Cost Optimization for Series-Parallel Petroleum Transportation Pape-Lines under Reliability Constraints

This paper uses an ant colony meta-heuristic optimization method to solve the cost-optimization problem in petrolum industry. This problem is known as total investment-cost minimization of series-parallel transportation pape lines. Redundant Electro-Pumpe coupled to the papes lines are included to achieve a desired level of availability. System availability is represented by a multi-state availability function. The Electro-pumpe (papelines) are characterized by their capacity, availability and cost. These electro-pumpes are chosen among a list of products available on the market. The proposed meta-heuristic seeks to find the best minimal cost of petrol transportation system configuration with desired availability. To estimate the series-parallel pape lines availability, a fast method based on universal moment generating function (UMGF) is suggested. The ant colony approach is used as an optimization technique. An example of petrol transportation system is presented.