NOPT Site: An Online Workbench for Modeling and Optimization of Diverse Networks

This paper describes the architecture and key features of an online workbench (NOPT) which can be used for experiments in optimization of networks that represent systems in diverse application domains, e.g. multi-product food production plants, gasoline blending and shipment, heat exchanger networks in refineries, etc. Design of the workbench enables instantiation of different application domains via attributes describing entities (materials, energy) flowing through the network arcs, and via node models relevant to the domain. Multi-step solution algorithms, each solving a subnetwork or an entire network for specific time periods can be constructed. An example of using the workbench for gasoline blending is provided.