An improved hybrid genetic algorithm for chemical plant layout optimization with novel non-overlapping and toxic gas dispersion constraints

New approaches for facility distribution in chemical plants are proposed including an improved non-overlapping constraint based on projection relationships of facilities and a novel toxic gas dispersion constraint. In consideration of the large number of variables in the plant layout model, our new method can significantly reduce the number of variables with their own projection relationships. Also, as toxic gas dispersion is a usual incident in a chemical plant, a simple approach to describe the gas leakage is proposed, which can clearly represent the constraints of potential emission source and sitting facilities. For solving the plant layout model, an improved genetic algorithm (GA) based on infeasible solution fix technique is proposed, which improves the globe search ability of GA. The case study and ex-periment show that a better layout plan can be obtained with our method, and the safety factors such as gas dispersion and minimum distances can be well handled in the solution.