  We outline a new control system model for the distributed dynamics of
compressible gas flow through large-scale pipeline networks with time-varying
injections, withdrawals, and control actions of compressors and regulators. The
gas dynamics PDE equations over the pipelines, together with boundary
conditions at junctions, are reduced using lumped elements to a sparse
nonlinear ODE system expressed in vector-matrix form using graph theoretic
notation. This system, which we call the reduced network flow (RNF) model, is a
consistent discretization of the PDE equations for gas flow. The RNF forms the
dynamic constraints for optimal control problems for pipeline systems with
known time-varying withdrawals and injections and gas pressure limits
throughout the network. The objectives include economic transient compression
(ETC) and minimum load shedding (MLS), which involve minimizing compression
costs or, if that is infeasible, minimizing the unfulfilled deliveries,
respectively. These continuous functional optimization problems are
approximated using the Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto (LGL) pseudospectral collocation
scheme to yield a family of nonlinear programs, whose solutions approach the
optima with finer discretization. Simulation and optimization of time-varying
scenarios on an example natural gas transmission network demonstrate the gains
in security and efficiency over methods that assume steady-state behavior.
