Power minimization of gas transmission network in fully transient state using metaheuristic methods

Abstract In gas transmission networks, the pressure drop caused by friction is one of the main operation costs that is compensated through consuming energy in the compressors. In the competitive market of energy, considering the demand variation is inevitable. Hence, the power minimization should be carried out in transient state. Since the minimization problem is severely nonlinear and nonconvex subjected to nonlinear constraints, utilizing a powerful minimization tool with a straightforward procedure is very helpful. In this paper, a novel approach is proposed based on metaheuristic algorithms for power minimization of a gas transmission network in fully transient conditions. The metaheuristic algorithms, unlike the gradient dependent method, can solve the complicated minimization problem without simplification. In the proposed strategy, the cost function is not expressed explicitly as a function of minimization variables; therefore, the transient minimization can be as precise as possible. The minimization is carried out by a straightforward methodology in each time sample, which leads to more precise solutions as compared to the quasi transient minimization. The metaheuristic minimizer, called the particle swarm optimization gravitational search algorithm (PSOGSA), is utilized to find the optimum operating set points. The numerical results also confirm the accuracy and well efficiency of the proposed method.