An intelligent framework to solve the non-convex economic dispatch problem with practical limitations

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Khorramnia, Reza^{a; *} | Jahromi, Mohsen Ketabi^a | Salari, Sanaz^a | Nafar, Mehdi^b | Jabari, Masoud^b

Affiliations: [a] Department of Electrical Engineering, Safashahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Safashahr, Iran | [b] Department of Electrical Engineering, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author. Reza Khorramnia, Department of Electrical Engineering, Safashahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Safashahr, Iran. Tel./Fax: +98 716 6235874; E-mail: r.khorramnia@gmail.com.

Abstract: In this paper, a realistic formulation for the non-convex economic dispatch problem is proposed. It considers different practical constraints including ramp rate limits, valve loading effect, prohibited operating zones, spinning reserve and multi-fuel options. In this regard, a new optimization method based on the bat algorithm is proposed to solve the problem. Meanwhile, because the proposed problem is complex, nonlinear, and constrained, a new self-adaptive modification method, called modified BA or shortly MBA, is proposed. The satisfying performance of the proposed optimization method is examined using IEEE 15-unit, 40-unit and 100-unit test systems. Comparative studies demonstrate the consistent superiority of the proposed method over other alternative optimization techniques widely used in the literature for solving the economic dispatch problem.

Keywords: Economic dispatch, modified bat algorithm, self-adaptive modification mechanism, nonlinear constrained optimization

DOI: 10.3233/IFS-162130

Journal: Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 173-183, 2016