In a deregulated power market, customers would have more choices for their power service and the improvement of service quality has become a challenge to power transmission and distribution companies. Distribution system reliability that was traditionally considered within the planning activities, is now incorporated in the operational environment. This dissertation presents study results of a multi-objective feeder operation optimization problem that considers how to balance network efficiency, switching and reliability costs in a distribution network. The proposed method divides annual feeder load curve into multi periods of load levels and optimizes the feeder configurations for different load levels in annual operation planning. Customer load profiles and seasonal varying data of feeder section failure rates and customer interruption costs are considered. Simulations results demonstrate the time varying effects on the optimal distribution feeder reconfiguration and operation costs. A binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) search is adopted to determine the feeder configuration in each time period. Test results indicate that not considering time varying effects and using only simplified fixed load and reliability parameters could underestimate the total loss to the utility and its customers.

The PMU has been found to carry great deal of value for applications in the wide area monitoring of power systems. Historically, deployment of these devices has been limited by the prohibitive cost of the device itself. Therefore, the objective of the conventional optimal PMU placement problem is to find the minimum number devices, which if carefully placed throughout the network, either maximize observability or completely observe subject to different constraints. Now due to improved technology and digital relays serving a dual use as relay & PMU, the cost of the PMU device itself is not the largest portion of the deployment cost, but rather the substation installation. In a recently completed large-scale deployment of PMUs on the EHV network, Virginia Electric & Power Company (VEPCO) has found this to be so. The assumption then becomes that if construction work is done in a substation, enough PMU devices will be placed such that everything at that substation is measured. This thesis presents a technique proposed to minimize the number of substation installations thus indirectly minimizing the synchrophasor deployment costs. Also presented is a brief history of the PMU and its applications along with the conventional Optimal PMU placement problem and the scope for expanding this work. / Master of Science

Este trabalho examina Qualidade de Vida no Trabalho nas manufaturas, de médio porte que obtiveram certificação ISO 9000. Nosso principal objetivo foi investigar as prováveis relações entre esforço da empresa e satisfação dos empregados através de indicadores empresariais selecionados com critérios da abordagem biopsicossocial. O método de pesquisa foi estudo de campo, com o modelo de variáveis dependentes e independentes. Os dados foram coletados em 26 empresas e 446 questionários, na Região de São Paulo. Os resultados demonstram inicialmente comparações através de análise exploratória entre gerência de recursos humanos e empregados. A seguir, levantaram-se fatores de satisfação dos empregados, quais sejam: atuação organizacional, necessidades biológicas, inclusão social, prestação de serviços; e fatores de esforço das empresas: imagem, desenvolvimento profissional, administração de recursos humanos, saúde e ética, demandas legais e reposição de energias. Através de análise de conglomerados foram obtidos perfis de atitudes dos empregados. Os perfis são diferenciados entre realização, desconfiança ou crítica à empresa. Finalmente, obtivemos resultados sobre tipos de gestão. Os tipos identificados foram estruturado, reativo e aleatório. Relacionando-se esses tipos de gestão e perfis dos empregados, constatou-se que a satisfação dos empregados localiza-se mais na imagem da empresa e em programas de atendimento a saúde e benefícios, que no tipo de gestão. / This work deals with Life Quality at Work at medium-sized manufacturers that had been awarded ISO 9000 certificate. We targeted investigating the potential relationship between companys effort and employees satisfaction through the selected companys indicators based on criteria of the bio-psycho-social approach. Research method was the field study with the model of dependent and independent variables. Data were collected at 26 companies by 446 questionnaires in the São Paulo Region. Results show first comparisons through exploratory analysis of human resources management and employees. Following, employees satisfaction factors were identified as follows: organizational acting, biological needs, social integration, service rendering; so were the companys effort factors: image, professional development, human resources management, health and ethics, legal actions and energy recovery. By means of a cluster analysis, the employees attitude profile was obtained. They were made distinct among accomplishment, discredit or criticism about the company. Finally, we have obtained results related to kinds of management. Identified kinds were structured, reactive and random. After relating these kinds of management and employees profiles, we could find out that employees satisfaction is based more on the companys image and on medical services and benefits than on the kind of management.

Este trabalho examina Qualidade de Vida no Trabalho nas manufaturas, de médio porte que obtiveram certificação ISO 9000. Nosso principal objetivo foi investigar as prováveis relações entre esforço da empresa e satisfação dos empregados através de indicadores empresariais selecionados com critérios da abordagem biopsicossocial. O método de pesquisa foi estudo de campo, com o modelo de variáveis dependentes e independentes. Os dados foram coletados em 26 empresas e 446 questionários, na Região de São Paulo. Os resultados demonstram inicialmente comparações através de análise exploratória entre gerência de recursos humanos e empregados. A seguir, levantaram-se fatores de satisfação dos empregados, quais sejam: atuação organizacional, necessidades biológicas, inclusão social, prestação de serviços; e fatores de esforço das empresas: imagem, desenvolvimento profissional, administração de recursos humanos, saúde e ética, demandas legais e reposição de energias. Através de análise de conglomerados foram obtidos perfis de atitudes dos empregados. Os perfis são diferenciados entre realização, desconfiança ou crítica à empresa. Finalmente, obtivemos resultados sobre tipos de gestão. Os tipos identificados foram estruturado, reativo e aleatório. Relacionando-se esses tipos de gestão e perfis dos empregados, constatou-se que a satisfação dos empregados localiza-se mais na imagem da empresa e em programas de atendimento a saúde e benefícios, que no tipo de gestão. / This work deals with Life Quality at Work at medium-sized manufacturers that had been awarded ISO 9000 certificate. We targeted investigating the potential relationship between companys effort and employees satisfaction through the selected companys indicators based on criteria of the bio-psycho-social approach. Research method was the field study with the model of dependent and independent variables. Data were collected at 26 companies by 446 questionnaires in the São Paulo Region. Results show first comparisons through exploratory analysis of human resources management and employees. Following, employees satisfaction factors were identified as follows: organizational acting, biological needs, social integration, service rendering; so were the companys effort factors: image, professional development, human resources management, health and ethics, legal actions and energy recovery. By means of a cluster analysis, the employees attitude profile was obtained. They were made distinct among accomplishment, discredit or criticism about the company. Finally, we have obtained results related to kinds of management. Identified kinds were structured, reactive and random. After relating these kinds of management and employees profiles, we could find out that employees satisfaction is based more on the companys image and on medical services and benefits than on the kind of management.