Abstract:With the rapid development of modern distribution network and the access of distributed generation, the network structure is becoming increasingly complex. Frequent single-phase break faults have seriously affected equipment and personal safety and stable operation of the power system. However, with the development and application of the composite neutral grounding modes, the protection of single-phase break fault is facing new challenges. This paper proposes a protection method of single-phase break fault for distribution network considering the influence of neutral grounding modes. The characteristics of neutral voltage and sequence current are analyzed under normal operation and single-phase break fault with different grounding modes. Following this, the protection criterion based on neutral voltage and sequence current variation is constructed. The protection method of singlephase break fault for distribution network is proposed, which is applicable for various neutral grounding modes. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the protection method is less affected by system asymmetry, fault location and load distribution. The method has higher sensitivity, reliability and adaptability.

Abstract:Demand Response (DR) provides both operational and financial benefits to a variety of stakeholders in the power system. For example, in the deregulated market operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), load serving entities (LSEs) usually purchase electricity from the wholesale market (either in day-ahead or real-time market) and sign fixed retail price contracts with their end-consumers. Therefore, incentivizing end-consumers’ load shift from peak to off-peak hours could benefit the LSE in terms of reducing its purchase of electricity under high prices from the real-time market. As the first-of-its-kind implementation of Coupon Incentive-based Demand Response (CIDR), the EnergyCoupon project provides end-consumers with dynamic time-of-use DR event announcements, individualized load reduction targets with EnergyCoupons as the incentive for meeting these targets, as well as periodic lotteries using these coupons as lottery tickets for winning dollar-value gifts. A number of methodologies are developed for this special type of DR program including price/baseline prediction, individualized target setting and a lottery mechanism. This paper summarizes the methodologies, design, critical findings, as well as the potential generalization of such an experiment. Comparison of the EnergyCoupon with a conventional Time-of-Use (TOU) price-based DR program is also conducted. Experimental results in the year 2017 show that by combining dynamic coupon offers with periodic lotteries, the effective cost for demand response providers in EnergyCoupon can be substantially reduced, while achieving a similar level of demand reduction as conventional DR programs.

Abstract:With the development of power electronics technology, the flexible DC grid will play a significant role in promoting the transformation and reformation of the power grid. It is immune to commutation failure and has high flexibility in power control and renewable energy grid integration. However, the protection and fault handling technology for a flexible DC grid is a big challenge because of the limited overcurrent capability of the converters. This paper summarizes the development of the flexible DC grid, and analyzes the fault characteristics in detail. Next, the applicability, advantages and disadvantages of the existing protection principle, fault isolation and recovery schemes are reviewed. Finally, the key problems and development trend of the future flexible DC grid are pointed out and forecasted respectively.

Abstract:Conventional proportional integral derivative (PID) controllers are being used in the industries for control purposes. It is very simple in design and low in cost but it has less capability to minimize the low frequency noises of the systems. Therefore, in this study, a low pass filter has been introduced with the derivative input of the PID controller to minimize the noises and to improve the transient stability of the system. This paper focuses upon the stability improvement of a wind-diesel hybrid power system model (HPSM) using a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) along with a secondary PID controller with derivative filter (PIDF). Under any load disturbances, the reactive power mismatch occurs in the HPSM that affects the system transient stability. STATCOM with PIDF controller is used to provide reactive power support and to improve stability of the HPSM. The controller parameters are also optimized by using soft computing technique for performance improvement. This paper proposes the effectiveness of symbiosis organisms search algorithm for optimization purpose. Binary coded genetic algorithm and gravitational search algorithm are used for the sake of comparison.

Abstract:To improve the robustness and performance of the dynamic response of a cage asynchronous motor, a direct torque control (DTC) based on sliding mode control (SMC) is adopted to replace traditional proportional-integral (PI) and hysteresis comparators. The combination of the proposed strategy with sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) applied to a three-level neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter brings many advantages such as a reduction in harmonics, and precise and rapid tracking of the references. Simulations are performed for a three-level inverter with SM-DTC, a two-level inverter with SM-DTC and the three-level inverter with PI-DTC-SPWM. The results show that the SM-DTC method achieves better performance in terms of reference tracking, while adoption of the threelevel inverter topology can effectively reduce the ripples. Applying the SM-DTC to the three-level inverter presents the best solution for achieving efficient and robust control. In addition, the use of a sliding mode speed estimator eliminates the mechanical sensor and this increases the reliability of the system.

Abstract:PV power production is highly dependent on environmental and weather conditions, such as solar irradiance and ambient temperature. Because of the single control condition and any change in the external environment, the first step response of the converter duty cycle of the traditional MPPT incremental conductance algorithm is not accurate, resulting in misjudgment. To improve the efficiency and economy of PV systems, an improved incremental conductance algorithm of MPPT control strategy is proposed. From the traditional incremental conductance algorithm, this algorithm is simple in structure and can discriminate the instantaneous increment of current, voltage and power when the external environment changes, and so can improve tracking efficiency. MATLAB simulations are carried out under rapidly changing solar radiation level, and the results of the improved and conventional incremental conductance algorithm are compared. The results show that the proposed algorithm can effectively identify the misjudgment and avoid its occurrence. It not only optimizes the system, but also improves the efficiency, response speed and tracking efficiency of the PV system, thus ensuring the stable operation of the power grid.

Abstract:The Floating nuclear power plant grid is composed of power generation, in-station power supply and external power delivery. To ensure the safety of the nuclear island, the in-station system adopts a special power supply mode, while the external power supply needs to be adapted to different types of external systems. Because of frequent single phase-ground faults and various fault forms, the fault line selection protection should be accurate, sensitive and adaptive. This paper presents a fault line selection method in cooperation with multi-mode grounding control. Based on the maximum united energy entropy ratio (MUEER), the optimal wavelet basis function and decomposition scale are adaptively chosen, while the fault line is selected by wavelet transform modulus maxima (WTMM). For high-impedance faults (HIFs), to enlarge the fault feature, the system grounding mode can be switched by the multi-mode grounding control. Based on the characteristic of HIFs, the fault line can be selected by comparing phase differences of zero-sequence current mutation and fault phase voltage mutation before and after the fault. Simulation results using MATLAB/Simulink show the effectiveness of the proposed method in solving the protection problems.

Abstract:This paper presents a fast hybrid fault location method for active distribution networks with distributed generation (DG) and microgrids. The method uses the voltage and current data from the measurement points at the main substation, and the connection points of DG and microgrids. The data is used in a single feedforward artificial neural network (ANN) to estimate the distances to fault from all the measuring points. A k-nearest neighbors (KNN) classifier then interprets the ANN outputs and estimates a single fault location. Simulation results validate the accuracy of the fault location method under different fault conditions including fault types, fault points, and fault resistances. The performance is also validated for non-synchronized measurements and measurement errors.