Development of a Strategic Planning Model for a Municipal Water Supply Scheme Using System Dynamics

This paper reports the development of a system dynamics model for the strategic planning of a municipal water supply scheme. The model is capable of handling the critical variables that impact on the operations of a water supply scheme. The model was developed using the dynamo programming software to handle the process dynamics. Other supporting softwares—Fortran, Clipper 5, and Epiglue are used to handle data input, analysis and presentation of results in a user-friendly environment. The model was validated by applying it to the simulation of the University of Ibadan Water Supply Scheme for which extensive data of operations were collected over a period of ten years. The results obtained were found to be realistic and useful for the planning of plant operations. It is concluded that the model developed is sensitive to variable changes and has the capability of answering various operational “what-if” questions. As a strategic planning tool, the present model generates, for different scenarios, important operational information for the management of the water supply scheme. It is concluded that SD model is a useful tool to assist water managers and policy makers in making decisions and evolving strategic planning for water supply.

A Primary Discussion on the Planning of Mine Park——A Case Study of Jianghe National Coal Mine Park in Chongqing City of China

Development background and basic conditions of mine parks in China were introduced by taking Jianghe Coal Mine Park in Chongqing City for example.On this basis,planning principles were proposed as "cultural-led,scientific popularization first,ecological restoration,environment protection,three themes(mine,water and road),and multiple orientations".Planning layout of the park was elaborated from the perspective of 7 functional areas,"entrance transfer area,narrow-gauge train experience area,management service area,Haidigou water experience area,ecological restoration experience area,mining relics experience area,ecological buffer zone",so as to provide a preferential basis for the planning and improvement of other mine parks.

SDI planning using the system dynamics technique within a community of practice:lessons learnt from Tanzania

There exist major challenges in accelerating the spatial data infrastructure(SDI)planning process in the developing countries as well as advocating for politicians to support the development of SDI,due to the high complexity of SDI,lack of knowledge and experience,and limited insight in the benefits.To address these challenges,a methodology for SDI planning in Tanzania,based on the system dynamics technique and the communities of practice concept,was adopted and applied within a community consisting of experts from stakeholder organizations.The groups gathered to develop an SDI plan,while they shared their knowledge and discussed their ideas that helped their understanding of SDI.By running the system dynamics model,the development of SDI over time could be simulated that gave the planning community an insight about the future effects of today’s plans and decisions.Finally,an optimum model could be developed by refinements and improvements done with the consensus of the SDI stakeholders.This model included the components and policies that are essential for a successful SDI implementation in Tanzania and can be used as a basis for SDI planning and help to gain political support.Lessons learnt from this research were promising regarding the usability of the methodology for SDI planning in comparable countries.

Trajectory planning for multi-robot coordinated towing system based on stability

Given the unconstrained characteristics of the multi-robot coordinated towing system,the rope can only provide a unidirectional constraint force to the suspended object,which leads to the weak ability of the system to resist external disturbances and makes it difficult to control the trajectory of the suspended object.Based on the kinematics and statics of the multi-robot coordinated towing system with fixed base,the dynamic model of the system is established by using the Newton-Euler equations and the Udwadia-Kalaba equations.To plan the trajectories with high stability and strong control,trajectory planning is performed by combining the dynamics and stability of the towing system.Based on the dynamic stability of the motion trajectory of the suspended object,the stability of the suspended object is effectively improved through online real-time planning and offline manual adjustment.The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by comparing the motion stability of the suspended object before and after planning.The results provide a foundation for the motion planning and coordinated control of the towing system.

Coal and gas outburst dynamic system

Coal and gas outburst is an extremely complex dynamic disaster in coal mine production process which will damage casualties and equipment facilities, and disorder the ventilation system by suddenly ejecting a great amount of coal and gas into roadway or working face. This paper analyzed the interaction among the three essential elements of coal and gas outburst dynamic system. A stress-seepage-damage coupling model was established which can be used to simulate the evolution of the dynamical system, and then the size scale of coal and gas outburst dynamical system was investigated. Results show that the dynam- ical system is consisted of three essential elements, coal-gas medium （material basis）, geology dynamic environment （internal motivation） and mining disturbance （external motivation）. On the case of CI 3 coal seam in Panyi Mine, the dynamical system exists in the range of 8-12 m in front of advancing face. The size scale will be larger where there are large geologic structures. This research plays an important guid- ing role for developing measures of coal and gas outburst prediction and prevention.

A dynamic ejection coal burst model for coalmine roadway collapse

In this study,we established a dynamic ejection coal burst model for a coalmine roadway subject to stress,and held that the stress concentration zone at the roadway side is the direct energy source of this ejection.The formation and development of such burst undergoes three stages:(1)instability and propagation of the cracks in the stress concentration zone,(2)emerging of a layered energy storage structure in the zone,and(3)ejection of coal mass or coal burst due to instability.Moreover,we figured out the initial strength of periodic cracks is parallel to the maximal dominant stress direction in the stress concentration zone and derived from the damage strain energy within the finite area of the zone based on the Griffith energy theory.In addition,we analyzed the formation process of the layered energy storage structure in the zone,simplified it as a simply supported restraint sheet,and calculated the minimum critical load and the internally accumulated elastic energy at the instable state.Furthermore,we established a criterion for occurrence of the coal burst based on the variational principle,and analyzed the coal mass ejection due to instability and coal burst induced by different intensity disturbances.At last,with the stratum conditions of Junde Coalmine as the model prototype,we numerically simulated the load displacement distribution of the stress concentration zone ahead of the working face disturbed by the main roof-fracture-induced dynamic load during the mining process as well as their varying characteristics,and qualitatively verified the above model.

Local Path Planning and Tracking Control of Vehicle Collision Avoidance System

Automotive collision avoidance technology can effectively avoid the accidents caused by dangerous traffic conditions or driver's manipulation errors.Moreover,it can promote the development of autonomous driving for intelligent vehicle in intelligent transportation.We present a collision avoidance system,which is composed of an evasive trajectory planner and a path following controller.Considering the stability of the vehicle in the conflict-free process,the evasive trajectory planner is designed by polynomial parametric method and optimized by genetic algorithm.The path following controller is proposed to make the car drive along the designed path by controlling the vehicle's lateral movement.Simulation results show that the vehicle with the proposed controller has good stability in the collision process,and it can ensure the vehicle driving in accordance with the planned trajectory at different speeds.The research results can provide a certain basis for the research and development of automotive collision avoidance technology.

Discrete modeling of a longwall coal mine gob for CFD simulation

One area of concern in longwall coal mines is the active gob directly behind the longwall face,where high concentrations of methane are likely to accumulate and active roof caving occurs.Using computational fluid dynamics(CFD)to simulate gas flows in and through the gob,most researchers have represented the entire gob as a porous medium governed by Darcy’s law.However,Darcy-type porous flow may not be applicable for the highly porous and unconsolidated fringes of the gob.In addition,porous medium models do not allow for representative combustion modeling to simulate in-gob ignition and flame propagation.This study presents a hybrid approach to modeling the gob using CFD:the outer part of the gob is modeled as discrete objects that simulate coarse rock rubble,while the gob center is modeled as a porous medium.

A dynamic optimization model of an integrated coal supply chain system and its application

Various nodes,logistics,capital flows,and information flows are required to make systematic decisions concerning the operation of an integrated coal supply system. We describe a quantitative analysis of such a system. A dynamic optimization model of the supply chain is developed. It has achieved optimal system profit under conditions guaranteeing a certain level of customer satisfaction. Applying this model to coal production of the Xuzhou coal mines allows recommendations for a more systematic use of washing and processing,transportation and sale resources for commercial coal production to be made. The results show that this model,which is scientific and effective,has an important value for making reasonable decisions related to complex coal enterprises.

Stability analysis of rib pillars in highwall mining under dynamic and static loads in open‑pit coal mine

The retained coal in the end slope of an open-pit mine can be mined by the highwall mining techniques.However,the instability mechanism of the reserved rib pillar under dynamic loads of mining haul trucks and static loads of the overlying strata is not clear,which restricts the safe and efcient application of highwall mining.In this study,the load-bearing model of the rib pillar in highwall mining was established,the cusp catastrophe theory and the safety coefcient of the rib pillar were considered,and the criterion equations of the rib pillar stability were proposed.Based on the limit equilibrium theory,the limit stress of the rib pillar was analyzed,and the calculation equations of plastic zone width of the rib pillar in highwall mining were obtained.Based on the Winkler foundation beam theory,the elastic foundation beam model composed of the rib pillar and roof under the highwall mining was established,and the calculation equations for the compression of the rib pillar under dynamic and static loads were developed.The results showed that with the increase of the rib pillar width,the total compression of the rib pillar under dynamic and static loads decreases nonlinearly,and the compression of the rib pillar caused by static loads of the overlying strata and trucks has a decisive role.Numerical simulation and theoretical calculation were also performed in this study.In the numerical simulation,the coal seam with a buried depth of 122 m and a thickness of 3 m is mined by highwall mining techniques.According to the established rib pillar instability model of the highwall mining system,it is found that when the mining opening width is 3 m,the reasonable width of the rib pillar is at least 1.3 m,and the safety factor of the rib pillar is 1.3.The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the results of theoretical calculation,which verifes the feasibility of the theoretical analysis of the rib pillar stability.This research provides a reference for the stability analysis of rib pillars under highwall mining.

Experimental study of coal fracture dynamics under the influence of cyclic freezing-thawing using shear elastic waves

Cyclic freezing-thawing can lead to fracture development in coal,affecting its mechanical and consumer properties.To study crack formations in coal,an ultrasonic sounding method using shear polarized waves was proposed.Samples of three coal types(anthracite,lignite and hard coal)were tested.The research results show that,in contrast to the shear wave velocity,the shear wave amplitude is extremely sensitive to the formation of new cracks at the early stages of cyclic freezing-thawing.Tests also show an inverse correlation between coal compressive strength and its tendency to form cracks under temperature impacts;shear wave attenuation increases more sharply in high-rank coals after the first freezing cycle.Spectral analysis of the received signals also confirmed significant crack formation in anthracite after the first freeze-thaw cycle.The initial anisotropy was determined,and its decrease with an increase in the number of freeze-thaw cycles was shown.The data obtained forms an experimental basis for the development of new approaches to preserve coal consumer properties during storage and transportation under severe natural and climatic conditions.

A review of investigations on ground support requirements in coal burst‑prone mines

Ground support is widely implemented to mitigate dynamic rock failures in underground mines.This paper investigated the ground support requirements in burst-prone mines to mitigate the catastrophic dynamic rock failures of rock and/or coal bursts.First,the ground support principles and considerations in burst-prone conditions are identified.The objective of a ground support system is to increase the capacity to accommodate rock fracturing in a rockburst and,in turn,to minimize the kinetic energy of the ejected material.The support capacities of various yielding rockbolts and integrated support systems are then investigated using the test results in the laboratory.Apart from the energy absorption and yielding deformation capacity,the initial stiffness and energy absorption rate are also critical factors when applying yielding rockbolts in practice.Adding rope lacing and mesh strap to surface support elements can substantially enhance the support performance of the system.In practice,semi-analytical and empirical approaches are often used to determine the ground support elements in burst-prone areas.Semi-analytical methods first evaluate the support demand in burst risk zones and then select support elements according to their laboratory test results.Alternatively,empirical methods determine the ground support elements according to the locally established empirical rating scheme,which usually ranks the support capacities of various support systems based on ground support conditions and damage conditions.The outcomes of this study can provide insights into ground support strategies and assist the mining industry to develop effective coal burst control technologies.

Exploration on molecular dynamics simulation methods of microscopic wetting process for coal dust

Wet dust removal is one of the main technical measures in coal dust control,and coal dust wetting is the key factor to determine the effect of wet dust removal.In order to explore the micro-wetting process of coal dust,this paper uses molecular dynamics simulation to study the micro-wetting process of coal dust in different simulation conditions.The molecular dynamics simulation was carried out under different ensemble,thermodynamic states as well as relaxation pretreatment methods,then the H_(2)O molecular layer and coal dust molecular layer in each simulation were quantitatively analyzed by relative concentration.The research results show that a method for establishing molecular model of lignite is proposed and the 2D periodic surface structure is more reasonable.The surface system of coal-H_(2)O molecule is established by NVT aeration method,where the simulation result is close to the actual coal dust wetting process.The simulation effect of medium and large coal dust-H_(2)O molecular system is better than that of small coal dust-H_(2)O molecular system.This study provides a new solution for changing the empirical method of molecular dynamics simulation of coal system wetting and oversimplification of coal system.

HEURISTIC MODELING FOR A DYNAMIC AND GOAL PROGRAMMING IN PRODUCTION PLANNING OF CONTINUOUS MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

At the first sight it seems that advanced operation research is not used enough in continuous production systems as comparison with mass production, batch production and job shop systems, but really in a comprehensive evaluation the advanced operation research techniques can be used in continuous production systems in developing countries very widely, because of initial inadequate plant layout, stage by stage development of production lines, the purchase of second hand machineries from various countries, plurality of customers. A case of production system planning is proposed for a chemical company in which the above mentioned conditions are almost presented. The goals and constraints in this issue are as follows： （1） Minimizing deviation of customer＇s requirements. （2） Maximizing the profit. （3） Minimizing the frequencies of changes in formula production. （4） Minimizing the inventory of final products. （5） Balancing the production sections with regard to rate in production. （6） Limitation in inventory of raw material. The present situation is in such a way that various techniques such as goal programming, linear programming and dynamic programming can be used. But dynamic production programming issues are divided into two categories, at first one with limitation in production capacity and another with unlimited production capacity. For the first category, a systematic and acceptable solution has not been presented yet. Therefore an innovative method is used to convert the dynamic situation to a zero- one model. At last this issue is changed to a goal programming model with non-linear limitations with the use of GRG algorithm and that＇s how it is solved.

Dynamic development characteristics of amounts of gas and levels of pressure in the Pan-1 coal mine of Huainan

The Pan-1 coal mine located in Huainan municipality, Anhui province, is abundant in coal resources. In order to discover the natural conditions of gas in its coal seams, we inverted the burial history of these coal seams using the software of Easy%Ro method and simulated the development process of gas volumes and pressure of the major coal seams using CBM History Simulation Software. Our analysis shows that the devolution of gas volumes and levels of pressure can be divided into four stages: i.e., a biogas stage (P1-P3), a pyrolysis gas stage (T1-T2), an active gas enrichment stage (T3-K1) and a gas dissipating stage (K2-present). Currently, the average amounts of gas and gas pressure in coal seams Nos. 13-1, 11-2 and 8 of the Pan-1 coal mine are 8.18 m3/t and 2.20 MPa; 3.89 m3/t and 2.47 MPa and 6.35 m3/t and 2.89 MPa, respectively. This agrees very well with current mining data.

Dynamic behavior of outburst two-phase flow in a coal mine T-shaped roadway:The formation of impact airflow and its disaster-causing effect

The study of the dynamic disaster mechanism of coal and gas outburst two-phase flow is crucial for improving disaster reduction and rescue ability of coal mine outburst accidents.An outburst test in a T-shaped roadway was conducted using a self-developed large-scale outburst dynamic disaster test system.We investigated the release characteristics of main energy sources in coal seam,and obtained the dynamic characteristics of outburst two-phase flow in a roadway.Additionally,we established a formation model for outburst impact flow and a model for its flow in a bifurcated structure.The results indicate that the outburst process exhibits pulse characteristics,and the rapid destruction process of coal seam and the blocking state of gas flow are the main causes of the pulse phenomenon.The outburst energy is released in stages,and the elastic potential energy is released in the vertical direction before the horizontal direction.In a straight roadway,the impact force oscillates along the roadway.With an increase in the solid–gas ratio,the two-phase flow impact force gradually increases,and the disaster range extends from the middle of the roadway to the coal seam.In the area near the coal seam,the disaster caused by the two-phase flow impact is characterized by intermittent recovery.In a bifurcated roadway,the effect of impact airflow on impact dynamic disaster is much higher than that of two-phase flow,and the impact force tends to weaken with increasing solid-gas ratio.The impact force is asymmetrically distributed;it is higher on the left of the bifurcated roadway.With an increase in the solid-gas ratio,the static pressure rapidly decreases,and the bifurcated structure accelerates the attenuation of static pressure.Moreover,secondary acceleration is observed when the shock wave moves along the T-shaped roadway,indicating that the bifurcated structure increases the shock wave velocity.

Coordinated dynamic mission planning scheme for intelligent multi-agent systems

Mission planning was thoroughly studied in the areas of multiple intelligent agent systems,such as multiple unmanned air vehicles,and multiple processor systems.However,it still faces challenges due to the system complexity,the execution order constraints,and the dynamic environment uncertainty.To address it,a coordinated dynamic mission planning scheme is proposed utilizing the method of the weighted AND/OR tree and the AOE-Network.In the scheme,the mission is decomposed into a time-constraint weighted AND/OR tree,which is converted into an AOE-Network for mission planning.Then,a dynamic planning algorithm is designed which uses task subcontracting and dynamic re-decomposition to coordinate conflicts.The scheme can reduce the task complexity and its execution time by implementing real-time dynamic re-planning.The simulation proves the effectiveness of this approach.

Path Planning of UAV by Combing Improved Ant Colony System and Dynamic Window Algorithm

A fusion algorithm is proposed to enhance the search speed of an ant colony system(ACS)for the global path planning and overcome the challenges of the local path planning in an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV).The ACS search efficiency is enhanced by adopting a 16-direction 24-neighborhood search way,a safety grid search way,and an elite hybrid strategy to accelerate global convergence.Quadratic planning is performed using the moving average(MA)method.The fusion algorithm incorporates a dynamic window approach(DWA)to deal with the local path planning,sets a retracement mechanism,and adjusts the evaluation function accordingly.Experimental results in two environments demonstrate that the improved ant colony system(IACS)achieves superior planning efficiency.Additionally,the optimized dynamic window approach(ODWA)demonstrates its ability to handle multiple dynamic situations.Overall,the fusion optimization algorithm can accomplish the mixed path planning effectively.

Dynamic reactive power planning method for CSP-PV hybrid power generation system

Aiming at the faults of some weak nodes in the concentrated solar power-photovoltaic(CSP-PV)hybrid power generation system,it is impossible to restore the transient voltage only relying on the reactive power regulation capability of the system itself.We propose a dynamic reactive power planning method suitable for CSP-PV hybrid power generation system.The method determines the installation node of the dynamic reactive power compensation device and its compensation capacity based on the reactive power adjustment capability of the system itself.The critical fault node is determined by the transient voltage stability recovery index,and the weak node of the system is initially determined.Based on this,the sensitivity index is used to determine the installation node of the dynamic reactive power compensation device.Dynamic reactive power planning optimization model is established with the lowest investment cost of dynamic reactive power compensation device and the improvement of system transient voltage stability.Furthermore,the component of the reactive power compensation node is optimized by particle swarm optimization based on differential evolution(DE-PSO).The simulation results of the example system show that compared with the dynamic position compensation device installation location optimization method,the proposed method can improve the transient voltage stability of the system under the same reactive power compensation cost.

Dynamic characteristics of coal specimens with varying static preloading levels under low-frequency disturbance load

The mechanical properties of residual coal pillars under the influence of upward mining disturbances significantly affect the safety of residual mining activities on working faces.This study conducted low-frequency disturbance dynamic uniaxial compression tests on coal specimens using a self-developed dynamic-static load coupling electro-hydraulic servo system,and studied the strength evolutions,surface deformations,acoustic emission(AE)characteristic parameters,and the failure modes of coal specimens with different static preloading levels were studied.The disturbance damage is positively correlated with the coal specimen static preload level.Specifically,the cumulative AE count rates of the initial accelerated damage stage for the coal specimens with static preloading level of 60%and 70%of the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)were 2.66 and 3.19 times that of the 50%UCS specimens,respectively.Macroscopically,this behaviour manifested as a decrease in the compressive strength,and the mean strengths of the disturbance-damaged coal specimens with 60%and 70%of UCS static preloading decreased by 8.53%and 9.32%,respectively,compared to those of the specimens under pure static loading.The crack sources,such as the primary fissures,strongly control the dynamic response of the coal specimen.The difference between the dynamic responses of the coal specimens and that of dense rocks is significant.