An improved primal simplex variant for pure processing networks

Abstract
In processing networks, ordinary network constraints are supplemented by proportional flow restrictions on arcs entering or leaving some nodes. This paper describes a new primal partitioning algorithm for solving pure processing networks using a working basis of variable dimension. In testing against MPSX/370 on a class of randomly generated problems, a FORTRAN implementation of this algorithm was found to be an order-of-magnitude faster. Besides indicating the use of our methods in stand-alone fashion, the computational results also demonstrate the desirability of using these methods as a high-level module in a mathematical programming system.