Inventory Control with a Randomly Available Discount Purchase Price

A mathematical model is developed for a basic single-commodity storage system in which the stock controller is faced with a randomly fluctuating purchase price. High- and low-price periods are defined and a purchasing policy is specified which depends upon both the number of units in storage and the price period in which the system is operating. For the case of random demand the limiting stochastic behaviour of the system is obtained and the cost of operating the system is derived.     

On optimal operating conditions for a data processing system: A stochastic approach

In this paper, we consider the problem of determining optimal operating conditions for a data processing system. The system is burned‐in for a fixed burn‐in time before it is put into field operation and, in field operation, it has a work size and follows an age‐replacement policy. Assuming that the underlying lifetime distribution of the system has a bathtub‐shaped failure rate function, the properties of optimal burn‐in time, optimal work size and optimal age‐replacement policy will be derived. It can be seen that this model is a generalization of those considered in the previous works, and it yields a better optimal operating conditions. This paper presents an analytical method for three‐dimensional optimization problem. An algorithm for determining optimal operating conditions is also given. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimal operational loads for distributed cogeneration power plants

The purpose of this paper is to determine the operating mode of a cogeneration system that minimises its overall cost of operation. The optimisation procedure is achieved in two steps: • First, we consider a single unit and we develop a convex but non differentiable formulation for the operating cost. Furthermore an explicit expression for the optimal operational mode parametrized with heat and power consumer demand and with electricity market price, is obtained; • Then, we express for the distributed cogeneration system the overall operating cost. This objective function is still convex and non differentiable and the optimisation procedure requires subdifferential calculus, via the Moreau-Rockafellar and the Duboviskii-Milyutin theorems [1]. The final result describing the best operating mode for the overall set of cogeneration units relies on the ordered sequence of marginal costs associated with the different operational modes for each unit. It indicates that the optimal operation of the distributed cogeneration system is achieved through an economic dispatch mode. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Operation strategy optimization of desulfurization system based on data mining

Desulfurization systems in coal-fired power stations often suffer the problem of high operating costs caused by a rule-of-thumb control strategy, which implies great potential for optimization of the operation. Due to the complex desulfurization mechanism, frequently fluctuating unit load, and severe disturbance, it is challenging to determine the optimal operating parameters based on the traditional mechanistic models, and the operating parameters are closely related to the operational efficiency of the flue gas desulfurization system. In this paper, an operation strategy optimization method for the desulfurization process is proposed based on a data mining framework, which is able to determine online the optimal operating parameter settings from a large amount of historical data. First, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to reduce data redundancy by mapping the data into a new vector space. Based on the new vector space, an enhanced fuzzy C-means clustering (Enhanced-FCM) is developed to cluster the historical data into groups sharing similar characteristics. Taking sulfur dioxide emission concentration as a constraint condition, the system is optimized with economic benefits and desulfurization efficiency as the objective function. When performing optimization, the group that current operating conditions belong to is determined first, then the operating parameters of the best performance are searched within the group and provided as the optimization results. The method is validated and tested based on the data from a wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) system of a 1000 MWe supercritical coal-fired power plant in China. The results indicate that the proposed operation strategy can appropriately obtain operating parameter settings at different conditions, and effectively reduce the desulfurization cost under the constraint of meeting emission requirements.     

Optimal operation of multireservoir power systems

The optimal monthly operating policy of a multireservoir hydroelectric power system is a stochastic nonlinear problem. This paper presents a new method for determining the optimal monthly operating policy of a power system ofn reservoirs in series on a river taking into account the stochasticity of the river flows. Functional optimization techniques and minimum-norm formulation have been used to find the optimal release policy of the system. Results for a numerical example composed of four reservoirs are presented.This work was supported by the National Research Council of Canada, Grant No. A4146.     

Program control of operating systems

The traditional job control language becomes superfluous if the existing programming languages are extended slightly. Such extensions also allow drivers and operating systems to be programmed entirely in high level languages. Ultimately, we may see machine independent operating systems. A framework is presented for an extendable operating system which allows a simple, uniform implementation of these language extensions.     

The efficiency of application of dual-processor computers for the analysis of the three-dimensional second harmonic generation problem

The efficiency of application of dual-processor computers, various operating systems, and library functions adapted to the used processors for increasing the execution speed of a computer program used for solving a system of two 3D nonlinear Schrödinger equations is analyzed. The computation speeds obtained on computers with 32-bit and 64-bit processors are compared. It is shown that the use of all mentioned possibilities and the Intel Itanium 2 processor provides from to threefold to tenfold total saving of time, depending on the operating system and the computer type. Parallelization of the algorithm for different operating systems in combination with the use of a library adapted to the processor can increase the program’s execution speed by a factor of 1.5–3.     

A model for determining machine requirements in a multistage manufacturing system with discretely distributed demand

A model is presented for resolving the problem of determining the optimum number of machines, and their discrete operating rates, required to meet discretely distributed production demands with a minimum total expected cost. The model is developed for a serial, multistage manufacturing system with both straight-time and overtime operating periods.     

Queueing Theory in the Solution of a Transport Evaluation Problem

The problem of minimizing the overall cost of operating the internal transport system of a steelworks is examined. The paper describes the practical problem encountered by an OR team and the approach that was adopted in the subsequent study. This approach led to the development of a simple queueing model of the rail transport system, which accounted for 90 per cent of the weight of material moved within the steelworks complex. The model was used to evaluate alternative methods of operating and controlling the rail transport system. The findings of the study were implemented and some of the operational details are outlined in the paper. Savings of at least 10 per cent in operating costs were achieved by the study.Hence this paper presents a detailed case study of a comprehensive approach to a transport planning and evaluation problem.     

Optimal control of a removable and non-reliable server in an infinite and a finite M/H2/1 queueing system

This paper deals with a single removable and non-reliable server in both an infinite and a finite queueing system with Poisson arrivals and two-type hyper-exponential distribution for the service times. The server may be turned on at arrival epochs or off at service completion epochs. Breakdown and repair times of the server are assumed to follow a negative exponential distribution. Conditions for a stable queueing system, that is steady-state, are provided. Cost models for both system capacities are respectively developed to determine the optimal operating policy numerically at minimum cost. This paper provides the minimum expected cost and the optimal operating policy based on assumed numerical values given to the system parameters, as well as to the cost elements. Sensitivity analysis is also investigated.     

A redundant repairable system with imperfect coverage and fuzzy parameters

This paper proposes a procedure to construct the membership functions of the system characteristics of a redundant repairable system with two primary units and one standby in which the coverage factor is the same for an operating unit failure as that for a standby unit failure. Times to failure and times to repair of the operating and standby units are assumed to follow fuzzified exponential distributions. The α-cut approach is used to extract from the fuzzy repairable system a family of conventional crisp intervals for the desired system characteristics, determined with a set of parametric nonlinear programs using their membership functions. A numerical example is solved successfully to illustrate the practicality of the proposed approach. Because the system characteristics are governed by the membership functions, more information is provided for use by management, and because the redundant system is extended to the fuzzy environment, general repairable systems are represented more accurately and the analytic results are more useful for designers and practitioners.     

Stakeholder preference elicitation and modelling in multi-criteria decision analysis – A case study on urban water supply

Integration of multiple objectives to evaluate the alternative operating rules for urban water supply reservoir systems can be effectively accomplished by multi-criteria decision aid techniques, where preference elicitation and modelling plays an important role. This paper describes a preference elicitation and modelling procedure involving the multi-criteria outranking method PROMETHEE in evaluating these alternative operating rules. The Melbourne water supply system was considered as the case study. Eight performance measures (PMs) were identified under four main objectives to evaluate the system performance under alternative operating rules. Three major hypothetical stakeholder groups namely, resource managers, water users, and environmental interest groups were considered in decision-making. An interviewer-assisted questionnaire survey was used to derive the preference functions and weights of the PMs. The evaluation of alternative operating rules is not covered in this paper, rather an approach to elicit and model stakeholder preferences in decision-making is described.     

Two-stage generalized age maintenance of a queue-like production system

In general, the initiation of preventive maintenance should be based on the technical state as well as the operating state of a production system. Since the operating state of a production system is often subject to fluctuations in time, the planning of preventive maintenance at preset points in time (e.g. age/block replacement) cannot be optimal. Therefore, we propose a so-called two-stage maintenance policy, which - in a first stage - uses the technical state of the production system to determine a finite interval [t, t + At] during which preventive maintenance must be carried out, and - in a second stage - uses the operating state of the production system to determine the optimal starting time t̂ for preventive maintenance within that interval. A generalized age maintenance policy optimizing both t and At is formulated in the first stage. To this end, the actual starting time of preventive maintenance is modelled in terms of a uniform distribution over the maintenance interval. Moreover, the expected costs of preventive maintenance are modelled as a decreasing function of the interval size. An efficient algorithm is developed to demonstrate the optimal strategy for a queue-like production system, via numerical results that offer useful insights.     

Fractional non-linear modelling of ultracapacitors

In this paper, it is demonstrated that an ultracapacitor exhibits a non-linear behaviour in relation to the operating voltage. A set of fractional order linear systems resulting from a frequency analysis of the ultracapacitor at various operating points is first obtained. Then, a non-linear model is deduced from the linear systems set, so that its Taylor linearization around the considered operating points (for the frequency analysis), produces the linear system set. The resulting non-linear model is validated on a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) application.     

System Identification with piecewise linear models in the frequency domain – application to an servopneumatic actuator

By means of a real world application a system identification method was investigated for nonlinear systems from input‐output measurements. This approach is based on a blended multiple model structure, which describes the global behaviour of the system over the whole operating range. Depending on the operating point twenty local linear blackbox models were identified in the frequency domain from a finite number of measurements of the inputs and outputs. A comparative study was made of a model, which have been derived using physical laws [4] and measurements of several process states to estimate unknown parameters.     

A simulation model for emergency evacuation

This paper describes the development of a prototype spatial decision support system for use by emergency planners in developing contingency plans for evacuations from disaster areas. It links together a geographical information system (ARC/INFO) with a specially written object-oriented micro-simulator via a windowing computer operating system. The details of the system are described, its limitations are discussed and potential enhancements are identified.     

Multichannel queueing system in a random environment

This paper is focused on a multichannel queueing system with heterogeneous servers and regenerative input flow operating in a random environment. The environment can destroy the whole system and the system is reconstructed after that. The necessary and sufficient ergodicity condition is obtained for the system.     

带缓冲串行生产系统预防性维护建模及运行参数优化研究

为了保证串行生产系统的产能和提高系统可靠性,提出了带缓冲区的串行生产系统预防性维护决策模型。首先,分析了生产线各执行单元可靠性和运行参数之间的关系,建立了考虑执行单元运行参数和缓冲库存的维护模型。在此基础上,结合串行生产线的特点,建立综合考虑维护成本、有效运行速度和缓冲库存的多目标优化函数。最后,构建启发式算法求解目标函数,并以串行包装生产线为例进行仿真实验分析,结果表明本文所建模型是有效且实用的。     

The application of a vehicle routing model to a waste-collection problem: two case studies

In this paper we suggest a unique model for estimating the operating cost of each of three waste-collection systems. Under the traditional system, which is widely used, waste is typically collected in plastic bags and a three-man crew is needed on each vehicle. The other two systems require a one-man crew for vehicle collecting street containers. The side-loader system with fixed body automatically empties street containers into the vehicle body and empties the load at the disposal site. The side-loader system with demountable body allows the separation of the waste collection phase from transport to the disposal site, since the vehicle body can be demounted. We also present two case studies and show how the estimation of operating costs is a critical issue in decisions regarding the type of system to be used for waste collection.     

Mean First-passage Times for a <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-out-of-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis> Sytem with Repair

Consider a k-out-of-n system where the lifetimes of the components are independent and identically distributed exponential (λ) random variables. Each component has its own repair facility, the repair times being independent and identically distributed exponential (μ) random variables, independent of the failure times. The mean operating time and mean repair time during the cycle between two successive breakdowns are found using renewal theory and the expression for the system availability. Using these, the mean first-passage times from any of the operating states of the system to the down state, and the mean first-passage times from any of the down states to the operating state are found recursively.