This paper presents a dynamic programming (DP) model of an electric utility’s optimal policy for operating a nuclear power plant (NPP). The utility chooses the level of capacity utilization of the NPP as a function of signals about the NPP’s current operating state. In each period the utility must determine whether or not to operate the reactor, or shut it down for preventive maintenance or ref...

All studies of peer-to-peer (henceforth abbreviated as P2P) satellite refueling so far assume that all active satellites return back to their original orbital positions after undergoing fuel exchanges with the passive satellites. In this paper, we remove this restriction on the active satellites, namely, we allow the active satellites to interchange orbital slots during the return trips. We for...

Fuel spillage during locomotive refueling is expensive, as is maintaining spill collection and containment systems, and waste treatment costs. The Association of American Railroads has developed the first standard for a locomotive refueling system for North American railroads. The locomotive fueling interface standard is an open, non-proprietary standard designed to prevent fuel spillage. Proto...

The Vehicle Scheduling Problem (VSP) is a traditional problem in public transport. One of the main assumptions is that buses can be operated the whole day without any interruption for refueling etc. Recently, new technological innovations have led to the introduction of electric vehicles. For these new vehicles, we cannot ignore the need of refueling during the day, as the range of an electric ...

Smaller guts and slow initial mass gains at stopover sites have led to the idea that digestive physiology limits refueling rates in migrating birds. We tested the digestive-limitation hypothesis in yellow-rumped warblers using food restriction to simulate infrequent feeding during migration, which may cause a reduction in alimentary tract mass. Restricted birds had small intestine, pancreas, an...

This paper addresses the problem of controlling the receiver aircraft to achieve a successful aerial refueling. For the performance verification of the controller, a new set of nonlinear, 6-DOF, rigid body equations of motion for the receiver aircraft has been derived. The equations are developed using the reference frame as one that is attached to, translates and rotates with the tanker aircra...

This paper compares the manufacturing and refueling costs of a Fuel-Cell Vehicle (FCV) and a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) using an automobile model reflecting the largest segment of light-duty vehicles. We use results from widely-cited government studies to compare the manufacturing and refueling costs of a BEV and a FCV capable of delivering 135 horsepower and driving approximately 300 miles...

We use naturalistic driving data to analyze the refueling behavior of drivers. The data come from a year-long study in which drivers were provided with experimental vehicles to use for seven weeks. We use data logged during the experiment to identify the time and location of refueling stops. With this dataset, we estimate a discrete choice model for the driver’s choice of refueling location. We...

A variation of the P2P strategy, known as egalitarian P2P (E-P2P) refueling strategy, relaxes the restriction on the active satellites to return to their original orbital slots after undergoing the fuel transactions. The E-P2P refueling problem can be formulated as a three-index assignment problem on an undirected tripartite constellation graph, which can be solved using, say, a Greedy Random A...