Energy Management in Secondary Distribution Network using Phase Balancing Algorithm

Abstract

The ever-increasing power demand, depleting fossil fuels, earnest environmental concerns have led to the concept of energy management. This includes measurement, identification and rectification of power losses. Among the three functional areas of electrical utility, the distribution sector needs more attention as it is complex and contributes to high technical losses. In order to supplement these losses due to transformers, conductors, low power factor, etc. and thereby to enhance the reliability and efficiency of the distribution system, a few well-established concepts/ algorithms/ techniques have been applied. However, the losses due to unbalanced loading among the phases at each bus are overlooked. With this motivation to consider and study the effect of phase balancing by taking into account three-phase consumer service mains (CSMs) and balancing at each bus, algorithms are proposed. The rationale behind the proposed algorithms lies in the fact that it is formulated using the non-iterative computational method as it addresses single bus at a time. Further, the proposed algorithm is combined with backward sweep technique resulting in an effective reduction of neutral current and branch currents. Besides, a method is proposed for the selection of the phase arrangement resulting in reduced service interruptions and minimum losses. The proposed algorithms are tested in MATLAB considering the IEEE 13-bus and 123-bus test feeders and a typical practical system at Mysuru, India. The performance of the algorithms is evaluated following through various cases comprising single-phase CSMs alone, three-phase and single-phase CSMs, threephase and single-phase CSMs by considering three-phase load as lumped load while balancing single-phase CSMs, three-phase and single-phase CSMs by considering feeder laterals as movable at each bus respectively, with an objective of line loss reduction, minimum number of phase moves, branch current and neutral current reduction with enhanced voltage profile. Finally, the corresponding results are presented.