Title :
Scheduling of Major Investments for a Steam-Generating Unit Using a Stochastic Model
Author :
Sakowicz, B. ; Stopczyk, M. ; Anders, G.J.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Microelectron. & Comput. Sci., Tech. Univ. of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
Abstract :
This paper compares and analyzes the economics of alternative maintenance plans for generating stations. The usual life-cycle investment decisions for power plant equipment involve definition of alternative scenarios with specified refurbishment dates. The aim of the paper is to present a method for the selection of optimal investment dates that minimizes the life-cycle cost of the analyzed equipment. The system is introduced as a distributed web-based software application. The methodology based on combining evolutionary programming with Monte Carlo simulations is described and illustrated by a numerical example involving analysis of the optimal timing of new investments for refurbishment of a large generator at a thermal-generating plant.
Keywords :
Internet; Monte Carlo methods; maintenance engineering; power engineering computing; power generation economics; steam power stations; Monte Carlo simulations; distributed web-based software application; evolutionary programming; life-cycle investment decisions; maintenance plans; power plant equipment; steam-generating unit; stochastic model; thermal-generating plant; Asset management; Biological system modeling; Cost function; Generators; Genetic algorithms; Investments; Maintenance; Maintenance engineering; Optimization; Optimization methods; Power generation; Random variables; Stochastic processes; Timing; Evolutionary algorithms; genetic algorithms; life-cycle management (LCM); steam generator; stochastic optimization;
Journal_Title :
Energy Conversion, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TEC.2010.2053978
