DEVELOPMENT OF SEPARATION SEQUENCES USING A GENETIC ALGORITHM

This paper deals with the implementation of a non elitist genetic algo rithm with roulette wheel selection for tile synthesis of separation s equences. After a brief recall of problem combinatorics, the coding st rategy based on the notion of stack for separating a list of elements with feasability constraints, as well as the genetic operators used, a re detailed A didactic example is first presented for estimating the n umerical values of the algorithm basic parameters, and then two large scale examples concerning the separation of mixtures involving 14 and 16 hydrocarbons by means of distillation sequences, are reported The o btained results, compared with those given by a simulated annealing pr ocedure and a purely random search, clearly show the genetic algorithm efficiency.