Facility Start Window

Units:	Yes/No
Mode:	Input Only
Multi-band:	False
Default Value:	True (-1)
Validation Rule:	False (0) or True (-1)
Key Property:	No
Description:	Flag if start is allowed in the given time period

Facility Start Window is a flag indicating whether a start is allowed in the given time period. This might represent workforce, environmental or other constraints that dictate when the plant can start.

Table 1: Example of Start Window for an Ammonia facility

Child Object	Property	Value	Units
NH3.Plant	Min Operating Level Global	Yes	-
NH3.Plant	Expansion Optimality	Integer	-
NH3.Plant	Units	0	-
NH3.Plant	Max Operating Level	32000	kg
NH3.Plant	Min Operating Factor	50	%
NH3.Plant	Start Window	No	Yes/No
NH3.Plant	Start Window	Yes	Yes/No
NH3.Plant	Min Up Time	8	h
NH3.Plant	Min Down Time	24	h
NH3.Plant	Max Ramp Up Factor	20	%
NH3.Plant	Max Ramp Down Factor	20	%
NH3.Plant	FO&M Charge	10000000	$
NH3.Plant	Build Cost	200000000	$
NH3.Plant	WACC	8	%
NH3.Plant	Economic Life	30	yr
NH3.Plant	Max Units Built	1	-

For the example in Table 1, the plant can only start in hour 9 each day.

Note that restricting the start window can improve the solution time of hard unit commitment problems be eliminating alternative solutions.