Global optimization of larger district-heating networks

Solve global optimization problems for district-heating networks substantially larger than the networks considered in the paper, extending the demonstrated computational approach to such instances.

Background

The paper develops a spatial branch-and-bound method for globally optimizing stationary district-heating-network operation with flexible flow directions, multiple suppliers, cycles, and thermal storage. Although the computational results demonstrate improved performance on generated and real-world networks, the conclusion identifies scaling to even larger problems as an explicit open challenge for future work.

References

These results suggest immediate open challenges for the future: the solution of even larger problems and instances with storages that do not meet the assumptions for the decomposition approach.

— Global Optimization of Flexible District Heating Networks  (2608.18046 - Pfetsch et al., 18 Aug 2026) in Section Conclusion

For some cases, the optimal values could not be obtained within a reasonable computational time.

— A Semantic-Aware Multiple Access Scheme Leveraging Spatial Redundancy for Uplink-Dominant Network Services  (2609.03559 - Mazandarani et al., 3 Sep 2026) in Figure caption for Fig. 6, Section 5.3, “Sensitivity to the Number of UEs and Channels”