SUMMARY The optical analysis of a solar concentrator is usually carried out by means of computer ray tracing, a microscopic method that provides an enormous amount of detailed information but obscures functional relationships. This paper describes a macroscopic approach that yields all the parameters needed for the optical design of line focus parabolic troughs in closed analytical form, requir...

In deterministic optimization problems, line search routines are a standard tool ensuring stability and efficiency. In the stochastic setting, no direct equivalent has so far been formulated, because uncertain gradients do not allow for a strict sequence of decisions collapsing the search space. We construct a probabilistic version of the line search paradigm, by combining the structure of exis...

The aggregation of objectives in multiple criteria programming is one of the simplest and widely used approach. But it is well known that these techniques sometimes fail in different aspects for determining the Pareto frontier. This paper proposes a new line search based approach for multicriteria optimization. The objectives are aggregated and the problem is transformed into a single objective...

Computer Science) On-line Methods for Database Optimization by Lipyeow Lim Department of Computer Science Duke University

optimal capacitor placement, considering power system loss reduction, voltage profile improvement, line reactive power decrease and power factor correction, is of particular importance in power system planning and control. the distribution system operator calculates the optimal place, number and capacity of capacitors based on two major purposes: active power loss reduction and return on invest...

An optimization-based approach to fault diagnosis for nonlinear stochastic dynamic models is developed. An optimal diagnosis problem is formulated according to a receding-horizon strategy. This approach leads to a functional optimization problem (also called ‘infinite optimization problem’), whose admissible solutions belong to a function space. As in such a context, the tools from mathematical...

We consider (a subclass of) convex quadratic optimization problems and analyze decomposition algorithms that perform, at least approximately, steepest-descent exact line search. We show that these algorithms, when implemented properly, are within ǫ of optimality after O(log 1/ǫ) iterations for strictly convex cost functions, and after O(1/ǫ) iterations in the general case. Our analysis is gener...

A power system, under heavily loaded conditions, is at high risks of probable line outage and consequent voltage instability problem. Real power loss and voltage deviation minimization are reliable indicators of voltage security of power networks. This paper proposes a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) based optimal location and sizing of Static Var Compensator (SVC) to improve voltage stabilit...