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Capacitor Placement in Unbalanced Power Systems

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14th PSCC, Sevilla, 24-28 June 2002 Session 03, Paper 2, Page 1

CAPACITOR PLACEMENT IN UNBALANCED POWER SYSTEMS

P. Varilone and G. Carpinelli A. Abur

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale Department of Electrical Engineering
Universita degli Studi di Cassino Texas A&M University
03043 Cassino, Italy College Station, Texas, U.S.A
varilone@unicas.it, carpinelli@ing.unicas.it abur@ee.tamu.edu

Abstract – This paper presents a capacitor placement unwanted harmonics in the systems. Harmonics are
method for three phase unbalanced power systems. The known to cause overvoltages under certain network
method aims to minimize not only the power losses and configurations involving shunt capacitors. This issue is
capacitor costs, but also the distortions due to harmonics raised and a solution is proposed for minimizing har-
present in the power system. The proposed method is
capable of accomplishing this objective for both balanced
monic overvoltages in [6]. A practical method that
and unbalanced operating conditions. One of the objec- avoids convergence problems and incorporates discrete
tives of this paper is to demonstrate the significant differ- nature of capacitor banks along with the voltage distor-
ences in the results of capacitor placement studies when tions due to the installed capacitors, is developed and
unbalanced systems are approximated by their positive presented in [7]. This method is based on the balanced
sequence single phase equivalents. Furthermore, the ef- three phase operation and therefore analyzes the posi-
fects of taking harmonic distortions into account during tive sequence network only.
the capacitor placement procedure are also demonstrated.
Numerical examples on a distribution test power system In this paper, the work reported in [7] will be ex-
are provided to illustrate the method.
tended to the more general case of the three phase un-
Keywords: Optimization, capacitor placement, loss balanced operation. Several distribution feeders are
minimization, harmonic distortion, unbalanced opera- known to have line sections carrying a mixture of sin-
tion, distribution systems. gle, double or three phase loads. Such systems as well
as those having full three phase but unbalanced loads
can be studied using the presented method in this paper.
In addition to the cost of losses and capacitor installa-
tions, it is possible to associate a cost with the harmonic
distortions as discussed in [8-9]. Hence, the problem is
1 INTRODUCTION
formulated in such a way that both network losses and
Power distribution systems contain shunt capacitors harmonics are minimized along with the cost of capaci-
at various strategic locations in order to maintain a tors placed for this purpose.
desired voltage profile, correct power factor and reduce
power losses along feeders. When dealing with a large The paper is organized such that the problem de-
scale distribution system containing several feeders and scription is presented first. This is followed by the
their laterals, deciding on the best locations and sizes of sections describing the details of the three phase power
these capacitors becomes a complicated optimization flow and linear harmonic analysis modules, which make
problem. In addition to the scale of the problem, there up the main computational engines of the overall algo-
are other issues such as the discrete nature of capacitor rithm. Simulation results obtained using the developed
sizes, operational limits on voltages and feeder load- program and a test system will be presented next. Con-
ings, that need to be addressed. Effective solution algo- clusions and suggestions on future work will be pre-
rithms for balanced distribution feeders have been de- sented in the final section.
veloped [1,2]. These solutions mainly utilize the posi-
tive sequence network model and the associated power
2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM
flows in formulating the problem. Hence, the results do
not directly apply for systems containing feeders with The objective of the presented method is to deter-
missing phases, unevenly loaded feeders or shunt ca- mine the best locations and sizes of shunt capacitors for
pacitors on single or double phase feeders. Three phase each phase, so that the total cost of the capacitors, of the
unbalanced distribution systems are later studied in total power losses of the network and the harmonic
[3,4] where simulated annealing and genetic algorithms distortion of the network are minimized. This objective
are respectively used to solve this more complicated should be met subject to the network three-phase power
problem. A simplified formulation and the MINOS flow equations as well as the limits on the bus voltage
optimization package are used to solve the same prob- and current magnitudes, harmonic indices (HI) and the
lem in [5]. Recently, distribution systems are populated total number of capacitor units to be installed. Hence, it
with nonlinear loads or control devices that generate
14th PSCC, Sevilla, 24-28 June 2002 Session 03, Paper 2, Page 2

can be formulated as the following optimization prob- rent injections. Details of this computation are dis-
lem: cussed in a later section.

Minimize J(X,U) = JC + JL + JIH 3 SOLUTION METHOD

Subject to Three-phase PF Eq.s at

The above described optimization problem is solved
fundamental and harmonics
by using a simple yet effective procedure, which is
V, I – limits
developed and successfully employed in solving the
HI limits
single phase problem in [7]. The main idea behind the
Limits on number of cap.s
proposed procedure is based on sequential placement of
where the terms of the objective function and constraint
discrete capacitor units of incremental size. It is as-
list are defined below.
sumed that each phase of any bus can be placed an
2.1 The Objective function, J incremental discrete capacitor at each optimization step
The objective function assumes a given loading level (three-phase bank in case of three-phase bus, single-
for the system. While it is possible to extend this func- phase bank otherwise). If capacitor installations are
tion to a sum of similar functions, so that a number of prohibited for any of the buses, then this condition can
loading levels can be accounted for, this will not be easily be enforced by leaving out that bus from the bus
done here. All simulation results and the discussion of list. Furthermore, if different buses have different sizes
the proposed algorithm will be based on single loading of unit capacitors, then placement of unit capacitors can
assumption. Such an extension can however be incor- be accordingly modified to suit each bus. Therefore,
porated into the presented algorithm without much the physical constraints that relate to the discrete nature
difficulty. The three terms that make up the objective of capacitor installations as well as the non-
function are described below: homogeneity of the discrete units available for installa-
tions at different buses, are naturally accounted for
2.1.1 Cost of Capacitors, J C = C CT ⋅ U without any complex logic.
Cc : is the cost vector for capacitor units at each bus. At each step of the optimization procedure, the three
U : is the vector of capacitor units placed at each bus. phase power flow solution as well as the harmonics of
the bus voltages corresponding to the incremental addi-
2.1.2 Cost of Losses, J L = C L ⋅ (PG − PD )T tion of unit capacitors at each possible bus, will have to
CL: is the cost of a per unit energy loss be computed. Note that, the purpose of these computa-
PG: is the total generation at (X,U) tions is to obtain and compare the values of the objec-
PD: is the total load tive function for all possible incremental installations
T : is the loss duration and choose the one that reduces the objective function
(X,U): is the power flow solution corresponding to the most. It is also noted that for purposes of compar-
the installed capacitor vector of U. ing effects of unit capacitor installations at different
The cost of demand lost can be also incorporated buses on the objective function, approximate three-
without difficulty. phase power flow solutions can be used. Once a candi-
date is selected, then an accurate solution can be ob-
2.1.3 Cost of Distortions, JIH tained for the selected configuration only. A fast but
The evaluation of the cost of the distortions is studied approximate three phase power flow solution is imple-
first by the authors in [8, 9]. These costs are assumed to mented for the first part. A three phase linear harmonic
be the sum of the operating costs and the aging costs. analysis is carried out for the calculation of distortions.
The operating costs refer to the costs of the incremental These are discussed in more detail below.
losses caused by the harmonics and the aging costs refer 3.1 Fast Three-phase Power Flow Update
to the incremental costs due to the premature aging of
the components caused by the harmonics. Details can be The three-phase power flow solution is affected in-
found in [8, 9]. crementally each time a unit capacitor is added at a
2.2 The Constraints system bus. This incremental change can be captured
Each solution should satisfy the three-phase power by expressing the power flow solution by its first order
balance equations at the fundamental frequency. Thus, approximation. Consider the three phase power flow
a full three-phase power flow solution is to be run to equations given by:
verify this constraint. This solution will also be used to
check the limit violations at fundamental on bus volt- f(X,U) = 0 (1)
ages and line currents. The effect of each capacitor unit
on the distortions of the bus voltages will have to be The first order Taylor approximation will be:
also checked. This is accomplished by solving a linear
three-phase harmonic analysis problem where all [Fx (X0,U0) ] [ dX ] = - [ Fu(X0 , U0) ] dui (2)
nonlinear loads are represented by their harmonic cur-
14th PSCC, Sevilla, 24-28 June 2002 Session 03, Paper 2, Page 3

section will present several representative cases which

Note that dui is the unit capacitor added at node i, are simulated using the developed program.
one phase of a bus and the functions Fx and Fu repre-
sent the gradient of f(X,U) evaluated with respect to X
and U respectively. At each optimization step, the most
recent operating point will be denoted by (X0,U0) which
will depend upon the way the optimization proceeded start
up till that point. The updated power flow solution will
then be obtained as: AC Three Phase
Power Flow
X’ = X0 + dX (3)
set k=1

This procedure will be repeated as many times as the

number of nodes excluding those where no capacitors Approximate operating point
are allowed to be placed. Upon computing the objec- when a cap. unit is added at bus k
k=k+1
tive function J(X’,U) for all cases, the solution which
Compute the objective
yields the smallest objective function will be selected. function J
A full three phase AC power flow solution will be ob-
tained and all operating constraints will be checked for N
K > Nbus
this case. In case the solution violates any one of the
limits, the same procedure will be repeated for the sec- Y
ond best solution. This procedure will continue until a Select the capacitor that yields the
feasible solution is obtained. If no solution can be minimal J
found satisfying all the constraints, then the optimiza-
tion procedure will be terminated. Otherwise, it will N
proceed to the next optimization iteration. stop Capacitor
exists ?
3.2 Calculation of distortions Y
In parallel with the fundamental frequency power AC Three Phase
Select the next
Power Flow
flow solution, a solution for each dominant harmonic qualifying bus
present in the network will have to be obtained so that
the corresponding effects of the power system harmon- N
stop Is J reduced ?
ics can be evaluated. This is accomplished by solving
the network’s linear harmonic equations given by: Y
Check the constraints

[Yn] [Vn ] = [In ] (4)

N
Satisfied ?
where [Yn], [Vn ] and [In ] are the three phase network
admittance matrix, bus voltage vector and independent Y
current source vector evaluated at the n-th harmonic N
Maximal # of
frequency. The admittance matrix is modified each time capacitor reached ?
a unit capacitor is added at a bus. Also note that, the Y
harmonic injections of nonlinear devices are modeled stop
according to the recommendations of the IEEE PES
Working Group on Harmonics Modeling and Simula- Figure 1: Flowchart of the proposed procedure
tion [10-11] where it is suggested that the phase angles
of the injected harmonic current sources be adjusted
according to the phase angle of the fundamental with 4 SIMULATION RESULTS
respect to reference. The simulations are run using the three phase unbal-
anced IEEE 13-bus test system shown in Figure 2 [11].
A Matlab-based program is developed in order to This system contains a mixture of single, double and
evaluate the above described procedure for general three phase lines and loads, making it quite suitable for
three phase unbalanced system operation. At this time, evaluating the proposed method. Note that the system
the program is implemented for a single loading level lines 684-653 and 684-611 are single phase; lines 671-
and therefore the capacitor placement can be tested only 684, 632-645, 645-646 are two phase and the remaining
for fixed capacitor types. However, it can be easily lines are three phase. The complete network data and
modified to account for seasonal or daily load variations parameters can be found in [11].
of the bus loads. A flow chart of the procedure imple- The system contains loads that are linear, non linear,
mented by this program is shown in Figure 1. Next and/or unbalanced. The harmonic producing loads in-
clude fluorescent lighting, adjustable speed drives for
14th PSCC, Sevilla, 24-28 June 2002 Session 03, Paper 2, Page 4

heat pumps and non-specific sources such as PCs, TVs, function of capacitor bank additions. The objective
etc. The load data reported in [11] are reduced by 50%, functions are normalized to make the comparison easy.
since the voltage distortions are found to exceed the It should be noted that in the case without THD term the
IEEE-519 recommended limits [12] before the place- placement procedure is terminated at the fifth step due
ment of any capacitors. to a constraint violation. The violated constraint is the
Unit capacitors available at any bus are assumed to value of the fundamental voltage at bus #675, which
come in discrete sizes of 50 kVAR. The unit cost of exceeds the specified limit of 1.05 p.u., when an addi-
capacitors are reported in [13] while the unit cost of tional unit capacitor is attempted to be placed after the
energy are reported in [14]. fourth step.
The constraint limits are assumed as 105% for the Note that, in Fig.3, the solid lines represent the varia-
voltages at fundamental, 3% for the single voltage har- tion of the objective function J until the optimal solution
monics and 5% for the total harmonic distortion. is reached. The dashed lines indicate how J would have
Several cases are simulated. The following results varied, had the optimization procedure not been termi-
will be presented as representative cases. nated. In the top curve, the procedure terminates be-
cause the minimum is reached. In the bottom curve, it
4.1 Case 1 is terminated by the constraint violation after step 4 and
no other solution yielding a lower J within the con-
In this case the sensitivity of capacitor placement to straints can be found at the fifth step.
the objective function structure is investigated. The
objective function is first considered as the sum of the 4.2 Case 2
losses and the capacitor costs only. The harmonic costs
are then introduced into the objective function, to ob- In this case the sensitivity of the capacitor placement
serve the significance of this consideration in the out- procedure to the specified constraints is considered.
come of the optimization process. In order to simplify Initially, constraints identical to those used in Case 1,
the analysis, the harmonic index is assumed to be sim- are considered. These limits are subsequently relaxed
ply the total harmonic distortion and its associated cost (110% for the voltages at fundamental, 5% for the sin-
is evaluated so as to have the same cost of losses and gle voltage harmonics and 8% for the total harmonic
distortion), in order to observe their significance on the
650
Table 1:Capacitor Placement Results of Case 1

646 645 632 633 634 Bus code 675 611

Phase code 1 2 3 1 2 3
Without THD cost 2x50 2x50 2x50 2x50
(kVAr)
With THD cost 2x50 2x50 2x50
611 684 692 675 (kVAr)
671

J [p.u.]

1.05
652 680
Figure 2: Network Diagram for the 13-bus test system
1

0.95
harmonics in the system without capacitors.
The locations and sizes of the capacitors that yield 0.9
the minimum objective function in both cases are listed
in Table 1. As evident from the table, two unit capaci- 0.85 + J includes THD term
tor banks are located at the most distant three phase load o J excludes THD term
bus (note that bus #680 is unloaded) and two other unit
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
banks are located at a single phase bus. On the other
hand, the capacitor banks at the single phase bus are no Number of capacitors bank
longer allocated when the objective function takes into
Figure 3: Variation of objective functions versus number of
account the THD cost.
capacitors bank
Fig. 3 shows the variation of the two objective func-
tions one with and one without the THD cost term, as
14th PSCC, Sevilla, 24-28 June 2002 Session 03, Paper 2, Page 5
Table 2: Capacitor Placement Results of Case 2
Bus code 675 611 645 646
Phase code 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
Without THD cost 2x50 2x50 2x50 2x50 1x50 1x50
(kVAr)
With THD cost 2x50 2x50 2x50
(kVAr)

Table 3: Capacitor Placement Results of Case 3

Bus code 675 611 692 671 652 645 646

Without THD cost 2x150 1x150 2x150 1x150 1x150 1x150 1x150
(kVAr)
With THD cost 2x150 1x150 2x150 1x150 1x150 1x150 1x150
(kVAr)

outcome of the optimization process. The locations A comparison of the results shown in Tables 1 and 3
and sizes of the capacitors that yield the minimum ob- implies that in the case of the balanced system a much
jective function in case of relaxed limits are listed in larger number of capacitors are required to achieve the
Table 2. minimum J. This is due to both the reduced level of
It follows from the analysis of the results in Tables 1 voltage harmonics and the larger amount of total reac-
and 2 without THD cost that the same capacitor banks tive load in the balanced system.
are located in the three phase bus #675; two more banks
are located at the single phase busses #645 and #646.
When the objective function takes into account the 5 CONCLUSIONS
THD cost, none of the capacitor banks in single phase
busses are allocated. This paper presents a capacitor placement procedure
for three phase unbalanced power systems. The pro-
4.3 Case 3 posed procedure not only accounts for system losses
and capacitor costs, but also for harmonic distortion of
In the absence of a three phase capacitor placement bus voltages and the effects of unbalanced operation.
program such as the one described here, an approximate The recent proliferation of nonlinear loads in distribu-
solution may be attempted by using a single phase pro- tion systems makes the issue of harmonic pollution an
gram that works for balanced systems. This means that important one to be considered in any of the distribution
all unbalanced loads and structurally non-symmetric automation functions such as capacitor sizing and loca-
lines will be replaced by balanced components and tion. This paper presents a simple yet effective solution
hence the solution will be different. This case investi- to the problem. Numerical examples demonstrating the
gates the errors involved in such an approximation. effectiveness of the procedure under both balanced and
The case compares the capacitor placement results of unbalanced operating conditions are provided.
Case 1 with that of a fully balanced version of the same Future work will involve more realistic representa-
system. Thus, the procedure of Section 3 is applied to a tion of the harmonic cost in the objective function.
balanced system which is created by approximating the
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