Optimization in Natural Gas Network Planning

Moryom Hamedi\ Reza Zanjirani Farahani² and Gholamreza Esmaeilian^[5]'³

department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia department of Informatics and Operations Management, Kingston Business School, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey KT2 7LB

department of Industrial Engineering, Payam Noor Universiti, Iran

Introduction

Natural Gas Network Modeling

A vast number of real-world problems in various types of systems are presented using network modeling. A network model represents a powerful visual that helps to present connections among the system's components used in different fields of science. Optimization of network design, network flow, and network operation has been considered as a fundamental issue in different research fields from technical and financial perspectives. Usually, network problems are known as complex struc­tural problems that, in real cases, seek optimal solutions. Considering the character­istics of networks optimization problems, a large number of algorithms have been developed in the literature, and many tried to solve them in reliable times to find the most suitable and optimal solutions.

As one of the most important sources of energy, natural gas is used to satisfy the needs of many commercial and residential users throughout the world through a huge and complex network. Each day, a large amount of money is spent on the different stages and main processes of this network, such as explo­ration, extraction, processing, production, transportation, storage, and distribution П]. Since the 1960s, many different problems have been defined for the plan- ⁿⁱⁿg of design, flow, operation, and development of natural gas transmission ^and distribution networks. The natural gas network planning problems are multi- ^dlsciplinary, and have been tackled by researchers in different fields from around

^lhe world.