1 AIT Asian Institute of Technology

Planning and operation of reactive power sources for voltage stability improvement and harmonics minimization

AuthorLomi, Abraham
Call NumberAIT Diss. no. ET-00-03
Subject(s)Electric power system stability

NoteA dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Engineering, School of Enviroment, Resources and Development
PublisherAsian Institute of Technology
Series StatementDissertation ; no. ET-00-03
AbstractPresent day power systems are steadily growing and have become large as well as more complex with interconnections to neighboring systems for reliable and economic operating conditions. The international electric utility industry is undergoing a radical transformation from an essentially regulated as monopolistic industry to an industry made uncertain within impending deregulation and the advent of competitive forces. Power system engineer has always been concerted to meet the basic objectives of an electric utility and to improve the quality of power supply by judiciously planning and utilizing the existing resources. With the increased loading of existing power transmission systems, the pro blem of voltage stability has become a major concern in power system planning and operation. In recent years reactive power optimization has gained more importance due to exploitation of power generating sources at remote places and inclusion of EHV A.C and HVDC long transmission networks as well as various types of VAR compensating devices such as Static VAR Compensators (SVCs), Flexible A.C Transmission Systems (FACTs), etc., in the system. The present thesis deals mainly with voltage stability aspects in reactive power planning, optimum reactive power dispatch in transmission systems and reactive power control for harmonic minimisation in industrial distribution systems. An operational load flow (OLP) algorithm based on a more realistic model of power system is presented. This model includes the load characteristics and generation control characteristics. Computationally efficient method is presented for L-indices based static voltage stability analysis. The method helps to identify the severity of critical buses vulnerable to voltage stability in a power system. Results for three typical systems of 24-bus EHV system, a modified 30-bus IEEE system and 82-bus practical system are presented. Planning of reactive power compensation in a power system has to be comprehensive so as to maintain the voltages within the acceptable ranges under conditions of both light load peak load conditions. During peak load conditions, system may need capacitive reactive power support to maintain acceptable voltages, while systems may experience overvoltages during light load conditions. Static VAR compensators with continuous variation of the reactive power supplied to system, can have a significant influence on maintaining the steady state voltage profile under varying load conditions, improve system voltage stability and also provide fast response to control the bus voltages under disturbed conditions. An approach for selection suitable location and size of Static VAR compensator based on static voltage stability criteria is presented. Results of a radial test system and a 24-bus EHV equivalent power network of a practical system illustrate that the proposed approach selects the most suitable size and location for SVC compensation. In a day-today operation of power systems, reactive power dispatch is the control of all controllable reactive power sources in the system in a co-ordinated manner to improve the system voltage profile and to minimize a suitable objective function. Major drawback in existing methods employing optimisation techniques to reactive power allocation problems, is lV the size of the problem, due to large number of variables and equality as well as inequality constraints. The difficulty is in both the tasks of formulation and solution of optimisation problems. This thesis addresses methods for reactive power optlm1zation, suitable for the application of linear programming (LP) techniques. The problem is formulated with different objective functions to study their usefulness for the application to large systems. Upper-bound optimization technique has been applied to the LP problem. The proposed LP algoritluns developed with objective of both minimization of real power losses and improvement of the system static voltage stability. The performance of the algorithms is evaluated for several test and practical systems. It is indicated that solution of the optimal power flow for the system static voltage stability improvement and for the transmission loss minimization objective need not be same. This is an important consideration during system operations, as the prevailing security conditions will determine which system performance objective should be used. Comparing the results obtained with Power loss minimization objective, and voltage stability improvement objective, it can be seen that LP teclmique with voltage stability as objective is more suitable for application in Energy Control Center (ECC). The algoritluns have been tested on several test and simulated conditions of practical systems. These systems include 6-bus Ward-Hale system, 24-bus EHV System, IEEE 30-bus system, 82-bus practical systems. The results indicate that the proposed algorithn1s are effective, reliable and suitable for real time applications. Phase-wise unbalanced reactive power demand is encountered in the present day power systems due to the presence of large and fluctuating industrial loads, such as electric arc furnaces, rolling mills etc. Static VAR compensators (SVCs) can be advantageously used for this purpose. However, operation of SVC introduces harmonic currents into the A.C system. An approach for optimum control of Static VAR Systems in industrial loads is presented based on minimum harmonic injection into the system. Quantitative analysis of harmonic generation based on performance indices TIP, IT and Dare used for analysis. The evolved strategy meets both the requirements of load balancing as well as reducing the reactive power supply from the source. Typical system studies for a cyclic load and an unbalanced load conditions are presented. The results indicate that the proposed approach helps in the selection of suitable rating for SVC and control strategy for minimum harmonics.
Year2000
Corresponding Series Added EntryAsian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. ET-00-03
TypeDissertation
SchoolSchool of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)
DepartmentDepartment of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC))
Academic Program/FoSEnergy Technology (ET)
Chairperson(s)Surapong Chirarattananon;Thukaram, Dhadbanjan;
Examination Committee(s)Salokhe, Vilas M.;Rajapakse, Athula;Pai, Mangalore A.;
Scholarship Donor(s)Proyek Peningkatan Pendidikan Sains Dan Keteknikan (Engineering Education Development Project - EEDP) Directorate of Higher Education Government of the Republic of Indonesia;
DegreeThesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2000


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