Energy Freight-Transportation Network

Application of Energy Freight-Transportation Models

Transportation network problems in the real world are studied through network models. A model is a representation of an object or a problem being studied. Models and methods of freight-transportation networks present the evolution of the network as well as the response to rapidly changing environments. Models must be capable of responding to various changes and modifications: modifications in exist­ing infrastructure, the introduction of modern carriers, the construction of new facilities, the introduction of new technologies resulting in changes of volumes and patterns of supplying energy, the increasing rate of energy consumption resulting in faster transportation, variations in energy prices, changes to labor conditions, new regional or international policies and legislations, and so on. Network models help better explain the relationships between network components.

Transportation scientists try to explain spatial interactions that result in the movement of objects from place to place. It includes research in the fields of geography, economics, and location theory. Transportation science goes back sev­eral centuries. Its methodologies draw from physics, operations research, proba­bility, and control theory. It is fundamentally a quantitative discipline, relying on mathematical models and optimization algorithms to explain the phenomena of transportation [14].

Scientists try to solve the problems in models in order to reach to an optimal solution. Different aspects of a network such as network design, network flow, and network operation are varieties of basic issues being considered in sciences such as operation research, management, accounting, and engineering. Therefore, algo­rithms of different types have been developed to solve the problems in reasonable time to find the optimal solution.

Transportation of energy for industrial or individual uses is of great importance ^ln developing and underdeveloping countries. As a large amount of money is '^vested in energy-related issues such as supplying transportation and storage of energy, it is a priority to study freight-transportation network models. There are ^researchers of different fields working on the network models as the problems of

transportation and distribution of energy are multidisciplinary. As the result, varie ties of algorithm and solutions have been found to deal with the problems.