2 research outputs found
Multilocal programming and applications
Preprint versionMultilocal programming aims to identify all local minimizers of unconstrained
or constrained nonlinear optimization problems. The multilocal programming
theory relies on global optimization strategies combined with simple ideas
that are inspired in deflection or stretching techniques to avoid convergence to the
already detected local minimizers. The most used methods to solve this type of problems
are based on stochastic procedures and a population of solutions. In general,
population-based methods are computationally expensive but rather reliable in identifying
all local solutions. In this chapter, a review on recent techniques for multilocal
programming is presented. Some real-world multilocal programming problems
based on chemical engineering process design applications are described.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT
Phase stability analysis of liquid-liquid equilibrium with stochastic methods
Minimization of Gibbs free energy using activity coefficient models and nonlinear equation solution techniques is commonly applied to phase stability problems. However, when conventional techniques, such as the Newton-Raphson method, are employed, serious convergence problems may arise. Due to the existence of multiple solutions, several problems can be found in modeling liquid-liquid equilibrium of multicomponent systems, which are highly dependent on the initial guess. In this work phase stability analysis of liquid-liquid equilibrium is investigated using the NRTL model. For this purpose, two distinct stochastic numerical algorithms are employed to minimize the tangent plane distance of Gibbs free energy: a subdivision algorithm that can find all roots of nonlinear equations for liquid-liquid stability analysis and the Simulated Annealing method. Results obtained in this work for the two stochastic algorithms are compared with those of the Interval Newton method from the literature. Several different binary and multicomponent systems from the literature were successfully investigated