Kelly Eurek

A Review of Operations Research in Mine Planning

Applications of operations research to mine planning date back to the 1960s. Since that time, optimization and simulation, in particular, have been applied to both surface and underground mine planning problems, including mine design, long-and short-term production scheduling, equipment selection, and dispatching, inter alia. In this paper, we review several decades of such literature with a particular emphasis on more recent work, suggestions for emerging areas, and highlights of successful industry applications.

Open-Pit Block-Sequencing Formulations: A Tutorial

A classical problem in the mining industry for open-pit mines involves scheduling the production of notional three-dimensional production blocks, each containing a predetermined amount of ore and waste. That is, given operational resource constraints on extraction and processing, we seek a net present value-maximizing schedule of when, if ever, to extract each block in a deposit. We present a version of the problem, which some literature refers to as CPIT. This constrained ultimate pit limit problem i.e., open-pit production-scheduling problem variant produces a sequence of blocks to extract given minimum and maximum bounds on production and processing capacity, and geospatial precedences. Our tutorial demonstrates methods to expedite solutions for instances of this model through variable definition, preprocessing, algorithmic choice, and the provision of an initial feasible solution. As such, our paper is relevant for any mining practitioner interested in production scheduling, and any operations researcher interested in a basic introduction before extending the boundaries of algorithmic development in this area.

Implications of Model Structure and Detail for Utility Planning: Scenario Case Studies Using the Resource Planning Model

NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof. formerly) deserves our special gratitude for his thought leadership and insights at the inception of the Resource Planning Model. Any remaining errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the authors. Abstract Capacity expansion models are computational tools designed to find the least cost option for planning a system under a variety of policy, business, and operational constraints. In this report, we analyze the impacts of model configuration and detail on resource selection decisions of capacity expansion models. Our analysis focuses on the importance of model configurations— particularly those related to capacity credit, dispatch modeling, and transmission modeling—to the construction of scenario futures. Our analysis is primarily directed toward advanced tools used for utility planning and those impacts that are most relevant to decisions about future renewable capacity deployment. To serve this purpose, we develop and employ the National Renewable Energy Laboratorys Resource Planning Model to conduct a case study analysis that explores 11 capacity expansion model configuration scenarios for the Western Interconnection through 2030. While the analysis results cover the entire Western Interconnection, the model and research examine in greater detail a region within the interconnection that consists of two balancing areas—the Public Service Company of Colorado and the Western Area Power Administration Colorado/Missouri—that serve load primarily in and around the state of Colorado. We examine how model investment decisions change under different model configurations and assumptions related to renewable capacity credit, the inclusion or exclusion of operating reserves, dispatch period sampling, transmission power flow modeling, renewable spur line costs, and the ability of a planning region to import and export power. For all modeled scenarios, we …

Considering renewables in capacity expansion models: Capturing flexibility with hourly dispatch

The Resource Planning Model co-optimizes dispatch and capacity expansion using a simplified, chronological dispatch period representation and high-resolution resource, load and infrastructure data. The computational tractability of capacity expansion models depends on model simplifications. We demonstrate the effects of various dispatch period representations on model results using the Resource Planning Model.

Trade-Offs in Trade: Examining the Impacts of Interstate Cooperation under Alternative Clean Power Plan Compliance Scenarios

The EPA’s recently finalized Clean Power Plan (CPP) establishes several pathways for compliance, including category-specific rate standards, state rate standards, and state mass targets. For each compliance pathway, states are allowed to cooperate in order to reduce compliance costs. While cooperation through trade will unambiguously lower total compliance costs, at the state level it can either lower costs for both states, or for one at the expense of the other. Moreover, the impacts of cooperation on total emissions are ambiguous in the context of rate policy. In this paper, we develop a simple two-state electricity model to illustrate the potential implications of cooperation for state costs and total emissions within each compliance pathway. For the category-specific rate standards, we show that cooperation typically, though not always, lowerscosts in both states. However, it can also result in increased CO2 emissions, an outcome that becomes increasingly likely as renewable energy costs diverge across the states. For the state rate standards, the CPP requires cooperating states to blend their state-specific rates into a single weighted-average rate. We demonstrate two counteracting effects of cooperation faced by the state with the more lenient standard: a “trade effect” that lowers state costs through a shared compliance credit market, and an “averaging effect” that raises state costs for one state through the adoption of a more stringent standard. For the state mass targets, we show that for a cap-and-trade policy with auctioned allowances, lump-sum rebating back to the states on the basis of their initial caps will benefit both states.

Modeling the Integrated Expansion of the Canadian and U.S. Power Sectors with the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS)

This document describes the development effort for creating a robust representation of the combined capacity expansion of the U.S. and Canadian electric sectors within the NREL ReEDS model. Thereafter, it demonstrates the newly established capability through an illustrative sensitivity analysis. In conducting the sensitivity analysis, we describe the value of an integrated modeling approach.