Proposition of New Metaphor-Less Algorithms for Reservoir Operation

Based on the current water crisis scenario, effective water resources management can play an essential role. Reservoir operation optimization is part of water resources management. Reservoir operation optimization is difficult as it involves a large number of variables and constraints to achieve this goal. The present study aims at exploring the performance of recently developed heuristic algorithms—Rao algorithms as applied to the reservoir operation studies for the first time. Rao algorithms are metaphor-less algorithms that require only basic parameters—population size and function evaluations. In the present study, Rao algorithms have been applied to two case studies: discrete four-reservoir operation system problem and continuous four-reservoir operation system problem (benchmark problems) for the assessment of their performance vis-à -vis other algorithms from the literature. The results showed that the Rao-1 algorithm provided the optimal solution with the least function evaluations when compared to Rao-2, Rao-3, and other algorithms applied in the past to the same benchmark problem. Consequently, the Rao-1 model is found to be superior to these approaches by taking less computational time. Hence, the Rao-1 algorithm can be considered suitable for application to reservoir operation optimization problems.