Reduction of water usage in industry by using the MINLP coordinates technique

Natural resources are limited, so we need to handle them carefully. Wastewater also belongs as a significant natural resource. The re-usage of wastewater is to save fresh water and for the preparation of raw materials or/and utilities. The wastewater re-usage distribution can be optimised using mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP), as a tool in combinations using the coordinates technique. The main goal of this MINLP coordinates technique was: i) wastewater and condensate, as produced during different industrial processes, could be collected for: utilities for steam-generation, and the preparations of raw materials; ii) wastewater and condensate could be collected within the main reservoir; iii) distributions from the main reservoir could be used with including different alternatives, which can reduce pollution, based on the re-usage of wastewater. Alternatives included in the optimization model represent potential solutions, which need to be evaluated on appropriate way.The MINLP coordinates technique for wastewater re-usage distribution was tested on existing formalin and methanol industrial processes, thus allowing the saving of water and generated by 280 kEUR/a profit.     

The value of flexibility in conservation financing

Land‐acquisition strategies employed by conservation organizations vary in their flexibility. Conservation‐planning theory largely fails to reflect this by presenting models that are either extremely inflexible—parcel acquisitions are irreversible and budgets are fixed—or extremely flexible—previously acquired parcels can readily be sold. This latter approach, the selling of protected areas, is infeasible or problematic in many situations. We considered the value to conservation organizations of increasing the flexibility of their land‐acquisition strategies through their approach to financing deals. Specifically, we modeled 2 acquisition‐financing methods commonly used by conservation organizations: borrowing and budget carry‐over. Using simulated data, we compared results from these models with those from an inflexible fixed‐budget model and an extremely flexible selling model in which previous acquisitions could be sold to fund new acquisitions. We then examined 3 case studies of how conservation organizations use borrowing and budget carry‐over in practice. Model comparisons showed that borrowing and budget carry‐over always returned considerably higher rewards than the fixed‐budget model. How they performed relative to the selling model depended on the relative conservation value of past acquisitions. Both the models and case studies showed that incorporating flexibility through borrowing or budget carry‐over gives conservation organizations the ability to purchase parcels of higher conservation value than when budgets are fixed without the problems associated with the selling of protected areas.     

网络重要基础设施脆弱性评价模型及其应用

为了评价网络重要基础设施的脆弱性,基于网络图论,构建一个数学规划模型。利用ArcGIS将网络重要基础设施的弧段和节点赋值,将网络拓扑结构以数字形式表示;利用数学规划软件对该模型进行优化求解,得出网络重要基础设施中的脆弱性组件(弧段或节点)。结果表明这些组件的破坏会使网络脆弱性达到最大值,需要对这些组件进行优先防护。将该模型应用于京津冀高速公路交通网络系统,得到该交通网络系统的脆弱性路段。     

基于非线性规划的冬小麦生产碳足迹优化研究

农田是重要的温室气体人为排放源,在全球气候变化研究中占有重要的地位.碳足迹是评估农作物生产生命周期温室气体排放的有力工具.因此,本研究以我国典型冬小麦生长区山西省晋中市为例,采用生命周期评价的方法估算该区单位质量小麦生产的碳足迹,并在此基础上用非线性规划的方法对冬小麦生产碳足迹进行优化,旨在寻求小麦增产减排的途径.结果表明,研究区在传统的耕作方式下,生产1 t小麦的碳足迹为1357.28 kg(以CO2当量计),其中,生长阶段的温室气体排放的碳足迹和尿素生产环节所占比例较大.通过优化尿素与有机肥的施用量,可将研究区生产1 t小麦的碳足迹降低到469.99 kg,同时使单位面积产量增加9.13%.本文结果与相关研究差异较大,可能与氮肥施用量及N2O排放系数的取值有关.本研究对于了解冬小麦生产的综合碳排放情况,探索农业增产减排途径等方面具有重要意义.     

基于修正A值法估算西安市大气环境容量研究

采用以单箱模型法为基础的A值法对西安市大气容量进行估算,并将干沉降、湿沉降和化学转化三个消除过程引入模型测算中,借鉴国内外对于大气常规污染物的清除系数的科学研究成果,对研究区域的SO2、NO2、PM10及PM2.5等4项常规污染物的环境容量进行估算。结果表明,执行2012年新的环境质量标准下,西安市SO2、NO2、PM10及PM2.5大气环境容量分别为13.86×104吨/年,9.24×104吨/年、1.62×105吨/年及8.09×104吨/年。     

Optimal nonpoint source pollution control strategies for a reservoir watershed in Taiwan

The purpose of this study is to develop a model for optimal nonpoint source pollution control for the Fei-Tsui Reservoir watershed in Northern Taiwan. Several structural best management practices (BMPs) are selected to treat stormwater runoff. The complete model consists of two interacting components: an optimization model based on discrete differential dynamic programming (DDDP) and a zero-dimensional reservoir water quality model. A predefined procedure is used to locate suitable sites for construction of various selected BMPs in the watershed. In the optimization model, the objective function is to find the best combination of BMP type and placement, which minimizes the total construction and operation, maintenance, and repair (OMR) costs of the BMPs. The constraints are the water quality standards for total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations in the reservoir. A zero-dimensional reservoir water quality model of the Vollenweider type is embedded in the optimization framework to simulate pollutant concentrations in Fei-Tsui Reservoir. The resulting optimal cost and benefit of water quality improvement are depicted by the model-derived trade-off curves. The modeling framework developed in the present study could be used as an efficient tool for planning a watershed-wide implementation of BMPs for mitigating stormwater pollution impact on the receiving water bodies.     

Trade-offs between time, predation risk and life history, and their implications for biogeography: A systems modelling approach with a primate case study

Group sizes are often considered to be the result of a trade-off between predation risk and the costs of feeding competition. We develop a model to explore the interaction between different ecological constraints on group sizes, using a primate (baboons) case study. The model uses climatic correlates of time budgets to predict maximum ecologically tolerable group size, and climatic predictors of predation risk (reflected mainly in predator density and female body mass) to predict minimum tolerable group size for any given habitat. As well as defining the range of sustainable group sizes for a given habitat, the model also allows us to reliably predict our exemplar taxon's biogeographical distribution across Africa. We also explore the life history implications of the model to ask whether baboons form group sizes which maximise survival or fecundity in the classic trade off between these two key life history variables. Our results indicate that, within the range of study sites in our sample, baboons prefer to maximise fecundity. However, the data indicate that in higher predation risk habitats they would switch to maximising survival at the expense of fecundity. We argue that this is due to the fact that interbirth interval and developmental rates have a ceiling that cannot be breached. Thus, while females can shorten interbirth intervals to compensate for increased predation risk, there is a limit to how much these life history variables can be altered, and when this is reached the best strategy is to maximise survivorship.     

APPLYING GRADIENT PROJECTION AND CONJUGATE GRADIENT TO THE OPTIMUM OPERATION OF RESERVOIRS1

The recent versions of nonlinear programming techniques such as the conjugate gradient and the gradient projection algorithms are used to obtain the optimal operating conditions of a multiple reservoirs system with multiple purposes. These algorithms are compared with other techniques in the literature. The conjugate gradient method incorporates the advantages of both the generalized Newton-Raphson, also known as the quasilinearization technique, and the gradient approach while avoiding their major drawbacks. To illustrate the technique, a water resources system with three reservoirs and a tabular objective function is solved by the two algorithms.     

Optimal Location and Management of Waste Disposal Facilities Affecting Ground Water Quality1

ABSTRACT: Numerical simulation of ground water solute transport is combined with linear programming to optimize waste disposal. A discretized form of the equation governing solute transport is included as a set of constraints in a linear program. Two problems are described. First, the management model is used to maximize ground water waste disposal. The model constrains disposal activities so that the quality of local ground water supplies is protected. Parametric programming is shown to be important in evaluating waste disposal tradeoffs at the various facilities. Changes in the velocity field induced by waste water injection cause a nonlinearity in the solute transport equation which is dealt with by employing an iterative procedure. The second problem is aimed at identifying all sites which are suitable for waste disposal in the subsurface. The management model is manipulated so that the optimal value of the dual variables are “unit source impact indicators.” This physical interpretation is valuable in identifying feasible disposal sites. The joint simulation and optimization approach permits the management of complex ground water systems where the aquifer is used simultaneously for waste disposal and water supply.     

OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT AND DESIGN OF HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT: A possible methodology is developed to deal with the problem of designing complex pipeline systems, when they are subject to different rates of demand, and when a hypothesis of the flow distribution in different branches is not allowed. The mathematical algorithm used in linear programming. The problem, which is not linear, is dealt with by means of an iterative method; that is, by starting with a possible solution and inserting at each iteration the solution found in the preceding iteration. By taking as variables of the problem the piezometric heads of the ends for each branch of the network, the piezometric gradients and flows, and by thus considering the diameter as a derived variable, it is possible to isolate the nonlinearity in the cost function of the network. The latter is linearized each time close to the solution found in the preceding iteration.