Peak Load Hours Research Articles

Engineering Traffic Networks for More Than One Busy Hour

A procedure is described that is used to engineer traffic networks for more than one hour of point-to-point load data. The procedure differs significantly from existing methods, which are based upon the concept of “economic load on the last trunk” (ECCS). (When the peak-load hours on most routes coincide, however, the procedure reduces to the ECCS method.) This “multihour” procedure has been implemented in a computer program used in design studies of three end offices in the Los Angeles local network. For the cases examined, the multihour technique produced networks whose costs averaged approximately 7 percent below those achieved with the presently used single-hour methods. Thus, the multihour technique appears to promise considerable cost benefits in future network designs.

Some General Basic Planning Characteristics of Pump-Storage Hydro Capacity

This paper first discusses the effect of limited energy hydro capacity, including pump-storage hydro capacity, on system installed capacity requirements, showing that, for a combined thermal and hydro system, the capacity value of the hydro depends primarily on the reduction in the maximum thermal generation requirements that can be effected over the heavier daily peak load hours. Such determinations are inseparable from the load characteristics and the effect of prior installed limited energy capacity. Second, a mathematical basis is presented for the evaluation of the relative economics of alternative potential pump-storage sites based on operating requirements, and for the determination of the most economical size of development for various conditions.