See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/3267119

Feasibility Study of Upgrading Primary Feeders From Radial and Open-Loop to

Normally Closed-Loop Arrangement

Article  in  IEEE Transactions on Power Systems · September 2004

DOI: 10.1109/TPWRS.2004.831263 · Source: IEEE Xplore

CITATIONS READS

80 410

6 authors, including:

Tsai-Hsiang Chen Wei-Tzer Huang

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology National Changhua University of Education
88 PUBLICATIONS   1,688 CITATIONS    57 PUBLICATIONS   252 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Jyh-Cherng Gu
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
20 PUBLICATIONS   486 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

single-phase three-wire power flow solution for a modern home premises wiring systems View project

Positiion Estimation - Kasumi View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Wei-Tzer Huang on 21 August 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

1308 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 19, NO. 3, AUGUST 2004

Feasibility Study of Upgrading Primary Feeders

From Radial and Open-Loop to Normally
Closed-Loop Arrangement
Tsai-Hsiang Chen, Member, IEEE, Wei-Tzer Huang, Student Member, IEEE, Jyh-Cherng Gu, Member, IEEE,
Guan-Chih Pu, Yen-Feng Hsu, and Tzong-Yih Guo, Member, IEEE

Abstract—The feasibility study of upgrading primary feeders TABLE I

from radial and open loop to a normally closed-loop arrangement THE FREQUENCY AND DURATION OF CUSTOMER OUTAGES IN TAIPEI CITY
have been explored in this paper. First, three possible feeder ar- DISTRICT OF TAIPOWER
rangements for forming a normally closed loop are discussed, and
then the factors that may predominantly affect the system-type
upgrading are discussed theoretically. Next, four existing distribu-
tion feeders with original radial arrangements, fed by three power
transformers that are located at two different distribution sub-
stations of Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) are employed as
sample systems. To form three types of closed-loop arrangement,
all of the four radial feeders were tied together at their ends, two
feeders at a time. The power flows, voltage profiles and short-cir-
cuit capacities of the feeders under both the tie breaker normally
open and closed cases have been evaluated, and the impacts of the
upgrading of system type on the distribution system and customers
assessed. Finally, the required supporting measures for these kinds Even though there are many fold approaches to increasing the
of upgrading have been listed, and the most suitable and feasible reliability of existing radial or open-loop primary feeders, such
arrangement was recommended to Taipower.
as various sectionalizing and load-transfer facilities used to
Index Terms—Distribution system, normally closed loop, open limit the effects of primary distribution network faults [1]–[4]
loop, primary feeder, radial. etc., momentary interruptions still exist while a fault occurs.
In practice, most of the power outages that customers have
I. INTRODUCTION experienced were due to faults occurring in distribution systems
[5]. Table I indicates the statistics of the frequency and duration
I N THE EARLY 1980s, the Taiwan government began
to focus on the strategic development of high-tech, high
value-added and energy-efficient industries. The successful
of customer outages in the Taipei City District of Taipower. The
statistics shows that the customer outages were mainly owing to
establishment of the Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park faults occurring at the primary feeder. This major cause of cus-
had a significant impact on Taiwan’s high-tech industries. By tomer outage accounted for more than forty percent of the total
1990, high-tech products, mainly electronics, information and customer outages. If we can make sure no service will be inter-
machinery products, accounted for 40.2% of the total exports rupted when a single fault occurs at the primary feeder, then ser-
of Taiwan. Sufficient, reliable and high quality power supply vice reliability can be improved considerably. This is the major
is therefore essential. Nowadays, more and more high-rise goal of Taipower at present.
buildings have appeared in the urban areas of Taiwan. The In general, a normally closed loop is designed so that no cus-
living standards in these areas have considerably improved tomers connected to the loop will be out of service when a fault
in recent years. Reliable and high quality power supply is occurs at the feeder main of the loop. To reach this goal the pro-
therefore more vital than ever. Some customers cannot afford tection system should be upgraded as well. All the load-break
either a short-period interruption or a long-duration voltage dip. switches (LBSs) should be replaced by circuit breakers (CBs)
with interruption capacity of short-circuit current. Up to now,
not only Taipower, but also, many other utilities in the world,
Manuscript received January 2, 2004. This work was supported by Taiwan such as Florida Power Company, Hong Kong Electric Company,
Power Company under Grant 531-2103-06.
T.-H. Chen and J.-C. Gu are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, and Singapore Power, have adopted normally closed loops to
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan 106, serve their customers [6], [7].
R.O.C. (e-mail: thchen@mail.ntust.edu.tw; jcgu@mouse.ee.ntust.edu.tw). Taipower is now planning to upgrade its distribution systems
W.-T. Huang is with Chien Kuo Institute of Technology, ChangHua, Taiwan,
R.O.C., and also with the National Taiwan University of Science and Tech- from original radial or open-loop to a normally closed-loop ar-
nology, Taiwan 106, R.O.C. (e-mail: D8807103@mail.ntust.edu.tw). rangement broadly, especially in the science-based industrial
G.-C. Pu, Y.-F. Hsu, and T.-Y. Guo are with the Taiwan Power Com- parks, metropolitan areas and specific districts where higher ser-
pany, Taipei, Taiwan 238, R.O.C. (e-mail: u630564@taipower.com.tw;
u630501@taipower.com.tw; u011066@taipower.com.tw). vice quality is required. This plan will noticeably improve the
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRS.2004.831263 continuity of power supply and overall service quality.
0885-8950/04$20.00 © 2004 IEEE

Authorized licensed use limited to: Chienkuo Technology University. Downloaded on April 15,2010 at 07:25:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
CHEN et al.: UPGRADING PRIMARY FEEDERS FROM RADIAL AND OPEN-LOOP TO NORMALLY CLOSED-LOOP ARRANGEMENT 1309

same substation. This type is further divided into

two subclasses based on whether the tie breaker
of the secondary buses of the two transformers is
closed or open, as follows:
Type II.1: The tie breaker is normally open.
Type II.2: The tie breaker is normally closed.
Type III: The two feeders for forming a closed loop were
fed by two different transformers located in dif-
ferent substations.
The natures and reliabilities of these three types of arrange-
ment are quite different. The loop with Type I arrangement is
the regular normally closed loop. The loop with Type II arrange-
ment is an alternative to form a normally closed loop with better
reliability. In addition, the loop with a Type III arrangement is
actually an interconnection of two feeders served by two sub-
stations.

B. Basic Considerations
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of three possible arrangements for forming a In general, the characteristic of an open-loop feeder is the
normally closed-loop feeder.
same as that of a radial feeder, except during the load transfer pe-
riod. For simplicity, only the upgrading from radial to normally
The impacts on the existing systems and customers while up- closed-loop arrangement has been discussed in this paper.
grading should be evaluated in a detailed manner, especially Many factors should be considered while upgrading the
during feasibility study. This paper deals with the upgrading feeder arrangement to a normally closed loop by tying the ends
techniques and impacts. Four feeders fed from two distribution of two existing radial feeders together, such as:
substations of Taipower in downtown Taipei were used as the • the short-circuit currents, capacities and voltage levels of
sample feeders. To explore the impacts of system upgrading, the substations;
some detailed analyzes have been performed in addition to the • the ratings, impedances, loadings, and load characteristics
basic engineering analyzes. Based on the basic and extra engi- of the substation transformers;
neering analyzes, the impacts can therefore be explored and the • the size, length, loading, load distribution, and load char-
required supporting measures can be drawn. acteristics of the feeders.
In this upgrading project, the fundamental and most impor- Not only the qualities of these factors, but also their vari-
tant consideration is the impact on the original system and cus- ations in different operation conditions, are important. These
tomers. The customer outage costs and the cost of replacing factors affect, considerably, both normal and abnormal opera-
all the LBSs with CBs and constructing a feeder automation tions of closed-loop feeders. The capacities of substation trans-
system with high speed communications between the protec- formers, the ampacities of conductors, the voltage profiles along
tive relays at each CB were all considered before the project the feeders, the ratings and settings of protective devices, etc.
was conducted. But the detailed economic analysis and relia- should all be examined to make sure the entire system is well de-
bility assessment will not presented in this paper. The resulting signed while operated in a normally closed-loop arrangement.
reliability improvement from implementing closed-loop feeder On this basis, the feasibility of system-type upgrading is dis-
arrangements is quite obvious, therefore, no information about cussed in detail as follows.
the reliability assessment was presented in this paper. 1) Type I: In Fig. 1, two radial feeders F#1 and F#2 fed by
the same power transformer were tied together at their ends to
II. UPGRADING OF FEEDER ARRANGEMENT form a typically normally closed-loop feeder, classified as type
I in this paper. The factors affecting this kind of upgrading are:
A. Feeder Arrangements
• the conductor sizes of the feeders;
A normally closed loop can be formed by tying the ends of • the lengths of the feeders;
two radial feeders together. Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic di- • the loadings of the feeders;
agram of three possible normally closed-loop feeder arrange- • the distribution of the loads along the feeders;
ments [8]. This figure shows that all the closed-loop circuits • the characteristics of the loads along the feeders.
have two sources. The major difference between these three ar- Hence, the natures of feeders are the key factor for success-
rangements is just the two sources. The closed-loop arrange- fully upgrading a system type from radial to type I closed-loop
ments are classified as follows. arrangement.
Type I: The two feeders for forming a closed loop were In general, primary feeders are classified as thermally lim-
fed by the same power transformer. ited feeders (TL feeders) and voltage-drop-limited feeders (VD
Type II: The two feeders for forming a closed loop were feeders). The feeders serving the customers in urban or suburban
fed by two different transformers located in the areas, having short lengths and high load densities, therefore,

Authorized licensed use limited to: Chienkuo Technology University. Downloaded on April 15,2010 at 07:25:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
1310 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 19, NO. 3, AUGUST 2004

belong to the class of TL feeder. For example, the feeders in TABLE II

the urban areas of Taipei have lengths approximately 2 km or FACTORS INVOLVED IN UPGRADING OF FEEDER ARRANGEMENT
less, and they usually are operated under heavy loading condi-
tions, their utilization factors are usually over 80%. In this case,
the loading of this kind of feeder is the key factor and must be
considered and reduced to meet the requirement of forming a
normally closed loop.
Generally, the utilization factors of the radial feeders for
forming nominally closed loops must be less than 50% in
normal operation to have enough ampacities in any abnormal
situation. In other words, the cable size of a closed loop must
have adequate capacity to carry all loads connected to it.
On the contrary, the VD feeders usually have long lengths
and lower load densities. To ensure voltage drop at the end of a
feeder is acceptable, their loadings are usually much lower than
their capacities. The overhead feeders of Taipower distribution
networks serving rural areas usually over 10 km in length, are
operated under relatively light loading conditions. The voltage
drop should be acceptable in any situations before or after the
tie breaker is closed, even under abnormal operation conditions.
The most severe condition is the tripping of one feeder main
circuit breaker (FCB) placed near the power transformer, espe-
cially on the heavier loading side and under heavy loading con-
dition. In this situation, the closed loop temporarily operates as
a long radial feeder. The voltage drop at the end of this tempo- also a feasible one for upgrading existing radial and open-loop
rary radial feeder should be acceptable. feeders to closed loop. The factors to be considered in Type II
2) Type II: The feeders F#2 and F#3 are fed by two different arrangements are more complex than that in Type I. Therefore,
transformers that are located in the same distribution substation, more effort should be put into the upgrading. Type III is the
as shown in Fig. 1. They provide an alternative for tying these most complicated arrangement. A lot of effort should be put
two radial feeders together at their ends to form a closed loop into this kind of upgrading and into operations as well.
to provide better service continuity, classified as type II in this Assuming the networks are well designed, for Type II and III
paper. All the factors of Type I arrangement should be consid- arrangements, no customer will have service interrupted even
ered. In addition, the following factors need also to be consid- when a power transformer is out of service. If more service
ered: reliability is required, these two types of arrangement can be
• the capacities and impedances of the two correlative sub- adopted. The factors which must be considered when upgrading
station transformers; a system to normally closed loop are summarized in Table II.
• the loadings and load characteristics of the two correlative In Table II, the notation “dependence” means the factors may
substation transformers. or may not be considered, depending on system conditions. In
Hence, the problem of forming a closed loop of type II is more the following sections, four distribution feeders were utilized as
complicated than that of type I. sample feeders to demonstrate the impacts of the factors con-
3) Type III: The feeder pair, F#3 and F#4, fed by two dif- sidered here.
ferent transformers that are located in different distribution sub-
stations, was tied together to form a normally closed loop, clas- III. THE SAMPLE SYSTEM
sified as Type III in this paper. The impact factors of this type
Fig. 2 shows a part of a one-line diagram of the sample
arrangement are functions of the natures of related feeders, sub-
system, in which two substations, Hulin and Woulung substa-
station transformers as well as the two correlative distribution
tions, three power transformers and three normally closed-loop
substations. Therefore, more factors should be considered, as
feeder circuits with three types of arrangement are shown, in
follows:
order to bring out clearly the normally closed-loop arrange-
• all the factors considered in Type II; ments and emergency ties of these arrangements. Originally,
• the short-circuit capacities (S.C.C.) of the correlative sub- each transformer serviced six radial primary feeders. Four of
stations; the feeders from two different substations were chosen to form
• the voltage levels of the correlative substations. the three types of normally closed-loop arrangements, by tying
4) Summary: The impacts on the system and customers the ends of each pair of the feeders together, one pair at a time.
are least when using Type I arrangement to upgrade the pri- The feeder mains are 500 MCM underground cables with
mary feeders from originally radial or open-loop to normally series impedance of ohm/km and shunt ad-
closed-loop arrangement. In other words, Type I is assessed to mittance of j0.000 205 mho/km. The dots along the feeders, as
be the simple one among the three types of arrangement and is shown in Fig. 2, represent balanced three-phase loads lumped at

Authorized licensed use limited to: Chienkuo Technology University. Downloaded on April 15,2010 at 07:25:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
CHEN et al.: UPGRADING PRIMARY FEEDERS FROM RADIAL AND OPEN-LOOP TO NORMALLY CLOSED-LOOP ARRANGEMENT 1311

TABLE IV
LUMPED-SUM LOADS FOR THE OTHER FEEDERS

Fig. 2. One-line diagram of the sample system.

TABLE III
DEMANDS OF HIGH-VOLTAGE AND LOW-VOLTAGE CUSTOMERS

Fig. 3. The loading of substation transformer #1.

Condition C: Faulted condition, the normally closed-loop

feeder circuit in condition B is sectionalized to two sections due
to a feeder fault. The fault is assumed occurring at the feeding
end of the heavy-loading side of the loop circuit. This is the most
serious case of the feeder faults.
The power-flow and short-circuit analysis were performed to
explore the natures of different types of normally closed-loop
arrangements and determine the impacts to the system while
upgrading to a normally closed loop.

IV. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

The nature of three types of normally closed-loop arrange-
ments under three operating conditions mentioned above are
that location and fed by a distribution transformer. For simpli- summarized here, based on the results of the power-flow and
fication, the transformers and loads, shown in Fig. 2, are equiv- short-circuit analyzes. And, the advantages and disadvantages
alents to represent large numbers of physical transformers and of the three types of arrangements are explored.
loads distributed along the feeders [9]–[11]. Table III gives the
demands of high-voltage and low-voltage customers during the A. Type I
peak load period of a year. The low-voltage customers are fed The feeder pair, ZH#54 and ZH#55, fed by the same power
by step-down distribution transformers. The other feeders, ex- transformer, make up a normally closed loop of type I.
cept the four sample feeders, are all simplified, represented as 1) Transformer Loadings: The loading variations of the
lumped-sum loads, as listed in Table IV. The loads were mod- power transformer serving this feeder pair under three operating
eled as constant impedance in the power flow program of the conditions are small, as shown in Fig. 3. The capacity of the
ETAP PowerStation®. power transformer need not be changed while upgrading radial
For exploring the natures of different types of arrangements, feeders to normally closed loops of type I. It should be noted
three operating conditions are considered, as follows. that in Figs. 3–6, the type of feeder arrangement is shown
Condition A: Radial (Original or before-tie) condition, the followed by the operation condition shown in a bracket. For
ends of the feeder pair are open, therefore, the feeder pair is example, ‘I(A)’ denotes that the data is for Type I arrangement
actually two radial feeders. under condition A.
Condition B: Loop (After-tie) condition, the ends of the 2) Current Profiles: Fig. 4 illustrates the current profiles
feeder pair are closed under normal operation, therefore, the along the feeder pair. Generally, the current in each line segment
feeder pair is tied together as a normally closed loop. will change when operating conditions change. The current

Authorized licensed use limited to: Chienkuo Technology University. Downloaded on April 15,2010 at 07:25:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
1312 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 19, NO. 3, AUGUST 2004

Fig. 4. Current profiles along feeders ZH#54 and ZH#55. Fig. 7. The loadings of substation transformers #1 and #2.

Fig. 5. Voltage profiles along feeders ZH#54 and ZH#55. Fig. 8. Current profiles along feeders ZH#55 and ZH#61.

B. Type II
The feeder pair, ZH#55 and ZH#61, fed by two different
power transformers that are located in the same substation,
makes up a normally closed loop of type II.
1) Transformer Loadings: Fig. 7 shows the loading va-
rieties of the correlative transformers. The loadings of Tr#1
and Tr#2 will become more balanced when the tie breaker is
closed because the two correlative transformers share not only
Fig. 6. The short-circuit capacities at buses along feeders ZH#54 and ZH#55.
the loads of the feeder pair but also the loads connected to
these two correlative transformers. The redistribution of the
in the line segments of the relatively heavier loading side of complex power of Tr#1 and Tr#2 caused Tr#2, with relatively
the loop will decrease while those on the lighter loading side lighter loading, to deliver extra complex power through feeders
increase. There is a current of 89 A flowing through the tie line ZH#61 and ZH#55 to the loads on the secondary side of Tr#1,
from feeder ZH#55 to ZH#54. This fact results in the currents with relatively heavier loading. This fact results in the loading
in each line segment along the feeder circuit becoming more of Tr#1 decreasing and Tr#2 increasing.
uniform after the tie breaker is closed. That is, the operating In addition, while the line segment 4–11 was isolated due to a
condition is changed from A to B. feeder fault, Tr#1 serves all the loads of the feeder pair of Type
In condition C, assuming that the line segment 3–6 is iso- II.1 arrangement. However, for the Type II.2 arrangement the
lated due to a fault occurring at that feeder segment, the loading two power transformers will still share not only the loads of the
will change dramatically and the directions of currents in some feeder pair but also the loads connected to the secondary buses
line segments may also change. For example, the current flow of the two transformers because the tie breaker is closed. There-
through bus 3–9 was increased to 433 A, this may overheat the fore, the loadings of these two transformers will not change
feeder conductor. much.
3) Voltage Profiles: The average node voltages along the 2) Current Profiles: Fig. 8 illustrates the variations of the
feeder circuit will be slightly increased. The voltages along the currents in each line segment. For Type II.1 arrangement, the
feeder ZH#54 were slightly increased while those along the variations are significant. The directions of currents in some line
feeder ZH#55 were slightly decreased, as shown in Fig. 5. Since segments of feeder ZH#55 were reversed. The current flowing in
the load diversity of the feeder pair is large, the variations of the tie line, between buses 13 and 10, is pretty high, 103 A. It is
the line currents are therefore significant. Accordingly, the more directly proportional to the loading difference of the two correl-
load difference between the two feeders, the more line current ative transformers. Therefore, if the loading difference of these
and voltage variations rise. two transformers is large, the feeder pair may act as a transmis-
4) Short-Circuit Capacities: The short-circuit capacities sion line to transfer mass power between the secondary buses of
along the feeder circuit are shown in Fig. 6. The variations of these two transformers. This may lead to the feeder pair being
the short-circuit capacities under three operating conditions overloaded. This phenomenon should be avoided. Nevertheless,
are small. Generally, the farther the bus from the tie point, the if more than one feeder pair between these two transformers are
less the increasing rate of short-circuit capacity obtains. For tied to form more closed loops, these loops will share the power
example, the short-circuit capacity of bus 8 was increased 12% need been transferred. Therefore, the impacts will be lessened.
when the two feeders were tied together as a closed loop. For Type II.2 arrangement, the varieties of line currents have the

Authorized licensed use limited to: Chienkuo Technology University. Downloaded on April 15,2010 at 07:25:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
CHEN et al.: UPGRADING PRIMARY FEEDERS FROM RADIAL AND OPEN-LOOP TO NORMALLY CLOSED-LOOP ARRANGEMENT 1313

Fig. 11. The loadings of substation transformers #2 and #3.

Fig. 9. Voltage profiles along feeders ZH#55 and ZH#61.

Fig. 12. Current profiles along feeders ZH#61 and SU#74.

Fig. 10. The short-circuit capacities at buses along feeders ZH#55 and ZH#61.

same trends as those of Type I after the tie breaker was closed,
as shown in Fig. 8.
3) Voltage Profiles: Fig. 9 depicts the voltage profiles of the
nodes along the feeder pair. It is obvious that the node voltages
along the feeder ZH#61 are descending while those along the Fig. 13. Voltage profiles along feeders ZH#61 and SU#74.
feeder ZH#55 are ascending. This trend is similar to that of a
Type I arrangement. formers are not enormous. However, if the voltage levels of the
4) Short-Circuit Capacities: Fig. 10 shows the short-circuit primary sides of the two correlative distribution substations are
capacities of nodes along feeders ZH#55 and ZH#61. The trends different, for example, one is 161 kV and another one is 69 kV,
of variations of the short-circuit capacities are similar to those then the transformer loading may vary significantly even if the
of Type I. When two radial feeders are tied, the short-circuit difference of the loads connected to the two correlative trans-
capacities of the buses along the feeders are almost doubled. formers is not great. In this case, it is possible that mass power
However, the increasing rates of short-circuit capacities after the may flow from one transformer to the secondary bus or even
tie breaker being closed are much larger than those of Type I. back feed to the primary side of the other transformer, through
The reason is that the fault current at each bus comes from two the feeders that are tied at their ends normally. This condition is
sources when the feeder pair is tied together. In addition, the definitely undesirable.
varieties of the short-circuit capacities due to the line segment In addition, the loadings and the differences of loadings of
4–11 being isolated are pretty different for Type II.1 and II.2, correlative transformers and feeders will also govern the vari-
as shown in Fig. 10. Hence, upgrading the protective devices is ations of correlative transformer loadings. In other words, the
usually required for both the distribution feeders and customers variations of transformer loading are directly proportional to the
connected to them when upgrading the system type from radial factors just mentioned above. Consequently, if the primary sides
to closed loop. of the correlative distribution substations are at the same voltage
level, and the feeder loads and transformer loads are well bal-
C. Type III anced, then, the variations of transformer loading will be minor.
The feeder pair, ZH#61 and ZH#74, fed by two different The given conditions for Type III are the same as for the other
power transformers located in different substations, makes up two types in this paper, so the loading variations are similar to
a normally closed loop of type III. those of Type II.1, but are more sensitive to the loading differ-
1) Transformer Loadings: Fig. 11 shows the loading varia- ences of the two correlative transformers and voltage differences
tions of the two correlative transformers, Tr#2 and Tr#3 under of the secondary buses of these two transformers.
specific system conditions. For Type III arrangement, the trans- 2) Current Profiles: Fig. 12 illustrates the variations of cur-
former loadings may total differently in different cases because rents flowing in each line segment under specific system con-
they are sensitive to system conditions, such as the loading dif- ditions. Similarly, the current variations may total differently in
ference between two correlative transformers, the voltage dif- other cases. The reasons are the same as those for the trans-
ference between two correlative substations, and the difference former loads. In the given conditions, the currents flowing in the
in the short-circuit capacities between those two correlative sub- feeder ZH#61 were increased after the tie breaker was closed,
stations. For example, if the voltage levels of the primary sides and the current flowing in the tie line, line segment 13–16, was
of the two correlative distribution substations are the same, the 41 A.
transformer loading variations are usually insignificant, if the 3) Voltage Profiles: Fig. 13 depicts the voltage profiles
difference of the loads connected to these two correlative trans- along the feeder under specific system conditions. Similarly,

Authorized licensed use limited to: Chienkuo Technology University. Downloaded on April 15,2010 at 07:25:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
1314 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 19, NO. 3, AUGUST 2004

TABLE V
IMPACTS ON THE ORIGINAL SYSTEMS AND CUSTOMERS

Fig. 14. The short-circuit capacities at buses along feeders ZH#61 and SU#74.

the voltage variations may total differently in other cases. The

reasons are the same as those for the transformer loads.
4) Short-Circuit Capacities: Fig. 14 shows the variations of
the short-circuit capacities. In the given conditions, they are sim-
ilar to those of Type II. However, they may have totally different
values in other cases because they are very sensitive to system
conditions, especially the difference in short-circuit capacities
of the two substations, and the variations of the short-circuit ca-
pacities are proportional to their difference. In the given condi-
tions, the short-circuit capacity of bus 16 was increased 103%.
The variations of the short-circuit capacities of the Type III ar-
rangement are usually much larger than those of Types I and II.
We should pay attention to this fact, because the large increment
of the short-circuit capacities will result in the interruption ca-
pacities of the existing protection devices becoming inadequate.
Two supporting measures may be used to alleviate this potential
problem. The first is to insert two suitable current-limiting re- TABLE VI
actors at the feeding ends of the feeder mains, and the second is REQUIRED SUPPORTING MEASURES OF SYSTEM UPGRADING
to upgrade the overcurrent protection devices of the feeders and
of the customers along the feeders.

D. Discussion
Based on the simulation results, the impacts on the distribu-
tion systems and customers due to the upgrading of system type
can be drawn, as shown in Table V. The impacts of Type I are
the least among the three types of feeder arrangements. Hence,
the type I arrangement is the easiest to use while upgrading a
existing radial or open-loop system. This type has been used
by Taipower to upgrade an existing radial system to a normally
closed-loop system in metropolitan Taipei.

V. REQUIRED SUPPORTING MEASURES

Once the system type is upgraded from radial or open-loop to
a normally closed-loop arrangement, the existing software and
hardware of the distribution system should be improved to meet
the requirement of the new system with new feeder arrangement.
Some major equipment may need to be replaced or adjusted to
fit the changing of the system configuration and to ensure that
the new system can operate successfully and get the expected
benefit. The required supporting measures for the three types of
feeder arrangements are listed in Table VI.
To achieve the main objective of no customer having inter- conventional radial feeder. Therefore, the protection relaying
rupted service when a single fault occurs at the primary feeder, system of the normally closed loop is usually capable of adap-
all the LBSs in the main loop circuit should be replaced by CBs tive setting.
with adequate interrupting capacity and required proper com- As mentioned before, the protection scheme of the normally
munication facilities. Coordination between the protection de- closed loop is quite different from radial and open-loop feeder
vices during normal and abnormal periods is definitely very im- schemes. The latter two types of feeder are usually protected by
portant. The protection scheme of the normally closed loop is traditional over-current relay. However, for the proposed nor-
quite different from and also much more complicated than the mally closed loop, a pilot relaying system with the permissive

Authorized licensed use limited to: Chienkuo Technology University. Downloaded on April 15,2010 at 07:25:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
CHEN et al.: UPGRADING PRIMARY FEEDERS FROM RADIAL AND OPEN-LOOP TO NORMALLY CLOSED-LOOP ARRANGEMENT 1315

overreaching transfer trip (POTT) system and the directional REFERENCES

comparison blocking (DCB) system were used. Moreover, intel- [1] Y. Fukuyama and H. D. Chiang, “A parallel genetic algorithm for service
ligent electronic devices (IEDs) with Mirrored Bits fiber-optical restoration in electric power distribution systems,” in Proc. IEEE Int.
Conf. Fuzzy Systems and 2nd Int. Fuzzy Engineering Symp., vol. 1, pp.
channels and the functions of programmable logical controllers 275–282.
were used for the protection of the new system. Furthermore, [2] J. Marks, “New technology improves loop-feeder sectionalizing,” Elect.
all the LBSs were replaced by CBs to cooperate with the feeder World, pp. 34–36, Feb. 1997.
automation system to ensure that the major goal of this pilot [3] J. Reson, “Customer demand for quality spur feeder sectionalizing,”
Elect. World, pp. 32–35, Nov. 1990.
system could be achieved. This is the first time that a Taipower [4] D. Shirmohammadi, “Service restoration in distribution networks via
distribution system has adopted this kind of protection scheme. network reconfiguration,” IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol. 7, pp.
The significant changes in the protection systems required to get 952–958, Apr. 1992.
[5] E. Lakervi and E. J. Holmes, Electricity Distribution Network Design,
the improved reliability benefit will be addressed in other papers 2nd ed. London, U.K.: Peregrinus, 1995, pp. 176–177.
in the near future. [6] B. Pagel, “Energizing international drive,” Transmiss. & Distrib. World,
pp. 18–34, Apr. 2000.
[7] T. C. Yu, Principles and Design of Low Voltage Systems. Singapore:
Byte Power Publications, 1996, pp. 13–14.
VI. CONCLUSION [8] W. T. Huang, T. H. Chen, G. C. Pu, Y. F. Hsu, and T. Y. Guo, “As-
sessment of upgrading existing primary feeders from radial to normally
In this paper, the impacts of upgrading existing primary closed loop arrangement,” in Proc. 2002 IEEE Power Engineering So-
ciety Transmission and Distribution Conf., 2002, pp. 2123–2128.
feeders from radial to normally closed-loop arrangement were [9] T. H. Chen and S. W. Wang, “Applications of simplified bi-directional
assessed. First, the factors that may affect the system upgrading feeder models for accelerating the voltage-drop and power-loss calcu-
were discussed. Next, a practical distribution system, that is lations,” in Proc. 1995 Energy Management and Power Delivery Conf.,
also the first primary normally closed-loop system in Taiwan, vol. 2, 1995, pp. 708–713.
[10] , “Simplified bidirectional-feeder models for distribution-system
was utilized as a sample system to reach some conclusions. calculations,” in Proc. IEE, vol. 1425, Sept. 1995, pp. 459–467.
From our results, Type I is the most simple and feasible [11] N. Vemptati, R. R. Shoults, M. S. Chen, and L. Schwobel, “Simplified
arrangement to upgrade a existing radial or open-loop feeder feeder modeling for load flow calculations,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst.,
vol. PWRS-2, pp. 168–174, Feb. 1987.
system to a normally closed-loop system to eliminate customer
interruptions due to a single fault at the feeder main. Finally,
the required supporting measures of the system upgrading were
noted. Based on the outcomes of this paper, three normally Tsai-Hsiang Chen was born in Taiwan, R.O.C.,
in 1953. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees
closed-loops have been created in the Taipei metropolitan in electrical engineering from National Taiwan
area. The power quality, especially service reliability, has been University of Science and Technology (NTUST),
improved considerably. In addition, the maintenance efforts Taipei, Taiwan, in 1980 and 1982, respectively, and
have also been reduced dramatically. the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the
University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, in 1990.
After a thorough study, it was found that the type I arrange- Since 1982, he has been on the faculty of NTUST,
ment meets all the requirements, such as a great improvement and is now a Professor and Chairman of Electrical
on the reliability, less impacts on the networks and customers, Engineering. His research interests include modeling
and simulation of power systems, distribution
and easy to operate the new systems. Even though the reliability automation, and modeling and analysis of electric traction systems.
of Type III and Type II are greater than that of Type I, the Type Dr. Chen is a member of the IEEE Power Engineering Society, Tau Beta Pi,
I arrangement is considered as the most suitable and feasible and Phi Beta Delta.
one. Consequently, Type I was recommended to Taipower, and
was also undertaken by Taipower to create three closed-loop
feeders in the service area of Hulin Substation, Sinyi District, Wei-Tzer Huang (S’03) was born in Taiwan, R.O.C.,
Taipei City. Many critical customers, such as Taipei World Trade in 1971. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in
electrical engineering from the National Taiwan Uni-
Center Exhibition Hall, Taipei City Hall, Taipei City Council versity of Science and Technology (NTUST), Taipei,
Hall, Hyatt Hotel, and many shopping centers are all located Taiwan, in 1997 and 1999, respectively.
in this area. The closed-loop feeders were therefore considered Presently, he is a graduate student at NTUST. His
research interests include modeling and simulation
suitable to serve this area. Three Type I closed-loop feeders have of power systems, electric power distribution system
been created by Taipower in Taipei metropolitan area about one planning, and unbalanced problem studies.
year ago. Taipower’s field experience has totally supported the
study results of this paper. A feeder fault has be experienced that
make exactly only the CBs at each end of the faulted feeder seg-
ment been tripped and no customers were outage as expected.
Jyh-Cherng Gu (M’92) was born in 1958. He
Actually, the Type II arrangement was recommended to received the B.S.E.E. degree from the National
Taipower for forming a total new distribution network. In that Taiwan University of Science and Technology
case, the impacts on the customers can be avoided and better (NTUST), Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1984, and the
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering
reliability can be obtained. This kind of arrangement is suitable from the University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington,
for new science-based industrial parks and some specific TX, in 1987 and 1992, respectively.
districts where higher service quality is required. As for Type Since then, he joined the NTUST as an Associate
III, there are numerous factors which need to be considered and Professor. He has been involved in research on mi-
crocomputer-based relay, protective relaying, power
cost a lot, so Type III was not seriously considered for present quality, and distribution automation for power sys-
use. tems.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Chienkuo Technology University. Downloaded on April 15,2010 at 07:25:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
1316 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 19, NO. 3, AUGUST 2004

Guan-Chih Pu was born in Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1962. He received the B.Sc. Tzong-Yih Guo (M’92) received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from
and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from the National Taiwan Institute, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1977, the M.S. degree
Taiwan, and the Ph.D. degree from tje National Taiwan University of Science in power system engineering from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, in
and Technology, Taiwan. 1979, and Ph.D. degree in power system engineering from Michigan State Uni-
Since 1989, he has been with the Taiwan Power Company Research Insti- versity, Ann Arbor, in 1992.
tute. His research interests include power system analysis, SCADA systems, He joined Taiwan Power Company in 1982, where he was a Power System
and electric power quality. Specialist in the System Planning Department until November 1994. From 1994
to 2002, he was the Manager of the Electric Power Research Laboratory at the
Power Research Institute. He was appointed Deputy Director of the System
Planning Department in June 2002. His current research interests include power
Yen-Feng Hsu was born in Taiwan, R.O.C., in 1962. He received the B.Sc. de- system dynamical stability assessment, applied nonlinear system theory, elec-
gree in electrical engineering from National Taiwan Institute, Taiwan, the M.Sc. tric power quality, and real-time measurement and parameter identification.
degree in electrical engineering from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan,
and the Ph.D. degree from the National Taiwan University of Science and Tech-
nology, Taiwan.
Since 1989, he has been with the Taiwan Power Company Research Institute.
His research interests include power system analysis and electric power quality.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Chienkuo Technology University. Downloaded on April 15,2010 at 07:25:15 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
View publication stats