An effective differential harmony search algorithm for the solving non-convex economic load dispatch problems

Solving the non-convex economic load dispatch (ELD) problem with evolutionary algorithms has gained increasing research in recent years. In this paper, a differential harmony search (DHS) algorithm is proposed by combining the mechanisms of both differential evolution and harmony search. In the DHS, the pitch adjustment operation is cooperated with the different mutation operation to enhance the exploitation ability of harmony search, and both the memory consideration and the pitch adjustment are used to enhance the exploration ability of evolution search. In addition, a repair procedure and three simple selection rules are proposed for constraint handling. Numerical simulations are carried out based on different kinds of testing problems with various constraints including valve point effects, multi-fuels, ramp rate limit and prohibited operation zones. Simulation results and comparisons with the some existing algorithms demonstrate the effectiveness, efficiency and robustness of the proposed DHS algorithm. Finally, the effect of parameter setting on the DHS is investigated as well.

► Solving the non-convex economic load dispatch via a differential harmony search.
► Enhancing pitch adjustment by different mutation operation and memory consideration.
► Handling constraints by repair procedure and three selection rules.
► Providing suggestion about parameter setting of the algorithm.