In this paper, a novel nature inspired meta heuristic optimization approach of Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm is employed to solved the optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) problems. Essentially, it is the sub and non-linear optimization problem of optimal power flow (OPF) in which the control parameters of the power networks are optimized. The Grey wolf optimizer (GWO) which is inspired from grey wolves’ leadership and hunting behaviors to solve the ORPD problems. For which, the optimizer is tested on two test cases of IEEE30 standards specially, for 13 and 19 variables in order to get three fitness objectives for instance; transmission line losses (Plosses, MW), voltage deviation (VD), voltage stability index (VSI) and cost of energy in ($). During computing all fitness objectives, the minimum fitness values are possibly achieved by the finest settings of control variables. The simulation results are compared with other artificial intelligence methods in previous literature to ensure the superior performance of the GWO for ORPD problem. The consistency of GWO will further be validated through detailed statistical analysis including histogram illustrations, boxplots, empirical CDF plot, probability plot and plot of minimum fitness during each independent trial.

Groundwater chemistry and its potential health risks are as important as water availability in arid and semiarid regions. This study was conducted to determine the contamination and associated health threats to various populations in a semiarid basin of north China. A total of 78 groundwater samples were collected from the shallow unconfined aquifers. The results showed that the phreatic water was slightly alkaline, hard fresh water with ions in the order of Ca²⁺ > Na⁺+K⁺ > Mg²⁺ and HCO₃⁻ > SO₄²⁻ > Cl⁻. Four hydrochemical elements, NO₃⁻, F⁻, Mn and Zn, exceeded the permissible limits. NO₃⁻ and F⁻ contaminants may pose health risks to local residents, while the risks of Mn and Zn are negligible. Dermal exposure is safe for all populations, while the oral pathway is not. Minors (i.e., infants and children) are susceptible to both NO₃⁻ and F⁻ contaminants, and adults only to NO₃⁻. The susceptibility of various populations is in the order of infants > children > adult males > adult females. Anthropogenic activities are responsible for the elevated levels of NO₃⁻, Zn, Total dissolved solids (TDS), while F⁻ and Mn are from geogenic sources. Thus, differential water supplies, strict control of waste, and rational irrigation practices are encouraged in the basin.

In this research work, bio-inspired computational heuristic algorithms (BCHAs) integrated with active-set algorithms (ASA) were designed to study integrated economics load dispatch problems with valve point effects involving stochastic wind power. These BCHAs are developed through variants of genetic algorithms based on a different set of routines for reproduction operators in order to make exploration and exploitation in the entire search space for finding the global optima, while the ASA is used for rapid local refinements of the results. The designed schemes are estimated on different load dispatch systems consisting of a combination of thermal generating units and wind power plants with and without valve point loading effects. The accuracy, convergence, robustness and complexity of the proposed schemes has been examined through comparative studies based on a sufficiently large number of independent trails and their statistical observations in terms of different performance indices.