DYNAMIC OPTIMIZATION OF HYBRID SYSTEMS

Process dynamics are inherently hybrid (discrete/continuous) in nature and, consequently, dynamic optimization of process operations should take this into account. The interaction between the continuous and the discrete components of the problem makes this optimization a much mor e complicated problem, and at present there are no general and efficie nt solution technologies. This paper presents a problem formulation an d a preliminary classification, some mathematical results on hybrid dy namic optimization and examples illustrating characteristics of the pr oblem. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.