Predicting Thermoelectric Power Plants Diesel/Heavy Fuel Oil Engine Fuel Consumption Using Univariate Forecasting and XGBoost Machine Learning Models

Elias Amancio Siqueira-Filho, Maira Farias Andrade Lira, Attilio Converti, Hugo Valadares Siqueira () and Carmelo J. A. Bastos-Filho
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Elias Amancio Siqueira-Filho: Polytechnic School of Pernambuco, Pernambuco University, Benfica St., 455, Madalena, Recife 50720-001, Brazil
Maira Farias Andrade Lira: Advanced Institute of Technology and Innovation (IATI), Potyra St., 31, Prado, Recife 50751-310, Brazil
Attilio Converti: Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Pole of Chemical Engineering, University of Genoa, Via Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Hugo Valadares Siqueira: Department of Electronics, Federal University of Technology—Paraná (UTFPR), Dr. Washington Subtil Chueire St., 330, Jardim Carvalho, Ponta Grossa 84017-220, Brazil
Carmelo J. A. Bastos-Filho: Polytechnic School of Pernambuco, Pernambuco University, Benfica St., 455, Madalena, Recife 50720-001, Brazil

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-27

Abstract: Monitoring and controlling thermoelectric power plants (TPPs) operational parameters have become essential to ensure system reliability, especially in emergencies. Due to system complexity, operating parameters control is often performed based on technical know-how and simplified analytical models that can result in limited observations. An alternative to this task is using time series forecasting methods that seek to generalize system characteristics based on past information. However, the analysis of these techniques on large diesel/HFO engines used in Brazilian power plants under the dispatch regime has not yet been well-explored. Therefore, given the complex characteristics of engine fuel consumption during power generation, this work aimed to investigate patterns generalization abilities when linear and nonlinear univariate forecasting models are used on a representative database related to an engine-driven generator used in a TPP located in Pernambuco, Brazil. Fuel consumption predictions based on artificial neural networks were directly compared to XGBoost regressor adaptation to perform this task as an alternative with lower computational cost. AR and ARIMA linear models were applied as a benchmark, and the PSO optimizer was used as an alternative during model adjustment. In summary, it was possible to observe that AR and ARIMA-PSO had similar performances in operations and lower error distributions during full-load power output with normal error frequency distribution of −0.03 ± 3.55 and 0.03 ± 3.78 kg/h, respectively. Despite their similarities, ARIMA-PSO achieved better adherence in capturing load adjustment periods. On the other hand, the nonlinear approaches NAR and XGBoost showed significantly better performance, achieving mean absolute error reductions of 42.37% and 30.30%, respectively, when compared with the best linear model. XGBoost modeling was 8.7 times computationally faster than NAR during training. The nonlinear models were better at capturing disturbances related to fuel consumption ramp, shut-down, and sudden fluctuations steps, despite being inferior in forecasting at full-load, especially XGBoost due to its high sensitivity with slight fuel consumption variations.

Keywords: time series forecasting; power plants; fuel consumption; Box & Jenkins methodology; XGBoost; artificial neural networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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