The BreakLink node can be used to reduce the number of routes in a model.
For instance, in a model with form (3, 1, 3), i.e. 3 (A, B, C) inputs connected to 3 outputs (D, E, F) via a bottleneck (X), there are 3*3 routes = 9 routes.
A -->\ /--> D
B --> X --> E
C -->/ \--> F
If X is a storage, there are only 6 routes: A->X_o, B->X_o, C->X_o and X_i->D_o, X_i->E_o, X_i->F_o.
The BreakLink node is a compound node composed of a Storage with zero volume and a Link. It can be used in place of a normal Link, but with the benefit that it reduces the number of routes in the model (in the situation described above). The resulting LP is easier to solve. API Reference.
Primary Attributes
Name
Description
Required
allocation penalty
The cost per unit flow via the node
Optional
conversion_factor
The conversion between inflow and outflow for the node