A survey on oil / gas pipeline optimization: Problems, methods and challenges

Due to its safest operation and lowest expense, the fuel pipeline system plays crucial role in oil/gas transportation. In the pipe network industry, there are diverse optimization tasks during any period from design to operation. Previously, most works focus on developing effective algorithmic variants to strengthen some aspects of search capability. However, few review papers have been reported, which are desiderata for engineering solution providers. In this paper, we try to fulfill this gab by reviewing the existing optimization tasks and classifying them according two kinds of attributes. The problem formulation, major methods of three typical optimization tasks are reviewed and analyzed. The challenges and potential research directions of these problems are also analyzed.