06/02058 Genetic algorithms for the optimization of pipeline systems for liquid distribution (2)

Abstract

T his is the second of two articles presenting a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to obtain an optimal design, from an economical and operational point of view, of a pipeline system for the distribution of liquids, based on criteria such as complying with the laws of preservation of mass and energy, volume of flow requirements in the points of consumption where pressure is known, restriction in pressure value in those points of the system where it is unknown as well as in the velocity which must be under the erosion limit.In this article the traditional techniques for designing a GA in this type of problems are combined with some ideas that have not been applied to this field previously. The proposed GA allows for the sizing of liquid distribution systems that include pipelines, nodes for consumption and provision, tanks, pumping equipment, nozzles, control valves and accessories.The first article of this series (Galeano, 2003), presents the different formulations found in literature for the design of networks through optimization techniques and formulates mathematically, the optimization problem. In this article, the characteristics of the GA are specified and it is applied to solve the Alperovits and Shamir (1977) network and for a fireproof network, which allowed testing some of the characteristics of the model that are not found in the literature, such as the possibility of including pumping equipment, aspersion nozzles and accessories.In addition, the contribution of the components and sensitivity are analyzed in order to investigate some characteristics and parameters of the implemented GA.