Maintenance Scheduling by using the Bi-Criterion Algorithm of Preferential Anti-Pheromone

This paper presents the solution for the Thermal Generator Maintenance Scheduling Problem, using a bi-criterion Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm called Preferential Anti-pheromone (PAP). This method allows the “agents” of an ant colony to deposit a small amount of pheromone trail to every path that has been used, to construct the potential solutions, but also to give extra emphasis to the best solution found at the end of an iteration of the algorithm. In the same time that good solutions are being investigated from the agents, bad solutions are examined too, with the aim to avoid short-term poor solutions and lead to long-term good and, respectively, global best solutions. In this way, through the iterations of the algorithm, we end up to the final solutions. The algorithm is applied to a real-scale problem, and further investigation is being made so as to find the best possible solution.