Bee colony optimization with Taguchi method for solving the dynamic economic dispatch

Abstract

Dynamic economic dispatch is to minimize the cost of power production of all the participating generators over a time horizon of 24 hours in one day. The dynamic economic dispatch with non-smooth cost functions, for which is formulated the optimal dispatch model of generations by considering the ramp up/down scheduling of power. This paper presents a Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) that applies the Taguchi Method (TM) to solve the Dynamic Economic Dispatch problem. The Taguchi method that involves the use of orthogonal arrays in estimating of the non-smooth cost function and Bee Colony Optimization is used to find the objective function under the operational of system constraints. The Taguchi method can global optimization for fast local convergence by minimizing the cost function in a few iterations. The effectiveness and efficiency of the TM-BCO is demonstrated by using a 10 unit of IEEE case with non-smooth fuel cost functions and is more effective than other previously developed algorithms. Moreover, the proposed approach presents significant computational benefits than traditional random search method especially for multi-unit systems with larger numbers of non-smooth cost functions and more complicated dynamic economic dispatch.