GENETIC ALGORITHMS IN OPTIMIZATION

A SEMINAR
BY
SATYAJEET S. BHONSALE
ROLL NUMBER: 20090405

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

DR. V. S. SATHE

THIRD YEAR B. Tech

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY,
LONERE

MAY 2012
 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY,
Lonere, Tal. Mangaon, Dist. Raigad (MS). 402103
Department of Chemical Engineering

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the seminar report entitled “GENETIC

ALGORITHMS IN OPTIMIZATION” is a bonafide work carried out by
Mr. Satyajeet S. Bhonsale, Roll Number: 20090405 of Third Year Bachelor
of Technology in Chemical Engineering under my supervision and guidance.
It is approved for the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the
Degree of Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering of Dr.
Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere.

DR. V. S. SATHE
GUIDE

DR. P. V. VIJAY BABU

HEAD,
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

Date:

i
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This seminar report would not have been possible without the kind support and help of
many individuals and the University. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of
them.
I am highly indebted to my guide, Dr. V. S. Sathe, for providing me with his MATLAB
GA code which is used in this study. I thank him for his guidance and constant
supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the seminar and also
for his support in completing the seminar.
I would like to express my gratitude towards Dr. P. V. Vijay Babu, the Head of the
Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological
University, Lonere for his kind cooperation and encouragement which helped me in the
completion of the seminar.
My thanks and appreciations also go to my parents and my friends who have provided me
with the much needed moral support during the seminar work.

Satyajeet S. Bhonsale
Third Year B.Tech,
Chemical Engineering Dept.,
Dr. B. A. T. University, Lonere.

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 ABSTRACT

Genetic algorithms are computerized search and optimization algorithms based on the
mechanics of natural genetics and natural selection. Even though they belong to the class
of randomized search techniques, genetic algorithms dwell upon the past experience and
utilize it to converge quickly on the optima. In this report, genetic algorithms are
introduced as an optimization technique. The Simple Genetic Algorithm (SGA) has been
studied and the various operators and techniques used in the SGA have been discussed. A
few types of reproduction, crossover and mutation schemes are discussed in brief even
though they are mostly not used in the SGA. The difference between the genetic
algorithms and the traditional optimization algorithms, and the advantages and
disadvantages of genetic algorithms are discussed. The report also presents two case
studies which emphasize on the use of genetic algorithms in the optimization of chemical
processes.

iii
CERTIFICATE i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF FIGURES v
LIST OF TABLES v

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 2 OPTIMIZATION 3
2.1 DESIGN VARIABLES………………………………………….. 4
2.2 CONSTRAINTS…………………………………………………. 5
2.3 OBJECTIVE FUNCTION……………………………………….. 5
2.4 OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES………………………………. 7
2.5 GENETIC ALGORITHMS……………………………………… 9
3.1.1 Working Principles…………………………………………. 10
CHAPTER 3 OPERATORS & TECHNIQUES IN GENETIC
ALGORITHMS 12
3.1 ENCODING OF PARAMETERS……………………………….. 12
3.1.1 Binary Encodings…………………………………………... 12
3.1.2 Value Encodings…………………………………………… 13
3.1.3 Permutation Encodings…………………………………….. 14
3.2 FITNESS EVALUATION………………………………………. 14
CHAPTER 4 GENETIC OPERATORS 15
4.1 REPRODUCTION OPERATORS………………………………. 15
4.1.1 Roulette Wheel Selection…………………………………... 15
4.2.2 Stochastic Remainder Sampling……………………………. 17
4.2.3 Ranking Selection………………………………………….. 17
4.2.4 Tournament Selection……………………………………… 17
4.2 CROSSOVER OPERATOR……………………………………... 17
4.2.1 Single Point Crossover……………………………………... 18
4.2.2 Two Point Crossover……………………………………….. 18
4.3 MUTATION OPERATOR………………………………………. 19
CHAPTER 5 A SIMPLE GENETIC ALGORITHM BY EXAMPLE 20
CHAPTER 6 CASE STUDIES 24
6.1 OPTIMIZATION OF CSTRS IN SERIES………………………. 24
6.2 TUNING OF PID CONTROLLER PARAMETERS…………… 26
CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS 31
REFERENCES 32
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 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1 A flowchart of the Optimal Design Formulation 4
Figure 2.2 Feasible region for an optimization problem involving two
variables 6
Figure 2.3 Genetic Algorithm - Program Flow Chart 11
Figure 4.1 A roulette wheel marked for eight individuals 16
Figure 4.2 Single Point Crossover 18
Figure 5.1 Plot of example function 20
Figure 5.2 Plot of Best Fitness Value in each Generation against the no. of
Generation 23
Figure 5.3 Plot of Best Value of Variable x in each Generation against no. of
Generations 23
Figure 6.1 Composition Control System 26
Figure 6.2 Block Diagram of Process in Figure 6.1 26

LIST OF TABLES
Table 5.1 Initial Population Generated Randomly 21
Table 5.2 Population after Generation 5 21
Table 5.3 Population after Generation 10 22
Table 6.1 Parameter values and nomenclature for case study 6.1 25
Table 6.2 Results of the case study 6.1 25
Table 6.3 Results for ITAE as an objective function 29
Table 6.4 Results for IAE as an objective function 29
Table 6.5 Results for ISE as an objective function 29
Table 6.6 Results for MSE as an objective function 30

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 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Optimization algorithms are becoming increasingly popular in engineering design activities,

primarily because of the affordability of high speed computers. They are extensively used in
engineering design problems where emphasis is on maximizing or minimizing a certain goal.
For example, optimization algorithms are used routinely used in aerospace design activities
to minimize the overall weight. Mechanical engineers design mechanical components for
purpose of achieving either minimum manufacturing costs or a maximum component life.
Chemical engineers on the other hand, are interested in designing and operating a process
plant for optimum rate of production.
The chemical industry has undergone significant changes during the past 25 years due
to the increased cost of energy, increasingly stringent environmental regulations, and global
competition in product pricing and quality. One of the most important engineering tools for
addressing these issues is optimization. Modifications in plant design and operating
procedures have been implemented to reduce costs and meet constraints, with an emphasis on
improving efficiency and increasing profitability. Optimal operating conditions can be
implemented via increased automation at the process, plant, and company levels, often called
computer integrated manufacturing, or CIM. As the power of computers has increased,
following Moore's Law of doubling computer speeds every 18 months, the size and
complexity of problems that can be solved by optimization techniques have correspondingly
expanded. Effective optimization techniques are now available in software for personal
computers-a capability that did not exist 10 years ago.
There are two distinct types of optimization algorithms which are in use today. First,
there are algorithms which are deterministic, with specific rules for moving from one
solution to other. These algorithms have been in use for quite some time and have been
successfully applied to many engineering design problems. Secondly, there are algorithms
which are stochastic in nature, with probabilistic transition rules. These algorithms are
comparatively new and are gaining popularity due to certain properties which the
deterministic algorithms lack.
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 Genetic algorithms belong to the second class of optimization techniques. Genetic
algorithms are search algorithms based on the mechanics of natural selection and natural
genetics. Genetic algorithms were developed by John Holland and his students at the
University of Michigan. The goals of their research were twofold: (1) to abstract and
rigorously explain the adaptive processes of natural system, and (2) to design artificial
systems software that retains the important mechanisms of natural systems. Genetic
algorithms combine survival of the fittest among string structures with a structured yet
randomized information exchange to form a search algorithm with some innovative flair of
human search. In each generation, a new set of artificial creatures (strings) is created using
bits and pieces of the fittest old; an occasional new part is tried for good measure. While
randomized, genetic algorithms are no simple random walk. They efficiently exploit
historical information to speculate on new search points with expected improved
performance.

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 CHAPTER 2

OPTIMIZATION

“Man's longing for perfection finds expression in the theory of optimization. It studies
how to describe and attain the Best, once one knows how to measure and alter what is
Good or Bad... Optimization Theory encompasses the quantitative study of optima and
methods for finding them.”

A typical engineering problem can be posed as follows: You have a process that can be
represented by some equations or perhaps solely by experimental data. You also have a
single performance criterion in mind such as minimum cost. The goal of optimization is to
find the values of the variables in the process that yield the best value of the performance
criterion. The ingredients described above -- the process or model and the performance
criterion -- compromise the optimization `problem'. Typical problems in chemical
engineering process design or plant operation have many, and possibly infinite number of
solutions. Optimization is concerned with selecting the best among the entire set by efficient
quantitative methods.
The objective in a design problem and associated design parameters vary from
product to product, different techniques need to be used in different problems. The purpose
of the formulation procedure is to create a mathematical model of the optimal design
problem, which then can be solved using an optimization algorithm.
Every optimization problem revolves three essential parameters:
1. The Design Variables
2. The Constraints
3. The Objective Function
Figure 2.1 shows an outline of the steps usually involved in an optimal design formulation
process. The first step is always to realize the need for using optimization in a specific design
problem.

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 Figure 2.1: A flowchart of the Optimal Design Formulation

2.1 Design Variables

The formulation of an optimization problem begins with identifying the underlying design
variables, which are primarily varied during the optimization process. A design problem
usually involves many design parameters, of which some are highly sensitive to proper
working of design. These are called the design variables. Other (not so important) design
parameters usually remain fixed. There is no rigid guideline to choose a design variable
because, one parameter may be more important with respect to minimization problem, but
insignificant with respect to maximization. Thus, the choice of design variables depends

4
largely on the user. The first thumb rule of formulation of a optimization problem is to
choose as few design variables as possible
2.2 Constraints
The constraints represent some functional relationships among the design variable and other
design parameters satisfying certain physical phenomenon and certain resource limitations.
Some of these considerations require that the design remain in static or dynamic equilibrium.
There are usually two types of constraints that emerge from most considerations:
Inequality Constraints
Equality Constraints
Inequality constraints state that the functional relationships among the design variable are
either greater than, smaller than, or equal to the resource value. For example, a certain
process may require the temperature of the system at any time t be always greater than min
temperature Tmin. Mathematically,

Most of the constraints encountered in the engineering design problems are of this type. One
type of inequality constraint can be converted into other type by multiplying both sides by -1
or by interchanging left and right sides.
Equality constraints state that the functional relationship should exactly match a resource
value. For example, a constraint may require the pressure at any time or place to be equal to 5
atm, or mathematically,

Equality constraints are usually more difficult to handle and, therefore need to be avoided
whenever possible.

2.3 The Objective Function

The objective function is any mathematical relation that correlates the design variables and
other parameters to the goal of optimization. Common engineering objectives include
minimization of cost of production, maximization of the profits, etc. Although most
objectives can be quantified, there are some objectives that may not be quantified easily. In
such a case, usually an approximating mathematical expression is used. In real-world
optimization, there could be more than one objective that the designer may want to optimize.

5
The objective function can be of two types. Either the objective function is to be maximized,
or it has to be minimized. Unfortunately, the optimization algorithms are written either for
minimization or for maximization.

Figure 2.2: Feasible region for an optimization problem involving two variables

By a feasible solution of the optimization problem we mean a set of variables that

satisfy the inequality and equality constraints to the desired degree of precision. Figure 2.2
illustrates the feasible region i.e. the region of feasible solutions, defined by the constraints.
In this case the feasible region is bounded by two inequality constraints. An optimal solution
is a set of values of the variables that satisfy the components of the inequality and equality
constraints, and also provides an optimal value for the objective function. In most cases the
optimal solution is unique one; in some cases it is not.
Thus an optimization problem can be defined as: “Finding values of the variables
that minimize or maximize the objective function, while satisfying the constraints”

6
2.4 Optimization Techniques
The formulation of engineering design problems differs from problem to problem. Certain
problems involve linear terms for constraints and objective function, but certain involve non-
linear terms for them. In some problems, the terms are not explicit functions of the design
variables. Unfortunately, there does not exist a single optimization algorithm which will
work in all optimization problems equally efficiently. That is why the optimization literature
contains a large number of algorithms, each suitable to solve a particular type of problem
The current available literature identifies three main types of search methods:
calculus-based
enumerative
random
Calculus based methods have been studied extensively. These subdivide into two main
classes: indirect and direct. Indirect methods seek local extrema by solving usually nonlinear
set of equations resulting from setting the gradient of the objective function to zero. This is
the multidimensional generalization of the elementary calculus notion of the extremal points.
Given a smooth, unconstrained function, finding all possible peak starts by restricting search
to those points with slope of zero in all directions. Direct search methods, on the other hand,
see the local optima by hopping on the function and moving in a direction related to the local
gradient. This is simply the notion of hill-climbing: to find the local best, climb the function
in the steepest permissible direction.
Even though these calculus based methods have been improved, extended and
modified, they lack robustness. First, both methods are local in scope; the optima they seek
are the best in the neighborhood of current point. Second, calculus-based methods depend
upon the existence of derivatives. Many practical parameter spaces have little respect for the
notion of a derivative and the smoothness it implies. The real world of search is fraught with
discontinuities and vast multinodal, noisy search spaces. Thus, the methods depending upon
the restrictive requirements of continuity and derivative existence are unsuitable for all but
very limited problem domain.
Enumerative schemes have been considered in many shapes and sizes. The idea is
fairly straightforward; within a finite search space, or discretized infinite search space, the
search algorithm starts looking at the objective function values at every point in the space,

7
one at a time. Although the simplicity of this type of algorithm is attractive, many practical
search spaces are simply too large to search one at a time.
For the sake of clarity, Deb has further classified the optimization algorithms in five groups:
1. Single-Variable Optimization Algorithms. The algorithms are further classified into
two categories -- direct methods and gradient-based (calculus) methods. Direct
methods do not use any derivative information of the objective function; only the
objective function values are used to guide the search process. However, the gradient
based algorithms use the derivative information (first and/or second order) to guide
the search process. Although engineering optimization problems usually contain more
than one design variable, single-variable optimization algorithms are mainly used as
unidirectional search methods in multivariable optimization algorithms.
2. Multi-variable Optimization Algorithms. These demonstrate how the search for the
optimum point progresses in multiple directions. Depending on whether the gradient
information is used or not, these are also classified as direct and gradient based
techniques.
3. Constrained Optimization Algorithms. These algorithms use single variable and
multivariable optimization algorithms repeatedly and simultaneously maintain the
search effort inside the feasible region.
4. Specialized Optimization Algorithms. There exist a number of structured algorithms
which are ideal only for a certain class of optimization problems. Two of these
algorithms -- integer programming and geometric programming -- are often used in
engineering design problems
5. Nontraditional Optimization Algorithms. These algorithms are comparatively new
and are becoming popular in engineering design. Examples of non-traditional
algorithms are genetic algorithms, simulated annealing, tabu search, etc.

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2.5 Genetic Algorithms
In nature, competition among individuals for scanty resources results in the fittest individual
dominating over the weaker ones. This formed the base of Darwin's theory of evolution –
„Survival of the Fittest‟. Genetic algorithms are adaptive heuristic search algorithm inspired
by the Darwinian idea of natural selection and genetics. GAs represent an intelligent
exploitation of random search used to solve optimization problems. Even though random in
nature, GAs exploit historical information to direct search into the region of better
performance within the search space. The concept of genetic algorithms was first introduced
by John Holland of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1975. Thereafter, he and his
students have contributed greatly to the development of the field.
Genetic algorithms are different from the traditional optimization algorithms and search
procedures in four ways:
1. GAs work with a coding of the parameter set, not the parameters themselves.
2. GAs search from a population of points, not a single point.
3. GAs use payoff (objective function) information, not gradient or other auxiliary
knowledge.
4. GAs use probabilistic transition rules, not deterministic
The advantage of working with a coding of variables is that coding discretizes the search
space, even though the function may be continuous. On the other hand, since GAs require
only function values at discrete points, a discrete or discontinuous function can be handled at
no extra cost. This allows the GAs to be applied to a wide variety of problems.
The most striking difference between GAs and many traditional optimization methods
is that GAs work with a population of points instead of single point. Because there are more
than one string being processed simultaneously, it is very likely that the expected GA
solution may be a global solution. Even though some traditional methods, like the Box's
evolutionary optimization and complex search methods are population based, those methods
do not use previously obtained information efficiently. In GAs, previously found good
information is emphasized using reproduction operator and propagated adaptively through
crossover and mutation operators
The other major difference in operation of GAs is the use of probabilities in their
operators. None of the genetic operators work deterministically. In the reproduction operator,

9
a simulation of the roulette-wheel selection scheme is used to assign the true number of
copies. In crossover operator, even though good strings are crossed, strings to be crossed are
created at random and cross sites ate created at random. in mutation operator, a random bit is
suddenly altered.
Taken together, these four differences – direct use of coding, search from a
population, blindness to auxiliary information, and randomized operators, contribute to a
genetic algorithm’s robustness and resulting advantage over other more commonly used
techniques.

2.5.1 Working Principles

Genetic algorithms begin with a set of solution (represented by encodings called
chromosomes) called the population. The initial population is usually generated randomly.
Solutions from one population are taken and used to form a new population. This is
motivated by the possibility that the new population will be better than the old one. Solutions
are selected according to their fitness to form new solutions (offspring); more suitable they
are, more chances they have to reproduce. This is repeated until some condition (e.g. number
of populations or improvement of the best solution) is satisfied. An outline of a simple
genetic algorithm is shown below
1. [Start] Generate random population of N chromosomes
2. [Fitness] Evaluate fitness f(x) of each chromosome x in the population
3. [New Population] Create new population by repeating following steps until the new
population is complete
a) [Selection] Select two parent chromosomes from a population according to their
fitness (better the fitness, bigger the chance to be selected)
b) [Crossover] With a crossover probability, crossover the parents to form new
offspring. If no crossover was performed, offspring is the exact copy of parents.
c) [Mutation] With a mutation probability, mutate new offspring at each locus
(position in chromosome).
4. [Replace] Use new generated population for a further runs.
5. [Test] If the end condition is satisfied, stop, and return the best solution in current
population, else goto step 2.

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Figure 2.3: Genetic Algorithm - Program Flow Chart

11
 CHAPTER 3
OPERATORS AND TECHNIQUES IN GENETIC ALGORITHMS

Most traditional algorithms cannot solve problems that involve discreet search spaces. GAs
can effectively be used in such cases as GAs work with coding of the parameters. Many
search techniques require much auxiliary information in order to work properly GAs are
blind. To perform effective search for better and better structures they only require payoff
values associated with the strings. These payoff values are calculated on basis of the fitness
function and are often called the strings’ fitness. Thus, encoding of parameter and fitness
evaluation form a strong technique that make genetic algorithms robust and prevail over
traditional algorithms.

3.1 Encoding of Parameter

Before a genetic algorithm can be put to work on any problem, the variable first have to be
coded in some string structure so that a computer can process them. The coding of the
variables are not absolutely necessary as there exist some studies wherein GAs are directly
used on the variable themselves, however in this study the exceptions were ignored and more
focus was put on working of a simple genetic algorithm. Coding of the parameters
automatically discreetizes the search space, so GAs can work on objective functions that are
higly discontinuous and discreet without any additional cost.
One common approach is to encode the solutions as binary strings: sequences of 1’s
and 0’s, where each digit at each position represents the value of some aspect of the solution.
A string of such bits that represent the potential solution is called the chromosome. There are
many other ways of encoding potential solutions – encoding values as integers or real
numbers or some permutations and so on. The virtue of these encoding methods depends
upon the nature of problem to work on.

3.1.1 Binary Encodings

Because of its inherent simplicity, binary encoding is the most commonly used coding
method to represent information contained in a potential solution. In binary encoding, every

12
chromosome is a string of bits: 1’s and 0’s. The length of the string is usually determined
according to the desired solution accuracy. An n bit string can represent integers between 0 to
2n-1, i.e., 2n integers. However, the practical search space we would encounter may be larger
than this bracket or smaller or may lie outside this bracket. So a fixed mapping rule is used to
represent a point in the search space. The mapping rule divides the search space in 2n parts
and assigns each smaller bracket a binary string value. For example, if a 3-bit string is used
to encode the search space between 0 to 10, the search space would be divided into 23 = 8
parts. The first part i.e. 0-1.25 would be represented by the string 000 and the last part 8.75-
10 would be represented by string 111. The most commonly used rule is the linear mapping
rule, where the search space is mapped according the following relationship:

In above equation, the variable xi is coded in a substring si of length n. The decoded value of
the substring si is calculated as , where . For example a 4-bit string
(1101) has a decoded value equal to or 11. The accuracy that can
be obtained with a 4-bit string is only approximately 1/16th of the search space. But, as the
string length is increased by one, the accuracy increases exponentially to 1/32th of the search
space. Generalizing this concept, we can say that with an n-bit string, the approximate
accuracy in the variable is .

3.1.2 Value Encoding

The value encoding can be used in the problems where values such as real numbers are used
or where use of binary encoding would be difficult. In value encoding every chromosome is a
sequence of some values. The values can be anything connected to the problem – real
numbers, characters, or objects. Values encoding necessitate the development of some new
crossover and mutation operators specific to the problem.
For example,
CHROMOSOME 1: 1.02 2.64 5.44 6.32,
CHROMOSOME 2: ABDECAECBC,
CHROMOSOME 3: (back), (back), (right), (forward)

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3.1.3 Permutation Encoding
In permutation encoding, every chromosome is a sting of numbers that represent a position in
a sequence. Permutation encodings are useful in ordering problems like the travelling
salesman problem. For some problems, crossover and mutation corrections need to be made
to leave the chromosome consistent.
For example,
CHROMOSOME 1: 1 2 6 9 3 7 5 4 8
CHROMOSOME 2: 8 1 3 9 2 7 6 4 5

3.2 Fitness Evaluation

As pointed out earlier, GAs mimic the ‘survival-of-the-fittest’ principle of the nature to make
a search process. The fitness of the individual depends upon the value of the objective
function, higher the value, higher is its probability of surviving. Therefore, GAs are naturally
suitable for solving maximization problem. Minimization problems are usually transformed
into maximization problems. In general, the fitness function is derived from the objective
function to depict the closeness of the given solution to the desired result. The fitness
function quantifies the optimality of the chromosome so that the particular chromosome be
ranked against all other solutions. For maximization problems, the fitness function can be
considered to be the same as the objective function, . For minimization
problems, the fitness function is an equivalent maximization problem chosen such that the
optimum point remains unchanged. A number of such transforms are used. The following
transform is commonly used:

This transformation does not alter the location of the minimum, but converts the
minimization problem to an equivalent maximization problem. The fitness function value of
a string is known as the string’s fitness.

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 CHAPTER 4
GENETIC OPERATORS

The mechanics of a simple genetic algorithm are surprisingly simple, involving nothing more
complex than copying strings and swapping partial strings. The operation of GAs begins with
a population of random strings representing the design or decision variables. Thereafter, each
string is evaluated to find the fitness value. The population is then operated by three main
operators – reproduction, crossover, and mutation – to create new population of points. The
new population is further evaluated and tested for termination. If termination criterion is not
met, the population is iteratively operated by above three operators and evaluated. One cycle
of these operations and the subsequent evaluation procedure is known as a generation in GA
terminology.

4.1 Reproduction Operator

Reproduction is usually the first operator applied on a population. Reproduction is a process
in which individual strings are copied according to their fitness. Reproduction selects good
strings in a population and forms a mating pool. That is why the reproduction operator is
sometimes called selection operator. There exist a number of reproduction schemes in the
GA literature, but the essential idea in all of them is that the above-average strings are picked
from the current population and their multiple copies are inserted in the mating pool in a
probabilistic manner.

4.1.1 Roulette Wheel Selection

The most commonly used reproduction operator in a SGA is the roulette wheel selection. In
roulette wheel selection, a string is selected for the mating pool with a probability
proportional to its fitness. Thus this operator is also called proportionate reproduction
operator. Since the population size in a SGA is kept fixed, the sum of the probability of each
string being selected for the mating pool must be one. Therefore, the probability for selecting
the ith string is

15
where n is the population size. The easiest way to implement selection is to create a biased
roulette wheel where each current string in population has a roulette wheel slot sized in
proportion to its fitness. To reproduce, we simply spin the weighted roulette thus defined n
times, each time selecting an instance of the string chosen by the roulette wheel pointer.

Figure 4.1: A roulette wheel marked for eight individuals

Since the circumference of the roulette wheel is marked according to the strings fitness, this
roulette wheel mechanism is expected to make copies the ith string in the mating pool.
This roulette wheel selection scheme can be simulated easily. Using the fitness value of
all strings, the probability of selecting a string pi can be calculated. Thereafter, the
cumulative probability (Pi) of each string being copied can be calculated by adding the
individual probabilities from the top of the list. The bottom most string would then have a
cumulative probability of 1. Thus, the ith string in the population represents the cumulative
probability values from Pi-1 to Pi. In order to choose n strings, n random numbers are

16
generated between 0 to 1. Thus the string that represents the chosen random number in the
cumulative probability range for the string is copied to the mating pool.

4.1.2 Stochastic Remainder Sampling

Stochastic remainder sampling is quiet similar to the roulette wheel selection scheme.
However instead of assigning probabilities proportional to the fitness value, the mean fitness
is calculated as

The number of copies of the ith string in the mating pool is given by the integer part of the
value given by . Suppose, the fitness of the ith string is 2.6 and the average or mean
fitness is 1.2. The stochastic remainder sampling operator would then make 2
copies of the string i. After the chromosomes have been assigned according to the integer
part, the rest of the selection is done stochastically according to the roulette wheel selection.

4.1.3 Ranking Selection

In ranking selection, the individuals are first ranked according to their fitness values. Those
with high fitness are assigned high ranks and those with low fitness will eventually have low
ranks. The individuals are then selected with a probability that is proportional to its rank.

4.1.4 Tournament Selection

Tournament selection works by first picking s individuals from the population and then
selecting the best out of the chosen s individuals. If performed without replacement in a
systematic way, this selection scheme can assign exactly s copies of the best individual in the
mating pool at every generation. In most GA applications, a binary tournament scheme with s
= 2 is used.
Other selection operators include the range selection, gender-specific selection, GR
based selection, etc. It is important to note that no new strings are formed in the reproduction
phase. New strings are formed by the subsequent operators – crossover and mutation.

17
4.2 Crossover Operator
Crossover is a genetic operator that combines two chromosomes to produce, new
chromosomes. The idea behind crossover is that the new chromosome may be better than
both its parents if takes the best characteristics from each of the parents. Many crossover
operators are available in the GA literature. Most crossover operators proceed in two steps.
First, members of the newly reproduced strings in the mating pool are coupled at random.
Second, each pair of strings undergoes crossing over. Two crossover operators are described
in this report.

4.2.1 Single Point Crossover

A single point crossover is performed by randomly choosing a crossing site along the string
and by exchanging all bits on the right side of the crossing site as shown

Figure 4.2: Single Point Crossover

The two strings participating in crossover are called parents and the resulting strings are
called offsprings. It is intuitive from this construction that good substrings from parent strings
can be combined to form a better offspring. Since, the appropriate crossover site is not
known, a random site is often chosen. With a random site, the offsprings produced may or
may not have a combination of good substrings from parents, depending on whether the
crossover site falls in the appropriate place. But we do not need to worry, because if good
strings are created by crossover, there will be more copies of them in next mating pool
created by the reproduction operator. But if good strings are not created, they will not survive
too long, because reproduction will select against those strings in subsequent generations. In
order to preserve some of the good strings that are already present in the mating pool, not all
strings in mating pool are used for crossover. When a crossover probability of pc is used only
100pc percent strings in the population are used in crossover.

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4.2.2 Two Point Crossover
The two point crossover operator randomly selects two crossover points within a
chromosome and then interchanges the two parent chromosomes between these points to
produce new offspring.
Other crossover operators include arithmetic crossover, heuristic crossover, uniform
crossover. The operator to be use is usually selected based on the way the chromosomes are
encoded. A crossover operator is mainly responsible for the search of new strings, even
though a mutation operator is also used for this purpose sparingly.
4.3 Mutation Operator
Mutation alters one or more gene values in a chromosome from its initial state. This
can result in entirely new gene values being added to the gene pool. The need for mutation is
to create a local search around the current solution. The mutation is also used to maintain
diversity in the population. Mutation is an important part of the genetic search; it helps
prevent the population from stagnating at any local optima.
The simplest mutation operator is the flip-bit mutation. This operator changes the 1s
to 0s and vice versa with a small mutation probability, pm. The bit-wise mutation is bit by bit
by flipping a coin with a probability pm. If at any bit, the outcome is true then the bit is
altered; else it is kept unchanged. The coin flip mechanism can be simulated easily. A
random number is generated between 0 and 1. If the number is less than pm the outcome of
coin-flip is true, otherwise it is false.
These three operators are simple and straightforward. The reproduction operator
selects good strings and crossover operator recombines good strings to hopefully create better
strings. The mutation operator alters a string locally to hopefully create a better string. Even
though none of these claims are guaranteed and/or tested while creating a string, it is
expected that if a bad string is created it will be eliminated by the reproduction operator in
the subsequent generations and if good strings are created, they will be increasingly
emphasized.

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 CHAPTER 5
A SIMGLE GENETIC ALGORITM BY EXAMPLE

Consider a simple optimization problem,

in the interval (0,5). A plot of the function is shown in figure 6.1. The plot shows that the
minimum lies at x* = 3. The corresponding function value is f(x*) = 3

Figure 5.1: Single Variable optimization problem used as example. Minimum point is x
=3
In order to solve this problem using genetic algorithms, we choose binary coding to represent
the variable x. In the calculations, a 4-bit string is chosen. Thus we get an accuracy of 0.3333.
We choose roulette wheel selection, single point crossover, and bit-wise mutation operator.
The crossover and mutation probabilities are assigned to be 0.5 and 0.15 respectively. The
population size is fixed to be 10. The MATLAB code was run for above parameters and the
results obtained are tabulated below.

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Table 5.1: Initial Population Generated Randomly

CHROMOSOME PHENOTYPE COST/FITNESS

1011 7.3333 61.14096
1100 8 70.75
0110 4 29.5
1010 6.6667 52.54485
1110 9.3333 92.89622
0011 2 31
0011 2 31
1100 8 70.75
1111 10 105.4
1100 8 70.75
AVERAGE
61.5732
FITNESS

Table 5.2: Population after Generation 5

CHROMOSOME PHENOTYPE COST/FITNESS
0110 4 29.5
0111 4.6667 33.3492
0011 2 31
1011 7.3333 61.1414
1010 6.6667 52.5444
0111 4.6667 33.3492
0101 3.3333 27.3111
0010 1.3333 42.2778
0011 2 31
0111 4.6667 33.3492
AVERAGE
34.3822
FITNESS

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 Table 5.3: Population after Generation 10

CHROMOSOME PHENOTYPE COST/FITNESS

0110 3.3333 27.31105
0111 4.6667 33.34943
0100 2.6667 27.36104
1100 8 70.75
1100 8 70.75
0110 4 29.5
0111 4.6667 33.34943
0100 2.6667 27.36104
1111 10 105.4
0110 4 29.5
AVERAGE
45.4632
FITNESS

From Tables 6.1 – 6.3 we can observe that the average fitness has decreased through the
generations. Even though the fitness in 10th generation is larger, it is due to presence of few
odd strings in the population. The maximum strings have the fitness around 27 which is the
minimum. The above simulation of the simple genetic algorithm yielded the minimum at
3.3333.
The same problem when simulated with a 32-bit string and a population of 20 gave
the minimum at 2.9991 at end of 100 generations. Thus we can say that the accuracy of a GA
depends upon the length of the bit string used. Figure 6.1 shows the plot of the minimum cost
in each generation against the number of generations and Figure 6.2 shows the plot of the
optimal solution obtained in each solution against the number of generations. The figures
show that the algorithm converged upon the optimal solution in around 30 generations.
The above problem was taken from the textbook Optimization in Engineering
Design: Algorithms and Examples by Kalyanmoy Deb and was solved out of curiosity using
the Simple Genetic Algorithm code provided by Dr. V. S. Sathe. The optimum value of the
function is known to be 3 from the textbook.

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Figure 5.2: Plot of Best Fitness Value in each Generation against the no. of Generation
(Plotted Using MATLAB)

Figure 5.3: Plot of Best Value of Variable x in each Generation against no. of
Generations. (Plotted Using MATLAB)

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 CHAPTER 6
SIMPLE CASE STUDIES

The case studies mentioned below have been taken as it is from the literature available
[6,10]. These case studies use GAs to solve representative problems in design and control of
chemical processes. Similarly, GAs can be used to solve complex problems in Transport
Phenomenon, Thermodynamics and Reaction Engineering.

6.1 OPTIMIZATION OF VOLUMES OF CSTRS IN SERIES

In train of four CSTRs, the problem is to design CSTR volumes to achieve maximum
conversion. The sum of individual CSTRs is constrained by a prespecified value. This
problem has been successfully solved by past researchers like Szépe and Levenspiel (1964),
Edgar and Himmelblau (1988), etc. The reaction

takes place under isothermal conditions in a series of four CSTRs whose dynamics are given
by

The LHS of the equation is set to zero and the exit concentrations ci, i = 1,…, 4, of the four
CSTRs are solely determined by the inlet flow rate F, reaction constant k and feed
concentration c0. Parameter values and variable nomenclature are given in Table 7.1. Here a
GA is used as a function optimizer to solve the following:

subject to,

In each fitness evaluation, the routine FZERO is used to solve for the steady state algebraic
equation yielding c4 and the fitness is set equal to –c4. When the constraint is violated the
fitness is set equal to that of the minimum fitness encountered in that generation. Table 7.2
shows a comparison between this study (Hanagandi and Nikolaou) and that of Edgar and
Himmelblau.
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 Table 6.1: Parameter Values and nomenclature

SYMBOL MEANING VALUE

F Federate 71 m3/hr
Vi Volume of the ith reactor Variable
ci Concentration of A in the ith reactor Variable
c0 Concentration of A in the feed to the first reactor 20 kmol/m3
ri Rate of disappearance of A in CSTR i
n Order of the reaction 2.5
0.00625
K Reaction constant
[m /kmol]1.5s-1
3

Table 6.2: Results of Case Study 6.1

Edgar and
Variable Hanagandi and Nikolaou
Himmelblau
c4 0.3962 kmol/m3 0.3961 kmol/m3
V1 2.234 m3 2.242 m3
V2 3.698 m3 3.884 m3
V3 6.163 m3 5.849 m3
V4 7.905 m3 8.025 m3

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6.2 TUNING OF PID CONTROLLER PARAMETERS
In composition control system represented by Figure 6.1, a concentrated stream of control
reagent containing water and solute is used to control the concentration of the stream leaving
a three tank system. The stream to be processed passes through a preconditioning stirred tank
where composition fluctuations are smoothed out before the outlet stream is mixed with
control reagent

Figure 6.1 Composition Control System

The measurement of composition in the third tank is sent to the controller, which generates a
signal that opens or closes the control valve, which in turn supplies concentrated reagent to
the first tank. By choosing numerical values of the Time-constant of the control reagent tank
as 5 and steady-state gain of the control reagent tank as unity, the system is represented by
the block diagram shown in Figure 6.2.

Figure 6.2 Block diagram for process in figure 6.1

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The transfer function of the process is given by

The Ziegler-Nichols method is widely used for Controller Tuning. One of the disadvantages
of this method is prior knowledge regarding plant model. Once tuned the controller by
Ziegler Nichols method, a good but not optimum system response will be reached. The
Transient response can be even worse if the plant dynamics change. To assure an
environmentally independent good performance, the controller must be able to adapt the
changes of the plant dynamic characteristics. For these reasons, it is highly desirable to
increase the capabilities of PID controllers by adding new features. Many random search
methods, such as Genetic Algorithm (GA) have received much interest for achieving high
efficiency and searching global optimal solution in the problem space.

6.2.1 The PID Controller

A PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) controller as the name suggests consists of
Proportional Action, Integral Action and Derivative Action. The proportional controller
output uses a portion of the system error to control the system.

The Integral controller output is proportional to the amount of time there is an error present
in the system. The Integral action removes the offset introduced by the proportional control
but introduces a phase lag into the system.

The Derivative controller output is proportional to the rate of change of the error. Derivative
control is used to reduce overshoot and introduces a phase lead action that removes the phase
lag introduced by the integral action.

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6.2.2 The Objective Functions
A GA is only as good as the objective function. The objective functions used in this study are
Mean of the Squared Error (MSE), Integral of Time multiplied by Absolute Error (ITAE),
Integral of Absolute magnitude of the Error (IAE) and the Integral of the Squared Error
(ISE).

6.2.3 Fitness Value

The PID controller is used to minimize the error signals, or we can define in term of error
criteria: to minimize the value of performance indices. And because the smaller the value of
performance indiced of the corresponding chromosomes the fitter the chromosomes will be,
and vice versa, we define the fitness of the chromosomes as

6.2.4 Results
The selection scheme used in the case study was Roulette Wheel and the population size is
fixed to be 80 and the mutation probability 0.001. The range of the PID values was given to
be 0 – 40. The results of the case study are tabulated for various objective functions in tables
6.4 – 6.7.

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Table 6.3 Results for ITAE as objective function (Bhawana Tandon et al)

ITEM GA ZN
%age Overshoot 40.4 29.6
Rise time(sec) 0.1 1.5
Peak Time(sec) 0.15 2.5
Settling Time(sec) 3 10
KP 54.96323 3.7
Ki 8.51 1.8
Kd 99.1578 1.8

Table 6.4 Results for IAE as objective function (Bhawana Tandon et al)

ITEM GA ZN
%age Overshoot 38.2 29.6
Rise time(sec) 0.1 1.5
Peak Time(sec) 0.35 2.5
Settling Time(sec) 2.9 10
KP 31.16428 3.7
Ki 9.0578 1.8
Kd 92.04361 1.8

Table 6.5 Results for ISE as objective function (Bhawana Tandon et al)

ITEM GA ZN
%age Overshoot 37.5 29.6
Rise time(sec) 0.1 1.5
Peak Time(sec) 0.2 2.5
Settling Time(sec) 2.5 9
KP 3.53227 3.7
Ki 24.3176 1.8
Kd 99.67948 1.5

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 Table 6.6 Results for MSE as objective function (Bhawana Tandon et al)

ITEM GA ZN
%age Overshoot 37.5 29.6
Rise time(sec) 0.1 1.5
Peak Time(sec) 0.12 2.5
Settling Time(sec) 2.5 8
KP 54.96323 3.7
Ki 8.5105 1.8
Kd 99.15787 1.8

It can be seen that though Overshoots are more in GA tuned system as compared to Ziegler-
Nichols tuned system, but settling time and Rise time are very less in case of GA tuned
system. The reason for bigger overshoots may be the assumptions taken during the
mathematical modeling of the system.

30
 CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSION

The concept behind genetic algorithms is simple and the technique itself is robust. Genetic
algorithms can be used to solve any type of optimization problem provided that the objective
function is proper. A GA is only as good as the objective function. Genetic algorithms are
best used when the function has unrealistic or undefined derivative, or is nonlinear or noisy.
They work perfectly in discontinuous as well as stochastic environments. They can, however
be outperformed by more field specific algorithms. In such cases, the solution of a GA can be
used as an initial guess for the algorithm. As the robustness of the solutions of most
traditional methods depends upon the initial guess, the result of this approach can be
expected to be a good one.
In this report, only the Simple Genetic Algorithm was studied and only a few
operators and techniques of other advanced GAs were introduced. More advanced algorithms
like the NSGA, NSGA-II and BASIC have been developed and together these can be applied
to almost all optimization problems. The two case studies mentioned in this seminar show the
application of genetic algorithms in chemical engineering. Recently, genetic algorithms have
been used in many more chemical engineering problems. Reaction networks have been
modeled and optimized using GAs (Majumdar et al., 2004), large scale reactors have been
optimized using multi-objective GAs (Rangaiah et al., 2003), and even catalysts have been
optimized using GAs (Martin Holena, 2008). Most practical optimization problems in
chemical engineering are highly complex and non-linear, GA can be an effective technique
that can be used in solving these problems.
As a part of my B.Tech project I would be working upon the application of genetic
algorithms on simple chemical engineering problems. The effectiveness of the solution
would then be compared with the solution obtained by traditional methods and will be
validated experimentally.

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 REFERENCES
[1] Kalyanmoy Deb. Optimization for Engineering Design: Algorithms and Examples.
Pretince-Hall India Pvt. Ltd., 1996.
[2] T. F. Edgar and D. M. Himmelblau. Optimization of Chemical Processes. Tata
McGraw-Hill Book Co., Singapore, 1989.
[3] David E. Goldberg. Genetic Algorithms in Optimization, Search and Machine
Learning. Addison Wesley Longman (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., 2000.
[4] Kalyanmoy Deb. An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms. Sadhana Academy
Proceedings in Engineering Sciences 24(4-5): 293 – 315, 1999.
[5] R. Sivaraj and T. Ravichandran. A Review of Selection Methods in Genetic
Algorithm. International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology 3(5): 3792
– 3797, 2011
[6] Vijaykumar Hanagandi and Michael Nikolaou. Applications of Genetic Algorithms in
Chemical Engineering. The Practical Handbook of Genetic Algorithms Volume 3:
Applications, CRC Press, 1991.
[7] Saptarshi Majumdar and Kishalay Mitra. Modeling of a Reaction Network and its
Optimization by Genetic Algorithm. Chemical Engineering Journal 100: 109 – 118,
2004
[8] Yue Li, Gade P. Rangaiah and Ajay Kumar Ray. Optimization of Styrene Reactor
Design for Two Objectives using a Genetic Algorithm. International Journal of
Chemical Reactor Engineering 1: Article A13, 2003
[9] Martin Holena. Genetic Algorithms for the Optimization of Catalysts in Chemical
Engineering. in proceedings of The World Congress on Engineering and Computer
Science, October 22 – 24, 2008, San Fransisco, USA.
[10] Bhawana Tandon and Randeep Kaur. Genetic Algorithm based Parameter Tuning of
PID Controller for Composition Control System. International Journal of
Engineering Science and Technology 3(8): 6705 – 6711, 2011.

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