Exploratory Research on Engineering the Transport Industries (ETI): Capacity Planning and Design for Transportation and Handling of Bulk Coal over Distribution Networks

该合同是在运输工业工程探索性研究（ETI）项目招标下获得的。它为基于流体流动建模方法（所采用的方法可以很容易地扩展到其他散装材料）的煤炭日常运输和处理的有效建模、快速仿真和敏感性分析的发展提供资金。世界范围内的煤炭使用量正在增加，美国是世界上第二大煤炭生产国和主要煤炭出口国。由于新兴的竞争，最近对电力行业放松管制的趋势一直在施加经济压力，要求通过改善煤炭相关业务来降低能源价格。我们的建议采用连续流模型（CFM）的世界观来建模、分析和优化散装物料在分销网络上的运动。本文提出了支持煤炭运输装卸作业的三个研究项目：(1)基于cfm的煤炭相关作业分析建模与绩效分析；(2)设计开发了煤炭企业从煤炭开采到燃煤电厂消费，以及通过海运码头出口的能力规划、绩效分析和设计蒙特卡罗模拟模板；(3)通过无穷小摄动分析（IPA）算法进行灵敏度分析，以有效计算设计参数相关性能度量的导数，以支持设计权衡决策。如果成功，这项研究将提高美国煤炭处理和运输业务的效率和有效性。该工具将提供给煤炭和电力行业，其功能将包括容量规划和性能分析/设计。另一个影响将出现在教育领域。所开发的模型和场景将被纳入各种课程（例如，性能分析，仿真建模和运营管理），从而使学生熟悉煤炭和发电行业中出现的重要问题。

This award is made under the Exploratory Research on Engineering the Transport Industries (ETI) program solicitation. It provides funding for the development of effective modeling, fast simulation and sensitivity analysis for day-to-day transport and handling of coal based on a fluid-flow modeling approach (the approach taken can be easily extended to other bulk materials). Worldwide usage of coal is increasing, the United States being the second largest coal producer in the world and a major coal exporter. The recent trend towards deregulating the power industry has been exerting economic pressures to lower energy prices via improved coal-related operations, due to emerging competition. Our proposal adopts a Continuous-Flow Model (CFM) worldview for modeling, analysis and optimization of the movement of bulk material over distribution networks. We propose a three-prong research project to support coal transport and handling operations as follows: (1) CFM-based analytical modeling and performance analysis of coal-related operations; (2) design and development of a Monte Carlo simulation templates for capacity planning, performance analysis and design of coal enterprise operations from extraction of coal to consumption in coal fired power plants, as well as coal export via marine terminals; and (3) sensitivity analysis via Infinitesimal Perturbation Analysis (IPA) algorithms for efficient computation of derivatives of performance measures with respect to design parameters to support design trade-off decisions.If successful, this research will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of coal handling and transport operations in the U.S. The tool will be made available to the coal and power industries, and its functionality will include capacity planning and performance analysis/design. Another impact will be in the educational arena. The models and scenarios to be developed will be incorporated into various courses (e.g., Performance Analysis, Simulation Modeling, and Operations Management), thereby acquainting students with important issues arising in the coal and power generation industries.