Sharif Digital Repository

This study provides a stochastic dynamic programming model with a Markov chain that explicitly focuses on the customer as well as a new model for valuing the customers in the banking industry. The proposed framework calculates individual customer’s lifetime value dynamically. The study follows a stochastic dynamic programming model that is based on the Markov chain. The deduced findings are illustrated with supplementary context from an outstanding case study. The findings underline the importance of the stochastic model for calculating customer lifetime value based on customer behavior. The presented framework provides a beneficial way for future research and valuable insight for allocating... 

Present study is aimed to investigate the relationship between blade shape of Savonius rotor and its optimum overlap, an important parameter that can improve the rotor's performance superbly. To set a relation between rotor's shape and its overlap, a new parameter called "trailing angle" was introduced in this study and by a novel design method, several models were designed to represent a wide range of trailing angles. The investigation has been carried out by using Reynolds Stress Method (RSM) through ANSYS Fluent commercial software package. The application of the method was validated by comparing the results of a conventional model with experimental data acquired from one of the... 

This paper analytically determines the nondetection zone (NDZ) of an active islanding detection method, and proposes a solution to obviate the NDZ. The method actively injects a negative-sequence current through the interface voltage-sourced converter (VSC) of a distributed generation (DG) unit, as a disturbance signal for islanding detection. The estimated magnitude of the corresponding negative-sequence voltage at the PCC is used as the islanding detection signal. In this paper, based on a laboratory test system, the performance of the islanding detection method under UL1741 anti-islanding test conditions is evaluated. Then, determining the NDZ of the method and proposing the... 

This paper proposes a control strategy for the autonomous (islanded) operation of a four-wire, electronically-coupled distributed generation (DG) unit which can feed a highly unbalanced load, e.g., due to the presence of single-phase loads. In the grid-connected mode, the power-electronic interface of the DG unit enables the exchange of real and reactive power with the distribution network, based on the conventional dq-frame current control strategy. The current control scheme is disabled subsequent to the detection of an islanding event, and the proposed controller is activated. The proposed control strategy utilizes: i) an internal oscillator to maintain the island frequency and ii) a... 

This paper presents stability analysis of a distributed generation (DG) controller (1), in an islanded mode, based on the Mapping Theorem and the Zero Exclusion Condition, and validates the results based on a laboratory scale experimental setup. The DG unit is interfaced to the host system through a voltage-sourced converter (VSC). The control strategy regulates the load voltage at the desired value in the islanded mode, despite uncertainties in the load parameters. The frequency of the island is controlled in an open loop manner by an internal oscillator. The experimental results show that the controller provides robust voltage control for a wide range of load parameters, and even maintains... 

This paper presents a decentralized control strategy for the autonomous (islanded) operation of parallel connection of two distributed generation (DG) units. The DG units are electronically interfaced to the host grid at the same point of common coupling (PCC), where the local load is also supplied. In the grid-connected mode, the voltage-sourced converter (VSC) of each DG unit controls the exchange of real and reactive power components with the host grid, based on the conventional dq-current control strategy. In the islanded mode, one of the DG units provides voltage and frequency control for the island, and the other DG unit continues to operate with the pre-islanding dq-current control... 

Purpose: Dams require high-volume of construction materials and operations over the life cycle. This paper aims to select a proper type of dam structure that can significantly contribute to the sustainability of dam projects. Design/methodology/approach: This research proposes a complementary fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission assessment method for the alternate dam structure types to assist decision-makers in selecting sustainable choices. Related equations are developed for two common earthen and rock-fill dam structures types in Iran. These equations are then successfully applied to two real dam project cases where the significance of the achieved results are assessed and... 

Purpose: Dams require high-volume of construction materials and operations over the life cycle. This paper aims to select a proper type of dam structure that can significantly contribute to the sustainability of dam projects. Design/methodology/approach: This research proposes a complementary fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission assessment method for the alternate dam structure types to assist decision-makers in selecting sustainable choices. Related equations are developed for two common earthen and rock-fill dam structures types in Iran. These equations are then successfully applied to two real dam project cases where the significance of the achieved results are assessed and... 

Twitter as one of the most important microblogging online social networks has attracted more than 200 million users in recent years. Although there have been several attempts on characterizing the Twitter by using incomplete sampled data, they have not been very successful to estimate the characteristics of the whole network. In this paper, we characterize Twitter by sampling from its social graph and user behaviors through a random walk based sampling technique called Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS). To the best of our knowledge, for the first time RDS method and its estimator are used in order to obtain uniform unbiased estimation of several key structural and behavioral properties of... 

A linear time-invariant (LTI) robust servomechanism controller for islanded (autonomous) operation of a distributed generation (DG) unit and its local load is proposed. The DG unit utilizes a voltage-sourced converter (VSC) as the interface medium. The controller design is obtained by introducing a new optimal controller design procedure, in conjunction with a proposed non-conservative robustness constraint. The proposed controller utilizes 1) an internal oscillator for frequency control and 2) a robust servomechanism controller (RSC) to regulate the island voltage. Despite uncertainty of the load parameters, the proposed controller guarantees robust stability and pre-specified performance... 

This paper presents stability analysis of a distributed generation (DG) controller [1], in an islanded mode, based on the Mapping Theorem and the Zero Exclusion Condition, and validates the results based on a laboratory scale experimental setup. The DG unit is interfaced to the host system through a voltage-sourced converter (VSC). The control strategy regulates the load voltage at the desired value in the islanded mode, despite uncertainties in the load parameters. The frequency of the island is controlled in an open loop manner by an internal oscillator. The experimental results show that the controller provides robust voltage control for a wide range of load parameters, and even maintains... 

This paper presents a high performance real-time simulator for power electronic systems applications and primarily intended for controller hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL) testing. The novelty of the proposed simulator resides in the massively parallel hardware architecture that efficiently exploits fine-grained parallelism without imposing severe communication overhead time that can limit the performance. The simulator enables the use of a nanosecond range simulation timestep to simulate power electronic systems. Through the use of this nanosecond range simulation timestep, the simulator minimizes the error arising from the intersimulation timestep switching phenomenon associated with CHIL. The...