A convex energy-like function for reliable gas flow solutions in gas transmission systems

This paper proposes an energy-like function for gas transmission systems with pipelines and compressors, whose stationary points are mapped to gas flow solutions. This energy-like function is a convex function such that a simple unconstrained convex optimization can be solved to precisely track gas flow solutions. Furthermore, a reliable gas flow model is set up which can be reformulated as a constrained convex optimization by using the proposed energy-like function in order to find a reliable gas flow solution and check the feasibility of the gas transmission system in the presence of uncertainties. Case studies are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.