Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, March, 1998. / Title from PDF t.p.

Well-designed demand response is expected to play a vital role in operatingpower systems by reducing economic and environmental costs. However,the current system is operated without much information on the benefits ofend-users, especially the small ones, who use electricity. This thesis proposes aframework of operating power systems with demand models including the diversityof end-users’ benefits, namely adaptive load management (ALM). Sincethere are a large number of end-users having different preferences and conditionsin energy consumption, the information on the end-users’ benefits needsto be aggregated at the system level. This leads us to model the system ina multi-layered way, including end-users, load serving entities, and a systemoperator. On the other hand, the information of the end-users’ benefits can beuncertain even to the end-users themselves ahead of time. This information isdiscovered incrementally as the actual consumption approaches and occurs. Forthis reason ALM requires a multi-temporal model of a system operation andend-users’ benefits within. Due to the different levels of uncertainty along thedecision-making time horizons, the risks from the uncertainty of informationon both the system and the end-users need to be managed. The methodologyof ALM is based on Lagrange dual decomposition that utilizes interactive communicationbetween the system, load serving entities, and end-users. We showthat under certain conditions, a power system with a large number of end-userscan balance at its optimum efficiently over the horizon of a day ahead of operationto near real time. Numerical examples include designing ALM for theright types of loads over different time horizons, and balancing a system with a large number of different loads on a congested network. We conclude thatwith the right information exchange by each entity in the system over differenttime horizons, a power system can reach its optimum including a variety ofend-users’ preferences and their values of consuming electricity.

We present a linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) design for a heat transfer model describing the cooling process of steel profiles in a rolling mill. Primarily we consider a feedback control approach for a linearization of the nonlinear model given there, but we will also present first ideas how to use local (in time) linearizations to treat the nonlinear equation with a regulator approach. Numerical results based on a spatial finite element discretization and a numerical algorithm for solving large-scale algebraic Riccati equations are presented both for the linear and nonlinear models.

This thesis considers the development of a Hammerstein-bilinear approach to non-linear systems modelling, analysis and control systems design, which builds on and extends the applicability of an existing bilinear approach. The underlying idea of the Hammerstein-bilinear approach is to use the Hammerstein-bilinear system models to capture various physical phenomena of interest and subsequently use these for model based control system designs with the premise being that of achieving enhanced control performance. The advantage of the Hammerstein-bilinear approach is that the well-structured system models allow techniques that have been originally developed for linear systems to be extended and applied, while retaining moderate complexity of the corresponding system identification schemes and nonlinear model based control designs. In recognition of the need to be able to identify the Hammerstein-bilinear models a unified suite of algorithms, being the extensions to the simplified refined instrumental variable method for parameter estimation of linear transfer function models is proposed. These algorithms are able to operate in both the continuous-time and discrete-time domains to reflect the requirements of the intended purposes of the identified models with the emphasis being placed on straightforward applicability of the developed algorithms and recognising the need to be able to operate under realistic practical system identification scenarios. Moreover, the proposed algorithms are also applicable to parameter estimation of Hammerstein and bilinear models, which are special cases of the wider Hammerstein-bilinear model class. The Hammerstein-bilinear approach has been applied to an industrial heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, which has also been the underlying application addressed in this thesis. A unique set of dynamic control design purpose oriented air temperature and humidity Hammerstein-bilinear models of an environmentally controlled clear room manufacturing zone has been identified. The greater insights afforded by the knowledge of the system nonlinearities then allow for enhanced control tuning of the associated commercial HVAC control system leading to an improved overall control performance.