation, has an economic life. An increase age of assets will be followed by an increase of operating and maintenance costs. It is therefore very important to carry out a systematic, integrated, and comprehensive long-term planning by conducting economic evaluation modeling on the condition of the equipment in order that the optimum action plan can be selected. In the existing condition the decision about the replacement of equipment is based on the inability of the equipment to function, without considering the increase of operating and maintenance costs that have been incurred. A binary integer programming mathematical program is used to model decision making to find the most optimal replacement policy to generate maximum profits, considering the value of income, operating and maintenance costs, salvage value and investment cost. The handling cost is calculated in a period of 5 (five) years. The results obtained in this study are the decision making every year related to replacing or keep parts of the Brine Heater Desalination Plant, which is the Tube Brine Heater which produces maximum profit. It is recommended that optimal decision making for 3 (three) years is replace-keep-replace.