Coordination of Generator Protection and Control in the Over and Under Excited Regions

This thesis deals with the coordination of protection and control functions associated with the synchronous generators. The excitation control functions are a key component in maintaining the stability of machines and the network. The overall objective of coordination is simple; to allow excitation control functions, the automatic recovery from excursions beyond normal limits, and only take protective action as a last resort. This thesis focuses on four areas of generator control and protection : a) Loss of excitation protection, b) Dynamic underexcitation coordination, c) Dynamic Overexcitation coordination, and d) a generic protective relay development platform for hardware and software development. Loss of excitation (LOE) is a condition in the underexcited region that presents a risk of severe damage to a generator. The state of the art in the detection of a loss of excitation condition is based on the principle that, for a zero Thevenin voltage, the generator becomes a reactance as seen from the power system. The difficulty in detecting a loss of excitation is that several other disturbances may temporarily present a similar behavior, for instance a fault followed by a power swing. In this part of the work, a new algorithm for the detection of a loss of excitation condition is proposed by using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification method and a careful design of the necessary feature vectors. The proposed method is robust to changes in conditions including initial load, fault types, line impedance, as well as generator parameter inaccuracies. Coordination in the underexcited region presents difficulties due to the commonly used static characteristics instead of dynamic simulation. The underexcited limit presents an overload characteristic that is not normally known or used. Once the limit is exceeded, the limiting control action is a control loop that presents a dynamic behavior not typically represented in studies in the current industry practice. It is also important to properly model and include dynamic performance of protection functions. An important consideration not typically taken into account is the actual stability limit, which depends on the characteristics and the mode of excitation control used. This thesis includes all the above considerations necessary to achieve the required coordination using the more accurate dynamic simulations. Specific scenarios that present risk to the machine or the system are included to assess the coordination achieved. A real generator from the Alberta power system is used as a case study to demonstrate the proposed coordination methodology. Coordination in the overexcited region again presents practical difficulties due to static characteristics instead of dynamic simulation of conditions that exercise the overexcitation limits. The problems observed relate to coordination methodology and modeling methods for both protection and control limits. Once the limit boundary characteristic is exceeded, the limiting action is a control loop that presents dynamic behavior that needs to be represented. Similar considerations need to be made with the protection function protecting against rotor overload. Current modeling methods mostly use low bandwidth simulations, i.e., transient stability studies. A modeling methodology as well as specific model improvements to the IEEE ST1A excitation control model are proposed to achieve the required coordination. The ST1A type is one model that can represent a wide variety of system models from different manufacturers. The proposed modeling methodology applies to high bandwidth simulations such as electromagnetic simulations. Specific important scenarios, such as severe temporary reactive overload or severe power swing conditions, where the protection and control are required to coordinate but that present risk to the machine or the system are proposed as part of the coordination considerations. The detection of LOE conditions by the proposed SVM method and by traditional methods was implemented in hardware by using a digital signal processor (DSP) platform and tested using real time power system simulations. A new platform for real time protective relay development was designed and used for the purpose of implementation. In the proposed platform, a processor independent code is used so that development can be performed using native host computer development tools. By using the proposed platform-independent code, off line testing can be performed either interactively or in batch mode for evaluating multiple cases

Contribution to wide area control of power systems

L'objectif principal des réseaux électriques est de convertir l'énergie d'une forme naturelle à la forme électrique et aussi de la distribuer aux clients avec la meilleure qualité. L'énergie électrique est une des formes d'énergie les plus utilisées dans l'industrie, dans les résidences, aux bureaux et dans le transport. Présentement, la complexité des réseaux électriques augmente continuellement en raison de la croissance des interconnexions et de l'utilisation des nouvelles technologies. Également, la croissance de la demande d'énergie électrique a forcé l'utilisation des réseaux électriques à leur capacité maximale et donc près de la limite de stabilité. Dans ces conditions, si le système est soumis à une perturbation, la chute de la tension ou celle de la fréquence serait très probable. Par conséquent, les équipements de contrôle, qui constituent une structure avec plusieurs niveaux de contrôle, peuvent aider les réseaux électriques à surmonter les événements imprévus. Les récentes pannes dans les réseaux électriques démontrent le besoin urgent d'une structure de contrôles multi-niveaux basés sur une technologie avec très rapide réponse appelée en anglais Wide Area Measurement and Control system (WAMAC). Présentement, le Wide Area Measurement System (WAMS) qui utilise le Global Positioning System (GPS) et la technologie satellite, joue un rôle important dans différentes parties du système de contrôle des réseaux électriques pour emp^echer les pannes globales ou locales du système. Les informations transférées par cette technologie seraient employées dans un contrôleur global appelé Wide Area Controller en anglais pour améliorer la performance dynamique des réseaux électriques pendant et après les perturbations. Donc, pour implémenter un Wide-Area Controller dans cette thèse, nous présenterons un plan multi-étapes pour l'amélioration de la stabilité du système et l'amortissement des oscillations du réseau. La première étape de ce plan serait l'estimation d'état dynamique des réseaux électriques en utilisant des phaseurs qui sont accessibles de Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU). Les angles des machines synchrones estimés à la première étape, qui pourrait nous montrer l'état des oscillations du réseau, seront utilisés comme des signaux d'entrée pour le contrôleur. La deuxième étape de notre plan est de trouver les meilleurs eplacements des dispositifs FACTS sur le réseau électrique pour augmenter la puissance transmise dans le réseau, maximiser la chargeabilité et minimiser les pertes. Après le placement optimal des dispositifs FACTS, la troisième étape consiste à implémenter le Wide-Area Controller. Ce contrôleur reçoit les états estimés, qui sont disponibles à partir des résultats de la première étape, et d'autres informations de partout dans le réseau en utilisant des PMUs. Après la vérification des signaux reçus, le contrôleur commande des contrôleurs locaux, tels que les contrôleurs des dispositifs FACTS qui ont été placés de façon optimale à la deuxième étape. Le contrôleur implémenté modifie les signaux de référence des éléments locaux pour améliorer la performance dynamique du système et amortir les oscillations du réseau.The main goal of power system is to convert the energy from one of its natural forms to the electrical form and deliver it to the costumers with the best quality. So far, the complexity of power system is continually increasing because of the growth in interconnections and use of new technologies. Also, the growth of electrical energy demand has forced the power networks to work with the maximum possible capacity and in turn near the stability limits. In this condition, if the system is subjected to a disturbance, the voltage or frequency collapse events would be more probable. Therefore the control equipments, which constitute a multi level control structure, can help the power system to overcome the contingencies. Recent collapse events in the power system networks show the urgent need for such a multi level control structure based on a rapid response technology such as Wide Area Measurement and Control (WAMAC). Nowadays, the wide area measurement and monitoring, which uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) and satellite technology, plays an important role in different parts of power system control strategies to prevent from global or local collapses. The information transferred by this technology would be employed in a master central controller, called wide area controller, to improve the power system dynamic performance during and after disturbances. From this point of view, in this thesis we will present a multi-step plan for system stability improvement and network oscillations damping by implementing a FACTS-based wide-area power oscillation damper (WA-POD) controller. The frrst step of this plan would be the dynamic state estimation of power system using the phasor measurements signals accessible from Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs). The estimated rotor angles of the synchronous machines from the first step, which could show us the network oscillations condition, will be used as the input signals of the wide-area controller. The second step of this plan is to find the best locations of FACTS devices to increase the power transmitted by network, maximize the system loadability and minimize the transmission line losses. After optimal placement of FACTS controllers, the third step is to implement a wide-area damping controller which receives the estimated rotor angles, available from the results of step one, and other information from all over the network, and then modifies the set points of optimized local control utilities such as FACTS device controllers. The implemented wide area controller, which acts as a master controller, sends the reference signals and setpoints to the local FACTS controllers such as UPFC to improve the oscillations damping performance. This result in higher transfer limits across major transmission interfaces and less blackouts in terms of frequency, duration and consequences

Um estudo sobre métodos de determinação de estados e parâmetros de máquinas síncronas de polos salientes

Orientador: Mateus GiesbrechtDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: As máquinas síncronas de polos salientes desempenham um papel fundamental na análise de estabilidade de sistemas elétricos de potência, especialmente em países cuja maior parte da energia gerada provém de fontes hidráulicas. Os modelos elétricos equivalentes que descrevem o comportamento dessas máquinas são compostos por diversos parâmetros, os quais são utilizados em uma ampla gama de estudos. No presente trabalho, estudam-se e propõem-se técnicas de estimação de estados e parâmetros de máquinas síncronas de polos salientes. A princípio, as equações de tensão, de fluxos concatenados, de potência e de movimento são desenvolvidas com as devidas unidades de medida, tanto em variáveis de máquina quanto em variáveis projetadas sobre um plano ortogonal que gira na velocidade elétrica do rotor. Na maior parte da literatura, essas unidades não são explicitadas no equacionamento. Dentre os parâmetros elétricos dos modelos das máquinas síncronas de polos salientes, as reatâncias de magnetização são os que mais influenciam o comportamento da máquina em condições de regime permanente senoidal. Desta forma, apresenta-se uma nova abordagem à estimação do ângulo de carga dessas máquinas e o subsequente cálculo das reatâncias de magnetização a partir de condições de carga específicas -- o desempenho do método proposto é avaliado em dados de simulação e em dados reais de operação de um gerador síncrono de grande porte. Algumas abordagens à determinação de parâmetros requerem que a máquina seja posta fora de operação para que ensaios específicos possam ser realizados. Dentre eles, um dos mais empregados na determinação de parâmetros transitórios e de regime permanente é o ensaio de rejeição de carga; assim, este ensaio também é analisado e aperfeiçoado por um método automatizado de separação de soma de exponenciais baseado em projeção de variáveis. Por tratar-se de um sistema multivariável e altamente não linear, diferentes observadores de estado também são utilizados para se determinarem estados e parâmetros de máquinas síncronas em tempo hábil e com precisão satisfatória. Este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem não linear recursivamente aplicável à estimação de fluxos concatenados, correntes de enrolamentos amortecedores, ângulo de carga e reatâncias de magnetização de máquinas síncronas de polos salientes por meio da filtragem de partículas. Um modelo não linear de oitava ordem é considerado e apenas as medições realizadas nos terminais da armadura e do campo durante regime permanente se fazem necessárias para estimar as referidas grandezasAbstract: Salient-pole synchronous machines play a fundamental role in the stability analysis of electrical power systems, especially in countries where most of the generated energy comes from hydraulic sources. The electrical equivalent models that describe the behavior of these machines are composed of several electrical parameters, which are used in a wide range of studies. In the present work, techniques for estimating states and parameters of salient-pole synchronous machines are studied and proposed. A priori, the voltage, flux linkage, power, and motion equations are developed with the appropriate units included, both in machine variables and in variables projected on an orthogonal plane rotating in the rotor's electrical speed. In most of the literature, these units are not explained in the equation process. Among the electrical parameters, the magnetizing reactances are the ones that most influence the machine behavior under transient and steady-state conditions. In this way, a new approach to estimate the load angle of these machines and the subsequent calculation of the magnetizing reactances from specific load conditions are presented -- the performance of the proposed method is evaluated by means of simulation data and by operating data of a large synchronous generator. Some approaches to determine parameters require the machine to be taken out of operation, so that specific tests may be performed. Among them, one of the most used to determine transient and steady-state parameters is the load rejection test; thus, this test is also analyzed and refined by an automated method based on variable projection for separating the resulting sum-of-exponentials. Since the machines are highly nonlinear, multivariate, dynamic systems, different state observers seek to solve the state estimation problem in a timely manner and with satisfactory accuracy. This work presents a nonlinear and recursive approach for the estimation of flux linkages per second, amortisseur winding currents, load angle, and magnetizing reactances of salient-pole synchronous machines by means of the particle filtering. An eighth-order nonlinear model is considered, and only measurements taken at the machine terminals are necessary to estimate these quantitiesMestradoAutomaçãoMestre em Engenharia Elétrica162015/2018-6CNPq

On power system automation: a Digital Twin-centric framework for the next generation of energy management systems

The ubiquitous digital transformation also influences power system operation. Emerging real-time applications in information (IT) and operational technology (OT) provide new opportunities to address the increasingly demanding power system operation imposed by the progressing energy transition. This IT/OT convergence is epitomised by the novel Digital Twin (DT) concept. By integrating sensor data into analytical models and aligning the model states with the observed system, a power system DT can be created. As a result, a validated high-fidelity model is derived, which can be applied within the next generation of energy management systems (EMS) to support power system operation. By providing a consistent and maintainable data model, the modular DT-centric EMS proposed in this work addresses several key requirements of modern EMS architectures. It increases the situation awareness in the control room, enables the implementation of model maintenance routines, and facilitates automation approaches, while raising the confidence into operational decisions deduced from the validated model. This gain in trust contributes to the digital transformation and enables a higher degree of power system automation. By considering operational planning and power system operation processes, a direct link to practice is ensured. The feasibility of the concept is examined by numerical case studies.The electrical power system is in the process of an extensive transformation. Driven by the energy transition towards renewable energy resources, many conventional power plants in Germany have already been decommissioned or will be decommissioned within the next decade. Among other things, these changes lead to an increased utilisation of power transmission equipment, and an increasing number of complex dynamic phenomena. The resulting system operation closer to physical boundaries leads to an increased susceptibility to disturbances, and to a reduced time span to react to critical contingencies and perturbations. In consequence, the task to operate the power system will become increasingly demanding. As some reactions to disturbances may be required within timeframes that exceed human capabilities, these developments are intrinsic drivers to enable a higher degree of automation in power system operation. This thesis proposes a framework to create a modular Digital Twin-centric energy management system. It enables the provision of validated and trustworthy models built from knowledge about the power system derived from physical laws, and process data. As the interaction of information and operational technologies is combined in the concept of the Digital Twin, it can serve as a framework for future energy management systems including novel applications for power system monitoring and control, which consider power system dynamics. To provide a validated high-fidelity dynamic power system model, time-synchronised phasor measurements of high-resolution are applied for validation and parameter estimation. This increases the trust into the underlying power system model as well as the confidence into operational decisions derived from advanced analytic applications such as online dynamic security assessment. By providing an appropriate, consistent, and maintainable data model, the framework addresses several key requirements of modern energy management system architectures, while enabling the implementation of advanced automation routines and control approaches. Future energy management systems can provide an increased observability based on the proposed architecture, whereby the situational awareness of human operators in the control room can be improved. In further development stages, cognitive systems can be applied that are able to learn from the data provided, e.g., machine learning based analytical functions. Thus, the framework enables a higher degree of power system automation, as well as the deployment of assistance and decision support functions for power system operation pointing towards a higher degree of automation in power system operation. The framework represents a contribution to the digital transformation of power system operation and facilitates a successful energy transition. The feasibility of the concept is examined by case studies in form of numerical simulations to provide a proof of concept.Das elektrische Energiesystem befindet sich in einem umfangreichen Transformations-prozess. Durch die voranschreitende Energiewende und den zunehmenden Einsatz erneuerbarer Energieträger sind in Deutschland viele konventionelle Kraftwerke bereits stillgelegt worden oder werden in den nächsten Jahren stillgelegt. Diese Veränderungen führen unter anderem zu einer erhöhten Betriebsmittelauslastung sowie zu einer verringerten Systemträgheit und somit zu einer zunehmenden Anzahl komplexer dynamischer Phänomene im elektrischen Energiesystem. Der Betrieb des Systems näher an den physikalischen Grenzen führt des Weiteren zu einer erhöhten Störanfälligkeit und zu einer verkürzten Zeitspanne, um auf kritische Ereignisse und Störungen zu reagieren. Infolgedessen wird die Aufgabe, das Stromnetz zu betreiben anspruchsvoller. Insbesondere dort wo Reaktionszeiten erforderlich sind, welche die menschlichen Fähigkeiten übersteigen sind die zuvor genannten Veränderungen intrinsische Treiber hin zu einem höheren Automatisierungsgrad in der Netzbetriebs- und Systemführung. Aufkommende Echtzeitanwendungen in den Informations- und Betriebstechnologien und eine zunehmende Menge an hochauflösenden Sensordaten ermöglichen neue Ansätze für den Entwurf und den Betrieb von cyber-physikalischen Systemen. Ein vielversprechender Ansatz, der in jüngster Zeit in diesem Zusammenhang diskutiert wurde, ist das Konzept des so genannten Digitalen Zwillings. Da das Zusammenspiel von Informations- und Betriebstechnologien im Konzept des Digitalen Zwillings vereint wird, kann es als Grundlage für eine zukünftige Leitsystemarchitektur und neuartige Anwendungen der Leittechnik herangezogen werden. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein Framework entwickelt, welches einen Digitalen Zwilling in einer neuartigen modularen Leitsystemarchitektur für die Aufgabe der Überwachung und Steuerung zukünftiger Energiesysteme zweckdienlich einsetzbar macht. In Ergänzung zu den bereits vorhandenen Funktionen moderner Netzführungssysteme unterstützt das Konzept die Abbildung der Netzdynamik auf Basis eines dynamischen Netzmodells. Um eine realitätsgetreue Abbildung der Netzdynamik zu ermöglichen, werden zeitsynchrone Raumzeigermessungen für die Modellvalidierung und Modellparameterschätzung herangezogen. Dies erhöht die Aussagekraft von Sicherheitsanalysen, sowie das Vertrauen in die Modelle mit denen operative Entscheidungen generiert werden. Durch die Bereitstellung eines validierten, konsistenten und wartbaren Datenmodells auf der Grundlage von physikalischen Gesetzmäßigkeiten und während des Betriebs gewonnener Prozessdaten, adressiert der vorgestellte Architekturentwurf mehrere Schlüsselan-forderungen an moderne Netzleitsysteme. So ermöglicht das Framework einen höheren Automatisierungsgrad des Stromnetzbetriebs sowie den Einsatz von Entscheidungs-unterstützungsfunktionen bis hin zu vertrauenswürdigen Assistenzsystemen auf Basis kognitiver Systeme. Diese Funktionen können die Betriebssicherheit erhöhen und stellen einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Umsetzung der digitalen Transformation des Stromnetzbetriebs, sowie zur erfolgreichen Umsetzung der Energiewende dar. Das vorgestellte Konzept wird auf der Grundlage numerischer Simulationen untersucht, wobei die grundsätzliche Machbarkeit anhand von Fallstudien nachgewiesen wird

An exiplicit damping sensitivity expression for power system stabilizers applications in power systems

Interconnected power systems are subject to low frequency oscillations. These oscillations, if poorly damped, threaten the stability of the system and limit its power transfer capability. Power System Stabilizers (PSS) are widely used to enhance the damping of electromechanical oscillatory modes. Conventional methods to tune power system stabilizers attempt to provide the required magnitude/phase shift compensation through frequency response or mode sensitivity analysis. However, these methods do not operate directly on the damping sensitivity of the mode. A novel method to calculate the damping sensitivity has been developed in this work. It operates on mode damping directly to achieve optimum damping for the under-damped oscillatory modes. The proposed method has been used to tune simple stabilizers for the well-known two-area four-machine power system problem and the IEEE9-Bus system. It is compared with results obtained from complex and robust PSS designs, and found to offer comparable outcomes

IMPROVING A TRANSIENT STABILITY CONTROL SCHEME WITH WIDE-AREA SYNCHROPHASORS AND THE MICROWECC, A REDUCED-ORDER MODEL OF THE WESTERN INTERCONNECT

This thesis is composed of two research projects. The first project investigated the feasibility of improving a generator tripping control scheme using wide-area synchrophasors and the second project focused on building a reduced-order model of the western North American power system (wNAPS) for use in a real-time digital simulator. Transient stability is a major reliability issue for power systems. Radially-connected power plants are especially prone to transient stability problems. An example of this is the fourgenerator Colstrip power plant located in southeast Montana, USA. The Colstrip generators are protected by a tripping control system called the Acceleration Trend Relay (ATR) that is designed to disconnect generators during system disturbances to prevent asynchronous operation and further system instability. Like most transient stability tripping schemes, the ATR relies entirely on local information. However, because transient stability is a wide-area phenomenon determined by the relative synchronism of the system, local information can produce misoperations causing the ATR to false trip. The first part of this thesis studied the feasibility of using wide-area synchrophasors provided by phasor measurement units (PMUs) to improve protection schemes such as the ATR. Transient stability software was used to model the ATR and evaluate the benefits of adding wide-area measurements to the control scheme. Real-time simulators are effective tools for studying power systems because they can accurately reproduce electromechanical dynamics while allowing for prototype controllers to be physically connected. However, they impose serious limitations on the size of systems that can be modeled. Model order reduction techniques can be used to lower the computational complexity of a system while approximating the dynamics of the original model. The second part of this thesis presents a reduced-order model of the wNAPS termed the “MicroWECC.” The MicroWECC is a further reduction of the MiniWECC model and was designed to have approximate impedance, generation, and modal characteristics. The model was constructed in two positive-sequence transient simulation tools and then modal analysis was performed to compare the MicroWECC to the MiniWECC model. Parameters for electromagnetic transient program (EMTP) models were also suggested