Chemical Engineering

On-Line Economic Optimization of Energy Systems Using Weather Forecast Information

  • Mihai Anitescu
  • Emil M. Constantinescu
  • Victor M. Zavala
  • Theodore Krause
    • Categories Chemical Engineering, Control Applications, Stochastic Programming Tags , , , , ,

    We establish an on-line optimization framework to exploit weather forecast information in the operation of energy systems. We argue that anticipating the weather conditions can lead to more proactive and cost-effective operations. The framework is based on the solution of a stochastic dynamic real-time optimization (D-RTO) problem incorporating forecasts generated from a state-of-the-art weather prediction … Read more

    On the Optimal On-Line Management of Photovoltaic-Hydrogen Hybrid Energy Systems

  • Mihai Anitescu
  • Victor M. Zavala
  • Theodore Krause
    • Categories Chemical Engineering, Control Applications, Stochastic Programming Tags , , , ,

    We present an on-line management strategy for photovoltaic-hydrogen (PV-H2) hybrid energy systems. The strategy follows a receding-horizon principle and exploits solar radiation forecasts and statistics generated through a Gaussian process model. We demonstrate that incorporating forecast information can dramatically improve the reliability and economic performance of these promising energy production devices. Article Download View On … Read more

    Dantzig-Wolfe and block coordinate-descent decomposition in large-scale integrated refinery-planning

  • Adebayo Alabi
  • Jordi Castro
    • Categories Applications - Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering Tags , , ,

    The integrated refinery-planning (IRP), an instrumental problem in the petroleum industry, is made of several subsystems, each of them involving a large number of decisions. Despite the complexity of the overall planning problem, this work presents a mathematical model of the refinery operations char acterized by complete horizontal integration of subsystems from crude oil purchase … Read more

    Derivative Free Optimization Methods for Optimizing Stirrer Configurations

  • Bulent Karasozen
  • Michael Schaefer
  • Omur Ugur
  • Kerim Yapici
    • Categories Bound-constrained Optimization, Chemical Engineering Tags , , ,

    In this paper a numerical approach for the optimization of stirrer configurations is presented. The methodology is based on a flow solver, and a mathematical optimization tool, which are integrated into an automated procedure. The flow solver is based on the discretization of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations by means of a fully conservative finite-volume method … Read more

    Survey of Derivative Free Optimization Methods based on Interpolation

  • Bulent Karasozen
    • Categories Bound-constrained Optimization, Chemical Engineering Tags , , ,

    In this survey article we give the basic description of the interpolation based derivative free optimization methods and their variants. We review the recent contributions dealing with the maintaining the geometry of the interpolation set, the management of the trust region radius and the stopping criteria. Derivative free algorithms developed for problems with some structure … Read more

    A Population Based Approach for Hard Global Optimization Problems Based on Dissimilarity Measures

  • Andrea Grosso
  • Marco Locatelli
  • Fabio Schoen
    • Categories Chemical Engineering, Global Optimization, Stochastic Approaches Tags , , , , ,

    When dealing with extremely hard global optimization problems, i.e. problems with a large number of variables and a huge number of local optima, heuristic procedures are the only possible choice. In this situation, lacking any possibility of guaranteeing global optimality for most problem instances, it is quite difficult to establish rules for discriminating among different … Read more

    RIOTS_95–a MATLAB Toolbox for Solving General Optimal Control Problems And Its Applications to Chemical Processes

  • YangQuan Chen
  • Adam L. Schwartz
    • Categories Chemical Engineering, Problem Solving Environments, Systems governed by Differential Equations Optimization Tags , , , , ,

    RIOTS_95 is a group of programs and utilities, written mostly in C, Fortran and M-file scripts and designed as a toolbox for MATLAB, that provides an interactive environment for solving a very broad class of optimal control problems (OCP’s). RIOTS_95 comes pre-compiled for use with the Windows 95/98/2000 or Windows NT operating systems. The user’s … Read more

    Nonlinear Model Predictive Control via Feasibility-Perturbed Sequential Quadratic Programming

  • J B Rawlings
  • M. J. Tenny
  • Stephen Wright
    • Categories Chemical Engineering, Constrained Nonlinear Optimization, Control Applications Tags , ,

    Model predictive control requires the solution of a sequence of continuous optimization problems that are nonlinear if a nonlinear model is used for the plant. We describe briefly a trust-region feasibility-perturbed sequential quadratic programming algorithm (developed in a companion report), then discuss its adaptation to the problems arising in nonlinear model predictive control. Computational experience … Read more

    Efficient Algorithms for Large Scale Global Optimization: Lennard-Jones clusters

  • Marco Locatelli
  • Fabio Schoen
    • Categories Chemical Engineering, Stochastic Approaches Tags , , , , ,

    A standard stochastic global optimization method is applied to the challenging problem of finding the minimum energy conformation of cluster of identical atoms interacting through the Lennard-Jones potential. The method proposed is based on the use of a two-phase local search procedure which is capable of significantly enlarge the basin of attraction of the global … Read more