Electric Power Systems Research 63 (2002) 51
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Fuel constrained economic emission load dispatch using hopfield

neural networks
M. Basu
Department of Power Plant Engineering, Jadavpur University, Calcutta 700098, India

Received 21 November 2001; received in revised form 11 March 2002; accepted 14 March 2002

Abstract

This paper presents a new approach using Hopfield neural networks for solving fuel constrained economic emission load dispatch
problems of thermal generating units. This is a multi-objective minimization technique that includes the standard load constraints as
well as the fuel constraints. The generation schedule is compared to that which would result if fuel constraints were ignored. The
comparison shows that fuel consumed can be adequately controlled by adjusting the power output of various generating units so
that the power system operates within its fuel limitations and within contractual constraints. It has been found that one of the two
objective functions (fuel cost and emission level) may be increased while other may be decreased to serve the same power demand
but this may well compensate for the penalty that might be otherwise imposed for not maintaining the fuel contract. Numerical
results for an example system have been presented to illustrate the performance and applicability of the proposed method. # 2002
Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Economic emission load dispatch; Fuel constrained; Hopfield model; Energy function; Sigmoidal function

1. Introduction involved into discrete time increments. The objective

Some power utilities have encountered a new dispatch
problem, perhaps more significant than economic emis-
sion load dispatch problem, because of the sudden
concern over fuel shortages. Fuel suppliers have im-
posed increased constraints in their fuel supply contracts
to the point that utilities have been forced to reschedule
generation on the basis of fuel availability. With the ever
increasing proportion of the fuel budget in the total
operating costs and increasing concern over the envir-
onmental considerations, economic emission load dis-
patch [6
/8] problem has popped up. Several papers have
been published in the area of fuel scheduling of thermal
units [1
/5]. The fuel constrained economic emission
load dispatch problem is a multiobjective mathematical
programming problem which is concerned with the
attempt to improve each objective simultaneously satis-
fying the standard load constraints and fuel constraints.
The fuel constrained economic emission load dispatch
problem may be solved by dividing the total time period
E-mail address: mousumibasu@yahoo.com (M. Basu).
0378-7796/02/$ - see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 7 8 - 7 7 9 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 9 0 - 1
functions are made up of sum of linear or piecewise
linear functions, each of which is a function of one or
more variables from only one time step. Some con-
straints are made up of variables drawn from one time
step whereas others span two or more time steps.
Currently neural networks have become the popular
tool for solving optimization problem involving com-
plex objective function and have been applied to many
areas of power system engineering such as security
assessment, load forecasting, economic dispatch. Park
et al. [9] have presented method for economic load
dispatch for units with piecewise quadratic cost func-
tions using the Hopfield neural network. King et al. [8]
have applied the Hopfield neural network in economic
and environmental dispatching of electric systems.
Though the Hopfield network formulation gives sub-
optimal solutions to some optimization problems, it
handles easily minimum and maximum constraints on
the outputs of each neuron or in the traditional case the
value of each unknown. In the Hopfield model each
variable is modeled in a sigmoidal fashion which
prevents the variable from violating either its maximum
and minimum limits. This present paper is an attempt to
52 M. Basu / Electric Power Systems Research 63 (2002) 51
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extend the application of the Hopfield neural network to 2.2.2. Fuel delivery constraints
fuel constrained economic emission load dispatch pro-
blem. The proposed method is validated by applying it X
N

to a test system [7]. Fsk FDk 0 (4)

s1

for k /1,. . ., M

2. Problem formulation
2.2.3. Fuel storage constraints
For convenience the entire scheduling period is  
X
L
divided into a number of subintervals each having a Vsk Vs(k1) Fsk tk Qs (Pmin ) d P (5)
s sj sjk
constant load demand. The fuel cost curve and emission j1
curve have been assumed to be piecewise linear function
for k /1,. . ., M and s /1,. . ., N
of generation. The system has N thermal generating
units with each having L segments over M time
intervals. The following objectives and constraints are 2.2.4. Generation limits
taken into account in the formulation of fuel constraints
EELD problem. Pmin max
s 5Psk 5Ps

for s/1,. . ., N and k /1,. . ., M

2.1. Objectives
2.2.5. Fuel delivery limits

2.1.1. Economy Fsmin 5Fsk 5Fsmax

The total fuel cost of thermal generating units in for s/1,. . ., N and k /1,. . ., M
terms of power output can be expressed as
XM X N  X
L 
2.2.6. Fuel storage limits
Fc  tk Fcs (Pmin
s ) a P
sj sjk (1)
k1 s1 j1
Vsmin 5Vsk 5Vsmax
for s/1,. . ., N and k /1,. . ., M

2.1.2. Emission
Because fossil-based generating stations are the pri- 3. The Hopfield neural network
mary sources of nitrogen oxides, in this study, nitrogen
oxides (NOx ) emission is taken as the selected index The Hopfield model is a single layer recursive neural
from the viewpoint of environment conservation. The network, where the output of each neuron is connected
amount of NOx emission from a generator is a function to the input of every other neuron. The neuron outputs
of its output, the total emission level from all the units in are used to represent the problem variables. There is an
the system can be expressed as external input to each neuron denoted by Ii . In a
  Hopfield network all connective weight values and
XM X N XL
Fe  min
tk Fes (Ps ) bsj Psjk (2) external inputs are calculated from system data. Then
k1 s1 j1 as patterns or input values are applied, the network goes
through a series of iterations until it stabilizes on a final
output. Thus the values of neuron inputs Ui and the
outputs Oi change with time and form a dynamic
system. It is important to ensure that the system will
2.2. Constraints
converge to a stable solution. This requires finding an
energy function of the state variables such that all state
changes result in a decrease in energy.
2.2.1. Power balance constraints
The Hopfield dynamic model can be described by,
N 
X X 
dUi X
L N1
Pmin
s  P sjk PDk  0 (3)  Tij Oi Ii
s1 j1 dt j1

for k /1,. . ., M and the energy function can be described by,

 M. Basu / Electric Power Systems Research 63 (2002) 51
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M  N   2
1X
N1 X X AX X X
N1 N1 L
B
E  Tij Oi Oj  Ii O i (6) E Pmin
s  P sjk PDk 
2 i1 j1 i1 2 k1 s1 j1 2
M X
X 2
N
CX
M

and
Fsk FDk 

k1 s1 2 k1

N 
X  X
L 
Oi gi (lUi )

Vsk tk Qs (Pmin
s ) dsj Psjk Fsk
s1 j1
where N1 /N + M + L/2 + N + M ; UI is the input of 2  
DXX X
M N L
neuron i; Tij is the inter connection conductance from Vs(k1)  tk Fcs (Pmin
s ) a P
sj sjk
the output of neuron j to the input of neuron i; Tii is the 2 k1 s1 j1
selfconnection conductance of neuron i ; Ii is the external  
input to neuron i ; Oj is the output of neuron j. F XM X N XL
 tk Fes (Pmin
s ) b P
sj sjk (7)
2 k1 s1 j1

The first three terms represent the load, the fuel

4. Mapping to the Hopfield neural network
An energy function mapping the fuel constrained
economic emission load dispatch problem to the Hop-
field domain is obtained in this section. The Hopfield
network is created with (N + M + L/2 + N + M ) neu-
rons. First (N + M + L ) neurons represent power out-
puts, next set of (N + M ) neurons represent fuel
deliveries and last (N + M ) neurons represent fuel
volumes. The sigmoid function of each neuron is
modified to limit the output value of each neuron
between its minimum and maximum limits. The form
used by Park et al. [9] is given by:
(Pmax  Pmin
sj sj )
Oi Psjk  (1tanh (lUi ))Pmin
sj
2
where i/ /{(k/1) + N + L/(s/1) + L/j }
1,. . ., M and s /1,. . ., N and j/1,. . ., L
delivery and the fuel storage constraints respectively and
the fourth term is the fuel cost function and the last term
is the emission function. The first three terms are
squared to minimize the mismatch to zero. The coeffi-
cients A , B , C , D and F are weighting factors indicating
the relative importance of each term. A solution does
not necessarily have to be optimal for feasibility, but it is
of no value if it does not satisfy system constraints.
Selecting proper values for these coefficients is the key
for obtaining precise solution. The first term represents
load constraint and is assigned the highest priority over
the other terms. Setting B /C /0, the energy function
represents economic emission dispatch without consid-
ering fuel constraints. The final step is to map the
objective function to the Hopfield network. The con-
nective conductances and external input of each neuron
may be determined by equating the like terms from Eqs.
(6) and (7). The expressions have been given in
Appendix A.
and k /
4.1. Use of momentun

(Fsmax  Fsmin ) The speed of convergence may be accelerated by

Oi Fsk  (1tanh (lUi ))Fsmin adding momentum in the update processes. The mo-
2
mentum can be used when calculating the change in
activation level, DUi (t): For this purpose, a fraction of
where i/ /{N + M + L/(k/1) + N/s } and k /1,. . ., M the previous change, DUi (t1) is added such that Ui is
and s /1,. . ., N updated according to
Ui (t1) Ui (t)DUi (t)hDUi (t1)
(Vsmax  Vsmin )
Oi Vsk  (1tanh (lUi ))Vsmin The value of h is selected through experimentation. In
2 this problem the author has chosen h /0.95.

where i/ /{N + M + L/N + M/(k/1) + N/s} and k / 4.2. Selection of l

1,. . ., M and s /1,. . ., N
In order to solve the fuel constrained economic
emission load dispatch problem, the following energy
function is defined by combining the objective functions
(1) and (2) and the constraints (3), (4) and (5):
The parameter l determines the shape of the sigmoi-
dal function that determines rate at which the output,
Oi , is updated with respect to a change in input Ui . The
proper value of l depends on the data being processed.
54 M. Basu / Electric Power Systems Research 63 (2002) 51
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Too large a value of l will cause the network to behave Q5 (P5 )1:337790:060200P5 0:00005017P25 tons=h
like a discrete system producing values at the upper and 50 MW 5P55300 MW; 0:05F553000 tons; 0:0
lower limits of each neuron. Too small a value for l will
5V5530000 tons
cause the network to converge very slowly. For larger
systems with a greater number of neurons, the values for Table 1 shows break points of generators and Table 2
each Ui will increase and so l will have to be decreased shows load demand and fuel delivered during the
in order to maintain a continuous output for each scheduling period. Table 3 shows economic emission
neuron. generation scheduling without considering fuel con-
Hopfied networks can have many local minimum straints and setting A /9990, B/C /0, D /300 and
points and they depend on the numerical values of F /300. Table 4 shows the interaction of the fuel
parameters that define the energy function. Once an deliveries and the economic emission dispatch of the
energy function is selected for the problem, Hopfield generating units when all plants have sufficient coal.
network may converge to a local minimum. By adjusting Table 4 summarizes two cases which are purposely
the parameter l judiciously one might be able to achieve structured to show the interaction of the fuel deliveries
the global minimum. and the economic emission dispatch of the generating
units when there is fuel shortage. In the first case there is
fuel shortage at unit 4 and in the second case there is fuel
shortage at unit 2, unit 3 and unit 5. Setting A /10000,
5. Simulation results B /200, C /100, D /300 and F /300, results of Table
4 are obtained.
The proposed method has been applied to a test
system [7] with five coal-burning generating units which
remain on line for a 3-week period. The generator cost 6. Conclusion
functions and coal consumption functions are as fol-
lows: This paper examines the usefulness of the Hopfield
Fc1 (P1 ) 25:02:0P1 0:008P21 =h neural network in solving fuel constrained economic
emission load dispatch problem. The results show that
Fe1 (P1 ) 80:00:805P1 0:018P21 lb=h lb=h
fuel consumption can be adequately controlled to satisfy
Q1 (P1 )0:836120:066889P1 0:00026756P21 tons=h constraints imposed by suppliers using the proposed
20 MW 5P1575 MW; 0:05F151000 tons; 0:0 method. Optimum economic emission load dispatch is
not achieved, but this is generally much less than the
5V1510000 tons
penalty that could be imposed for violating the fuel
Fc2 (P2 ) 60:01:8P2 0:003P22 =h system constraints.
Fe2 (P2 ) 50:00:555P2 0:015P22 lb=h
Q2 (P2 )2:006690:060200P2 0:00010033P22 tons=h
Appendix A: Nomenclature
20 MW 5P25 125 MW; 0:05F251000 tons; 0:0
5V2510000 tons Fsk fuel delivered to thermal unit s in interval k
Fmin
s , the lower and upper fuel delivery limits for
Fc3 (P3 ) 100:02:1P3 0:0012P23 =h
Fmax
s thermal unit s
Fe3 (P3 ) 70:00:955P3 0:0115P23 lb=h FDk fuel delivered in interval k
Q3 (P3 )3:344480:070234P3 0:00004013P23 tons=h Fcs (Ps ) cost function for thermal unit s
Fes (Ps ) emission function for thermal unit s
30 MW 5P35175 MW; 0:05F352000 tons; 0:0 Ps output power of thermal unit s
5V3520000 tons Psk output power of thermal unit s in interval k
Fc4 (P4 ) 120:02:2P4 0:004P24 =h Psjk output power of jth segment of thermal unit
s in interval k
Fe4 (P4 ) 45:00:60P4 0:008P24 Pmin
s , the lower and upper generation limits for
Q4 (P4 )4:013380:073578P4 0:00013378P24 tons=h Pmax
s thermal unit s
Pmin
sj , the lower and upper generation limits of the
40 MW 5P45250 MW; 0:05F453000 tons; 0:0 Pmax jth segment for thermal unit s
sj
5V4530000 tons PDk load demand in interval k
Fc5 (P5 ) 40:01:8P5 0:0015P25 =h Qs (Ps ) fuel consumption function for thermal unit s
tk duration of subinterval k
Fe5 (P5 ) 30:00:555P5 0:012P25 lb=h lb=h Vsk fuel storage for thermal unit s in interval k
 M. Basu / Electric Power Systems Research 63 (2002) 51
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Table 1
Generator unit break point MWs

Unit Break point 1 (unit min) Break point 2 Break point 3 Break point 4 (unit max)

1 20 35 55 75
2 20 50 90 125
3 30 80 130 175
4 40 100 190 250
5 50 125 225 300

Tii 2C
Table 2
Load demand and fuel delivered during the scheduling period where i /(N + M + L/N + M/1),. . ., (N + M + L/
2 + N + M/N ).
Interval Duration Load demand, PD Fuel delivered, FD
(h) (MW) (tons) Tii C
1 168 700 7000 where i/(N + M + L/2 + N + M/N/
2 168 800 7000 1),. . ., (N + M + L/2 + N + M ).
3 168 650 7000
Tij A
where i/{(k/1) + N + L/(s/1) + L/h }, j /{(k/
Vmin
s , the lower and upper fuel storage limits for 1) + N + L/1},. . . (k + N + L ), k /1,. . ., M , s/
Vmax
s thermal unit s 1,. . ., N , h /1,. . ., L , j 5/{(k/1) + N + L/(s/1) + L}
Vos initial fuel storage for thermal unit s and j ]/{(k/1) + N + L/s + L/1}.
asj slope of jth segment of the piecewise linear
cost function for thermal unit s Tij  Cdsh tk
bsj slope of jth segment of the piecewise linear
where i/{(k/1) + N + L/(s/1) + L/h }, j/
emission function for thermal unit s
{N + M + L/(k/1) + N/s}, k /1,. . ., M , s/1,. . ., N
dsj slope of jth segment of the piecewise linear
and h /1,. . ., L .
coal consumption function for thermal unit s
Tij Cdsh tk
where i/{(k/1) + N + L/(s/1) + L/h }, j/
{N + M + L/N + M/(k/1) + N/s}, and k /1,. . ., M ,
Appendix B s /1,. . ., N and h /1,. . ., L .
Tij  Cdsh tk
The following expressions for connective conduc-
tances and external input of each neuron have been where i/{(k/1) + N + L/(s/1) + L/h }, j/
derived by comparison of Eqs. (6) and (7). {N + M + L/k + N/s}, k /2,. . ., M , s/1,. . ., N and
h /1,. . ., L .
Tij (ACdsh dsr t2k )
Tij B
where i/{(k/1) + N + L/(s/1) + L/h }, j/{(k/
1) + N + L/(s/1) + L/r }, k /1,. . ., M , s/1,. . ., N , where i/{N + M + L/(k/1) + N/s}, j/{N + M + L/
h /1,. . ., L and r/1,. . ., L . (k/1) + N/h}, k /1,. . ., M , s/1,. . ., N , h /1,. . ., L
Tii (BC) and i "/j.

where i /(N + M + L/1),. . ., (N + M + L/ N + M ). Tij  C

Table 3
Economic emission dispatch solution

Interval Generation (MW) Cost of emission ($) Generation level, lb

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5

1 75.00 125.000 175.000 187.1971 137.772 1047103.7 546683.28

2 75.00 125.000 175.000 200.0014 224.995
3 75.00 124.973 174.999 144.2562 130.742
56 M. Basu / Electric Power Systems Research 63 (2002) 51
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Table 4
Fuel constrained economic emission dispatch solution

Initial fuel storage (tons) Interval Generation (MW) Fuel delivered (tons) Cost of generation ($) Emission level, lb

V01  2000 1 P1  75.0000 F1  909.8300 1046893.5 547128.86

V02  5000 P2  125.0000 F2  512.0242
V03  5000 P3  175.0000 F3  1778.1550
V04  8000 P4  187.2003 F4  2300.3400
V05  8000 P5  137.7496 F5  1499.6490
2 P1  75.0000 F1  861.3325
P2  125.0000 F2  648.4874
P3  175.0000 F3  1715.6370
P4  199.6041 F4  2209.6290
P5  225.3552 F5  1564.9110
3 P1  75.0000 F1  803.6445
P2  124.8297 F2  723.4285
P3  174.7139 F3  1628.6070
P4  143.6588 F4  2119.1940
P5  131.7725 F5  1725.1250
V01  2000 1 P1  75.0000 F1  824.4142 1028321.9 582051.34
V02  5000 P2  125.0000 F2  340.8572
V03  5000 P3  175.0000 F3  1585.5520
V04  500 P4  100.0000 F4  2994.0610
V05  8000 P5  224.9699 F5  1255.1140
2 P1  75.0000 F1  761.1827
P2  125.0000 F2  497.6400
P3  175.0000 F3  1521.1770
P4  189.7984 F4  2965.5660
P5  235.1375 F5  1254.4290
3 P1  75.0000 F1  721.9120
P2  125.0000 F2  632.5021
P3  175.0000 F3  1483.2200
P4  136.9760 F4  2740.3000
P5  138.0064 F5  1422.0560
V01  2000 1 P1  75.0000 F1  569.1336 1059194.2 538379.22
V02  2500 P2  125.0000 F2  876.7090
V03  2500 P3  172.2775 F3  1936.0060
V04  8000 P4  202.7025 F4  1021.1640
V05  500 P5  125.0000 F5  2596.9800
2 P1  75.0000 F1  617.3409
P2  125.0000 F2  909.5750
P3  175.0000 F3  1911.0000
P4  205.0050 F4  1384.2460
P5  219.9549 F5  2177.8310
3 P1  75.0000 F1  691.8016
P2  93.6224 F2  914.6138
P3  153.6587 F3  1870.9200
P4  189.9680 F4  1826.4060
P5  137.7008 F5  1696.2490

where i /(N + M + L/s), j/(N + M + L/N + M/s), where i/(N + M + L/N + M/s ), j/{N + M + L/
s /1,. . ., N . N + M/(M/1) + N/s} and s/1,. . ., N .
Tij C and Tih C  X
N 
min
Ii  A PDk  Pq Cdsh tk fVs0 tk Qs (Pmin
s )g
where i/(N + M + L/N/(k/1) + N/s ), j/ q1
{N + M + L/N + M/(k/1) + N/s}, h /{N + M + L/
N + M/N/(k/1) + N/ s }, k /1,. . ., (M/1) and s/ D F
 tk ash  tk bsh
1,. . ., N . 2 2
Tij C where i/{s/1) + L/h }, s/1,. . ., N and h /1,. . ., L .
 M. Basu / Electric Power Systems Research 63 (2002) 51
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