Apparatus, methods and systems for parallel power flow calculation and power system simulation

Abstract

According to one aspect, an apparatus for computing a solution to a power flow problem for an electrical power system comprising a plurality of buses. The apparatus includes (a) at least one processor comprising a plurality of cores; and (b) memory coupled to the at least one processor for storing an admittance matrix for the power system, real power and reactive power for each bus, and an initial complex voltage for each bus; (c) wherein the at least one processor is configured to: (i) perform a Jacobi power flow calculation for each bus to determine the complex voltage for each bus, the Jacobi power flow calculation using the admittance matrix, the real power and reactive power for each bus, and the initial complex voltage for each bus as inputs, wherein at least two Jacobi power flow calculations are performed concurrently on the plurality of cores; (ii) calculate a power mismatch at each bus based on the complex voltages; and (iii) determine whether the Jacobi power flow calculations have converged based on the power mismatch and repeat (i) to (iii) if the Jacobi power flow calculations have not converged.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 872,655 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,914,273), which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 238,912 filed Sep. 1, 2009, the entire contents of both applications incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.FIELD[0002]Embodiments described herein relate to apparatus, methods and systems for computing a solution to the power flow (load flow) problem and dynamically simulating a power system. In particular, the embodiments described herein relate to apparatus, methods and systems for computing a solution to the power flow problem and dynamically simulating a power system using parallel processing.INTRODUCTION[0003]Power system simulators, state estimators and economic optimal power flow calculators are core to the reliability of modern electricity systems and are used to plan, simulate, predict and control the state of every major electricity jurisdiction. The...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a method and system for computing a solution to a power flow problem for an electrical power system. The method involves performing a Jacobi power flow calculation for each bus in the system using an admittance matrix, real and reactive power for each bus, and initial complex voltages for each bus. The method may also involve iteratively adjusting the real power and reactive power of each bus until the power mismatches between them are below a predetermined threshold. The system includes a parallel processor module for performing the Jacobi power flow calculations and a steady state flag calculation module for determining when the calculations are converged. The system may also use a generator swing equation to calculate the system frequency and a control system model to estimate the real and reactive power vectors for each bus. The technical effects of the patent include improved efficiency and accuracy in computing the power flow solution for an electrical power system.

Problems solved by technology

In its basic form it does not contain any time based information and does not provide any information regarding the dynamics of the power system.

Some obstacles to using the PF to implement a power system simulator include the large number of calculations required to performed the PF and the fact that the PF does not contain any information regarding the frequency of the system, a key indicator of power system state.

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