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Transmission expansion planning (TEP) is a complex decision making process that requires comprehensive analysis to determine the time, location, and number of electric power transmission facilities that are needed in the future power grid. This dissertation investigates the topic of solving TEP problems for large power systems. The dissertation can

Transmission expansion planning (TEP) is a complex decision making process that requires comprehensive analysis to determine the time, location, and number of electric power transmission facilities that are needed in the future power grid. This dissertation investigates the topic of solving TEP problems for large power systems. The dissertation can be divided into two parts. The first part of this dissertation focuses on developing a more accurate network model for TEP study. First, a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) based TEP model is proposed for solving multi-stage TEP problems. Compared with previous work, the proposed approach reduces the number of variables and constraints needed and improves the computational efficiency significantly. Second, the AC power flow model is applied to TEP models. Relaxations and reformulations are proposed to make the AC model based TEP problem solvable. Third, a convexified AC network model is proposed for TEP studies with reactive power and off-nominal bus voltage magnitudes included in the model. A MILP-based loss model and its relaxations are also investigated. The second part of this dissertation investigates the uncertainty modeling issues in the TEP problem. A two-stage stochastic TEP model is proposed and decomposition algorithms based on the L-shaped method and progressive hedging (PH) are developed to solve the stochastic model. Results indicate that the stochastic TEP model can give a more accurate estimation of the annual operating cost as compared to the deterministic TEP model which focuses only on the peak load.
ContributorsZhang, Hui (Author) / Vittal, Vijay (Thesis advisor) / Heydt, Gerald T (Thesis advisor) / Mittelmann, Hans D (Committee member) / Hedman, Kory W (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
In modern electric power systems, energy management systems (EMSs) are responsi-ble for monitoring and controlling the generation system and transmission networks. State estimation (SE) is a critical `must run successful' component within the EMS software. This is dictated by the high reliability requirements and need to represent the closest real

In modern electric power systems, energy management systems (EMSs) are responsi-ble for monitoring and controlling the generation system and transmission networks. State estimation (SE) is a critical `must run successful' component within the EMS software. This is dictated by the high reliability requirements and need to represent the closest real time model for market operations and other critical analysis functions in the EMS. Tradi-tionally, SE is run with data obtained only from supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) devices and systems. However, more emphasis on improving the performance of SE drives the inclusion of phasor measurement units (PMUs) into SE input data. PMU measurements are claimed to be more accurate than conventional measurements and PMUs `time stamp' measurements accurately. These widely distributed devices meas-ure the voltage phasors directly. That is, phase information for measured voltages and currents are available. PMUs provide data time stamps to synchronize measurements. Con-sidering the relatively small number of PMUs installed in contemporary power systems in North America, performing SE with only phasor measurements is not feasible. Thus a hy-brid SE, including both SCADA and PMU measurements, is the reality for contemporary power system SE. The hybrid approach is the focus of a number of research papers. There are many practical challenges in incorporating PMUs into SE input data. The higher reporting rates of PMUs as compared with SCADA measurements is one of the salient problems. The disparity of reporting rates raises a question whether buffering the phasor measurements helps to give better estimates of the states. The research presented in this thesis addresses the design of data buffers for PMU data as used in SE applications in electric power systems. The system theoretic analysis is illustrated using an operating electric power system in the southwest part of the USA. Var-ious instances of state estimation data have been used for analysis purposes. The details of the research, results obtained and conclusions drawn are presented in this document.
ContributorsMurugesan, Veerakumar (Author) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
With the increased penetration of solar PV, it has become considerable for the system planners and operators to recognize the impact of PV plant on the power system stability and reliable operation of grid. This enforced the development of adequate PV system models for grid planning and interconnection studies. Western

With the increased penetration of solar PV, it has become considerable for the system planners and operators to recognize the impact of PV plant on the power system stability and reliable operation of grid. This enforced the development of adequate PV system models for grid planning and interconnection studies. Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) Renewable Energy Modeling Task Force has developed generator/converter, electrical controller and plant controller modules to represent positive sequence solar PV plant model for grid interconnection studies. This work performs the validation of these PV plant models against the field measured data. Sheer purpose of this validation effort is to authenticate model accuracy and their capability to represent dynamics of a solar PV plant. Both steady state and dynamic models of PV plant are discussed in this work. An algorithm to fine tune and determine the electrical controller and plant controller module gains is developed. Controller gains as obtained from proposed algorithm is used in PV plant dynamic simulation model. Model is simulated for a capacitor bank switching event and simulated plant response is then compared with field measured data. Validation results demonstrate that, the proposed algorithm is performing well to determine controller gains within the region of interest. Also, it concluded that developed PV plant models are adequate enough to capture PV plant dynamics.
ContributorsSoni, Sachin (Author) / Karady, George G. (Thesis advisor) / Undrill, John (Committee member) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
With growing complexity of power grid interconnections, power systems may become increasingly vulnerable to low frequency oscillations (especially inter-area oscillations) and dependent on stabilizing controls using either local signals or wide-area signals to provide adequate damping. In recent years, the ability and potential to use wide-area signals for control purposes

With growing complexity of power grid interconnections, power systems may become increasingly vulnerable to low frequency oscillations (especially inter-area oscillations) and dependent on stabilizing controls using either local signals or wide-area signals to provide adequate damping. In recent years, the ability and potential to use wide-area signals for control purposes has increased since a significant investment has been made in the U. S. in deploying synchrophasor measurement technology. Fast and reliable communication systems are essential to enable the use of wide-area signals in controls. If wide-area signals find increased applicability in controls the security and reliability of power systems could be vulnerable to disruptions in communication systems. Even though numerous modern techniques have been developed to lower the probability of communication errors, communication networks cannot be designed to be always reliable. Given this background the motivation of this work is to build resiliency in the power grid controls to respond to failures in the communication network when wide-area control signals are used. In addition, this work also deals with the delay uncertainty associated with the wide-area signal transmission. In order to counteract the negative impact of communication failures on control effectiveness, two approaches are proposed and both approaches are motivated by considering the use of a robustly designed supplementary damping control (SDC) framework associated with a static VAr compensator (SVC). When there is no communication failure, the designed controller guarantees enhanced improvement in damping performance. When the wide-area signal in use is lost due to a communication failure, however, the resilient control provides the required damping of the inter-area oscillations by either utilizing another wide-area measurement through a healthy communication route or by simply utilizing an appropriate local control signal. Simulation results prove that with either of the proposed controls included, the system is stabilized regardless of communication failures, and thereby the reliability and sustainability of power systems is improved. The proposed approaches can be extended without loss of generality to the design of any resilient controller in cyber-physical engineering systems.
ContributorsZhang, Song (Author) / Vittal, Vijay (Thesis advisor) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Si, Jennie (Committee member) / Undrill, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
This thesis presents research on innovative AC transmission design concepts and focused mathematics for electric power transmission design. The focus relates to compact designs, high temperature low sag conductors, and high phase order design. The motivation of the research is to increase transmission capacity with limited right of way.

Regarding compact

This thesis presents research on innovative AC transmission design concepts and focused mathematics for electric power transmission design. The focus relates to compact designs, high temperature low sag conductors, and high phase order design. The motivation of the research is to increase transmission capacity with limited right of way.

Regarding compact phase spacing, insight into the possibility of increasing the security rating of transmission lines is the primary focus through increased mutual coupling and decreased positive sequence reactance. Compact design can reduce the required corridor width to as little as 31% of traditional designs, especially with the use of inter-phase spacers. Typically transmission lines are built with conservative clearances, with difficulty obtaining right of way, more compact phase spacing may be needed. With design consideration significant compaction can produce an increase by 5-25% in the transmission line security (steady state stability) rating. In addition, other advantages and disadvantages of compact phase design are analyzed. Also, the next two topics: high temperature low sag conductors and high phase order designs include the use of compact designs.

High temperature low sag (HTLS) conductors are used to increase the thermal capacity of a transmission line up to two times the capacity compared to traditional conductors. HTLS conductors can operate continuously at 150-210oC and in emergency at 180-250oC (depending on the HTLS conductor). ACSR conductors operate continuously at 50-110oC and in emergency conditions at 110-150oC depending on the utility, line, and location. HTLS conductors have decreased sag characteristics of up to 33% compared to traditional ACSR conductors at 100oC and up to 22% at 180oC. In addition to what HTLS has to offer in terms of the thermal rating improvement, the possibility of using HTLS conductors to indirectly reduce tower height and compact the phases to increase the security limit is investigated. In addition, utilizing HTLS conductors to increase span length and decrease the number of transmission towers is investigated. The phase compaction or increased span length is accomplished by utilization of the improved physical sag characteristics of HTLS conductors.

High phase order (HPO) focuses on the ability to increase the power capacity for a given right of way. For example, a six phase line would have a thermal rating of approximately 173%, a security rating of approximately 289%, and the SIL would be approximately 300% of a double circuit three phase line with equal right of way and equal voltage line to line. In addition, this research focuses on algorithm and model development of HPO systems. A study of the impedance of HPO lines is presented. The line impedance matrices for some high phase order configurations are circulant Toeplitz matrices. Properties of circulant matrices are developed for the generalized sequence impedances of HPO lines. A method to calculate the sequence impedances utilizing unique distance parameter algorithms is presented. A novel method to design the sequence impedances to specifications is presented. Utilizing impedance matrices in circulant form, a generalized form of the sequence components transformation matrix is presented. A generalized voltage unbalance factor in discussed for HPO transmission lines. Algorithms to calculate the number of fault types and number of significant fault types for an n-phase system are presented. A discussion is presented on transposition of HPO transmission lines and a generalized fault analysis of a high phase order circuit is presented along with an HPO analysis program.

The work presented has the objective of increasing the use of rights of way for bulk power transmission through the use of innovative transmission technologies. The purpose of this dissertation is to lay down some of the building blocks and to help make the three technologies discussed practical applications in the future.
ContributorsPierre, Brian J (Author) / Heydt, Gerald (Thesis advisor) / Karady, George G. (Committee member) / Shunk, Dan (Committee member) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
Due to restructuring and open access to the transmission system, modern electric power systems are being operated closer to their operational limits. Additionally, the secure operational limits of modern power systems have become increasingly difficult to evaluate as the scale of the network and the number of transactions between utilities

Due to restructuring and open access to the transmission system, modern electric power systems are being operated closer to their operational limits. Additionally, the secure operational limits of modern power systems have become increasingly difficult to evaluate as the scale of the network and the number of transactions between utilities increase. To account for these challenges associated with the rapid expansion of electric power systems, dynamic equivalents have been widely applied for the purpose of reducing the computational effort of simulation-based transient security assessment. Dynamic equivalents are commonly developed using a coherency-based approach in which a retained area and an external area are first demarcated. Then the coherent generators in the external area are aggregated and replaced by equivalenced models, followed by network reduction and load aggregation. In this process, an improperly defined retained area can result in detrimental impacts on the effectiveness of the equivalents in preserving the dynamic characteristics of the original unreduced system. In this dissertation, a comprehensive approach has been proposed to determine an appropriate retained area boundary by including the critical generators in the external area that are tightly coupled with the initial retained area. Further-more, a systematic approach has also been investigated to efficiently predict the variation in generator slow coherency behavior when the system operating condition is subject to change. Based on this determination, the critical generators in the external area that are tightly coherent with the generators in the initial retained area are retained, resulting in a new retained area boundary. Finally, a novel hybrid dynamic equivalent, consisting of both a coherency-based equivalent and an artificial neural network (ANN)-based equivalent, has been proposed and analyzed. The ANN-based equivalent complements the coherency-based equivalent at all the retained area boundary buses, and it is designed to compensate for the discrepancy between the full system and the conventional coherency-based equivalent. The approaches developed have been validated on a large portion of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) system and on a test case including a significant portion of the eastern interconnection.
ContributorsMa, Feng (Author) / Vittal, Vijay (Thesis advisor) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Si, Jennie (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
Contemporary methods for dynamic security assessment (DSA) mainly re-ly on time domain simulations to explore the influence of large disturbances in a power system. These methods are computationally intensive especially when the system operating point changes continually. The trajectory sensitivity method, when implemented and utilized as a complement to the

Contemporary methods for dynamic security assessment (DSA) mainly re-ly on time domain simulations to explore the influence of large disturbances in a power system. These methods are computationally intensive especially when the system operating point changes continually. The trajectory sensitivity method, when implemented and utilized as a complement to the existing DSA time domain simulation routine, can provide valuable insights into the system variation in re-sponse to system parameter changes. The implementation of the trajectory sensitivity analysis is based on an open source power system analysis toolbox called PSAT. Eight categories of sen-sitivity elements have been implemented and tested. The accuracy assessment of the implementation demonstrates the validity of both the theory and the imple-mentation. The computational burden introduced by the additional sensitivity equa-tions is relieved by two innovative methods: one is by employing a cluster to per-form the sensitivity calculations in parallel; the other one is by developing a mod-ified very dishonest Newton method in conjunction with the latest sparse matrix processing technology. The relation between the linear approximation accuracy and the perturba-tion size is also studied numerically. It is found that there is a fixed connection between the linear approximation accuracy and the perturbation size. Therefore this finding can serve as a general application guide to evaluate the accuracy of the linear approximation. The applicability of the trajectory sensitivity approach to a large realistic network has been demonstrated in detail. This research work applies the trajectory sensitivity analysis method to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) system. Several typical power system dynamic security problems, in-cluding the transient angle stability problem, the voltage stability problem consid-ering load modeling uncertainty and the transient stability constrained interface real power flow limit calculation, have been addressed. Besides, a method based on the trajectory sensitivity approach and the model predictive control has been developed for determination of under frequency load shedding strategy for real time stability assessment. These applications have shown the great efficacy and accuracy of the trajectory sensitivity method in handling these traditional power system stability problems.
ContributorsHou, Guanji (Author) / Vittal, Vijay (Thesis advisor) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Si, Jennie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
The high penetration of photovoltaic (PV) both at the utility and at the distribu-tion levels, has raised concerns about the reliability of grid-tied inverters of PV power systems. Inverters are generally considered as the weak link in PV power systems. The lack of a dedicated qualification/reliability standard for PV inverters

The high penetration of photovoltaic (PV) both at the utility and at the distribu-tion levels, has raised concerns about the reliability of grid-tied inverters of PV power systems. Inverters are generally considered as the weak link in PV power systems. The lack of a dedicated qualification/reliability standard for PV inverters is a main barrier in realizing higher level of confidence in reliability. Development of a well-accepted design qualification standard specifically for PV inverters will help pave the way for significant improvement in reliability and performance of inverters across the entire industry. The existing standards for PV inverters such as UL 1741 and IEC 62109-1 primarily focus on safety. IEC 62093 discusses inverter qualification but it includes all the balance of sys-tem components and therefore not specific to PV inverters. There are other general stan-dards for distributed generators including the IEEE1547 series of standards which cover major concerns like utility integration but they are not dedicated to PV inverters and are not written from a design qualification point of view. In this thesis, some of the potential requirements for a design qualification standard for PV inverters are addressed. The IEC 62093 is considered as a guideline and the possible inclusions in the framework for a dedicated design qualification standard of PV inverter are discussed. The missing links in existing PV inverter related standards are identified by performing gap analysis. Dif-ferent requirements of small residential inverters compared to large utility-scale systems, and the emerging requirements on grid support features are also considered. Electric stress test is found to be the key missing link and one of the electric stress tests, the surge withstand test is studied in detail. The use of the existing standards for surge withstand test of residential scale PV inverters is investigated and a method to suitably adopt these standards is proposed. The proposed method is studied analytically and verified using simulation. A design criterion for choosing the switch ratings of the inverter that can per-form reliably under the surge environment is derived.
ContributorsAlampoondi Venkataramanan, Sai Balasubramanian (Author) / Ayyanar, Raja (Thesis advisor) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
The Smart Grid initiative describes the collaborative effort to modernize the U.S. electric power infrastructure. Modernization efforts incorporate digital data and information technology to effectuate control, enhance reliability, encourage small customer sited distributed generation (DG), and better utilize assets. The Smart Grid environment is envisioned to include distributed generation, flexible

The Smart Grid initiative describes the collaborative effort to modernize the U.S. electric power infrastructure. Modernization efforts incorporate digital data and information technology to effectuate control, enhance reliability, encourage small customer sited distributed generation (DG), and better utilize assets. The Smart Grid environment is envisioned to include distributed generation, flexible and controllable loads, bidirectional communications using smart meters and other technologies. Sensory technology may be utilized as a tool that enhances operation including operation of the distribution system. Addressing this point, a distribution system state estimation algorithm is developed in this thesis. The state estimation algorithm developed here utilizes distribution system modeling techniques to calculate a vector of state variables for a given set of measurements. Measurements include active and reactive power flows, voltage and current magnitudes, phasor voltages with magnitude and angle information. The state estimator is envisioned as a tool embedded in distribution substation computers as part of distribution management systems (DMS); the estimator acts as a supervisory layer for a number of applications including automation (DA), energy management, control and switching. The distribution system state estimator is developed in full three-phase detail, and the effect of mutual coupling and single-phase laterals and loads on the solution is calculated. The network model comprises a full three-phase admittance matrix and a subset of equations that relates measurements to system states. Network equations and variables are represented in rectangular form. Thus a linear calculation procedure may be employed. When initialized to the vector of measured quantities and approximated non-metered load values, the calculation procedure is non-iterative. This dissertation presents background information used to develop the state estimation algorithm, considerations for distribution system modeling, and the formulation of the state estimator. Estimator performance for various power system test beds is investigated. Sample applications of the estimator to Smart Grid systems are presented. Applications include monitoring, enabling demand response (DR), voltage unbalance mitigation, and enhancing voltage control. Illustrations of these applications are shown. Also, examples of enhanced reliability and restoration using a sensory based automation infrastructure are shown.
ContributorsHaughton, Daniel Andrew (Author) / Heydt, Gerald T (Thesis advisor) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Hedman, Kory W (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
The sensor industry is a growing industry that has been predicted by Allied Market Research to be a multi-billion industry by 2022. One of the many key drives behind this rapid growth in the sensor industry is the increase incorporation of sensors into portable electrical devices. The value

The sensor industry is a growing industry that has been predicted by Allied Market Research to be a multi-billion industry by 2022. One of the many key drives behind this rapid growth in the sensor industry is the increase incorporation of sensors into portable electrical devices. The value for sensor technologies are increased when the sensors are developed into innovative measuring system for application uses in the Aerospace, Defense, and Healthcare industries. While sensors are not new, their increased performance, size reduction, and decrease in cost has opened the door for innovative sensor combination for portable devices that could be worn or easily moved around. With this opportunity for further development of sensor use through concept engineering development, three concept projects for possible innovative portable devices was undertaken in this research. One project was the development of a pulse oximeter devise with fingerprint recognition. The second project was prototyping a portable Bluetooth strain gage monitoring system. The third project involved sensors being incorporated onto flexible printed circuit board (PCB) for improved comfort of wearable devices. All these systems were successfully tested in lab.
ContributorsNichols, Kevin William (Author) / Redkar, Sangram (Thesis advisor) / Rogers, Brad (Committee member) / Sugar, Thomas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018