Improved artificial cooperative search algorithm for solving non- convex economic dispatch problems with valve-point effects

This paper presents Improved Artificial Cooperative Search (IACS) algorithm for solving economic dispatch problemsconsidering the valve point effects, ramp rate limits, transmission losses and prohibited operation zones. In order to improve the solutionquality and increase the search efficiency, a novel perturbation scheme called “Global best guided chaotic local search” is proposed andincorporated into ACS algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed IACS algorithm has been benchmarked with twelve widely knownoptimization test problems. In order to assess the performance of the proposed algorithm on non-convex optimization problems, four casestudies related to highly nonlinear economic dispatch problems have been solved . Results retrieved from IACS algorithm have beencompared with literature approaches in terms of minimum, maximum and average generation cost values. Comparison results indicate thatIACS produces more economical power load than those of other optimizers available in the literature