DEVELOPMENT OF A GENERAL-PURPOSE OPTIMAL OPERATIONAL PLANNING SYSTEM FOR ENERGY SUPPLY PLANTS

A general-purpose optimal operational planning system with a user-frie ndly interface is developed for the purpose of determining operational strategies of energy supply plants in a simple and rational manner. T he system has the following main functions: (a) data registration, (b) graphical flowsheet editing, (c) automatic programming and optimizati on calculation, and (d) graphical representation of results. A graphic al flowsheet editor enables an easy and flexible composition or change of plant configurations and their relevant data by using fundamental data registered in a database. Plant data composed by the editor are a rranged automatically to carry out an optimization calculation, in whi ch the operational strategy is determined so as to minimize an objecti ve function, such as operational cost subject to energy demand require ments and other operational restraints. An application example shows t hat the system is a useful tool for the operational planning of energy supply plants from the viewpoints, not only of rationality, but also of task and lime reduction.