Philipp Caspar Koch is making the attempt to outline with a model-shaping intent the way in which a deliberate choice and design of varying “institutional arrangements" is likely to operate as a device for optimizing net inflows from private investors.

It is critical to improve the asset management system implementation as well as economics and industrial decision making to ensure that a business may move smoothly internally. Maintenance management should be aligned to the activities of maintenance in accordance with key business strategies, which must be designed under the comprehensive approach of an asset management process. After transforming the priorities of the business into priorities of maintenance, maintenance managers will use their medium-team strategies to tackle potential weaknesses in the maintenance of the equipment in accordance with these objectives. Cases on Optimizing the Asset Management Process explains and summarizes the processes and the reference frame necessary for the implementation of the Maintenance Management Model (MMM). This book acts as an overview of the current state of the art in asset management, providing innovative tools and practices from the fourth industrial revolution. Presenting topics like criticality analysis, physical asset maintenance, and unified modelling language, this text is essential for industrial and manufacturing engineers, plant supervisors, academicians, researchers, advanced-level students, technology developers, and managers who make decisions in this field.

Planning Sustainable Cities: An infrastructure-based approach provides an analytical framework for urban sustainability, focusing on the services and performance of infrastructure systems. The book approaches infrastructure as a series of systems that function in synergy and are directly linked with urban planning. This method streamlines and guides the planning process, while still highlighting detail, each infrastructure system is decoded in four "system levels". The levels organize the processes, highlight connections between entities and decode the high-level planning and decision making process affecting infrastructure. For each system level strategic objectives of planning are determined. The objectives correspond to the five focus areas of the Zofnass program: Quality of life, Natural World, Climate and Risk, Resource Allocation, Leadership. Developed through the Zofnass Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, this approach integrates the key infrastructure systems of Energy, Landscape, Transportation, Waste, Water, Information and Food and explores their synergies through land use planning, engineering, economics and policy. The size and complexity of infrastructure systems means that multiple stakeholders facing their own challenges and agendas are involved in planning; this book creates a common, collaborative platform between public authorities, planners, and engineers. It is an essential resource for those seeking Envision Sustainability Professionals accreditation.

The utilization of renewable energy sources such as wind energy, or solar energy, among others, is currently of greater interest. Nevertheless, since their availability is arbitrary and unstable this can lead to frequency variation, to grid instability and to a total or partial loss of load power supply, being not appropriate sources to be directly connected to the main utility grid. Additionally, the presence of a static converter as output interface of the generating plants introduces voltage and current harmonics into the electrical system that negatively affect system power quality. By integrating distributed power generation systems closed to the loads in the electric grid, we can eliminate the need to transfer energy over long distances through the electric grid. In this book the reader will be introduced to different power generation and distribution systems with an analysis of some types of existing disturbances and a study of different industrial applications such as battery charges.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Advanced Hydroinformatic Techniques for the Simulation and Analysis of Water Supply and Distribution Systems" that was published in Water

A water supply system is an interconnected collection of sources, pipes, and hydraulic control elements delivering consumers prescribed water quantities at desired pressures and water qualities. This book incorporates selected topics on theory, revision, and practical application models for water supply systems analysis, including: guidelines for transient analysis, sustainable management of regional water supply systems, infrastructure asset management, optimal pump scheduling, demand uncertainty, errors in water meter measuring, and indicators for water mains rehabilitation.

Pipe failures in water distribution systems can have a serious impact and hence it’s important to maintain the condition and integrity of the distribution system. This book presents a whole-life cost optimisation model for the rehabilitation of water distribution systems. It combines a pipe breakage number prediction model with a pipe criticality assessment model, which enables the creation of a well-constructed and more tightly constrained optimisation model. The pipe breakage number prediction model combines information on the physical characteristics of the pipes with historical information on breakage and failure rates. A weighted multiple nonlinear regression analysis is applied to describe the condition of different pipe groups. The criticality assessment model combines a pipe’s condition with its hydraulic significance through a modified TOPSIS. This model enables the optimisation to focus its efforts on those important pipes. The whole life cost optimal rehabilitation model is a multiple-objective and multiple-stage model, which provides a suite of rehabilitation decisions that minimise the whole life cost while maximising its long-term performance. The optimisation model is solved using a modified NSGA-II. The utility of the developed models is that it allows decision makers to prioritize their rehabilitation strategy in a proactive and cost-effective manner.

Smart Power Distribution Systems: Control, Communication, and Optimization explains how diverse technologies work to build and maintain smart grids around the globe. Yang, Yang and Li present the most recent advances in the control, communication and optimization of smart grids and provide unique insight into power system control, sensing and communication, and optimization technologies. The book covers control challenges for renewable energy and smart grids, communication in smart power systems, and optimization challenges in smart power system operations. Each area discussed focuses on the scientific innovations relating to the approaches, methods and algorithmic solutions presented. Readers will develop sound knowledge and gain insights into the integration of renewable energy generation in smart power distribution systems. - Presents the latest technological advances in electric power distribution networks, with a particular focus on methodologies, approaches and algorithms - Provides insights into the most recent research and developments from expert contributors from across the world - Presents a clear and methodical structure that guides the reader through discussion and analysis, providing unique insights and sound knowledge along the way

Containing papers presented at the 18th European Safety and Reliability Conference (Esrel 2009) in Prague, Czech Republic, September 2009.Reliability, Risk and Safety Theory and Applications will be of interest for academics and professionals working in a wide range of industrial and governmental sectors, including civil and environmental engineering, energy production and distribution, information technology and telecommunications, critical infrastructures, and insurance and finance.

In order to measure the dynamics of flow-performance relationships for a multi-domicile sample, Simon Weiler applies existing flow-performance research methods to a broad set of European equity (UCITS) funds and proves that major findings (performance-chasing behaviour and a convex flow-performance relationship) also hold true in a cross-border market environment.