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Energy demand has increased considerably with the growth of world population, increasing the interest in the hydrocarbon reservoir management problem. Companies are concerned with maximizing oil recovery while minimizing capital investment and operational costs. A first step in solving this problem is to consider optimal well placement. In this work, we investigate the Differential Evolution (DE) optimization method, using distinct configurations with respect to population size, mutation factor, crossover probability, and mutation strategy, to solve the well placement problem. By assuming a bare control procedure, one optimizes the parameters representing positions of injection and production wells. The Tenth SPE Comparative Solution Project and MATLAB Reservoir Simulation Toolbox (MRST) are the benchmark dataset and simulator used, respectively. The goal is to evaluate the performance of DE in solving this important real-world problem. We show that DE can find high-quality solutions, when compared with a reference from the literature, and a preliminary analysis on the results of multiple experiments gives useful information on how DE configuration impacts its performance.

Numerical results for a proposed turbine blade trailing-edge cooling configuration are presented. This proposed configuration is meant to result in the same or higher heat transfer performance but with a reduced pressure drop through the passage. The most common trailingedge cooling configuration is composed of circular pin fin which increases heat transfer due to increased turbulence levels. The configuration proposed in the present investigation is based on short flat plate fins and the heat transfer enhancement is based on the constant restart of a laminar boundary layer over the staggered plates arrangement. This arrangement will produce less turbulence and therefore lower pressure drop. The number of plates necessary to result in the same level of heat transfer as the circular pin fins is determined and the pressure losses between the two configurations are compared. The proposed configuration results in reduced losses and lower cooling air pumping power.

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