Evaluation of a New Multimodal Optimization Algorithm in Fluid Phase Equilibrium Problems

Multimodal optimization problems are commonly found in engineering problems, and their solution can be very challenging for metaheuristic approaches. In this work, the use of a recently proposed multimodal metaheuristic method was analyzed - the Multimodal Flower Pollination Algorithm - in two fluid phase equilibrium problems: (i) the calculation of double azeotropes and (ii) parameter estimation in a thermodynamic model. Two different formulations were also considered in the double azeotropy problem. In the azeotrope calculation, a statistical analysis was conducted in order to verify if the algorithm performance is affected by the the problem formulation. The computational results indicate that the methodology provides robust results and that the objective function employed affects the computational performance.