APPLICATION OF GENETIC ALGORITHM WITH LOCAL SEARCH IN OPTIMAL PIPING NETWORK DESIGN OF A DISTRICT COOLING SYSTEM

District cooling system (DCS) is a mass-scale production of chilled water generated at a central andremote chiller plant. Through an underground piping network, the chilled water is delivered to serve agroup of consumer buildings in a district area. DCS can offer both economical and environmentalbenefits. Because of the substantial capital investment and running energy involved, an optimal designof the distribution piping network is one of the crucial factors for successful implementation of thedistrict cooling scheme.