Robust Resource Targeting in Continuous and Batch Process

Water is considered a significant resource in process industries. It is essential for planners to target and optimize the use of water as an external resource for industrial operations. Such optimization problems account for uncertainties related to internal resources and must be handled to provide solutions for real plants of industrial relevance. In this paper, these parametric uncertainties are addressed, while targeting resources for continuous and flexible schedule batch process. The proposed robust counterpart formulations include resource minimization constraints for continuous and batch processes to satisfy the demand. Three different robust optimization methodologies are adapted and extended to handle parametric uncertainties associated with internal resources. Assuming bounded and known uncertainty, the resultant formulations are then implemented to literature examples and the results are compared with the deterministic formulation. The results show that the formulation proposed by Bertsimas and Sim is the most appropriate model for the defined problem because it preserves the linearity and provides a mechanism to control the degree of conservatism, guaranteeing feasibility. This model will assist the planner to decide the resource requirement under uncertain conditions. Thus, immune the process against uncertainties to satisfy demands.

Genetic Algorithm Based Resource Minimization in Network Code Based Peer-to-Peer Network

Block scheduling is difficult to implement in P2P network since there is no central coordinator. This problem can be solved by employing network coding technique which allows intermediate nodes to perform the coding operation instead of store and forward the received data. There is a general assumption in this area of research so far that a target download rate is always attainable at every peer as long as coding operation is performed at all the nodes in the network. An interesting study is made that a maximum download rate can be attained by performing the coding operation at relatively small portion of the network. The problem of finding the minimal set of node to perform the coding operation and links to carry the coded data is called as a network code minimization problem (NCMP). It is proved to be an NP hard problem. It can be solved using genetic algorithm (GA) because GA can be used to solve the diverse NP hard problem. A new NCMP model which considers both minimize the resources needed to perform coding operation and dynamic change in network topology due to disconnection is proposed. Based on this new NCMP model, an effective and novel GA is proposed by implementing problem specific GA operators into the evolutionary process. There is an attempt to implement the different compositions and several options of GA elements which worked well in many other problems and pick the one that works best for this resource minimization problem. Our simulation results prove that the proposed system outperforms the random selection and coding at all possible node mechanisms in terms of both download time and system throughput.

Geometrical transformations of reticulated pavilion canopies as a method for structural optimization

The growing need for rational use of natural resources becomes crucial in all sectors of the current economy. Minimizing the use of materials in construction is becoming an important design aspect. One of the interdisciplinary design methods is geometry optimization, which, thanks to modern computational methods, brings the desired material reduction in constructions. The article examines the impact of using the form-finding method on the example of preliminary geometrical optimization of the reticulated structures. The influence of the dynamic relaxation and geometrical transformations in structure optimization and natural resource minimization is examined. The article aims to indicate the impact of optimization aspects on obtaining efficient load-bearing structures. The research was carried out on the example of a small-scale canopy. Case-studies compare fifteen different geometries generated with the use of mathematical and parametric formulas. The study’s conclusions indicate that interdisciplinary tools supporting the process of the initial design phase help in architectural design.