Here is a collection of nonlinear optimization applications from the real world, expressed in the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS). The concepts are presented so that the reader can quickly modify and update them to represent real-world situations.

This book presents the theoretical details and computational performances of algorithms used for solving continuous nonlinear optimization applications imbedded in GAMS. Aimed toward scientists and graduate students who utilize optimization methods to model and solve problems in mathematical programming, operations research, business, engineering, and industry, this book enables readers with a background in nonlinear optimization and linear algebra to use GAMS technology to understand and utilize its important capabilities to optimize algorithms for modeling and solving complex, large-scale, continuous nonlinear optimization problems or applications. Beginning with an overview of constrained nonlinear optimization methods, this book moves on to illustrate key aspects of mathematical modeling through modeling technologies based on algebraically oriented modeling languages. Next, the main feature of GAMS, an algebraically oriented language that allows for high-level algebraic representation of mathematical optimization models, is introduced to model and solve continuous nonlinear optimization applications. More than 15 real nonlinear optimization applications in algebraic and GAMS representation are presented which are used to illustrate the performances of the algorithms described in this book. Theoretical and computational results, methods, and techniques effective for solving nonlinear optimization problems, are detailed through the algorithms MINOS, KNITRO, CONOPT, SNOPT and IPOPT which work in GAMS technology.

Many engineering, operations, and scientific applications include a mixture of discrete and continuous decision variables and nonlinear relationships involving the decision variables that have a pronounced effect on the set of feasible and optimal solutions. Mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problems combine the numerical difficulties of handling nonlinear functions with the challenge of optimizing in the context of nonconvex functions and discrete variables. MINLP is one of the most flexible modeling paradigms available for optimization; but because its scope is so broad, in the most general cases it is hopelessly intractable. Nonetheless, an expanding body of researchers and practitioners — including chemical engineers, operations researchers, industrial engineers, mechanical engineers, economists, statisticians, computer scientists, operations managers, and mathematical programmers — are interested in solving large-scale MINLP instances.

This unique book describes how the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) can be used to solve various power system operation and planning optimization problems. This book is the first of its kind to provide readers with a comprehensive reference that includes the solution codes for basic/advanced power system optimization problems in GAMS, a computationally efficient tool for analyzing optimization problems in power and energy systems. The book covers theoretical background as well as the application examples and test case studies. It is a suitable reference for dedicated and general audiences including power system professionals as well as researchers and developers from the energy sector and electrical power engineering community and will be helpful to undergraduate and graduate students.

This book includes a thorough theoretical and computational analysis of unconstrained and constrained optimization algorithms and combines and integrates the most recent techniques and advanced computational linear algebra methods. Nonlinear optimization methods and techniques have reached their maturity and an abundance of optimization algorithms are available for which both the convergence properties and the numerical performances are known. This clear, friendly, and rigorous exposition discusses the theory behind the nonlinear optimization algorithms for understanding their properties and their convergence, enabling the reader to prove the convergence of his/her own algorithms. It covers cases and computational performances of the most known modern nonlinear optimization algorithms that solve collections of unconstrained and constrained optimization test problems with different structures, complexities, as well as those with large-scale real applications. The book is addressed to all those interested in developing and using new advanced techniques for solving large-scale unconstrained or constrained complex optimization problems. Mathematical programming researchers, theoreticians and practitioners in operations research, practitioners in engineering and industry researchers, as well as graduate students in mathematics, Ph.D. and master in mathematical programming will find plenty of recent information and practical approaches for solving real large-scale optimization problems and applications.

Interest in constrained optimization originated with the simple linear pro gramming model since it was practical and perhaps the only computationally tractable model at the time. Constrained linear optimization models were soon adopted in numerous application areas and are perhaps the most widely used mathematical models in operations research and management science at the time of this writing. Modelers have, however, found the assumption of linearity to be overly restrictive in expressing the real-world phenomena and problems in economics, finance, business, communication, engineering design, computational biology, and other areas that frequently demand the use of nonlinear expressions and discrete variables in optimization models. Both of these extensions of the linear programming model are NP-hard, thus representing very challenging problems. On the brighter side, recent advances in algorithmic and computing technology make it possible to re visit these problems with the hope of solving practically relevant problems in reasonable amounts of computational time. Initial attempts at solving nonlinear programs concentrated on the de velopment of local optimization methods guaranteeing globality under the assumption of convexity. On the other hand, the integer programming liter ature has concentrated on the development of methods that ensure global optima. The aim of this book is to marry the advancements in solving nonlinear and integer programming models and to develop new results in the more general framework of mixed-integer nonlinear programs (MINLPs) with the goal of devising practically efficient global optimization algorithms for MINLPs.

Mathematical Programming has been of significant interest and relevance in engineering, an area that is very rich in challenging optimization problems. In particular, many design and operational problems give rise to nonlinear and mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problems whose modeling and solu tion is often nontrivial. Furthermore, with the increased computational power and development of advanced analysis (e. g. , process simulators, finite element packages) and modeling systems (e. g. , GAMS, AMPL, SPEEDUP, ASCEND, gPROMS), the size and complexity of engineering optimization models is rapidly increasing. While the application of efficient local solvers (nonlinear program ming algorithms) has become widespread, a major limitation is that there is often no guarantee that the solutions that are generated correspond to global optima. In some cases finding a local solution might be adequate, but in others it might mean incurring a significant cost penalty, or even worse, getting an incorrect solution to a physical problem. Thus, the need for finding global optima in engineering is a very real one. It is the purpose of this monograph to present recent developments of tech niques and applications of deterministic approaches to global optimization in engineering. The present monograph is heavily represented by chemical engi neers; and to a large extent this is no accident. The reason is that mathematical programming is an active and vibrant area of research in chemical engineering. This trend has existed for about 15 years.