A combined genetic algorithm/simulated annealing algorithm for large scalesystem energy integration

A new algorithm named GA/SA (genetic algorithm/simulated annealing) is pres ented in this paper for solving a large scale system energy integration pro blem which is difficult to solve on the total process system level directly by traditional algorithm. The general GA has bean improved by using OCX (o rthogonal crossover) and EC (effective crowding) operators, and the improve d GA is combined effectively with an SA algorithm to avoid the common defec t of early convergence. Numerical calculation results show that the new alg orithm can converge faster than either SA or GA algorithms alone, and has m uch more probability of locating a global optimum. The convergence proof of the new algorithm is also given. GA/SA has been used to solve a 167 stream s problem. A good result is achieved for improving the total process retrof it efficiency. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.