The aim of this work is to develop a two-port black-box dc-dc converter modeling methodology for system level simulation and analysis. The models do not require any information about the components, structure, or control parameters of the converter. Instead, all the information needed to build the models is collected from unterminated experimental frequency response function (FRF) measurements performed at the converter power terminals. These transfer funtions are known as audiosuceptibility, back current gain, output impedance, and input admittance. The measurements are called unterminated because they do not contain any information about the source and/or the load dynamics. This work provides insights into how the source and the load affect FRF measurements and how to decouple those effects from the measurements. The actual linear time invariant model is obtained from the experimental FRFs via system identification. Because the the two-port model obtained from a set of FRFs is linear, it will be valid in a specific operating region defined by the converter operating conditions. Therefore, to satisfy the need for models valid in a wide operating region, a model structure that combines a family of linear two-port models is proposed. One structure, known as the Wiener structure, is especially useful when the converter nonlinearities are reflected mainly in the steady state currents and voltage values. The other structure is known as a polytopic structure, and it is able to capture nonlinearities that affect the transient and steady state converter behavior. The models are used for prediction of steady state and transient behavior of voltages and currents at the converter terminals. In addition, the models are useful for subsystem interaction and small signal stability assesment of interconnected dc distribution systems comprising commericially available converters. This work presents for first time simulation and stability analysis results of a system that combines dc-dc converters from two different manufucturers. All simulation results are compared against experimental results to verify the usefulness of the approach. / Ph. D.

Anaerobic digestion, which is the process by which bacteria breakdown organic matter to produce biogas (renewable energy source) and digestate (biofertiliser) in the absence of oxygen, proves to be the ideal concept not only for sustainable energy provision but also for effective organic waste management. However, the production amount of biogas to keep up with the global demand is limited by the underperformance in the system implementing the AD process. This underperformance is due to the difficulty in obtaining and maintaining the optimal operating parameters/states for anaerobic bacteria to thrive with regards to attaining a specific critical population number, which results in maximising the biogas production. This problem continues to exist as a result of insufficient knowledge of the interactions between the operating parameters and bacterial community. In addition, the lack of sufficient knowledge of the composition of bacterial groups that varies with changes in the operating parameters such as temperature, substrate and retention time. Without sufficient knowledge of the overall impact of the physico-environmental operating parameters on anaerobic bacterial growth and composition, significant improvement of biogas production may be difficult to attain. In order to mitigate this problem, this study has presented a nonlinear multi-parameter system modelling of mesophilic AD. It utilised raw data sets generated from laboratory experimentation of the influence of four operating parameters, temperature, pH, mixing speed and pressure on biogas and methane production, signifying that this is a multiple input single output (MISO) system. Due to the nonlinear characteristics of the data, the nonlinear black-box modelling technique is applied. The modelling is performed in MATLAB through System Identification approach. Two nonlinear model structures, autoregressive with exogenous input (NARX) and Hammerstein-Wiener (NLHW) with different nonlinearity estimators and model orders are chosen by trial and error and utilised to estimate the models. The performance of the models is determined by comparing the simulated outputs of the estimated models and the output in the validation data. The approach is used to validate the estimated models by checking how well the simulated output of the models fits the measured output. The best models for biogas and methane production are chosen by comparing the outputs of the best NARX and NLHW models (each for biogas and methane production), and the validation data, as well as utilising the Akaike information criterion to measure the quality of each model relative to each of the other models. The NLHW models mhw2 and mhws2 are chosen for biogas and methane production, respectively. The identified NLHW models mhw2 and mhws2 represent the behaviour of the production of biogas and methane, respectively, from mesophilic AD. Among all the candidate models studied, the nonlinear models provide a superior reproduction of the experimental data over the whole analysed period. Furthermore, the models constructed in this study cannot be used for scale-up purpose because they are not able to satisfy the rules and criteria for applying dimensional analysis to scale-up.

A significant challenge with permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) is thermal management. Thermal stress can lead to irreversible damage to components, and to enable efficient cooling, a thermal model is needed. In this thesis paper, methods for estimating the hot spot temperature of the windings in PMSMs used in heavy-duty EVs are investigated. The methods include black-box models and lumped parameter thermal network-based models. The results reveal that the implemented models are not sufficient for achieving the desired accuracy, and indicate that more parts of the windings need to be considered.

In recent years, advanced machine learning (ML) models have revolutionized industries ranging from the healthcare sector to retail and E-commerce. However, these models have become increasingly complex, making it difficult for even domain experts to understand and retrace the model's decision-making process. To address this challenge, several frameworks for explainable AI have been proposed and developed. This thesis focuses on counterfactual explanations (CFEs), which provide actionable insights by informing users how to modify inputs to achieve desired outputs. However, computing CFEs for a general black-box ML model is computationally expensive since it hinges on solving a challenging optimization problem. To efficiently solve this optimization problem, we propose using Bayesian optimization (BO), and introduce the novel algorithm Separated Bayesian Optimization (SBO). SBO exploits the formulation of the counterfactual function as a composite function. Additionally, we propose warm-starting SBO, which addresses the computational challenges associated with computing multiple CFEs. By decoupling the generation of a surrogate model for the black-box model and the computation of specific CFEs, warm-starting SBO allows us to reuse previous data and computations, resulting in computational discounts and improved efficiency for large-scale applications. Through numerical experiments, we demonstrate that BO is a viable optimization scheme for computing CFEs for black-box ML models. BO achieves computational efficiency while maintaining good accuracy. SBO improves upon this by requiring fewer evaluations while achieving accuracies comparable to the best conventional optimizer tested. Both BO and SBO exhibit improved capabilities in handling various classes of ML decision models compared to the tested baseline optimizers. Finally, Warm-starting SBO significantly enhances the performance of SBO, reducing function evaluations and errors when computing multiple sequential CFEs. The results indicate a strong potential for large-scale industry applications. / Avancerade maskininlärningsmodeller (ML-modeller) har på senaste åren haft stora framgångar inom flera delar av näringslivet, med allt ifrån hälso- och sjukvårdssektorn till detaljhandel och e-handel. I jämn takt med denna utveckling har det dock även kommit en ökad komplexitet av dessa ML-modeller vilket nu lett till att även domänexperter har svårigheter med att förstå och tolka modellernas beslutsprocesser. För att bemöta detta problem har flertalet förklarbar AI ramverk utvecklats. Denna avhandling fokuserar på kontrafaktuella förklaringar (CFEs). Detta är en förklaringstyp som anger för användaren hur denne bör modifiera sin indata för att uppnå ett visst modellbeslut. För en generell svarta-låda ML-modell är dock beräkningsmässigt kostsamt att beräkna CFEs då det krävs att man löser ett utmanande optimeringsproblem. För att lösa optimeringsproblemet föreslår vi användningen av Bayesiansk Optimering (BO), samt presenterar den nya algoritmen Separated Bayesian Optimization (SBO). SBO utnyttjar kompositionsformuleringen av den kontrafaktuella funktionen. Vidare, utforskar vi beräkningen av flera sekventiella CFEs för vilket vi presenterar varm-startad SBO. Varm-startad SBO lyckas återanvända data samt beräkningar från tidigare CFEs tack vare en separation av surrogat-modellen för svarta-låda ML-modellen och beräkningen av enskilda CFEs. Denna egenskap leder till en minskad beräkningskostnad samt ökad effektivitet för storskaliga tillämpningar.  I de genomförda experimenten visar vi att BO är en lämplig optimeringsmetod för att beräkna CFEs för svarta-låda ML-modeller tack vare en god beräknings effektivitet kombinerat med hög noggrannhet. SBO presterade ännu bättre med i snitt färre funktionsutvärderingar och med fel nivåer jämförbara med den bästa testade konventionella optimeringsmetoden. Både BO och SBO visade på bättre kapacitet att hantera olika klasser av ML-modeller än de andra testade metoderna. Slutligen observerade vi att varm-startad SBO gav ytterligare prestandaökningar med både minskade funktionsutvärderingar och fel när flera CFEs beräknades. Dessa resultat pekar på stor potential för storskaliga tillämpningar inom näringslivet.