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Prediction & optimization of alkali-activated concrete based on the random forest machine learning algorithm

Sun, Yubo (author), Cheng, H. (author), Zhang, Shizhe (author), Mohan, Manu K. (author), Ye, G. (author), De Schutter, Geert (author)

Alkali-activated concrete (AAC) is regarded as a promising alternative construction material to reduce the CO₂ emission induced by Portland cement (PC) concrete. Due to the diversity in raw materials and complexity of reaction mechanisms, a commonly applied design code is still absent to date. This study attempts to directly...

journal article 2023

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Provably-Stable Stochastic MPC for a Class of Nonlinear Contractive Systems

Cordiano, F. (author), Fochesato, Marta (author), Huang, Linbin (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

We present a model predictive control framework for a class of nonlinear systems affected by additive stochastic disturbances with (possibly) unbounded support. We consider hard input constraints and chance state constraints and we employ the unscented transform method to propagate the disturbances over the nonlinear dynamics in a...

journal article 2023

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Optimal control of offshore wind farm collector systems during outages

Ubbens, Martiene (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

Two optimization-based approaches are proposed to optimize the power routing and turbine setpoints of offshore wind farm (OWF) collector systems during cable outages. The open-loop control strategy assumes that the network can only be reconfigured at the beginning of the outage. In contrast, the receding horizon control strategy is deployed...

conference paper 2023

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Dynamic optimization for minimal HVAC demand with latent heat storage, heat recovery, natural ventilation, and solar shadings

de Araujo Passos, L.A. (author), van den Engel, P.J.W. (author), Baldi, S. (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

Satisfying thermal comfort in indoor spaces is still a challenge in terms of energy saving, and several HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning) systems have been proposed for this purpose. This paper conducts an analysis to evaluate and optimize the long-term operation of a novel HVAC system installed at The Green Village, a living...

journal article 2023

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Hierarchical Model Predictive Control for on-Line High-Speed Railway Delay Management and Train Control in a Dynamic Operations Environment

Wang, Yihui (author), Zhu, Songwei (author), Li, Shukai (author), Yang, Lixing (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

In practice, the operation of high-speed trains is often affected by adverse weather conditions or equipment failures, which result in delays and even cancellations of train services. In this article, a novel two-layer hierarchical model predictive control (MPC) model is proposed for on-line high-speed railway delay management and train...

journal article 2022

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Distributed MPC for Large Freeway Networks Using Alternating Optimization

Todorović, Uglješa (author), Frejo, José Ramón D. (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

The Model Predictive Control (MPC) framework has shown great potential for the control of Variable Speed Limits (VSLs) and Ramp Metering (RM) installations. However, the implementation to large freeway networks remains challenging. One major reason is that, by considering the VSLs to be discrete decision variables, an extremely difficult Mixed...

journal article 2022

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Distributed Adaptive Optimization with Weight-Balancing

Yue, D. (author), Baldi, S. (author), Cao, Jinde (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

This article addresses the continuous-time distributed optimization of a strictly convex summation-separable cost function with possibly nonconvex local functions over strongly connected digraphs. Distributed optimization methods in the literature require convexity of local functions, or balanced weights, or vanishing step sizes, or algebraic...

journal article 2022

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An MPC-Based Rescheduling Algorithm for Disruptions and Disturbances in Large-Scale Railway Networks

Cavone, Graziana (author), van den Boom, A.J.J. (author), Blenkers, Lex (author), Dotoli, Mariagrazia (author), Seatzu, Carla (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

Railways are a well-recognized sustainable transportation mode that helps to satisfy the continuously growing mobility demand. However, the management of railway traffic in large-scale networks is a challenging task, especially when both a major disruption and various disturbances occur simultaneously. We propose an automatic rescheduling...

journal article 2022

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Intra-day scheduling of a local energy community coordinated with day-ahead multistage decisions

Orozco, Camilo (author), Borghetti, Alberto (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author), Napolitano, Fabio (author), Pulazza, Giorgia (author), Tossani, Fabio (author)

The paper presents a coordinated day-ahead and intra-day approach for the scheduling of the resources in a local energy community (LEC). The considered LEC consists of a collective of power prosumers that can directly trade energy with each other in addition to the external provider. The scheduling approach is based on the alternating...

journal article 2022

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Robust Optimal Control for Demand Side Management of Multi-Carrier Microgrids

Carli, Raffaele (author), Cavone, Graziana (author), Pippia, T.M. (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author), Dotoli, Mariagrazia (author)

This paper focuses on the control of microgrids where both gas and electricity are provided to the final customer, i.e., multi-carrier microgrids. Hence, these microgrids include thermal and electrical loads, renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, heat pumps, and combined heat and power units. The parameters characterizing the...

journal article 2022

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Optimal Control Strategies for Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage Systems with Market Interaction

Lago, Jesus (author), Suryanarayana, Gowri (author), Sogancioglu, Ecem (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

Seasonal thermal energy storage systems (STESSs) can shift the delivery of renewable energy sources and mitigate their uncertainty problems. However, to maximize the operational profit of STESSs and ensure their long-term profitability, control strategies that allow them to trade on wholesale electricity markets are required. While control...

journal article 2021

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Efficient freeway MPC by parameterization of ALINEA and a speed-limited area

van de Weg, Goof Sterk (author), Hegyi, A. (author), Hoogendoorn, S.P. (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

Freeway congestion can reduce the freeway throughput due to the capacity drop or due to blocking caused by spillback to upstream ramps. Research has shown that congestion can be reduced by the application of ramp metering and variable speed limits. Model predictive control is a promising strategy for the optimization of the ramp metering...

journal article 2019

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Comparison of bounds for optimal PMU placement for state estimation in distribution grids

Picallo, Miguel (author), Anta, Adolfo (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

The lack of measurements in distribution grids poses a severe challenge for their monitoring: Since there may not be enough sensors to achieve numerical observability, so load forecasts (pseudo-measurements) are typically used, and thus an accurate state estimation is not guaranteed. However, estimation is required to control distribution...

journal article 2019

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A 1-dimensional continuous and smooth model for thermally stratified storage tanks including mixing and buoyancy

Lago, Jesus (author), De Ridder, Fjo (author), Mazairac, Wiet (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

To mitigate the effects of the intermittent generation of renewable energy sources, reliable and efficient energy storage is critical. Since nearly 80% of households energy consumption is destined to water and space heating, thermal energy storage is particularly important. In this context, we propose and validate a new model for one of the...

journal article 2019

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Integrated condition-based track maintenance planning and crew scheduling of railway networks

Su, Z. (author), Jamshidi, A. (author), Nunez, Alfredo (author), Baldi, S. (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

We develop a multi-level decision making approach for optimal condition-based maintenance planning of a railway network divided into a large number of sections with independent stochastic deterioration dynamics. At higher level, a chance-constrained Model Predictive Control (MPC) controller determines the long-term section-wise maintenance...

journal article 2019

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Integration of real-time traffic management and train control for rail networks: Part 2: Extensions towards energy-efficient train operations

Luan, X. (author), Wang, Y. (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author), Meng, Lingyun (author), Lodewijks, G. (author), Corman, F. (author)

We study the integration of real-time traffic management and train control by using mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) and mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) approaches. In Part 1 of the paper (Luan et al., 2018), three integrated optimization problems, namely the P_NLP problem (NLP: nonlinear programming), the P<sub...

journal article 2018

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Integration of real-time traffic management and train control for rail networks: Part 1: Optimization problems and solution approaches

Luan, X. (author), Wang, Y. (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author), Meng, Lingyun (author), Lodewijks, G. (author), Corman, F. (author)

We study the integration of real-time traffic management and train control by using mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) and mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) approaches. Three innovative integrated optimization approaches for real-time traffic management that inherently include train control are developed to deliver both a train...

journal article 2018

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Distributed optimization for railway track maintenance operations planning

Faris, Muhammad (author), Nunez, Alfredo (author), Su, Z. (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

In this paper, distributed optimization approaches are developed for the planning of maintenance operations of large-scale railway infrastructure formulated as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. The proposed planning problem is solved using three different distributed optimization schemes: Parallel Augmented Lagrangian...

conference paper 2018

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Forecasting day-ahead electricity prices in Europe: The importance of considering market integration

Lago, Jesus (author), De Ridder, Fjo (author), Vrancx, Peter (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author)

Motivated by the increasing integration among electricity markets, in this paper we propose two different methods to incorporate market integration in electricity price forecasting and to improve the predictive performance. First, we propose a deep neural network that considers features from connected markets to improve the predictive...

journal article 2018

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Distributed optimization for real-time railway traffic management

Luan, X. (author), De Schutter, B.H.K. (author), van den Boom, A.J.J. (author), Corman, F. (author), Lodewijks, G. (author)

We introduce a distributed optimization method for improving the computational efficiency of real-time traffic management approaches for large-scale railway networks. We first decompose the whole network into a pre-defined number of regions by using an integer linear optimization approach. For each resulting region, a mixed-integer linear...

journal article 2018