A novel technique for load frequency control of multi-area power systems

In this paper, an adaptive type-2 fuzzy controller is proposed to control the load frequency of a two-area power system based on descending gradient training and error back-propagation. The dynamics of the system are completely uncertain. The multilayer perceptron (MLP) artificial neural network structure is used to extract Jacobian and estimate the system model, and then, the estimated model is applied to the controller, online. A proportional–derivative (PD) controller is added to the type-2 fuzzy controller, which increases the stability and robustness of the system against disturbances. The adaptation, being real-time and independency of the system parameters are new features of the proposed controller. Carrying out simulations on New England 39-bus power system, the performance of the proposed controller is compared with the conventional PI, PID and internal model control based on PID (IMC-PID) controllers. Simulation results indicate that our proposed controller method outperforms the conventional controllers in terms of transient response and stability

Frequency deviations stabilizations in restructured power systems using coordinative controllers

Modern restructured power system faces excessive frequency aberrations due to the intermittent renewable generations and persistently changing load demands. An efficient and robust control strategy is obligatory to minimise deviations in the system frequency and tie-line to avoid any possible blackout. Hence, in this research, to achieve this target, automatic generation control (AGC) is utilized as a secondary controller to alleviate the changes in interconnected restructured systems at uncertainties. The objective of AGC is to quickly stabilize the deviations in frequency and tie-line power following load fluctuations. This thesis addresses the performance of AGC in two-area restructured power systems with many sophisticated control strategies in the presence of renewable and traditional power plants. As per literature of research work, there are quite a few research studies on AGC of a restructured system using optimized coordinative controllers. Besides, investigations on advanced optimized-based coordinative controller approaches are also rare to find in the literature. So, various combinations of two degrees of freedom (2DOF) controllers are utilized as supplementary controllers to diminish the frequency deviations. Nevertheless, the interconnected tie-lines are typically congested in areas with huge penetration of renewable sources, which may reduce the tie -line capability. Therefore, distinct FACTS controllers and ultra-capacitor (UC) are integrated into two-area restructured systems for strengthening the tie-line power and frequency. Further, new optimization techniques such as cuckoo search (CS), bat algorithm (BA), moth-flame optimization (MFO) are utilized in this work for investigating the suggested 2DOF controllers and compared their performance in all contracts of restructured systems. As per the simulation outcomes, the amalgamation of DPFC and UC with MFObased 2DOF PID-FOPDN shows low fluctuation rate in frequency and tie-line power. Besides, the settling times (ST) of two areas are 9.5 S for ΔF1, 8.2 S for ΔF2, and 10.15 S for ΔPtie. The robustness of the suggested controller has been verified by ±25% variations in system parameters and loading conditions

Load frequency controllers considering renewable energy integration in power system

Abstract: Load frequency control or automatic generation control is one of the main operations that take place daily in a modern power system. The objectives of load frequency control are to maintain power balance between interconnected areas and to control the power flow in the tie-lines. Electric power cannot be stored in large quantity that is why its production must be equal to the consumption in each time. This equation constitutes the key for a good management of any power system and introduces the need of more controllers when taking into account the integration of renewable energy sources into the traditional power system. There are many controllers presented in the literature and this work reviews the traditional load frequency controllers and those, which combined the traditional controller and artificial intelligence algorithms for controlling the load frequency

Load frequency control for multi-area interconnected power system using artificial intelligent controllers

Power system control and stability have been an area with different and continuous challenges in order to reach the desired operation that satisfies consumers and suppliers. To accomplish the purpose of stable operation in power systems, different loops have been equipped to control different parameters. For example, Load Frequency Control (LFC) is introduced to maintain the frequency at or near its nominal values, this loop is also responsible for maintaining the interchanged power between control areas interconnected via tie-lines at scheduled values. Other loops are also employed within power systems such as the Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR). This thesis focuses on the problem of frequency deviation in power systems and proposes different solutions based on different theories. The proposed methods are implemented in two different power systems namely: unequal two-area interconnected thermal power system and the simplified Great Britain (GB) power system. Artificial intelligence-based controllers have recently dominated the field of control engineering as they are practicable with relatively low solution costs, this is in addition to providing a stable, reliable and robust dynamic performance of the controlled plant. They professionally can handle different technical issues resulting from nonlinearities and uncertainties. In order to achieve the best possible control and dynamic system behaviour, a soft computing technique based on the Bees Algorithm (BA) is suggested for tuning the parameters of the proposed controllers for LFC purposes. Fuzzy PID controller with filtered derivative action (Fuzzy PIDF) optimized by the BA is designed and implemented to improve the frequency performance in the two different systems under study during and after load disturbance. Further, three different fuzzy control configurations that offer higher reliability, namely Fuzzy Cascade PI − PD, Fuzzy PI plus Fuzzy PD, and Fuzzy (PI + PD), optimized by the BA have also been implemented in the two-area interconnected power system. The robustness of these fuzzy configurations has been evidenced against parametric uncertainties of the controlled power systems Sliding Mode Control (SMC) design, modelling and implementation have also been conducted for LFC in the investigated systems where the parameters are tuned by the BA. The mathematical model design of the SMC is derived based on the parameters of the testbed systems. The robustness analysis of the proposed SMC against the controlled systems’ parametric uncertainties has been carried out considering different scenarios. Furthermore, to authenticate the excellence of the proposed controllers, a comparative study is carried out based on the obtained results and those from previously introduced works based on classical PID tuned by the Losi Map-Based Chaotic Optimization Algorithm (LCOA), Fuzzy PID Optimized by Teaching Learning-Based Optimization (TLBO

Active vibration control of a horizontal flexible plate structure using intelligent proportional–integral–derivative controller tuned by fuzzy logic and artificial bee colony algorithm

© The Author(s) 2019. This paper presents the development of an intelligent controller for vibration suppression of a horizontal flexible plate structure using hybrid Fuzzy–proportional–integral–derivative controller tuned by Ziegler–Nichols tuning rules and intelligent proportional–integral–derivative controller tuned by artificial bee colony algorithm. Active vibration control technique was implemented during the development of the controllers. The vibration data obtained through experimental rig was used to model the system using system identification technique based on auto-regressive with exogenous input model. Next, the developed model was used in the development of an active vibration control for vibration suppression of the horizontal flexible plate system using proportional–integral–derivative controller. Two types of controllers were proposed in this paper which are the hybrid Fuzzy–proportional–integral–derivative controller and intelligent proportional–integral–derivative controller tuned by artificial bee colony algorithm. The performances of the developed controllers were assessed and validated. Proportional–integral–derivative–artificial bee colony controller achieved the highest attenuation for first mode of vibration with 47.54 dB attenuation as compared to Fuzzy–proportional–integral–derivative controller with 32.04 dB attenuation. The experimental work was then conducted for the best controller to confirm the result achieved in the simulation work

Adaptive bio-inspired firefly and invasive weed algorithms for global optimisation with application to engineering problems

The focus of the research is to investigate and develop enhanced version of swarm intelligence firefly algorithm and ecology-based invasive weed algorithm to solve global optimisation problems and apply to practical engineering problems. The work presents two adaptive variants of firefly algorithm by introducing spread factor mechanism that exploits the fitness intensity during the search process. The spread factor mechanism is proposed to enhance the adaptive parameter terms of the firefly algorithm. The adaptive algorithms are formulated to avoid premature convergence and better optimum solution value. Two new adaptive variants of invasive weed algorithm are also developed seed spread factor mechanism introduced in the dispersal process of the algorithm. The working principles and structure of the adaptive firefly and invasive weed algorithms are described and discussed. Hybrid invasive weed-firefly algorithm and hybrid invasive weed-firefly algorithm with spread factor mechanism are also proposed. The new hybridization algorithms are developed by retaining their individual advantages to help overcome the shortcomings of the original algorithms. The performances of the proposed algorithms are investigated and assessed in single-objective, constrained and multi-objective optimisation problems. Well known benchmark functions as well as current CEC 2006 and CEC 2014 test functions are used in this research. A selection of performance measurement tools is also used to evaluate performances of the algorithms. The algorithms are further tested with practical engineering design problems and in modelling and control of dynamic systems. The systems considered comprise a twin rotor system, a single-link flexible manipulator system and assistive exoskeletons for upper and lower extremities. The performance results are evaluated in comparison to the original firefly and invasive weed algorithms. It is demonstrated that the proposed approaches are superior over the individual algorithms in terms of efficiency, convergence speed and quality of the optimal solution achieved

Data-Intensive Computing in Smart Microgrids

Microgrids have recently emerged as the building block of a smart grid, combining distributed renewable energy sources, energy storage devices, and load management in order to improve power system reliability, enhance sustainable development, and reduce carbon emissions. At the same time, rapid advancements in sensor and metering technologies, wireless and network communication, as well as cloud and fog computing are leading to the collection and accumulation of large amounts of data (e.g., device status data, energy generation data, consumption data). The application of big data analysis techniques (e.g., forecasting, classification, clustering) on such data can optimize the power generation and operation in real time by accurately predicting electricity demands, discovering electricity consumption patterns, and developing dynamic pricing mechanisms. An efficient and intelligent analysis of the data will enable smart microgrids to detect and recover from failures quickly, respond to electricity demand swiftly, supply more reliable and economical energy, and enable customers to have more control over their energy use. Overall, data-intensive analytics can provide effective and efficient decision support for all of the producers, operators, customers, and regulators in smart microgrids, in order to achieve holistic smart energy management, including energy generation, transmission, distribution, and demand-side management. This book contains an assortment of relevant novel research contributions that provide real-world applications of data-intensive analytics in smart grids and contribute to the dissemination of new ideas in this area

Improvements on the bees algorithm for continuous optimisation problems

This work focuses on the improvements of the Bees Algorithm in order to enhance the algorithm’s performance especially in terms of convergence rate. For the first enhancement, a pseudo-gradient Bees Algorithm (PG-BA) compares the fitness as well as the position of previous and current bees so that the best bees in each patch are appropriately guided towards a better search direction after each consecutive cycle. This method eliminates the need to differentiate the objective function which is unlike the typical gradient search method. The improved algorithm is subjected to several numerical benchmark test functions as well as the training of neural network. The results from the experiments are then compared to the standard variant of the Bees Algorithm and other swarm intelligence procedures. The data analysis generally confirmed that the PG-BA is effective at speeding up the convergence time to optimum. Next, an approach to avoid the formation of overlapping patches is proposed. The Patch Overlap Avoidance Bees Algorithm (POA-BA) is designed to avoid redundancy in search area especially if the site is deemed unprofitable. This method is quite similar to Tabu Search (TS) with the POA-BA forbids the exact exploitation of previously visited solutions along with their corresponding neighbourhood. Patches are not allowed to intersect not just in the next generation but also in the current cycle. This reduces the number of patches materialise in the same peak (maximisation) or valley (minimisation) which ensures a thorough search of the problem landscape as bees are distributed around the scaled down area. The same benchmark problems as PG-BA were applied against this modified strategy to a reasonable success. Finally, the Bees Algorithm is revised to have the capability of locating all of the global optimum as well as the substantial local peaks in a single run. These multi-solutions of comparable fitness offers some alternatives for the decision makers to choose from. The patches are formed only if the bees are the fittest from different peaks by using a hill-valley mechanism in this so called Extended Bees Algorithm (EBA). This permits the maintenance of diversified solutions throughout the search process in addition to minimising the chances of getting trap. This version is proven beneficial when tested with numerous multimodal optimisation problems