Feng Pan

US Patent:

20190286993, Sep 19, 2019

Filed:

Mar 15, 2019

Appl. No.:

16/355574

Inventors:

Feng Pan - Sugarland TX, US
Jesse T. Holzer - Kennewick WA, US
Yonghong Chen - Carmel IN, US
Edward Rothberg - Houston TX, US

International Classification:

G06N 5/00
G06F 9/54
H02J 3/14

Abstract:

Apparatus and methods are disclosed for solving Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) problems, such as Security Constrained Unit Commitment (SCUC) problems used by power grid authorities to perform day-ahead market clearing. In certain examples, a plurality of threads of a software tool implementing a concurrent optimizer can be executed concurrently and sequentially to generate new solutions to a SCUC problem for an upcoming planning horizon. Data can be shared among the concurrently executing threads, such as intermediate/incumbent solutions and hints regarding the fixing of variables and constraints to reduce the size of the SCUC problem. In some examples, the threads are seeded with historical solutions from prior planning horizons. The software tool can select a best solution from the solutions generated by the threads, and determine dispatch instructions for a device coupled to the power grid for the upcoming planning horizon based at least in part on the selected solution.