Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Quasi-static time-series (QSTS) simulation is used to simulate the behavior of electric power distribution systems over long periods of time (typically hours to years). The technique involves repeatedly solving the load-flow problem for a distribution system model. This is useful in accounting for solar power variations in distributed energy resource (DER) planning. When a QSTS simulation has a small enough time step and a long enough duration, the computational burden of the simulation can be prohibitive. One way to relieve the computational burden is to simplify the model of the distribution system. This dissertation includes an overview of existing methods of distribution system simplification and also introduces a new method, segment substitution, which addresses many of the limitations of the existing methods. The segment substitution method offers dramatic (i.e. more than 98%) model order reduction with a simplification error that is expected to be acceptable for many applications. In contrast to existing methods of distribution system model simplification, which rely on topological inspection and linearization, the segment substitution method can be used to produce a simplified model using black-box segment data and an assumed simplified topology. It also produces a more realistic simplified approximation of constant-power load models than existing methods. Simplification using segment substitution is demonstrated using two full-scale distribution system models to achieve simulation performance gains of over 90% while introducing a state error less than 0.2%.
Author: Andrew P. Reiman
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2736358605