Pipe Network Optimization by Enumeration

Abstract

The paper describes a procedure for the optimization of pipe networks which is executed entirely in the discrete pipe size/cost domain. The technique is based on exhaustive enumeration. To keep the computational effort to a minimum two tests were built into the enumeration loop, one on cost and one on pipe sizes. Only if both tests are passed is it necessary to determine the pressure distribution for a pipe size combination. The proposed procedure guarantees the global minimum within the user specified constraints and can generate a queue of Pareto optimal solutions.