A Hybrid Cultural Harmony Search Algorithm for Constrained Optimization Problem of Diesel Blending

This paper studies the constrained optimization problem for nonlinear diesel blending. A new hybrid algorithm called cultural harmony search algorithm is presented to solve the proposed optimization problem, which uses cultural knowledge in the belief space of the cultural algorithm to guide the evolving and searching process of the harmony search algorithm. Then, an improved harmony improvisation in the population space of cultural algorithm is developed for new harmony generation to enrich the population diversity. Moreover, in order to accelerate convergence, the domain of decision variables is scaled down by a simplex method at the beginning of the algorithm, and a simplex improved cultural harmony search algorithm is provided. Finally, benchmark functions and the results of application in nonlinear diesel blending of a real-world refinery show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. The contrasted experiments show that our proposed hybrid algorithm is better than other hybrid algorithms, especially in diesel blending optimization problem.