Optimal operation of trunk natural gas pipelines via an inertia-adaptive particle swarm optimization algorithm

Abstract The trunk natural gas pipeline is the main transmission line between the gas fields and consumers. In this paper, an optimization model is built for the trunk natural gas pipelines, aiming in balancing the maximum operation benefit and the maximum transmission amount. The weight sum method was used to combine these two optimization goals into one hybrid objective function, and the weight value of each single objective function was determined by the scale method which was derived from the Analytic Hierarchy Method (AHP). Besides, the constraints concerning about the node's pressure, flow rate and temperature. The compressor's power and status, the pipe's pressure and temperature equations were also incorporated into the model. In view of the non-linear characteristic of the model, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was employed to solve it, and the adaptive inertia weight adjusting method was adopted to improve the basic PSO for its premature defect. The improved PSO is named the inertia-adaptive PSO (IAPSO) algorithm. Finally, the operation optimization model was applied to a real trunk gas pipeline, and the IAPSO as well as other four PSO algorithms were adopted to solve the model. The IAPSO shows faster convergence speed and better solution results than those of the other four PSO algorithms. The achievements provide a good way to balance the gas pipeline's operation benefit and transportation amount.