Evolutionary Computation

This book presents several recent advances on Evolutionary Computation, specially evolution-based optimization methods and hybrid algorithms for several applications, from optimization and learning to pattern recognition and bioinformatics. This book also presents new algorithms based on several analogies and metafores, where one of them is based on philosophy, specifically on the philosophy of praxis and dialectics. In this book it is also presented interesting applications on bioinformatics, specially the use of particle swarms to discover gene expression patterns in DNA microarrays. Therefore, this book features representative work on the field of evolutionary computation and applied sciences. The intended audience is graduate, undergraduate, researchers, and anyone who wishes to become familiar with the latest research work on this field

Building and investigating generators' bidding strategies in an electricity market

In a deregulated electricity market environment, Generation Companies (GENCOs) compete with each other in the market through spot energy trading, bilateral contracts and other financial instruments. For a GENCO, risk management is among the most important tasks. At the same time, how to maximise its profit in the electricity market is the primary objective of its operations and strategic planning. Therefore, to achieve the best risk-return trade-off, a GENCO needs to determine how to allocate its assets. This problem is also called portfolio optimization. This dissertation presents advanced techniques for generator strategic bidding, portfolio optimization, risk assessment, and a framework for system adequacy optimisation and control in an electricity market environment. Most of the generator bidding related problems can be regarded as complex optimisation problems. In this dissertation, detailed discussions of optimisation methods are given and a number of approaches are proposed based on heuristic global optimisation algorithms for optimisation purposes. The increased level of uncertainty in an electricity market can result in higher risk for market participants, especially GENCOs, and contribute significantly to the drivers for appropriate bidding and risk management tasks for GENCOs in the market. Accordingly, how to build an optimal bidding strategy considering market uncertainty is a fundamental task for GENCOs. A framework of optimal bidding strategy is developed out of this research. To further enhance the effectiveness of the optimal bidding framework; a Support Vector Machine (SVM) based method is developed to handle the incomplete information of other generators in the market, and therefore form a reliable basis for a particular GENCO to build an optimal bidding strategy. A portfolio optimisation model is proposed to maximise the return and minimise the risk of a GENCO by optimally allocating the GENCO's assets among different markets, namely spot market and financial market. A new market pnce forecasting framework is given In this dissertation as an indispensable part of the overall research topic. It further enhances the bidding and portfolio selection methods by providing more reliable market price information and therefore concludes a rather comprehensive package for GENCO risk management in a market environment. A detailed risk assessment method is presented to further the price modelling work and cover the associated risk management practices in an electricity market. In addition to the issues stemmed from the individual GENCO, issues from an electricity market should also be considered in order to draw a whole picture of a GENCO's risk management. In summary, the contributions of this thesis include: 1) a framework of GENCO strategic bidding considering market uncertainty and incomplete information from rivals; 2) a portfolio optimisation model achieving best risk-return trade-off; 3) a FIA based MCP forecasting method; and 4) a risk assessment method and portfolio evaluation framework quantifying market risk exposure; through out the research, real market data and structure from the Australian NEM are used to validate the methods. This research has led to a number of publications in book chapters, journals and refereed conference proceedings

Hybrid Advanced Optimization Methods with Evolutionary Computation Techniques in Energy Forecasting

More accurate and precise energy demand forecasts are required when energy decisions are made in a competitive environment. Particularly in the Big Data era, forecasting models are always based on a complex function combination, and energy data are always complicated. Examples include seasonality, cyclicity, fluctuation, dynamic nonlinearity, and so on. These forecasting models have resulted in an over-reliance on the use of informal judgment and higher expenses when lacking the ability to determine data characteristics and patterns. The hybridization of optimization methods and superior evolutionary algorithms can provide important improvements via good parameter determinations in the optimization process, which is of great assistance to actions taken by energy decision-makers. This book aimed to attract researchers with an interest in the research areas described above. Specifically, it sought contributions to the development of any hybrid optimization methods (e.g., quadratic programming techniques, chaotic mapping, fuzzy inference theory, quantum computing, etc.) with advanced algorithms (e.g., genetic algorithms, ant colony optimization, particle swarm optimization algorithm, etc.) that have superior capabilities over the traditional optimization approaches to overcome some embedded drawbacks, and the application of these advanced hybrid approaches to significantly improve forecasting accuracy

Advances in Condition Monitoring, Optimization and Control for Complex Industrial Processes

The book documents 25 papers collected from the Special Issue “Advances in Condition Monitoring, Optimization and Control for Complex Industrial Processes”, highlighting recent research trends in complex industrial processes. The book aims to stimulate the research field and be of benefit to readers from both academic institutes and industrial sectors

Computational Intelligence for Modeling, Control, Optimization, Forecasting and Diagnostics in Photovoltaic Applications

This book is a Special Issue Reprint edited by Prof. Massimo Vitelli and Dr. Luigi Costanzo. It contains original research articles covering, but not limited to, the following topics: maximum power point tracking techniques; forecasting techniques; sizing and optimization of PV components and systems; PV modeling; reconfiguration algorithms; fault diagnosis; mismatching detection; decision processes for grid operators

Wind Farm

During the last two decades, increase in electricity demand and environmental concern resulted in fast growth of power production from renewable sources. Wind power is one of the most efficient alternatives. Due to rapid development of wind turbine technology and increasing size of wind farms, wind power plays a significant part in the power production in some countries. However, fundamental differences exist between conventional thermal, hydro, and nuclear generation and wind power, such as different generation systems and the difficulty in controlling the primary movement of a wind turbine, due to the wind and its random fluctuations. These differences are reflected in the specific interaction of wind turbines with the power system. This book addresses a wide variety of issues regarding the integration of wind farms in power systems. The book contains 14 chapters divided into three parts. The first part outlines aspects related to the impact of the wind power generation on the electric system. In the second part, alternatives to mitigate problems of the wind farm integration are presented. Finally, the third part covers issues of modeling and simulation of wind power system

Computational Optimizations for Machine Learning

The present book contains the 10 articles finally accepted for publication in the Special Issue “Computational Optimizations for Machine Learning” of the MDPI journal Mathematics, which cover a wide range of topics connected to the theory and applications of machine learning, neural networks and artificial intelligence. These topics include, among others, various types of machine learning classes, such as supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning, deep neural networks, convolutional neural networks, GANs, decision trees, linear regression, SVM, K-means clustering, Q-learning, temporal difference, deep adversarial networks and more. It is hoped that the book will be interesting and useful to those developing mathematical algorithms and applications in the domain of artificial intelligence and machine learning as well as for those having the appropriate mathematical background and willing to become familiar with recent advances of machine learning computational optimization mathematics, which has nowadays permeated into almost all sectors of human life and activity

Inspection and Monitoring of Structural Damage Using Vibration Signatures and Smart Techniques

The structural damage detection plays an important role in the evaluation of structural systems and to ensure their safety. Structures like large bridges should be continuously monitored for detection of damage. The cracks usually change the physical parameters like stiffness and flexibility which in turn changes the dynamic properties such as natural frequencies and mode shapes. Crack detection of a beam element comprises of two aspects: the first one is the forward problem which is achieved from the Eigen parameters and the second one is the process to locate and quantify the effect of damage and is termed as ‘inverse process of damage detection’. In the present investigation the analytical and numerical methods are known as the forward problem includes determination of natural frequencies from the knowledge of beam geometry and crack dimension. The vibration signals are derived from the forward problem is exploited in the inverse problem. The natural frequency changes occur due to the various reasons such as boundary condition changes, temperature variations etc. Among all the changes boundary condition changes are the most important factors in structural elements. Many major structures like bridges are made up of uniform beams of unknown boundary conditions. So in the present investigation two of the boundary conditions i.e. fixed -free and fixed- fixed are considered. Using the forward solution method, the natural frequencies are determined. In the inverse solution method various Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques with their hybrid methods are proposed and implemented. Damage detection problems using Artificial Intelligence techniques require a number of training data sets that represent the uncracked and cracked scenarios of practical structural elements. In the second part of the work different AI techniques like Fuzzy Logic, Genetic Algorithm, Clonal Selection Algorithm, Differential Evolution Algorithm and their hybrid methods are designed and developed. In summary this investigation is a step towards to forecast the position of the damage using the Artificial Intelligence techniques and compare their results. Finally, the results from the Artificial Intelligence techniques and their hybridized algorithms are validated by doing experimental analysis

Engineering Education and Research Using MATLAB

MATLAB is a software package used primarily in the field of engineering for signal processing, numerical data analysis, modeling, programming, simulation, and computer graphic visualization. In the last few years, it has become widely accepted as an efficient tool, and, therefore, its use has significantly increased in scientific communities and academic institutions. This book consists of 20 chapters presenting research works using MATLAB tools. Chapters include techniques for programming and developing Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), dynamic systems, electric machines, signal and image processing, power electronics, mixed signal circuits, genetic programming, digital watermarking, control systems, time-series regression modeling, and artificial neural networks

Prognostic-based Life Extension Methodology with Application to Power Generation Systems

Practicable life extension of engineering systems would be a remarkable application of prognostics. This research proposes a framework for prognostic-base life extension. This research investigates the use of prognostic data to mobilize the potential residual life. The obstacles in performing life extension include: lack of knowledge, lack of tools, lack of data, and lack of time. This research primarily considers using the acoustic emission (AE) technology for quick-response diagnostic. To be specific, an important feature of AE data was statistically modeled to provide quick, robust and intuitive diagnostic capability. The proposed model was successful to detect the out of control situation when the data of faulty bearing was applied. This research also highlights the importance of self-healing materials. One main component of the proposed life extension framework is the trend analysis module. This module analyzes the pattern of the time-ordered degradation measures. The trend analysis is helpful not only for early fault detection but also to track the improvement in the degradation rate. This research considered trend analysis methods for the prognostic parameters, degradation waveform and multivariate data. In this respect, graphical methods was found appropriate for trend detection of signal features. Hilbert Huang Transform was applied to analyze the trends in waveforms. For multivariate data, it was realized that PCA is able to indicate the trends in the data if accompanied by proper data processing. In addition, two algorithms are introduced to address non-monotonic trends. It seems, both algorithms have the potential to treat the non-monotonicity in degradation data. Although considerable research has been devoted to developing prognostics algorithms, rather less attention has been paid to post-prognostic issues such as maintenance decision making. A multi-objective optimization model is presented for a power generation unit. This model proves the ability of prognostic models to balance between power generation and life extension. In this research, the confronting objective functions were defined as maximizing profit and maximizing service life. The decision variables include the shaft speed and duration of maintenance actions. The results of the optimization models showed clearly that maximizing the service life requires lower shaft speed and longer maintenance time