Heuristics for PNS problems and its empirical analysis (Q2755009)

The present paper deals with a Process Network Synthesis problem (PNS) and knowing that every PNS can be transformed into a simplified form made of simple operating units in which the total number of input and output materials is at most 3, a new heuristic procedure is developed by the application of the edge covering problem of the weighted graphs. In general these algorithms give almost optimal solutions in polynomial time, and the results of the analyzis show that the heuristics work well in most cases, using little cpu time and memory.