Optimization of gas transmission networks

The transport of large quantities of natural gas is carried out by pipelines. Typically, natural gas compressor stations are located at regular intervals to boost the pressure lost. Two main issues are generally highlighted when considering pipeline transmission networks, i.e., designing and operating a gas pipeline network. This work is intended to provide a MINLP formulation (mixed integer non linear programming) for modelling and optimizing gas pipelines networks and is applied to a series of case studies covering a range of significant problems. Typical problems in industrial scales for fuel consumption minimization serve as an illustration. Then, a methodology for gas pipeline design, involving capital cost as an optimization criterion is presented. Finally, a more prospective concern, dedicated to the transport of a mixture of natural gas-hydrogen mixture in a transition period towards the so-called predicted “hydrogen economy” is tackled.