The last two decades have brought about significant changes in the resource planning environment of electric power utilities throughout the world. The conventional generation technologies that have been the backbone of every electric utility i.e., coal, hydro, nuclear, oil and natural gas, are being re-examined to address environmental concerns and resource utilization. The research described in this thesis focuses on the adequacy and economic assessment of non-utility generation (NUG) and demand-side management (DSM) initiatives within a typical power system. The main objective was to examine and extend the ability of the contingency enumeration approach to evaluate the economic reliability benefits of incorporating NUG and DSM options separately or jointly in composite system adequacy assessment. Two test systems were employed in the evaluations. The studies undertaken in this thesis demonstrate the need for accurate load model representations which clearly reflect the mix of customer sectors at each bus.Chronological hourly load curves were developed for each load bus in the test systems recognizing the individual load profiles of the customers. The adequacy and economic implications of demand-side management initiatives in the test systems were examined at each load point in the composite generation and transmission configuration. This thesis illustrates the development of techniques by which system planners and operators can incorporate reliability cost/worth assessment power system applications. Focus is placed in the thesis on the utilization of reliability cost/worth concepts in integrated resource planning in the form of NUG additions and DSM initiatives. Methods for the joint implementation of NUG and DSM options in a composite power system are presented and examples from the studies conducted are used to illustrate the procedures. Studies are presented which illustrate the impacts of NUG additions and DSM initiatives on the test system planning reserve margins (PRM) and on the total societal cost of electrical energy. The total evaluated cost incorporates the explicit cost associated with customer failures but does not include the cost associated with DSM program implementation. The results of the studies conducted show that NUG facilities and DSM programs can have considerable reliability and economic impacts on electric power systems.

The Hybrid Norwood (HN) is a relatively new first stage procedure for neonates with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), in which a sustainable univentricular circulation is established in a less invasive manner than with the standard procedure. A computational multiscale model of such HLHS circulation following the HN procedure was used to obtain detailed hemodynamics. Implementation of a reverse-BT shunt (RBTS), a synthetic bypass from the main pulmonary to the innominate artery placed to counteract aortic arch stenosis, and its effects on local and global hemodynamics were studied. A synthetic and a 3D reconstructed, patient derived anatomy after the HN procedure were utilized, with varying degrees of distal arch obstruction, or stenosis, (nominal and 90% reduction in lumen) and varying RBTS diameters (3.0, 3.5, 4.0 mm). A closed lumped parameter model (LPM) for the peripheral or distal circulation coupled to a 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model that allows detailed description of the local hemodynamics was created for each anatomy. The implementation of the RBTS in any of the chosen diameters under severe stenosis resulted in a restoration of arterial perfusion to near-nominal levels. Shunt flow velocity, vorticity, and overall wall shear stress levels are inverse functions of shunt diameter, while shunt perfusion and systemic oxygen delivery correlates positively with diameter. No correlation of shunt diameter with helicity was recorded. In the setting of the hybrid Norwood circulation, our results suggest: (1) the 4.0mm RBTS may be more thrombogenic when implemented in the absence of severe arch stenosis and (2) the 3.0mm and 3.5mm RBTS may be a more suitable alternative, with preference to the latter since it provides similar hemodynamics at lower levels of wall shear stress.