Heuristic Methods for Minimum-Cost Pipeline Network Design – a Node Valency Transfer Metaheuristic

Abstract Designing low-cost network layouts is an essential step in planning linked infrastructure. For the case of capacitated trees, such as oil or gas pipeline networks, cost usually a function both diameter (i.e. ability to carry flow transferred capacity) and length. Even for incompressible, steady flow, minimizing becomes particularly difficult topology itself dictates local material balances, rendering optimization space non-linear. The combinatorial nature potential trees requires use graph heuristics achieve good solutions reasonable time. In this work we perform comparison known literature metaheuristics finding minimum-cost without Steiner nodes, propose novel algorithms, including metaheuristic based on transferring edges high valency nodes. Our achieves performance above similar algorithms studied, especially larger graphs, producing significantly higher proportion optimal solutions, while remaining line with time-complexity found literature. Data points node positions capacities are first randomly generated, secondly obtained from German emissions trading CO 2 source registry. As political will applications storage hard-to-abate industry growing, efficient design methods become relevant new large-scale networks.