Derivation of economic dispatch equations: A step in the automation of gas transmission

THE NATURAL GAS transmission industry has been an industry of rapid growth. The physical expansion has been paralleled by rapid technological developments and, at the moment, there is considerable interest in computer-controlled systems. There is a general understanding of the form of such systems evidenced by the many articles and publications dealing with the subject. This understanding is based on experience with automatic sequence and feedback control of individual compressors or stations and with supervisory control of several stations from a central point. Relieving the central dispatcher of his routine duties through the use of a computer to collect and process data and make decisions is not difficult conceptually. In this respect, the stage is set for the introduction of computer-controlled systems.