TY - GEN A1 - Fügenschuh, Armin A1 - Geißler, Björn A1 - Gollmer, Ralf A1 - Hayn, Christine A1 - Henrion, Rene A1 - Hiller, Benjamin A1 - Humpola, Jesco A1 - Koch, Thorsten A1 - Lehmann, Thomas A1 - Martin, Alexander A1 - Mirkov, Radoslava A1 - Morsi, Antonio A1 - Römisch, Werner A1 - Rövekamp, Jessica A1 - Schewe, Lars A1 - Schmidt, Martin A1 - Schultz, Rüdiger A1 - Schwarz, Robert A1 - Schweiger, Jonas A1 - Stangl, Claudia A1 - Steinbach, Marc A1 - Willert, Bernhard T1 - Mathematical Optimization for Challenging Network Planning Problems in Unbundled Liberalized Gas Markets N2 - The recently imposed new gas market liberalization rules in Germany lead to a change of business of gas network operators. While previously network operator and gas vendor where united, they were forced to split up into independent companies. The network has to be open to any other gas trader at the same conditions, and free network capacities have to be identified and publicly offered in a non-discriminatory way. We show that these new paradigms lead to new and challenging mathematical optimization problems. In order to solve them and to provide meaningful results for practice, all aspects of the underlying problems, such as combinatorics, stochasticity, uncertainty, and nonlinearity, have to be addressed. With such special-tailored solvers, free network capacities and topological network extensions can, for instance, be determined. T3 - ZIB-Report - 13-13 KW - Gas Market Liberalization KW - Entry-Exit Model KW - Gas Network Access Regulation KW - Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Nonconvex Stochastic Optimization Y1 - 2013 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-17821 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Fügenschuh, Armin A1 - Hiller, Benjamin A1 - Humpola, Jesco A1 - Koch, Thorsten A1 - Lehmann, Thomas A1 - Schwarz, Robert A1 - Schweiger, Jonas A1 - Szabó, Jácint T1 - Gas Network Topology Optimization for Upcoming Market Requirements N2 - Gas distribution networks are complex structures that consist of passive pipes, and active, controllable elements such as valves and compressors. Controlling such network means to find a suitable setting for all active components such that a nominated amount of gas can be transmitted from entries to exits through the network, without violating physical or operational constraints. The control of a large-scale gas network is a challenging task from a practical point of view. In most companies the actual controlling process is supported by means of computer software that is able to simulate the flow of the gas. However, the active settings have to be set manually within such simulation software. The solution quality thus depends on the experience of a human planner. When the gas network is insufficient for the transport then topology extensions come into play. Here a set of new pipes or active elements is determined such that the extended network admits a feasible control again. The question again is how to select these extensions and where to place them such that the total extension costs are minimal. Industrial practice is again to use the same simulation software, determine extensions by experience, add them to the virtual network, and then try to find a feasible control of the active elements. The validity of this approach now depends even more on the human planner. Another weakness of this manual simulation-based approach is that it cannot establish infeasibility of a certain gas nomination, unless all settings of the active elements are tried. Moreover, it is impossible to find a cost-optimal network extension in this way. In order to overcome these shortcomings of the manual planning approach we present a new approach, rigorously based on mathematical optimization. Hereto we describe a model for finding feasible controls and then extend this model such that topology extensions can additionally and simultaneously be covered. Numerical results for real-world instances are presented and discussed. T3 - ZIB-Report - 11-09 KW - Mathematical Optimization KW - Gas Distribution Networks KW - Topology Planning Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-12348 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hennig, Kai A1 - Schwarz, Robert T1 - Using Bilevel Optimization to find Severe Transport Situations in Gas Transmission Networks N2 - In the context of gas transmission in decoupled entry-exit systems, many approaches to determine the network capacity are based on the evaluation of realistic and severe transport situations. In this paper, we review the Reference Point Method, which is an algorithm used in practice to generate a set of scenarios using the so-called transport moment as a measure for severity. We introduce a new algorithm for finding severe transport situations that considers an actual routing of the flow through the network and is designed to handle issues arising from cyclic structures in a more dynamical manner. Further, in order to better approximate the physics of gas, an alternative, potential based flow formulation is proposed. The report concludes with a case study based on data from the benchmark library GasLib. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-68 KW - bilevel optimization KW - gas networks KW - network flow Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-61519 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Lenz, Ralf A1 - Schwarz, Robert T1 - Optimal Looping of Pipelines in Gas Networks N2 - In this paper, we compare several approaches for the problem of gas network expansions using loops, that is, to build new pipelines in parallel to existing ones. We present different model formulations for the problem of continuous loop expansions as well as discrete loop expansions. We then analyze problem properties, such as the structure and convexity of the underlying feasible regions. The paper concludes with a computational study comparing the continuous and the discrete formulations. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-67 KW - Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming KW - Gas Network Applications KW - Expansion Planning Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-61564 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Serrano, Felipe A1 - Schwarz, Robert A1 - Gleixner, Ambros T1 - On the Relation between the Extended Supporting Hyperplane Algorithm and Kelley’s Cutting Plane Algorithm N2 - Recently, Kronqvist et al. (2016) rediscovered the supporting hyperplane algorithm of Veinott (1967) and demonstrated its computational benefits for solving convex mixed-integer nonlinear programs. In this paper we derive the algorithm from a geometric point of view. This enables us to show that the supporting hyperplane algorithm is equivalent to Kelley's cutting plane algorithm applied to a particular reformulation of the problem. As a result, we extend the applicability of the supporting hyperplane algorithm to convex problems represented by general, not necessarily convex, differentiable functions that satisfy a mild condition. T3 - ZIB-Report - 19-18 Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-73253 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hiller, Benjamin A1 - Koch, Thorsten A1 - Schewe, Lars A1 - Schwarz, Robert A1 - Schweiger, Jonas T1 - A System to Evaluate Gas Network Capacities: Concepts and Implementation N2 - In 2005 the European Union liberalized the gas market with a disruptive change and decoupled trading of natural gas from its transport. The gas is now transported by independent so-called transmissions system operators or TSOs. The market model established by the European Union views the gas transmission network as a black box, providing shippers (gas traders and consumers) the opportunity to transport gas from any entry to any exit. TSOs are required to offer the maximum possible capacities at each entry and exit such that any resulting gas flow can be realized by the network. The revenue from selling these capacities more than one billion Euro in Germany alone, but overestimating the capacity might compromise the security of supply. Therefore, evaluating the available transport capacities is extremely important to the TSOs. This is a report on a large project in mathematical optimization, set out to develop a new toolset for evaluating gas network capacities. The goals and the challenges as they occurred in the project are described, as well as the developments and design decisions taken to meet the requirements. T3 - ZIB-Report - 18-11 Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-67438 SN - 1438-0064 N1 - An earlier version of this report is available as ZR 17-03 at https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-zib/frontdoor/index/index/docId/6193. ER - TY - GEN A1 - Pfetsch, Marc A1 - Fügenschuh, Armin A1 - Geißler, Björn A1 - Geißler, Nina A1 - Gollmer, Ralf A1 - Hiller, Benjamin A1 - Humpola, Jesco A1 - Koch, Thorsten A1 - Lehmann, Thomas A1 - Martin, Alexander A1 - Morsi, Antonio A1 - Rövekamp, Jessica A1 - Schewe, Lars A1 - Schmidt, Martin A1 - Schultz, Rüdiger A1 - Schwarz, Robert A1 - Schweiger, Jonas A1 - Stangl, Claudia A1 - Steinbach, Marc A1 - Vigerske, Stefan A1 - Willert, Bernhard T1 - Validation of Nominations in Gas Network Optimization: Models, Methods, and Solutions N2 - In this article we investigate methods to solve a fundamental task in gas transportation, namely the validation of nomination problem: Given a gas transmission network consisting of passive pipelines and active, controllable elements and given an amount of gas at every entry and exit point of the network, find operational settings for all active elements such that there exists a network state meeting all physical, technical, and legal constraints. We describe a two-stage approach to solve the resulting complex and numerically difficult mixed-integer non-convex nonlinear feasibility problem. The first phase consists of four distinct algorithms facilitating mixed-integer linear, mixed-integer nonlinear, reduced nonlinear, and complementarity constrained methods to compute possible settings for the discrete decisions. The second phase employs a precise continuous nonlinear programming model of the gas network. Using this setup, we are able to compute high quality solutions to real-world industrial instances whose size is significantly larger than networks that have appeared in the literature previously. T3 - ZIB-Report - 12-41 Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-16531 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hiller, Benjamin A1 - Koch, Thorsten A1 - Schewe, Lars A1 - Schwarz, Robert A1 - Schweiger, Jonas T1 - A System to Evaluate Gas Network Capacities: Concepts and Implementation N2 - Since 2005, the gas market in the European Union is liberalized and the trading of natural gas is decoupled from its transport. The transport is done by so-called transmissions system operators or TSOs. The market model established by the European Union views the gas transmission network as a black box, providing shippers (gas traders and consumers) the opportunity to transport gas from any entry to any exit. TSOs are required to offer maximum independent capacities at each entry and exit such that the resulting gas flows can be realized by the network without compromising security of supply. Therefore, evaluating the available transport capacities is extremely important to the TSOs. This paper gives an overview of the toolset for evaluating gas network capacities that has been developed within the ForNe project, a joint research project of seven research partners initiated by Open Grid Europe, Germany's biggest TSO. While most of the relevant mathematics is described in the book "Evaluating Gas Network Capacities", this article sketches the system as a whole, describes some developments that have taken place recently, and gives some details about the current implementation. T3 - ZIB-Report - 17-03 KW - operations research in energy KW - gas network optimization KW - entry-exit model KW - freely allocable capacity KW - large-scale mixed-integer nonlinear programming Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-61931 SN - 1438-0064 N1 - A revised and extended version is available as ZIB-Report 18-11. ER - TY - GEN A1 - Martin, Alexander A1 - Geißler, Björn A1 - Hayn, Christine A1 - Hiller, Benjamin A1 - Humpola, Jesco A1 - Koch, Thorsten A1 - Lehmann, Thomas A1 - Morsi, Antonio A1 - Pfetsch, Marc A1 - Schewe, Lars A1 - Schmidt, Martin A1 - Schultz, Rüdiger A1 - Schwarz, Robert A1 - Schweiger, Jonas A1 - Steinbach, Marc A1 - Willert, Bernhard T1 - Optimierung Technischer Kapazitäten in Gasnetzen N2 - Die mittel- und längerfristige Planung für den Gastransport hat sich durch Änderungen in den regulatorischen Rahmenbedingungen stark verkompliziert. Kernpunkt ist die Trennung von Gashandel und -transport. Dieser Artikel diskutiert die hieraus resultierenden mathematischen Planungsprobleme, welche als Validierung von Nominierungen und Buchungen, Bestimmung der technischen Kapazität und Topologieplanung bezeichnet werden. Diese mathematischen Optimierungsprobleme werden vorgestellt und Lösungsansätze skizziert. T3 - ZIB-Report - 11-56 KW - Gasnetzplanung KW - Technische Kapazitäten KW - Nominierungsvalidierung KW - Buchungsvalidierung KW - Topologieplanung Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-15121 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Maher, Stephen J. A1 - Miltenberger, Matthias A1 - Pedroso, João Pedro A1 - Rehfeldt, Daniel A1 - Schwarz, Robert A1 - Serrano, Felipe T1 - PySCIPOpt: Mathematical Programming in Python with the SCIP Optimization Suite N2 - SCIP is a solver for a wide variety of mathematical optimization problems. It is written in C and extendable due to its plug-in based design. However, dealing with all C specifics when extending SCIP can be detrimental to development and testing of new ideas. This paper attempts to provide a remedy by introducing PySCIPOpt, a Python interface to SCIP that enables users to write new SCIP code entirely in Python. We demonstrate how to intuitively model mixed-integer linear and quadratic optimization problems and moreover provide examples on how new Python plug-ins can be added to SCIP. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-64 KW - SCIP, Mathematical optimization, Python, Modeling Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-61348 SN - 1438-0064 ER -