abstract: The electric transmission grid is conventionally treated as a fixed asset and is operated around a single topology. Though several instances of switching transmission lines for corrective mechaism, congestion management, and minimization of losses can be found in literature, the idea of co-optimizing transmission with generation dispatch has not been widely investigated. Network topology optimization exploits the redundancies that are an integral part of the network to allow for improvement in dispatch efficiency. Although, the concept of a dispatchable network initially appears counterintuitive questioning the wisdom of switching transmission lines on a more regu-lar basis, results obtained in the previous research on transmission switching with a Direct Current Optimal Power Flow (DCOPF) show significant cost reductions. This thesis on network topology optimization with ACOPF emphasizes the need for additional research in this area. It examines the performance of network topology optimization in an Alternating Current (AC) setting and its impact on various parameters like active power loss and voltages that are ignored in the DC setting. An ACOPF model, with binary variables representing the status of transmission lines incorporated into the formulation, is written in AMPL, a mathematical programming language and this optimization problem is solved using the solver KNITRO. ACOPF is a non-convex, nonlinear optimization problem, making it a very hard problem to solve. The introduction of bi-nary variables makes ACOPF a mixed integer nonlinear programming problem, further increasing the complexity of the optimization problem. An iterative method of opening each transmission line individually before choosing the best solution has been proposed as a purely investigative approach to studying the impact of transmission switching with ACOPF. Economic savings of up to 6% achieved using this approach indicate the potential of this concept. In addition, a heuristic has been proposed to improve the computational efficiency of network topology optimization. This research also makes a comparative analysis between transmission switching in a DC setting and switching in an AC setting. Results presented in this thesis indicate significant economic savings achieved by controlled topology optimization, thereby reconfirming the need for further examination of this idea. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Electrical Engineering 2011

The Internet of Things paradigm establishes interaction and communication with a huge amount of actors. The concept is not a new-from-scratch one; actually, it combines a vast number of technologies and protocols and surely adaptations of pre-existing elements to offer new services and applications. One of the key technologies of the Internet of Things is the Radio Frequency Identification just abbreviated RFID. This technology proposes a set of solutions that allow tracking and tracing persons, animals and practically any item wirelessly. Considering the Internet of Things concept, multiple technologies need to be linked in order to provide interactions that lead to the implementation of services and applications. The challenge is that these technologies are not necessarily compatible and designed to work with other technologies. Within this context, the main objective of this thesis is to design a heterogeneous framework that will permit the interaction of diverse devices such as RFID, sensors and actuators in order to provide new applications and services. For this purpose in this work, our first contribution is the design and analysis of an integration architecture for heterogeneous devices. In the second contribution, we propose an evaluation model for RFID topologies and an optimization tool that assists in the RFID network planning process. Finally, in our last contribution, we implemented a simplified version of the framework by using embedded hardware and performance metrics are provided as well as the detailed configuration of the test platform

abstract: The standard optimal power flow (OPF) problem is an economic dispatch (ED) problem combined with transmission constraints, which are based on a static topology. However, topology control (TC) has been proposed in the past as a corrective mechanism to relieve overloads and voltage violations. Even though the benefits of TC are presented by several research works in the past, the computational complexity associated with TC has been a major deterrent to its implementation. The proposed work develops heuristics for TC and investigates its potential to improve the computational time for TC for various applications. The objective is to develop computationally light methods to harness the flexibility of the grid to derive maximum benefits to the system in terms of reliability. One of the goals of this research is to develop a tool that will be capable of providing TC actions in a minimal time-frame, which can be readily adopted by the industry for real-time corrective applications. A DC based heuristic, i.e., a greedy algorithm, is developed and applied to improve the computational time for the TC problem while still maintaining the ability to find quality solutions. In the greedy algorithm, an expression is derived, which indicates the impact on the objective for a marginal change in the state of a transmission line. This expression is used to generate a priority list with potential candidate lines for switching, which may provide huge improvements to the system. The advantage of this method is that it is a fast heuristic as compared to using mixed integer programming (MIP) approach. Alternatively, AC based heuristics are developed for TC problem and tested on actual data from PJM, ERCOT and TVA. AC based N-1 contingency analysis is performed to identify the contingencies that cause network violations. Simple proximity based heuristics are developed and the fast decoupled power flow is solved iteratively to identify the top five TC actions, which provide reduction in violations. Time domain simulations are performed to ensure that the TC actions do not cause system instability. Simulation results show significant reductions in violations in the system by the application of the TC heuristics. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2016

Diplomová práce se zabývá topologickou optimalizací elektrických strojů a reluktančními synchronními stroji spouštěnými za sítě. Práce obsahuje literární rešerši na téma topologické optimalizace elektrických strojů a na téma synchronní reluktanční stroj spouštěný ze sítě. Jsou zde popsány možné způsoby charakterizace optimalizovaného prostoru. Především je rozebrán vliv rozmístění Gaussových funkcí na finální Gaussovu síť. V této práci je vytvořen vyhodnocovací algoritmus pro jednotlivé jedince, který zajišťuje komunikaci mezi Ansys Maxwell a optimalizačním softwarem SyMSpace. Navíc tento algoritmus vede ke zkrácení výpočetní doby počáteční selekcí nevyhovujících jedinců. Dále je provedena topologická optimalizace LSSynRM s využitím normalizované Gaussovy sítě a zhodnocení výsledků.

Le paradigme de l'Internet des choses établit l'interaction et la communication avec une énorme quantité d'acteurs. Le concept combine un grand nombre de technologies et de protocoles et des adaptations des éléments préexistants pour offrir de nouveaux services et applications. Une des technologies clés de l'Internet des objets est l'identification par radiofréquence abrégée en anglais RFID («Radio Frequency Identification»). Elle propose un ensemble de solutions qui permettent le suivi et la traçabilité des personnes, des animaux et pratiquement n'importe quel objet en utilisant des liaisons sans fil. En considérant le concept de l'Internet des choses, plusieurs technologies doivent être liées afin de fournir des interactions qui conduisent à la mise en œuvre de services et d'applications. Le défi est que ces technologies ne sont pas nécessairement compatibles et conçues pour fonctionner ensemble. Dans ce contexte, l'objectif principal de cette thèse est de concevoir un « framework » hétérogène qui permettra l'interaction de divers dispositifs tels que la RFID, des capteurs et des actionneurs afin de fournir de nouvelles applications et de services. À cet effet, notre première contribution est la conception et l'analyse d'une architecture d'intégration pour les dispositifs hétérogènes. Dans la seconde contribution, nous proposons un modèle d'évaluation de la topologie RFID et un outil d'optimisation pour la planification de réseaux de cette technologie. Enfin, nous avons implémenté une version simplifiée du framework en utilisant du matériel embarqué et indicateurs de performance sont fournis ainsi que la configuration détaillée de la plateforme de test / The Internet of Things paradigm establishes interaction and communication with a huge amount of actors. The concept is not a new-from-scratch one; actually, it combines a vast number of technologies and protocols and surely adaptations of pre-existing elements to offer new services and applications. One of the key technologies of the Internet of Things is the Radio Frequency Identification just abbreviated RFID. This technology proposes a set of solutions that allow tracking and tracing persons, animals and practically any item wirelessly. Considering the Internet of Things concept, multiple technologies need to be linked in order to provide interactions that lead to the implementation of services and applications. The challenge is that these technologies are not necessarily compatible and designed to work with other technologies. Within this context, the main objective of this thesis is to design a heterogeneous framework that will permit the interaction of diverse devices such as RFID, sensors and actuators in order to provide new applications and services. For this purpose in this work, our first contribution is the design and analysis of an integration architecture for heterogeneous devices. In the second contribution, we propose an evaluation model for RFID topologies and an optimization tool that assists in the RFID network planning process. Finally, in our last contribution, we implemented a simplified version of the framework by using embedded hardware and performance metrics are provided as well as the detailed configuration of the test platform