Optimal scheduling of gas pipeline operation using genetic algorithms

This paper presents a feasibility study of evolutionary scheduling for gas pipeline operations. The objective of gas pipeline operations is to transfer sufficient gas from gas stations to consumers so as to satisfy customer demand with minimum costs. The scheduling involves selection of a set of compressors to operate during a shift. The scheduling decision has to be made so as to satisfy the dual objectives of minimizing the sum of fuel cost, start-up cost, the cost of gas wasted due to oversupply, and satisfying minimal operative and inoperative time of the compressors. The problem was decomposed into the two subproblems of gas load forecast and selection of compressors. Neural networks were used for forecasting the load; and genetic algorithms were used to search for a near optimal combination of compressors. The study was conducted on a subsystem of the pipeline network located in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. The results are compared with the solutions generated by an expert system and a fuzzy programming model