Three phase load flow program

Abstract

The paper describes a general three phase load flow program developed for the steady state analysis of any electric transmission network under all possible imbalance conditions such as untransposed EHV lines, single phase loading, single pole switching, etc. Input data preparation and output data interpretation are made easy for program users by using both phase and symmetrical components quantities; however, the load flow problem formulation and solution are all done in phase quantities (A, B, C). The method of solution is the Newton-Raphson method, using optimally ordered triangular factorization to take advantage of the sparsity of network equations. The program has several new features to simulate real three phase operation of power systems and imbalance conditions. For example, the internal induced voltages of generators are balanced, while generator terminal voltages depend on internal machine impedances and the imbalance in machine currents. Also, the steady state performance of the voltage regulator is simulated to maintain some function of the machine terminal phase voltages constant, depending on the actual design of the voltage measurement. Another feature of the program is that it can handle all common transformer connections having two or three windings that are used in HV transmission networks.