Improvement of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Bottling Process in a Small-Sized Plant in Angola

December 2, 2025

This thesis investigates methods to enhance operational efficiency at Angolan small Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) bottling plants, by focusing on the Cubal Plant in Benguela province as a representative case study of similar containerized facilities across the country. Between 2022 and 2023, the plant experienced a 5% rise in LPG consumption and a 6% increase in sales. Improving bottling efficiency has become crucial to sustaining domestic demand, especially during peak consumption periods. The study employs discrete-event simulation (DES) using Simul8 software to model and analyze the entire bottling line, from unloading empty cylinders to inspection, filling, sealing, and reloading. Statistical analysis was used to identify appropriate probability distributions for each process, based on five days of collected operational data. Five scenarios were designed and tested to evaluate performance improvements: resource optimization, quality control enhancement, demand management, extended operations, and an integrated approach. The baseline results revealed some inefficiencies in resource utilization (4.65%–23.26%) and an average daily throughput of around 697.2 cylinders. While the optimal strategy, which combines elements from all scenarios, increased throughput by 65.7% to 1,124.9 cylinders per day (23,624.4 per month) while maintaining stable cycle times of 9.86 minutes per cylinder and reducing rejection rates. Some important recommendations include implementing advanced quality control technologies, optimizing resource allocation (particularly in sealing operations), and extending working hours to 12-hour shifts alongside reduced interarrival times. This data-driven modeling framework supports optimization at the Cubal plant and provides replicable insights for similar facilities, contributing to industrial engineering research and practice.

Authors in the community:

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  M

  Mário Danilo Júnior Alves da Costa

  ist1104710

Supervisors of this institution:

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  T

  Tânia Rodrigues Pereira Ramos

  ist46496

other-engineering-and-technologies - Other engineering and technologies

eng - English

Instituto Superior Técnico