Optimizing the gas-turbine combined-cycle is an important method for improving its efficiency. In this paper, a dual-pressure reheat combined-cycle was modeled and optimized for 80 cases. Constraints were set on the minimum temperature-difference for pinch points (PPm), superheat approach temperature-difference, steam-turbine inlet temperature and pressure, stack temperature, and dryness fraction at the steam-turbine's outlet. The dual-pressure reheat combined-cycle was optimized using two different methods; the direct search and the variable metric. A technique to reduce the irreversibility of the steam generator of the combined cycle was introduced. The optimized and the reduced-irreversibility dual-pressure reheat combined-cycles were compared with the regularly-designed dual-pressure reheat combined-cycle, which is the typical design for a commercial combined-cycle. The effects of varying the inlet temperature of the gas turbine (TIT) and PPm on the performance of all cycles were presented and discussed. The results indicated that the optimized combined-cycle is up to 1% higher in efficiency than the reduced-irreversibility combined-cycle, which is 2-2.5% higher in efficiency than the regularly-designed combined-cycle when compared for the same values of TIT and PPm. The advantages of the optimized and reduced-irreversibility combined-cycles were manifested when compared with the most efficient commercially-available combined cycle at the same value of TIT. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.