With the changing scenario for procurement of energy it becomes necessary to understand the process of obtaining energy from a diverse set of suppliers capable of providing substantial amounts of electric power at competitive prices. Sufficient insight has been gained in the energy brokerage system design and planning owing to experiences in the recently established markets especially the California market. It becomes contextual to analyze and understand the procurement of ancillary services, which are generally bundled as part of the wholesale energy supply chain, using a similarly competitive environment having a number of players that provide electric power for such services. The objectives of this thesis are: (1) to provide a simulation package for conducting competitive auctions using software agents for the regulation service auction market, and (2) to demonstrate the compliance of a power system, employing Automatic Generation Control with parameters obtained from such a market, with North American Electric Reliability Council's performance standards. The package employs a flexible and extensible Java-based agent development environment, MADKIT, to simulate the auctions for regulation service, and MATLAB/SIMULINK models with a fuzzy controller to simulate the power system. The framework is tested using a sample threearea power system, where the parameters for regulation service in the second area are obtained from a competitive auction market. A bidding strategy based on fuzzy logic is also designed and tested for ensuring good profit for a bidding supplier in the auctions. I would like to thank Professors Bojan Čukić and Srinivas Kankanahalli for serving in my examining committee, and also providing timely help through discussions. Special thanks to Dulpichet Rerkpreedapong, Amer AL Hinai, Amer Hasanović, Karl Schoder, and the rest of my friends in the project team for providing valuable suggestions and performing peer reviews of my work. Finally, my deepest gratitude and love goes to my parents, my fiancée, and my entire family, for providing unconditional support, understanding, patience and encouragement. This work is dedicated to them. My humble pranams to the lotus feet of His Holiness Bhagwan Sairam for being with me as a guiding light through this endeavor and my entire life.

No abstract

Soltware agent based systems have long been used in the design and implementation 01 complex systems. This paper discusses a framework lor the regulation service auction market lor investigating the behaviors 01 soltware agents representing the various participants including the auction coordinator (ISO). The main emphasis is to consider the prolit maximizing bidding strategies employed by the power suppliers to gain lrom the competitive market setup. The Java Multi-Agent Development Kit (Madkit) is used lor the auction simulations and Java Native Interlace (JNI) methods are employed to invoke Matlab computations. Finally, two examples are shown lor procurement 01 Regulation Service involving live suppliers over a twenty-lour hour auction period.

Necesdty of the herbicidal application for controlling undesirable grasses, by the Defence Services, Military fwmq and Inter Servic-Organisations is highlighted. Control of grasses by herGicida1 chemicals, registered under thc Insecticides Ast 1968 in this country, is reviewed apart from a mention of non-chemical methods. Grasses are monocotyledonous annuals or psren-Echinochloa crusgalli (barnyard grass; Sama ghas nials1'2 b31ov.gin.g to Graminae with eleven distinct dhelari*), Eragrostis ciliaris (Panglas*), Eragrostis tribes a-ie the most unjversall~ diffused of diarrhena, Eragrostis poaeoides, Eragrostis tenella all the flowering plants. In the tropics grasses (Phephani*) ar?d Eragrostis tremula (Dholphulio*) are second in dm~~dance to Leguminosae. Their besides perennials like Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda principal requirement is availability of abu~~dant grass ; doob*), Eragrostis cynosuroides (Dhab*), mist-in soil. Saccharum spontaneum (Kans, patura) and Sor-Grasses infest all the field crops, fruit crops, ghum halepense (Johnson grass; baru*). plantation crops and fordsts. Besides, grasses grow profusely in non-agricultural croplands, as-The grasses are rep0rted as summer phalt end brick coui.ses, weeds in NorthWest India2(a) infesting orchaxds shoulders of runways, air ports, fence rows, rail P-S well as lawns : Imperata c~l i n d r i c~~ (Thatch or roads, vehicle tracks, mule tracks, highwayP, pas-Lz-lang grass; bharavai*), Pas~alidium flavidu'arm, tures, &ring rangs, A~~~, ~i~ F~~~~, ~~~~l train-Setaria tomentosa, Sporobolus diander and Eleusine ing centres/aco,demies, Service stores holding indim (crab grass; mandle*). The standard lawn installations, Base/Field/Command/Army hospi-grass in various parts of this tract is 'C~nodon tals, etc. dactylon (the common hariali or dhoob grass). Poa annua is a winter weed growing in the Currently weeding out undesirable grasses in lawns and public parks. the Dzfence Service offices~installations/units is through the laborious time-cOnsuming manual Pennisetum purpureum3 (Napier grass or elephaSnt and mechanical methods which 2 are, however, grass) is pernicious tall weed in the NorthEastern far from effective. The object of this review is plaim of Assam and Meghalaya. ~h ; ~~~ to highlight current trends of chemical control Research unit, Almora identified around orle of grasses with herbicides apart from a brief outline hundred species of grasses4 (some of them as weeds) mechanicat and physical methods ,in vogue. at heights varying from 1676-2746 m in the Kumaon Common Grasses of India and Herbicide Research in India It is necessary to know the grasses considered weeds in our cquntry of specific significance to the Armed Forces both from the point of view of the military farms and the non-agricultural ones. In the NorthWest plai~ls of our country, the following grasses are considered2@) to be prominent Kharifor rainy season weeds of crops like maize, sorghum, bajra, sugarcane,-and several vegetables like : tomato, chillies, brinjal and others Eleusine verticillata ...