Title: Tackling challenges in infrastructure operation and control: cross-sectoral learning for process and infrastructure engineers

Authors: Zofia Lukszo, Margot P.C. Weijnen, Rudy R. Negenborn, Bart De Schutter

Addresses: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. ' Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. ' Delft Center for Systems and Control, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. ' Delft Center for Systems and Control, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Abstract: The need for improving the operation and control of infrastructure systems has created a demand for optimisation and control methods that are applicable in the area of complex networked systems, which are operated by a multitude of actors in a setting of decentralised decision making. Because of the analogy between production systems and infrastructures, Process Systems Engineering (PSE) approaches for optimisation and control can be applied to infrastructure system operations. This paper explores the applicability of the techniques often used by the PSE community, i.e., multilevel optimisation and multiagent Model Predictive Control (MPC) in infrastructure system operation, and stresses their importance for capacity and system management in the energy and transport sectors.

Keywords: infrastructure systems; multi-agent systems; agent-based systems; optimisation; model predictive control; MPC; process systems engineering; capacity management; system management; energy industry; transport industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCIS.2009.029111

International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, 2009 Vol.5 No.4, pp.308 - 322

Published online: 04 Nov 2009 *

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