CISE-MSI: RCBP-RF: S&CC: A Distributed Framework for Resource Availability Tracking and Decision Making for Power Systems During Natural Disasters

University Of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Mayaguez PR

Investigators

Abstract

The quality of life for citizens in a city is determined by how strong its infrastructure is. One of the most important aspects of a city's infrastructure is the electric power grid. When a natural disaster occurs, parts of the electric grid become damaged and cannot properly function. In current systems, the information of the status of each component of the grid is collected by a central unit that will then proceed to send control information to all subsystems to maintain the grid working. This scheme does not work during natural disasters due to the large number of failures. This work will use distributed algorithms for managing the grid under natural disaster conditions. The project proposes the development of a blockchain-based power system resource availability tracking algorithm that can track the status of power system components even with communication failures. In addition, a hierarchical decision-making algorithm for real-time power system operation under severe damage conditions will be developed. This will advance the state of the art of Internet of Things in critical infrastructure systems and will advance algorithm development for resilient real-time power system operation during natural disasters. The proposed hierarchical decision-making algorithm will consider dynamic system islanding and make decisions based on system resource availability and network topology flexibility in the real time. The outcome of this research will provide models for decentralized operations of power systems under extreme conditions. This will in turn improve the resilience of power systems, which in turn reduce economic losses caused by natural disasters and improve the quality of life for people suffering from natural disasters. The project will set a foundation for the decentralized operations of different critical infrastructure systems and improve their resilience against natural disasters. In addition, this project will involve Hispanic graduate and undergraduate researchers and produce interdisciplinary research-oriented teaching modules to improve the students' research capability in Internet of Things applications in power systems. Results of this project will be disseminated to the general public via school visits, outreach activities, open houses, and to the research community via publications and technical presentations. In addition, a public web page containing information and results from this work can be found at https://dresilientpower.uprm.edu/ . It will be maintained for the duration of the project and at least two years beyond. This project is partially funded by the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.