Globally convergent exact and inexact parametric algorithms for solving large-scale mixed-integer fractional programs and applications in process systems engineering

• Exact parametric algorithms are more efficient for MIFPs than 3 MINLP solvers.
• Theoretical and computational studies show the efficiency of an inexact MIFP method.
• Application of MIFP in process operations shows economic/environmental benefits.

This paper is concerned with the parametric algorithms for solving large-scale mixed-integer linear and nonlinear fractional programming problems, as well as their application in process systems engineering. By developing an equivalent parametric formulation of the general mixed-integer fractional program (MIFP), we propose four exact parametric algorithms based on the root-finding methods, including bisection method, Newton's method, secant method and false position method, respectively, for the global optimization of MIFPs. We also propose an inexact parametric algorithm that can potentially outperform the exact parametric algorithms for some types of MIFPs. Extensive computational studies are performed to demonstrate the efficiency of these parametric algorithms and to compare them with some general-purpose mixed-integer nonlinear programming methods. The applications of the proposed algorithms are illustrated through two case studies on process scheduling. Computational results show that the proposed exact and inexact parametric algorithms are more computationally efficient than several general-purpose solvers for solving MIFPs.