A Framework for Globally Optimizing Mixed-Integer Signomial Programs

Mixed-integer signomial optimization problems have broad applicability in engineering. Extending the Global Mixed-Integer Quadratic Optimizer, GloMIQO (Misener, Floudas in J. Glob. Optim., 2012. doi:10.1007/s10898-012-9874-7), this manuscript documents a computational framework for deterministically addressing mixed-integer signomial optimization problems to ε-global optimality. This framework generalizes the GloMIQO strategies of (1) reformulating user input, (2) detecting special mathematical structure, and (3) globally optimizing the mixed-integer nonconvex program. Novel contributions of this paper include: flattening an expression tree towards term-based data structures; introducing additional nonconvex terms to interlink expressions; integrating a dynamic implementation of the reformulation-linearization technique into the branch-and-cut tree; designing term-based underestimators that specialize relaxation strategies according to variable bounds in the current tree node. Computational results are presented along with comparison of the computational framework to several state-of-the-art solvers. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Matrix Minor Reformulation and SOCP-based Spatial Branch-and-Cut Method for the AC Optimal Power Flow Problem

Alternating current optimal power flow (AC OPF) is one of the most fundamental optimization problems in electrical power systems. It can be formulated as a semidefinite program (SDP) with rank constraints. Solving AC OPF, that is, obtaining near optimal primal solutions as well as high quality dual bounds for this non-convex program, presents a major computational challenge to today's power industry for the real-time operation of large-scale power grids. In this paper, we propose a new technique for reformulation of the rank constraints using both principal and non-principal 2-by-2 minors of the involved Hermitian matrix variable and characterize all such minors into three types. We show the equivalence of these minor constraints to the physical constraints of voltage angle differences summing to zero over three- and four-cycles in the power network. We study second-order conic programming (SOCP) relaxations of this minor reformulation and propose strong cutting planes, convex envelopes, and bound tightening techniques to strengthen the resulting SOCP relaxations. We then propose an SOCP-based spatial branch-and-cut method to obtain the global optimum of AC OPF. Extensive computational experiments show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art SDP-based OPF solver and on a simple personal computer is able to obtain on average a 0.71% optimality gap in no more than 720 seconds for the most challenging power system instances in the literature

Optimality-based bound contraction with multiparametric disaggregation for the global optimization of mixed-integer bilinear problems

We address nonconvex mixed-integer bilinear problems where the main challenge is the computation of a tight upper bound for the objective function to be maximized. This can be obtained by using the recently developed concept of multiparametric disaggregation following the solution of a mixed-integer linear relaxation of the bilinear problem. Besides showing that it can provide tighter bounds than a commercial global optimization solver within a given computational time, we propose to also take advantage of the relaxed formulation for contracting the variables domain and further reduce the optimality gap. Through the solution of a real-life case study from a hydroelectric power system, we show that this can be an efficient approach depending on the problem size. The relaxed formulation from multiparametric formulation is provided for a generic numeric representation system featuring a base between 2 (binary) and 10 (decimal)

Enhancements of Discretization Approaches for Non-Convex Mixed-Integer Quadratically Constraint Quadratic Programming

We study mixed-integer programming (MIP) relaxation techniques for the solution of non-convex mixed-integer quadratically constrained quadratic programs (MIQCQPs). We present two MIP relaxation methods for non-convex continuous variable products that enhance existing approaches. One is based on a separable reformulation, while the other extends the well-known MIP relaxation normalized multiparametric disaggregation technique (NMDT). In addition, we introduce a logarithmic MIP relaxation for univariate quadratic terms, called sawtooth relaxation, based on [4]. We combine the latter with the separable reformulation to derive MIP relaxations of MIQCQPs. We provide a comprehensive theoretical analysis of these techniques, and perform a broad computational study to demonstrate the effectiveness of the enhanced MIP relaxations in terms producing tight dual bounds for MIQCQP

Relaxations and discretizations for the pooling problem

The pooling problem is a folklore NP-hard global optimization problem that finds applications in industries such as petrochemical refining, wastewater treatment and mining. This paper assimilates the vast literature on this problem that is dispersed over different areas and gives new insights on prevalent techniques. We also present new ideas for computing dual bounds on the global optimum by solving high-dimensional linear programs. Finally, we propose discretization methods for inner approximating the feasible region and obtaining good primal bounds. Valid inequalities are derived for the discretized models, which are formulated as mixed integer linear programs. The strength of our relaxations and usefulness of our discretizations is empirically validated on random test instances. We report best known primal bounds on some of the large-scale instances