Date of Award
Summer 2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Electrical and Computer Engineering
First Advisor
Brown, Ronald H.
Second Advisor
Corliss, George F.
Third Advisor
Povinelli, Richard J.
Abstract
This work provides a framework for Design Day analysis. First, we estimate the temperature conditions which are expected to be colder than all but one day in N years. This temperature is known as the Design Day condition. Then, we forecast an upper bound on natural gas demand when temperature is at the Design Day condition. Natural gas distribution companies (LDCs) need to meet demand during extreme cold days. Just as bridge builders design for a nominal load, natural gas distribution companies need to design for a nominal temperature. This nominal temperature is the Design Day condition. The Design Day condition is the temperature that is expected to be colder than every day except one in N years. Once Design Day conditions are estimated, LDCs need to prepare for the Design Day demand. We provide an upper bound on Design Day demand to ensure LDCs will be able to meet demand. Design Day conditions are determined in a variety of ways. First, we fit a kernel density function to surrogate temperatures - this method is referred to as the Surrogate Kernel Density Fit. Second, we apply Extreme Value Theory - a field dedicated to finding the maxima or minima of a distribution. In particular, we apply Block-Maxima and Peak-Over-Threshold (POT) techniques. The upper bound of Design Day demand is determined using a modified version of quantile regression. Similar Design Day conditions are estimated by both the Surrogate Kernel Density Fit and Peaks-Over-Threshold methods. Both methods perform well. The theory supporting the POT method and the empirical performance of the SKDF method lends confidence in the Design Day conditions estimates. The upper bound of demand on these conditions is well modeled by the modified quantile regression technique.