A Multi-Level Investment Demand Assessment Model for Renewable-Dominated Power System Planning

To achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the integration of diversified renewable energy will be the principal feature of the planning framework of the smart grid, and the planning direction and focus of power systems would shift to the network transmittability and flexibility enhancement. This paper presents an infrastructure investment demand assessment model based on multi-level analysis method for the renewable-dominated power system planning. First, for the load side, the composite capacity ratio is used to assess the capacity demand of power transformation infrastructure for satisfying the load growth. Then, the renewable energy permeability is adopted as the basis to assess the extensional transmittability capacity for the integration of high renewables. Furthermore, the capacity demand of flexible transmission lines for power grid flexibility enhancement is also estimated. Finally, the amount of unit investment for source-network-load infrastructure capacities can be predicted based on the least square generation adjunctive network and support vector machine (LSGAN-SVM) algorithm. The performance of the proposed model has been tested and benchmarked on a practical-sized power system to verify its effectiveness and feasibility.

OPTIMIZATION OF LUNG VENTILATOR MAINTENANCE PROCESSES DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A CASE STUDY IN BRAZIL

The COVID-19 pandemic was an event of enormous proportions that drastically changed the planet. With it, hospital respiratory support equipment has become crucial in maintaining life in the most severely ill patients. This has led to increased demand for this equipment worldwide. This work presents a case study regarding the maintenance of pulmonary ventilators of a company located in Belo Horizonte, MG, aiming to present recommendations for the optimization of its internal processes. The case study took place through visits to the company and access granted to its Internal Standards Operating Procedures related to the services provided by technicians and engineers. Through the analysis of Tickets and Service Orders (SO), the results obtained comprised the following chapters (quoted in quotation marks): The “Diagnosis of Maintenance Processes”, identified through flowcharts that approximately 30% of the problems claimed by customers are solved with instructions for use. The "Improvement Demand Assessment" identified in 2020 a significant increase in SO's of equipment with approved budget (from 12% to 35%), mostly related to public network customers who obtained federal funds to approve the budgets. Thus, in “Process Optimization Recommendations” an action plan was drawn up and it was concluded that is crucial, the implementation of six improvement actions by the company, in order to correct errors and ensure a significant increase in the efficiency of the process maintenance of pulmonary ventilators, to maximize operational, financial results and, above all, patient safety.

DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGIES IN URBAN FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION

The well-known approaches to the process of modeling the demand in urban freight transportation in conditions of limited availability of adequate data are considered. The main task is to select a model for creating a reliable system for analyzing urban freight traffic. Demand assessment models were chosen as input data because they are the most representative for assessing urban freight transport performance.

Probabilistic demand assessment of bridges considering the effect of corrosion and seismic loading over time

This paper proposes an approach to calculate demand hazard curves considering the effect of both corrosion and seismic loadings over time. The corrosion is defined as the reduction of the cross-sectional area in the reinforced bars of concrete, induced by chloride ions. Three corrosion phases are considered: starting time of corrosion, cracking, and evolution time. Seismic loads are characterized as a stochastic Poisson process. Uncertainties related to the randomness of geometric properties, mechanical properties, and seismic loadings are considered. The approach is illustrated in a continuous bridge designed to comply with a drift of 0.002. The structure is located in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. Fragility curves and demand hazard curves are obtained at 0, 45, 57, 75, 100, and 125 years, based on the global drift. The effect of both corrosion and seismic loadings over time increase the annual rate of demand up to 308% between 0 years (without damage) and 125 years after the bridge construction.