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Dr Piotr Skworcow

Job: Visiting Senior Lecturer

Faculty: Technology

School/department: School of Engineering and Sustainable Development

Research group(s): Centre for Engineering Science and Advanced Systems (CESAS)

Address: De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH

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W: http://www.dmu.ac.uk/cesas

 

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Personal profile

Model Predictive Control, Applied control systems, Optimisation methods, Software development, Systems engineering, Water distribution systems management.

Research group affiliations

Water Software Systems.

Publications and outputs 

  • Modelling and simulation of water distribution systems with quantised state system methods
    Modelling and simulation of water distribution systems with quantised state system methods Skworcow, P.; Ulanicki, Bogumil; Paluszczyszyn, D. The work in this paper describes a study of quantised state systems in order to formulate a new framework within which water distribution systems can be modelled and simulated. In contrast to the classic time-slicing simulators, depending on the numerical integration algorithms, the quantisation of system states would allow accounting for the iscontinuities exhibited by control elements in a more efficient manner, and thereby, offer a significant increase in speed of the simulation of water network models.The proposed approach is evaluated on a case study and compared against the results obtained from the Epanet2 simulator and OpenModelica.
  • A tool for practical simplification of water networks models
    A tool for practical simplification of water networks models Paluszczyszyn, D.; Skworcow, P.; Ulanicki, Bogumil This paper presents development of water network model reduction software, Simplifier2. The application can be integrated with other concepts applied to water distribution system or it can be used as a standalone tool for the purpose of the model simplification only. The utilisation of parallel programming techniques and sparse matrices ordering algorithms drastically increased the speed of simplification. Simplifier2 is able to reduce the water network model, consisting of several thousand elements, in less than 1 minute calculation time. Simplifier2 has been already successfully utilised in a number of research and commercial projects. Open Access article
  • Utility-service provision as an example of a complex system
    Utility-service provision as an example of a complex system Strzelecka, A.; Janus, T.; Ozawa-Meida, L.; Ulanicki, Bogumil; Skworcow, P. Utility–service provision is a process in which products are transformed by appropriate devices into services satisfying human needs and wants. Utility products required for these transformations are usually delivered to households via separate infrastructures, i.e., real-world networks such as, e.g., electricity grids and water distribution systems. owever, provision of utility products in appropriate quantities does not itself guarantee hat the required services will be delivered because the needs satisfaction task requires not only utility products but also fully functional devices. Utility infrastructures form complex networks and have been analyzed as such using complex network theory. However, little research has been conducted to date on integration of utilities and associated services within one complex network. This paper attempts to fill this gap in knowledge by modelling utility–service provision within a household with a hypergraph in which products and services are represented with nodes whilst devices are hyperedges spanning between them. Since devices usually connect more than two nodes, a standard graph would not suffice to describe utility–service provision problem and therefore a hypergraph was chosen as a more appropriate representation of the system. This paper first aims to investigate the properties of hypergraphs, such as cardinality of nodes, betweenness, degree distribution, etc. Additionally, it shows how these properties can be used while solving and optimizing utility– service provision problem, i.e., constructing a so-called transformation graph. The transformation graph is a standard graph in which nodes represent the devices, storages for products, and services, while edges represent the product or service carriers. Construction of different transformation graphs to a defined utility– service provision problem is presented in the paper to show how the methodology is applied to generate possible solutions to provision of services to households under given local conditions, requirements and constraints.
  • Why PRVs Tends to Oscillate at Low Flows
    Why PRVs Tends to Oscillate at Low Flows Ulanicki, Bogumil; Skworcow, P. A pressure reducing valve (PRV) consists of a main valve and a PRV controller which senses the output pressure and adjusts the opening of the main valve to maintain the outlet pressure at a given set-point [2]. Although it is well known that PRVs tend to oscillate at low flows the problem is not properly understood. This research was motivated by an industrial case-study to remediate instability in the large scale pressure control scheme. The precise cause for the instability has been identified and the measures to improve the robustness of the generic pressure control schemes are proposed.
  • Pump schedules optimisation with pressure aspects in complex large-scale water distribution systems
    Pump schedules optimisation with pressure aspects in complex large-scale water distribution systems Skworcow, P; Paluszczyszyn, D.; Ulanicki, Bogumil This paper considers optimisation of pump and valve schedules in complex large-scale water distribution networks (WDN), taking into account pressure aspects such as minimum service pressure and pressuredependent leakage. An optimisation model is automatically generated in the GAMS language from a hydraulic model in the EPANET format and from additional files describing operational constraints, electricity tariffs and pump station configurations. The paper describes in details how each hydraulic component is modelled. To reduce the size of the optimisation problem the full hydraulic model is simplified using module reduction algorithm, while retaining the nonlinear characteristics of the model. Subsequently, a nonlinear programming solver CONOPT is used to solve the optimisation model, which is in the form of Nonlinear Programming with Discontinuous Derivatives (DNLP). The results produced by CONOPT are processed further by heuristic algorithms to generate integer solution. The proposed approached was tested on a large-scale WDN model provided in the EPANET format. The considered WDN included complex structures and interactions between pump stations . Solving of several scenarios considering different horizons, time steps, operational constraints, demand levels and topological changes demonstrated ability of the approach to automatically generate and solve optimisation problems for a variety of requirements.
  • Improving numerical efficiency of water networks models reduction algorithm
    Improving numerical efficiency of water networks models reduction algorithm Paluszczyszyn, D.; Skworcow, P.; Ulanicki, Bogumil Nowadays, it is common that water distribution network (WDN) models contain thousands of elements to accurately replicate hydraulic behaviour and topographical layout of real systems. Such models are appropriate for simulation purposes, however optimisation tasks are much more computationally demanding, hence simplified models are required. Variables elimination is a mathematical method for the reduction of such large-scale models described by non-linear algebraic equations. The approach benefits of preserving the non-linearity of the original WDN model and approximates the original model at wide range of operating conditions. However its compute-intensive nature demanded that its implementation should take into account the development in programming languages and the recently released libraries allowing an optimisation of the executable program for multi-core machines. This will ensure that model reduction application will be able to cope with complex topologies of large size networks. In this paper the process of design and development of the research software is described with focus put on the emerged computational research aspects. It is demonstrated that utilisation of parallel programming techniques and sparse matrices ordering algorithms drastically decrease computational time of the model simplification.
  • Optimisation of pump and valve schedules in complex large-scale water distribution systems using GAMS modelling language
    Optimisation of pump and valve schedules in complex large-scale water distribution systems using GAMS modelling language Skworcow, P.; Paluszczyszyn, D.; Ulanicki, Bogumil; Rudek, R.; Belrain, T. This paper considers optimisation of pump and valve schedules in complex large-scale water distribution networks (WDN). An optimisation model is automatically generated in GAMS language from a hydraulic model in EPANET format and from additional files describing operational constraints, electricity tari s and pump station configurations. The paper describes how each hydraulic component is modelled. To reduce the size of the optimisation problem the full hydraulic model is simplified using module reduction algorithm, while retaining the nonlinear characteristics of the model. Subsequently, a nonlinear programming solver CONOPT is used to solve the optimisation model. The proposed approached was tested on a large-scale WDN model provided in EPANET format. The considered WDN included complex structures and interactions between pump stations. Solving of several scenarios considering di erent horizons, time steps, operational constraints and topological changes demonstrated ability of the approach to automatically generate and solve optimisation problems for variety of requirements.
  • Modelling, simulation and optimisation of utility–service provision for households: case studies
    Modelling, simulation and optimisation of utility–service provision for households: case studies Strzelecka, A.; Skworcow, P.; Ulanicki, Bogumil In the research presented in this paper household case studies were considered. Main objective of this research is to investigate models and algorithms for alternative approaches to current utility–service provision. This paper is focused on case studies that consider standard solutions to utility–service provision problems and propose improvements to these solutions. Results are obtained using a simulation system developed in C#. The simulation system evaluates feasibility of proposed candidate solution (so-called transformation graphs) that can be created manually or generated automatically. The simulation system uses data stored in an XML database implemented using eXist-db.
  • Single infrastructure utility provision to households: Technological feasibility study
    Single infrastructure utility provision to households: Technological feasibility study Karaca, F.; Raven, Paul G.; Machell, J.; Varga, L.; Camci, Fatih; Chitchyan, R.; Boxall, J. B.; Ulanicki, Bogumil; Skworcow, P.; Strzelecka, A.; Ozawa-Meida, L.; Janus, T.
  • Developing scenarios for future utility provision
    Developing scenarios for future utility provision Ulanicki, Bogumil; Strzelecka, A.; Skworcow, P.; Janus, T.

Click here to view a full listing of Piotr Skworcow's publications and outputs.

Key research outputs

  • 9 journal papers and 33 refereed conference papers.
  • Developed a new method and software for detection of bursts in water distribution systems (method published in: Skworcow P., Ulanicki B., “Burst detection in water distribution systems via active identification procedure”, In Proc. Computing and Control in the Water Industry, Exeter, UK, 2011) which is currently used by Veolia Water UK.

Research interests/expertise

  • Optimisation methods applied in different areas of science and engineering
  • Modelling and simulation
  • Applied control systems
  • Water distribution systems management
  • Emerging technologies
  • Programming

Areas of teaching

Current:

  • Control Engineering (ENGD3003 - BEng level, ENGT5145 - MSc level)

Past:

  • Embedded Microprocessor Systems (BEng level)
  • Electrical Engineering Foundation (Foundation Degree level)
  • Matlab for Electronics Engineering (BEng level)

Qualifications

  • BEng and MSc in Computer Science, Wroclaw University of Technology (Poland), 2004
  • PgC in Systems and Control, Coventry University (UK), 2004
  • PhD in Control Engineering, Coventry University (UK), 2008

Courses taught

ENGD3003, ENGT5145

Honours and awards

  • 2002, “The Best Student in the Faculty of Electronics”, Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland.
  • 2002 and 2003, Dean’s Awards for “Distinctive effort for development of Faculty of Electronics”, Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland.
  • 2003, Polish Ministry of Education Scholarship for “Remarkable academic achievements”.
  • 2004, “The Best Computer Science Graduate”, Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland.
  • 2006, “Best Poster Runner-up”, EPSRC/UKACC Postgraduate Workshop within the International Conference Control 2006, Glasgow, UK.
  • 2007, “Finalist of Young Investigators Competition”, XVth International Conference on the Use of Computers in Radiation Therapy, Toronto, Canada.

Membership of external committees

Co-organizer of series of workshops organized jointly by Coventry University, UK and Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland; co-editor (2006-2007) and editor (2008 - ongoing) of proceedings: Polish-British Workshop: Computer Systems Engineering, IET Control and Automation Professional Network.

Member of conference programme committees:

a) 6th International Conference on Hybrid Artificial Intelligence Systems 2011

b) 11th International Conference on Networks 2011

c) 10th Conference on Advanced Information Technologies for Management 2012

d) Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems 2012

Projects

Dates

Title

Role

Sponsor

March – July 2013

Development of software for energy and leakage management in water distribution systems

PI

Higher Education Innovation Funding

October 2012 – April 2013

Examination of Veolia Water’s pump scheduling

PI & lead developer

Veolia Water UK

March – August 2012

Development of software tools to enhance burst detection process

PI & lead developer

Veolia Water UK

October 2011 – June 2013

All in One: Feasibility Analysis of Supplying All Services Through One Utility Product

Researcher & lead developer

EPSRC

February – May 2010

Investigation of possible improvements in burst/leakage management

Researcher & lead developer

Three Valleys Water

April 2008 – Sep. 2010

NEPTUNE: Strategic Partnership between EPSRC, ABB, Yorkshire Water and United Utilities

Researcher

EPSRC

October 2004 – April 2008

Methods and Advanced Equipment for Simulation and Treatment in Radiation Oncology

PhD student

EU FP6

Conference attendance

  • Buchner D., Skworcow P., Development and implementation of real-time Model Predictive Control for a three-tank control problem using a dSPACE multi-processor system, In Proc. Int. Conf. on Systems Engineering, Coventry, UK, 2012.
  • Strzelecka A., Skworcow P., Ulanicki B., Janus T., An approach to utility service provision modelling and optimisation, In Proc. Int. Conf. on Systems Engineering, Coventry, UK, 2012.
  • Paluszczyszyn D., Skworcow P., Ulanicki B., Modeling and simulation of water distribution networks within DEVS formalism framework: a preliminary study, In Proc. 14th Water Distribution Systems Analysis Symposium, Adelaide, Australia, 2012.
  • Ulanicki B., Strzelecka A., Skworcow P., Janus T.,  Developing scenarios for future utility provision, In Proc. 14th Water Distribution Systems Analysis Symposium, Adelaide, Australia, 2012.
  • Rudek R., Rudek A., Kozik A., Skworcow P., An impact of model parameter uncertainty on scheduling algorithms, In Proc. 14th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, Wroclaw, Poland, 2012.
  • Paluszczyszyn D., Skworcow P., Ulanicki B., Online simplification of water distribution network models, In Proc. Computing and Control in the Water Industry, Exeter, UK, 2011.
  • Skworcow P., Ulanicki B., Burst detection in water distribution systems via active identification procedure, In Proc. Computing and Control in the Water Industry, Exeter, UK, 2011.
  • Rudek R., Rudek A., Skworcow P., An optimal sequence of tasks for autonomous learning systems, Proceedings of the 16th IEEE International Conference on Methods and Models in Automation and Robotics, pp. 16-21, Międzyzdroje, Poland, 22-25 August 2011.
  • Haas O., Paluszczyszyn D., Ruta M., Skworcow P., Motion prediction and control for patient motion compensation in radiotherapy, In Proc. IFAC World Congress, Milano, Italy, 2011.
  • Skworcow P., Ulanicki B., AbdelMeguid H., Paluszczyszyn D., Model predictive control for energy and leakage management in water distribution systems, In Proc. UKACC International Conference on Control, Coventry, UK, 2010.
  • Skworcow P., Paluszczyszyn D.P., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J., Model predictive controller with adaptivity to reference prediction uncertainty. In Proc. Int. Conf. on Systems Engineering, Coventry, UK, 2009.
  • Skworcow P., AbdelMeguid H., Ulanicki B., Bounds P., Optimal pump scheduling with pressure control aspects: case studies, In Proc. Computing and Control in the Water Industry, Sheffield, UK, 2009.
  • AbdelMeguid H., Skworcow P., Ulanicki B., Mathematical modelling of a hydraulic controller for PRV flow modulation, In Proc. Computing and Control in the Water Industry, Sheffield, UK, 2009.
  • Skworcow P., AbdelMeguid H., Ulanicki B., Bounds P., Patel R., Combined energy and pressure management in water distribution systems, In Proc. 11th Water Distribution Systems Analysis Symposium, Kansas City, USA, 2009.
  • Borovik I., Ulanicki B., Skworcow P., Burst Identification in Water Distribution Systems, In Proc. 11th Water Distribution Systems Analysis Symposium, Kansas City, USA, 2009.
  • Paluszczyszyn D.P., Skworcow P., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J., Mills J.A., Real-time implementation of model predictive control reference prediction for radiotherapy patient support system, In Proc. IAR Annual Meeting, Coventry, UK, 2008.
  • Bogalinski P., Pozniak-Koszalka I., Koszalka L., Skworcow P., The two dimensional irregular-shaped nesting problem, In Proc. 8th Polish-British Workshop, Wroclaw, Poland, Computer Systems Engineering, IET Control and Automation Professional Network, 2008.
  • Lenarski K., Kasprzak A., Skworcow P., Advanced Tabu-search strategies two-layer network dimensioning problem, In Proc. 8th Polish-British Workshop, Wroclaw, Poland, Computer Systems Engineering, IET Control and Automation Professional Network, 2008.
  • Tokarski B., Koszalka L., Skworcow P., Simulation based performance analysis of ethernet MPI cluster, In Proc. 8th Polish-British Workshop, Wroclaw, Poland, Computer Systems Engineering, IET Control and Automation Professional Network, 2008.
  • Putra D., Skworcow P., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J. and Mills J.A., Output-feedback tracking for tumour motion compensation in adaptive radiotherapy. In Proc. 26th American Control Conference, New York, USA, 2007.
  • Mills J.A., Haas O.C.L., Bueno G., Fisher M., Sahih A., Skworcow P., Putra D., Burnham K.J., Land I., Young K., Sage J., Wilson A.J., Martinez-Albala A., Torres M., Delgado J.M., Carrascosa C., Yu S., Target motion detection and the adaptation of radiotherapy delivery systems for high-precision radiotherapy treatment, Strahlentherapie und Onkologie, vol. 183, Suppl. 1, 152, Urban & Vogel, May 2007.
  • Skworcow P., Putra D., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J. and Mills J.A., Compensation of system latency in tumour tracking using prediction: comparison of feedforward and model predictive strategies. In Proc. 15th International Conference on the Use of Computers in Radiation Therapy, Toronto, Canada, 2007.
  • Putra D., Skworcow P., Young K., Haas O.C.L., Mills J.A. and Burnham K.J. Margin to accommodate inherent errors of tracking-based radiation delivery system. In Proc. 15th International Conference on the Use of Computers in Radiation Therapy, Toronto, Canada, 2007.
  • Skworcow P., Putra D., Sahih A., Goodband J., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J. and Mills J.A., Predictive tracking for respiratory induced motion compensation in adaptive radiotherapy. In the Mini Symposia Proceedings of the International Control Conference, Glasgow, UK, 2006.
  • Skworcow P., Sahih A., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J. and Mills J.A., Towards effective organ immobilization via a predictive bilinear feedforward model based approach to control a radiotherapy patient support system. In Proc. International Control Conference, Glasgow, UK, 2006.
  • Skworcow P., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J. and Mills J.A., Modelling of mechanical uncertainty in the gantry of radiotherapy treatment machine. In Proc. IAR Annual Meeting, Nancy, France, 2006.
  • Haas O.C.L., Mills J.A., Burnham, K.J., Putra, D., Skworcow, P., Sahih A., MAESTRO: image guided radiotherapy with control engineering, IPEM Biennal Radiotherapy Meeting,  Norwich, UK, abstract and poster, 3-4 July 2006. 
  • Skworcow P, Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J., Mills J.A., Assessment of mechanical accuracy of gantry and patient support system, IPEM Biennal Radiotherapy Meeting,  Norwich, UK, abstract and poster, 3-4 July 2006. 
  • Sydor P., Skworcow P., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J., Mills J.A. and Koszałka L., Condition monitoring and model based control of radiotherapy patient support system. In Proc. Int. Conf. on Systems Engineering, Coventry, UK, 2006.
  • Skworcow P., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J., Mills J.A., Establishing criteria for future evaluation of radiation coverage consequences of adaptive radiotherapy treatment. In Proc. Int. Conf. on Systems Engineering, Coventry, UK, 2006.
  • Skworcow P., Sahih A., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J. and Mills J.A., Assessing the mechanical accuracy of radiotherapy treatment equipment: A precursor to control system design. In Proc. 6th Polish-British Workshop, Wroclaw, Poland, Computer Systems Engineering, IET Control and Automation Professional Network, 2005.
  • Rudek R., Skworcow P., Haas O.C.L., Burnham K.J. Robot soccer as a teaching and research tool: example of reinforcement learning and web connectivity. In Proc. Int. Conf. on Systems Science, Wroclaw, Poland, 2004.
  • Koszałka L., Skworcow P., Simulation and experimentation system for efficient job performing applied to veterinary medicine area. In Proc. Int. Conf. on Systems Engineering 2003, Coventry, UK, 2003.

Consultancy work

  • 2012, Examination of Veolia Water’s pump scheduling (Veolia Water)
  • 2012, Development of software tools to enhance burst detection process (Veolia Water)
  • 2009, Burst detection and pressure control (Three-Valleys Water)

Current research students

Daniel Paluszczyszyn, full-time, 2nd supervisor

Anna Strzelecka, full-time, 1st supervisor

Externally funded research grants information

  • All-in-one, EPSRC, October 2011 – April 2013, co-author of proposal & named researcher, £125,450 (DMU award), collaborators: Cranfield University, Sheffield University, Leicester University.
  • Real-time fail-safe optimised control of water distribution systems, DTA - EPSRC, October 2009 – October 2012, co-author of proposal & 2nd supervisor, £42,825 awarded.

Internally funded research project information

  • Development of software for energy and leakage management in water distribution systems, HEIF5, March – July 2013, author of proposal & PI.
  • One utility for sustainable communities, DMU PhD studentship, October 2011 – October 2014, co-author of proposal & 1st supervisor.
  • Preparation of bid for EPSRC Strategic Partnership, Revolving Investment Fund (2010), author of proposal & PI & lead developer.
  • Water Sustainability Laboratory, Research Capital Investment Fund (2009), co-author of proposal.

Professional esteem indicators

  • External reviewer of teaching materials for MSc course Advanced Informatics and Control run jointly by Wroclaw University of Technology (Poland) and Coventry University (UK), 2010.
  • Reviewer for Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, since 2010.
  • Reviewer for Journal of Hydroinformatics, since 2011.
  • Reviewer for Urban Water Journal, since 2012.
  • My papers have been cited at least 12 times (excluding self-citations) according to science citation index.

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