Search results for " distribution systems"

A BASIC DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING SERVICE LEVEL IN INTERMITTENT WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

2012

Prioritization of maintenance actions in water distribution systems

2017

[EN] Industrial water distribution systems are paramount in many manufacturing systems to optimise the related industrial plant availability and consequently the level of production. They also play an important part in keeping right standards of hygiene of workplaces and machines. A strategic action of planning and implementing of suitable maintenance activities is necessary to assure the standards previously described. The present contribution proposes the prioritization of maintenance actions for industrial water distribution systems through a multi-criteria decision making approach, since some of the elements integrated in maintenance-related aspects are not easily quantifiable and, on t…

Integration Issues of Distributed Generators Considering Faults in Electrical Distribution Networks

2014

In the recent years there is a great interest in integration of distributed generation (DG) units at distribution level; this integration leads to planning as well as operational challenges. Some possibilities to handle grid planning issues are addressed in this paper. Effects on grid protection, fault current level, and voltage profile are investigated and described for different types of DG units; the classification of DG units is based on their terminal characteristics in terms of real and reactive power delivering capability. Different scenarios for mis-coordination problems caused by DG interconnection are discussed. The effect of the DG on the voltage profile of a distribution network…

District metered area design through multicriteria and multiobjective optimization

2022

[EN] The design of district metered areas (DMA) in potable water supply systems is of paramount importance for water utilities to properly manage their systems. Concomitant to their main objective, namely, to deliver quality water to consumers, the benefits include leakage reduction and prompt reaction in cases of natural or malicious contamination events. Given the structure of a water distribution network (WDN), graph theory is the basis for DMA design, and clustering algorithms can be applied to perform the partitioning. However, such sectorization entails a number of network modifications (installing cut-off valves and metering and control devices) involving costs and operation changes,…

Adaptive and Dynamic Ant Colony Search Algorithm for Optimal Distribution Systems Reinforcement Strategy

2006

The metaheuristic technique of Ant Colony Search has been revised here in order to deal with dynamic search optimization problems having a large search space and mixed integer variables. The problem to which it has been applied is an electrical distribution systems management problem. This kind of issues is indeed getting increasingly complicated due to the introduction of new energy trading strategies, new environmental constraints and new technologies. In particular, in this paper, the problem of finding the optimal reinforcement strategy to provide reliable and economic service to customers in a given time frame is investigated. Utilities indeed need efficient software tools to take deci…

Multi-Objective and Multi-Criteria Analysis for Optimal Pump Scheduling in Water Systems

2018

This contribution focuses on the problem of optimal pump scheduling, a fundamental element in pursuing operation optimization of water distribution systems. A combined approach of multi-objective optimization and multi-criteria analysis is herein suggested to first find the Pareto front of non-dominated solutions and then to rank them based on a set of weighted criteria. The Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) is proposed to solve the multi-objective problem, while the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used to achieve the final ranking.

Water quality sensor placement: a multi-objective and multi-criteria approach

2021

[EN] To satisfy their main goal, namely providing quality water to consumers, water distribution networks (WDNs) need to be suitably monitored. Only well designed and reliable monitoring data enables WDN managers to make sound decisions on their systems. In this belief, water utilities worldwide have invested in monitoring and data acquisition systems. However, good monitoring needs optimal sensor placement and presents a multi-objective problem where cost and quality are conflicting objectives (among others). In this paper, we address the solution to this multi-objective problem by integrating quality simulations using EPANET-MSX, with two optimization techniques. First, multi-objective op…

FROM FUEL BASED GENERATION TO SMART RENEWABLE GENERATION: PRELIMINARY DESIGN FOR AN ISLANDED SYSTEM. PART I: TECHNICAL ISSUES AND FUTURE SCENARIOS

2011

The subject addressed in this paper is the analytical study of the transition of the energy generation system for a real MV/LV distribution system from a ‘fuel based’ one to a distributed and smart ‘renewables based’ one. The paper outlines the technical issues related to such transition from one type of system to the other. The study is carried out for a real islanded MV/LV distribution network located in the Island of Pantelleria. The economical issues regarding the above transition are focused in a companion paper.

Constrained Robust MultiObjective Optimization for Reactive Design in Distribution Systems

2006

This paper presents a new formulation including robustness of solution of constrained multiobjective design or reactive power compensation. The algorithm used for optimization is the NSGA-II (Non dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II) with a special crowded comparison operator for constraints handling. The need for including the issue of robustness of solutions derives from the simple observation that loads are uncertain in distribution systems and their estimation is often affected by errors. In design problems it is desirable to consider the loads with a certain range of variation. In this paper the NSGA-II algorithm is applied to efficiently solve the issue and the solutions attained co…

Energy consumption model of aerial urban logistic infrastructures

2021

In the last decade, logistic systems based on small aerial vehicles (drones) have become attractive for urban delivery operations as a sustainable alternative to ground vehicles because they are not affected by the congestion of the road network, thus allowing for faster and more reliable services. Aerial logistic systems, however, require a substantially different approach to operations management and need specifically designed supportive infrastructures. While the research on urban aerial delivery mostly focuses on the optimization vehicle operations, the appropriate design of supportive infrastructures is seldom considered. This paper focuses on the energy efficiency of aerial logistic s…