A research supported by Shell International Exploration and Production Inc., engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a mathematical model of gas production that could ensure a reliable supply of natural fuel. Prof. Paul I. Barton together with chemical engineering graduate student Ajay Selot worked with this model for 2 years to help energy companies refine natural gas more efficiently and flexibly. According to Prof. Barton, if there were just one or two decisions to make, an engineer could do it, but when you've got 20 valves to set and 50 different constraints to satisfy, it's impossible for a person to see. "Computer procedures can take all of that into account", he said.

Efficiency and flexibility of natural gas production is the target of gas companies, but their engineers are overwhelmed with so many variables surrounding obligations, objectives, and constraints. The challenge is to define the optimum specific operation that will satisfy all variables. Standard optimization techniques cannot handle such a large and complex model. Selot is the one who refine and extend standard techniques to handle the problem.