Abstract: A method for detecting contaminants in a liquid is provided. The method can include filling at least a portion of a sample container interior chamber with a liquid sample and submerging a sensor probe of a hand-held portable sensing device in a liquid sample. The method can additionally include sensing an electrical conductivity of the liquid sample utilizing at least one conductivity sensor and automatically selecting a particular one of a plurality of contaminant concentration detection (CCD) algorithms based on the sensed conductivity. The method can further include setting a sensitivity of at least one ionic species sensor to a sensitivity level particular to the selected CCD algorithm and sensing non-desired contaminants in the liquid sample utilizing the at least one ionic species sensor. A concentration of the non-desired contaminant in the liquid sample is then determined in accordance with the selected CCD algorithm.

Abstract: A method for predicting an optimal mixture of power generation plant types using a forecasting model, the method includes: collecting financial data of estimated costs of each of a plurality of power generation plant types; assigning a probability distribution to a plurality of the estimated costs; projecting the estimated costs over a period of time for each type of power generation plant to generate probability distributions of estimated costs for each type of power plant; applying a Bayesian combination analysis to evaluate non-quantifiable factors that influence the probability distributions, and projecting a mixture of power plant type usage based on the Bayesian combination analysis.