IEEE T&D Asia 2009

Biogeography Based Optimization technique

Applied to multi-constraints Economic load
dispatch problems
Provas Kumar Roy Sakti Prasad Ghoshal Siddhartha Sankar Thakur
NIT, Durgapur NIT, Durgapur NIT, Durgapur
M.G.Road, Gandhi M.G.Road, Gandhi M.G.Road, Gandhi
West Bengal, India-713209 West Bengal, India-713209 West Bengal, India-713209

Abstract- This paper presents Biogeography-Based

.

power system problems more efficiently. CASO is based on

Optimization (BBO) technique for solving constrained economic
dispatch problems in power system. Many nonlinear
characteristics of generators, like valve point loading, ramp rate
limits, prohibited zone, and multiple fuels cost functions are
considered. Two Economic Load Dispatch (ELD) problems with
different characteristics are applied and compared its solution
quality and computation efficiency to Genetic algorithm (GA),
Particle swarm optimization (PSO), and other optimization
techniques. The simulation results show that the proposed
algorithm outperforms previous optimization methods.
Keywords- Biogeography; Economic load dispatch; Genetic
algorithm; Particle swarm optimization; mutation; migration.
I. INTRODUCTION
Economic load dispatch (ELD) problem is one of the major
issues of power system operation, planning, and control. Its
main objective is generation allocation to the power generators
so as to meet the total load demand at minimum operating cost
while satisfying all equality and inequality constraints. Several
classical methods such as lambda iteration method (LIM),
gradient methods etc. have been applied to solve economic
load dispatch assuming monotonically increasing piecewise
linear cost function. But unfortunately, these methods are
infeasible in practical systems because of nonlinear
characteristics like ramp rate limits, discontinuous prohibited
operating zones, and non-smooth cost functions. Complex
constrained ELD problems are solved by many population
based optimization techniques in the recent years. Some of the
the chaotic behavior of individual ant and the intelligent
organization actions of ant colony. BFO is a bio-inspired
technique, developed by Ghoshal et al [9].
BBO [11] has some common features with other population
based algorithms. Like GA, & PSO, BBO also shares
information amongst the solutions but BBO does not involve
in reproduction like GA. While GA solutions are lost at the
end of each iteration, BBO maintains its set of solution from
one iteration to next like PSO. But PSO solutions do not
change directly; first their velocities are changed then
positions (solutions) changes. However, BBO solutions are
changed directly via migration from other solutions.
In this paper BBO algorithm, which is totally new in power
system area is used to solve ELD problem.
II. MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM FORMULATION
A. Objective Function
The objective function of ELD is to minimize the generation
cost while satisfying all the equality and inequality constraints.
n
Minimize FC ( P ) = FC ( P ) i i (1)
i =1
where , FCi(Pi) : fuel cost of generating unit I,
Pi : generating power of unit i,
n :number of generating units,
subjected to the following constraints:
n

population based optimization methods are genetic algorithm a) P = P

i =1
i D + PL (2)
[1]-[2], simulated annealing [3], particle swarm optimization
(PSO) [4]-[7], chaotic ant swarm optimization (CASO) [8], where, PD: Total Demand,
and Bacteria foraging optimization (BFO)[9]. PL: Transmission loss which is given by
n n n
The GA method is usually faster than SA method because
GA has parallel search technique. Real coded Genetic
PL = Pi Bij Pj + B j 0 Pi + B00 (3)
i =1 j =1 i =1
algorithm (RGA) [10] with arithmetic crossover, mutation,
and elitism has been employed to solve the ELD problems where, B00, Bi0, Bij are loss coefficients.
more efficiently. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm b) Pi min Pi Pi max (4)
is highly robust yet remarkably simple to implement. Thus, it min max
where, Pi , Pi are minimum and maximum generation
is quite pertinent to apply the PSO, with more new limit of i-th unit.
modifications, to achieve better optimization and handle the
.
c) The power output of each unit is limited by ramp up/down set of candidate solution is evaluated using SIV. In BBO a
rate at each hour as given below: term HSI is used which is analogous to fitness function of
( )
Max Pi min , Pi 0 DRi Pi Min Pi max, Pi 0 + URi((5) ) other population-based techniques, to represent the quality of
0
each candidate solution set. High HSI solutions represent
where, P gi : previous operating point of unit i, better quality solution and low HSI solutions represent inferior
DRi , URi : downrate and uprate limits of unit i. solution in optimization problem.
The emigration and immigration rates of each solution are
d) Output generation of each unit must avoid operation in used to probabilistically share information between habitats.
prohibited zones. The operating zone of unit i may be
Using Habitat Modification Probability each solution is
described as follows:
min
modified based on other solutions. Immigration rate, of
Pi Pi Pi ,l1 each solution is used to probabilistically decide whether or not
Pi ,uj 1 Pi Pi ,l j , j = 2,3,....., ni (6) to modify each suitability index variable (SIV) in that solution.
u max
After selecting the SIV for modification, emigration rates,
P Pi Pi
i , ni of other solutions are used to probabilistically select which
where, ni : number of prohibited zone of unit i, solutions among the population set will migrate. The main
difference between recombination approach of evolutionary
Pi ,l j : lower generation limit of prohibited zone j of unit i, strategies (ES) and migration process of BBO is that in ES,
Pi ,uj 1 :upper generation limit of prohibited zone j-1 of unit i. global recombination process is used to create a completely
new solution, while in BBO, migration is used to bring
B. Cost Function
changes within the existing solutions. In order to prevent the
The cost function of ELD problem is defined as follows:
best solutions from being corrupted by the immigration
process, few elite solutions are kept in BBO algorithm.
a) Cost function of generating units without valve point effect
and multiple fuels is given by: B. Mutation

( )
n Due to some natural calamities or other events HSI of a
FC ( P) = ai Pi + bi Pi + ci
2
(7) natural habitat can change suddenly and it may deviate from
i =1 its equilibrium value. In BBO, this event is represented by the
where, ai, bi, ci :cost coefficients of i-th generator. mutation of SIV and species count probabilities are used to
determine mutation rates. The probability of each species
b) Cost function of generating units with valve point effect count can be calculated using the differential equation (9) [11]
and multiple fuels is given by: given below:
( s + s ) Ps + s +1 Ps +1 S =0

( (
ai1Pi 2 +bi1Pi +ci1 + di1sin ei1 Pi1min Pi1

)) fuel 1, Pi min Pi Pi1 Ps = (s + s ) Ps + s 1 Ps 1 + s +1 Ps +1 1 S S max 1 (9)

( (
ai2 Pi 2 +bi2 Pi +ci2 + di2 sin ei2 Pi2min Pi2
)) fuel 2, Pi min Pi Pi2 (s + s ) Ps + s 1 Ps 1 S = S max
FC (P ) =
i i
Where,

Ps : the probability of habitat contains exactly S species,
2
( ( min
aik Pi +bik Pi +cik + dik sin eik Pik Pik )) fuel k , Pi min Pi Pik
s , s : the immigration and emigration rate for habitat
(8)
where, contains S species.
dik, eik :the fuel cost coefficients of fuel type k of the ith Immigration rate ( s ) and emigration rate ( s ) can be
generating unit reflecting the valve point loading. evaluated by the equation (10) and (11) [11] given below:
S (10)
s = I 1
III. OVERVIEW OF BBO TECHNIQUE S max

Biogeography-Based Optimization technique (BBO) [11] ES

has been developed based on the theory of Biogeography.
BBO concept is mainly based on Migration and Mutation. The
concept and mathematical formulation of Migration and
Mutation steps are given below:
A. Migration
This BBO algorithm [11] is similar to other population
based optimization techniques where population of candidate
solutions is represented as vector of real numbers. Each real
number in the array is considered as one SIV. Fitness of each
s = (11)
S max
Each population member has an associated probability, which
indicates the likelihood that it exists as a solution for a given
problem. If the probability of a given solution is very low then
that solution is likely to mutate to some other solution.
Similarly if the probability of some other solution is high then
that solution has very little chance to mutate. Therefore, very
high HSI solutions and very low HSI solutions are equally
improbable for mutation i.e. they have less chances to produce
more improved SIVs in the later stage. But medium HSI Each individual habitat within the total of H habitat represents
solutions have better chances to create much better solutions a candidate solution for solving the ELD problem. The i-th
after mutation operation. Mutation rate of each set of solution individual Hi can be defined as follows:
can be calculated in terms of species count probability using H i = SIV iq = [ SIV i1 , SIV i 2 ,...., SIV im ] (13)
the equation (12) [11]:
Where i = 1,2,..., S ; q = 1,2,...m
1 PS
m(s ) = mmax (12) iq
where, SIV is the power output of the q-th unit of the i-th
P
max individual.
where, m max : maximum mutation rate, Step4: Based on the HSI value elite habitats are identified.
Step5: Each non-elite habitat is modified by performing
m(s ) : the mutation rate for habitat contains S species, probabilistically migration operation and HSI of each
Pmax : maximum probability. modified set is recomputed. Feasibility of a problem solution
This mutation scheme tends to increase diversity among the is verified i.e. each SIV should satisfy equality and inequality
populations. Without this modification, the highly probable constraints of generator as mentioned in the specific problem.
solutions will tend to be more dominant in the population. Step6: Species count probability of each habitat is updated
This mutation approach makes both low and high HSI using (9). Mutation operation is performed on the non-elite
solutions likely to mutate, which gives a chance of improving habitat and HSI value of each new habitat is computed.
both types of solutions in comparison to their earlier values. Step7: Feasibility of a problem solution is verified.
Few elite solutions are kept in mutation process to save the Step8: Go to step (3) for the next iteration.
features of a solution, so if a solution becomes inferior after Step9:Stop iteration after a predefined number of iterations.
mutation process then previous solution (solution of that set V. BBO ALGORITHM APPLIED TO ELD
before mutation) can revert back to that place again if needed.
The proposed algorithm is implemented in two test systems
So, mutation operation is a high-risk process. It is normally
and its performance is compared to other optimization
applied to both poor and better solutions. Since medium
techniques like GA, PSO, Improved genetic algorithm with
quality solutions are in improving stage so it is better not to
multiplier updating (IGA_MU)[1], and conventional genetic
apply mutation on medium quality solutions.
algorithm with multiplier updating (CGA_MU) [1] that were
Here, mutation of a selected solution is performed simply
already tested and reported in earlier papers [1] and [7].
by replacing it with randomly generated new solution set.
Other than this any other mutation scheme, like mutation of
a) Test System I: In this example 10 generating units are
GA can also be implemented for BBO.
consider and both valve point loading & multiple fuels are
IV. BBO ALGORITHM APPLIED TO ELD incorporated in the cost function. The system data of [1] is
The algorithm of the proposed method is as enumerated employed on BBO and its performance is compared to
below. IGA_MU [1], & CGA_MU [1] and the comparative results &
Step1: Initialize the BBO parameters as follows: Habitat convergence characteristics are shown Table I and Figure 1
Modification Probability P
mod
=1; Mutation Probability = respectively for total load of 2700MW.
0.005, maximum immigration rate, I = 1, maximum
emigration rate E =1, step size for numerical TABLE I
GENERATION VALUES WITH DIFFERENT ALGORITHMS ( 10-UNIT SYSTEM)
integration, dt =1, no of iterations = 50, maximum species
count, S max , elitism parameter=2, number of SIVs of BBO
algorithm= number of Generating units, number of Habitats = Algorithms CGA_MU[1] IGA_MU[1] BBO
50. F Gen. F Gen. F Gen.
Unit No
Step2: The initial position of SIV of each habitat should be T (MW) T (MW) T MW)
selected randomly while satisfying different equality and 1 2 222.0108 2 219.1261 2 214.9648
inequality constraints of ELD problems. Several numbers of 2 1 211.6352 1 211.1645 1 209.5767
habitats depending upon the population size are being 3 1 283.9455 1 280.6572 1 334.1379
generated. Each habitat represents a potential solution to the 4 3 237.8052 3 238.4770 3 238.4381
given problem. 5 1 280.448 1 276.4179 1 271.3595
Step3: Calculate the HSI i.e. value of objective function for 6 3 236.033 3 240.4672 3 235.8519
each habitat of the population set for given emigration rate, , 7 1 292.0499 1 287.7399 1 280.3356
immigration rate, , and species, S . 8 3 241.9708 3 240.7614 3 237.1106
Here, in ELD problem HSIi represents the cost function of i-th 9 3 424.2011 3 429.3370 3 411.6339
iq
generation set (i.e. i-th habitat) in $/hr. SIV represents the 10 1 269.9005 1 275.8518 1 266.5909
value of power output of q-th generator of i-th habitat set Hi. Pd(MW) 2700
In this paper, each habitat is a vector with m generating units. TG(MW) 2700 2700 2700
 TC($) 624.7193 624.5178 606.3455
Time(S) 7.25 26.17 22.6 TABLE II
GENERATION VALUES WITH DIFFERENT ALGORITHMS ( 10-UNIT SYSTEM)

520

Algorithms PSO[7] GA[7] BBO

510
Unit Generation(MW)
500
Pg1 447.4970 474.8066 447.0153
Pg2 173.3221 178.6363 173.5915
Cost ($/h)

490 Pg3 263.4745 262.2089 263.3396

Pg4 139.0594 134.2826 138.9568
480
Pg5 165.4761 151.9039 165.4418
Pg6 87.1280 74.1812 87.0997
TG(MW) 1276.01 1276.03 1275.4447
470
TC($/h) 15450 15459 15443
Loss (MW) 12.9584 13.0217 12.4447
460
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
No of iterations

Figure 1 Convergence characteristic of BBO (10 units system )

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