Biologically Inspired Optimization of Building District Heating Networks

In this paper we show that a biologically inspired modelcan be successfully applied to problems of building optimal districtheating network. The model is based on physiological observations of the true slime mold Physarumpolycephalum, but can also be used for path-finding in the complicated networks of mazes and road maps. A strategy of optimally building heating distribution network was guided by themodel and a well-tuned ant colony algorithm and genetic algorithm. The results indicate that although there are not large-scale efficiency savings to be made, the biologically inspired amoeboid movementmodel is capable of finding results of equal or better optimality than a comparable ant colony algorithm and genetic algorithm.