NATIONAL POWER SYSTEMS CONFERENCE, NPSC2002 149

Novel Approach to ACDC Load Flow Analysis

Hemantkumar S. Barot and S.K. Joshi

Abstract—A new approach for the ACDC load flow called the eliminated
variable method is presented in this paper. In this method rectifier and 

 
  !

(1)
inverter are treated as voltage dependent loads to eliminate dc variables
from the power flow equation. Hence, A simple method of Newton power
flow can be implemented on hybrid AC/DC system. A new method is tested 
"
 "#%$&('
") "*!

on IEEE 30 bus system with one of the ac lines converted in to dc link. (2)
Keywords—ACDC Load flow

 
"%+ !
-,.

(3)
I. I NTRODUCTION
/
 0
 !

The load flow problem of combined ACDC system requires (4)
modeling of HVDC system and incorporation of dc system
equation in basic load flow equation, giving rise to modified load /1
"0
"*!

flow problem for hybrid ACDC system. (5)
The crux of this paper is to understand the ACDC load flow
2
30 
(4!

problem. There are two conventional approaches available for (6)
solving the combined ACDC load flow problem. They are
namely; the unified approach and the sequential approach. Uni- 2
" 0  " $ !

fied in principle, but handling AC and DC parts of load flow (7)

5
 76 8 2
9  :8;/
<9 

separately , is the new approach to the hybrid problem of ACDC
load flow [4]. (8)
The first conventional approach is the sequential method [1],
[2], [3], in which AC and DC equations are solved separately 5
"=>6 8 2
" 9  :8;/?
" 9 
each iteration. The sequential approach is easy to implement, (9)
but convergence problems occurs in specific situations.

3A@CB 
Where k is very close to unity (k=0.995 for load flow studies)
The second approach is the unified method [3], [5] in which  EF@
D and D . ) G$
DC equations are incorporated in the solution vector of the AC In the above equations,
load flow. The solution vector is extended with dc- variables. 
and
 G
are
" the rectifier and the in-
verter side AC bus voltage. and represents the dc voltage
The drawback with this method is the complexity to program on the rectifier and inverter sides respectively.
and difficulty to combine with developments in AC load flow
solution techniques, such as FDLF method. III. ACDC L OAD F LOW
The eliminated method overcomes these difficulties. The
For steady state analysis of ACDC system, the performance
eliminated variable method of ACDC load flow is entirely dif-
equations of dc link can be integrated in the power or load flow
ferent. The concept behind this method is to treat the real and
equations.
reactive power consumed by the converters as the voltage de-
When the dc link equations are incorporated in the load flow
pendent loads. The DC equations are solved analytically or nu-
equtions, only the mismatch equations at the rectifer and inverter
merically and the DC variables are completely eliminated from
terminal ac buses have to be modified, since the converters have
the load flow equations.
been considered as loads on ac buses:
This method has following advantages:
The ac and dc parts of load flow can be handled separately. /  0/I H  J/ K 8; L $ML 
CN9
(10)
This simplifies the realisation and modification of program.
It is easy to handle changeover of control modes due to vari- 5 O 5  H   5 P(8#
 L %$ L 
C 9
ables hitting limits. (11)

II. DC S YSTEM M ODEL /?$3/ $ H  J/"Q$8;( L %$ L 
C 9

(12)
The dc system can be modelled in the same fashion as de-
scribed in the references [3], [5]. 5 $  5 $H   5 "Q$ 8# L $ML 
CR9
(13)
The equations describing the steady state behaviour of a
monopolar link can be summarised as follows: Where the P and Q are the real and reactive power mismatches
without considering the dc link.
Hemantkumar S. Barot is with Electrical Engineering Department, Sardar Val- S
C
labhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Vasad above represents a vector of internal dc variables.
S.K. Joshi is with Electrical Engineering Department, M.S. University of Bar- 
CTVU ( L %$ L 
 L  L 
" L '
" L !
W
oda, Vadodara
150 NATIONAL POWER SYSTEMS CONFERENCE, NPSC2002

The dc varibles satisfy B. Control Mode Transfer

Let the control mode (A) is the base mode. The control angles
, 8; L $ML 
CN9 X
(14) and the dc voltage are specified and the converter transfomer
taps are to be varied to meet these specifications. If any tap-
R is a set comprising of equations given by 1 to 3 above and changer hits a limit during load flow, a switchover to another
four control specifications. control mode becomes necessary. similarly in all other modes
In the conventional unified approach, the below equation is if the calculated variable hits a limit, a mode change becomes
solved iteratively. necessary.

IV. E LIMINATED VARIABLE M ETHOD

YZ \ / `^ __ YZ b b c c X `^ __ YZ \ j
k ^`_
Z Z Z _
Z \ / ] __
 Z b b c c d __ Z \lj ] _ In Eliminateds
CVariable
 Method, the equation 14 are in princi-
Z Z Z mTn _ ple solved for .
\ 5  e e f f X
\ 5 ] a mTn no (15)
[ [ e e f f g a [ no a 
CT0tuU ( L %$CW
\ , X X X h i \ 
C (17)
The real and reactive power consumed by the rectifier and the
1 G$
inverter then can be defined as the function of and .
In sequential mehtod, the equation 14 is solved after each it- /v

Let the Rectifer end power is given by :
eration of following equation:
p \ / p b c p k\ j /1
w/1
x8;( L $ L S
C 9 0/?
8;( L %$ L t:Uy{z L %$CW 9 /?
8;( L $ 9
\ 5rq  e f q mTn q
n (16)
(18)
Same is true for the Inverter end power.
A. Control Specifications Here it is not necessary to derive explicit mathematical func-
tions for the real and reactive powers, but we have to just find
If we go through equations 1 to 9, we can realise that there out a sequence of computation for the real and reactive powers
are only three independent equations and seven variables. Thus and their partial derivatives can be obtained with respect to the
to have a unique solution, one is required to specify atleast four ac terminal voltage.
of the seven variables.
These gives rise to various control modes for operation of dc ( If all G$the real and reactive powers are written as functions of
and , the equation 15 can be written as:
link in a hybrid ACDC system. It is not possible to incorpo- p \ / p b c}| p \kj
rate all the conceivable control modes, but seven of the control
\ 5 q  e fT| q m n q
T
n (19)
modes are shown in the Table I.

TABLE I Where N’ and L’ represents the modified elements of the ja-

C ONTROL M ODES cobian of AC load flow problem. This elements gets modified
so as to have the effect of inclusion of a dc link in a pure AC
Control Mode system.
 Specified
?  '(" Variables
%
" /?
"
A
  ' "
" /
" / H  /1
48#
 L %$ 9
c | 8;/ L / 9 ~ & +  
B
 '("  " /?
" (
 (20)
C  
  ' "  " /
" / H 
D /1
48;( L $ 9
? '("   /?
" |
c *8 / L 5 9 0 $  + $ 
E
   "
" /
" $ $ (21)
 
/ $H 
F
? 
"   /?
" /
" 8# L $9
G c | 8 5 L / 9 0   J  


 (22)
 
/ $H  /
" 8# L $9
In normal operation of a HVDC link, one terminal controls c | 8 5 L 5 9 0 $  J $ 
$ $ (23)
the voltage and the other controls the current through the dc link.  
Normally, Inverter has voltage control and the Rectifier offers
current control. On the same line,
When the AC voltage at the rectifier terminal goes down, rec- 5 H  5
M8;( L $ 9
f | 8;/ L / 9 ~
& + ( 
tifier hits minimum alpha. In this condition, Rectifier controls   (24)
the voltage and Inverter controls the current through the dc link.  
f|x8;/ L 5 9 fT|x8 5 L / 9 f€|x8 5 L 5 9
When the Inverter controls the voltage, the possible combi- analogously , and can be ob-
nation of the prespecified variables gives rise to control modes tained.
(A) to (D). When the Rectifier starts controlling the voltage, the Thus, in the eliminated variable method, four mismatch equa-
possible control modes are (E) to (G), as per the Table I. tions and around eight elements of the jacobian gets modified,
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, KHARAGPUR 721302, DECEMBER 27-29, 2002 151

TABLE II
PARTIAL D ERIVATIVES FOR VARIOUS C ONTROL M ODES
Œ Œ Œ Œ
Mode ‚-ƒKo „ <Š%o ƒK„ ‚-ƒKoŒ „ Šo‰ƒKŒ „ ‚-oƒ <Š%o ƒ ‚-ƒo‰Œ Šo‰ƒ Œ
A … 0 „ 4† ‡‰ˆ 0… „ † ‡‰‹ 0… † ‡Q‹ 0… <… 0 „ … 0 „ † ‡Q‹ 0… † ‡Q‹ 0…
B 0 ŽMƒK „ 0 0 0 0 0 0
ŠƒK„ Œ
C 0 0 C ‘
’Q“4”P• –  ;• — ‘(’4ž Ÿ¡’£¢(¤¥‘ ‘(’`¦ 0 0 0 § ƒ Œ žS“4”P•¢
Š ƒP„I˜ ™•*š— ›xœRˆ œNˆ Š ƒ Œ ; ¨
D 0 Ž ƒK „ C‘ ’ “4” •  – ¤lC‘ ’ ‘ 0 0 0 § ƒ Œ S ž “4” • ¢
•;°%Š ±³ƒK² „ – ‚-´‰ ;• ° -‚ ƒK„ Š ƒK„k© › œRˆ œRˆNª Š ƒ ;¨
E C‘ ’ “4”¬« Ž ƒK „­Q®;¯  0 0 0 –  ;• ° Œ Ÿ £’ µ€¶ 0 0
ŠƒK„ Šƒ › œR‹ Œ
F 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ž ƒ Œ
• ° ³± ² – ‚ ´  • ° ‚ ƒK„ Œ ƒŠ Œ
G C‘ ’ “4”¬« Ž Kƒ „ ­Q®;¯  0 0 0 Ž ƒ Œ “4”¬« 0 Ž ƒ Œ
Š ƒK„ Š ƒ Š ƒ

but no new variables are incorporated in the solution vector, 2


    8;   !
M9  2

when a DC link is included in the load flow.
 (29)
· z Then¹Mpartial
º n<»R¼ derivatives required by the equations 20 to 24, eg.
/
 
ƒK„· ¸ n¹ , is the derivative of with respect to assuming Similarly the required parital derivatives for modifying jaco-
$
to be constant. bian can be computed for remaining control modes.
The partial derivatives for all the control modes in Table I are
A. Analytical Elimination shown in Table II.
It means calculating the partial derivatives necessary to mod- In the present study analytical elimination technique is used.
ify the jacobian to incorporate the dc link in load flow analysis,
using analytical techniques. V. ACDC L OAD F LOW A LGORITHM
Enabling to digest the procedure, the analytical elimination is In this study the NR algorithm is used, but in each iteration dc
carried out in detail for two modes. equations are solved and using analytical elimination, the partial
Control Mode (A) : derivatives to modify the jacobian are calculated.
U 1 L '
" L 
" L /?
"*W /

Here are the four specified variables and
U   L 
" L %
W /1
The
" L 5
rectifier
 5
and
" inverter end real and reactive powers ,
are!
the unknowns. /
 and are used to modify the mismatch vector. The
We can get from equation 5 and from : partial derivatives for modifying the jacobian are obtained by
/1
v0/1
" + !
 ,
analytical elimination for various control modes. The quantities
(25) required in the respective derivatives are calculated and modified
elements of jacobian are computed.
and thus
p /?
" + 8 ,
+   9 !

Steps for solving ACDC load flow problem are described be-
2
3 low:
  q (26) (1) In the newton iteration, the dc equations are solved before
formation of the mismatch vector.
2
 ½8*/1
" + /?¾ + 5 ¾ 9 (2) Subroutine to solve DC link equations is called. The algo-
(27)
rithm for solving the dc link equations is described as follows
analogously :
2
" x¿G8*/
"%+ 5 ¾&9 (a) In solving the dc link equation, the base mode is the control
(28) mode A.
Thus all the real and reactive power consumed by the convert- (b) Using the prespecified variables, the unknowns are cal-
ers can be precomputed, and the incorporation of dc link in the culted.
load flow becomes least significant for this control mode. This (c) The operationg limits of these unkowns are checked. If the
means that no element of jacobian is to be modified, if dc link is limit is violated goto 2d otherwise goto 2h
operating in control mode (A). Only the mismatch equation gets (d) If all the control modes are not consumed then continue oth-
altered. erwise stop and comment”DC link solution does not exist”.
Control Mode (B) : (e) The particular unknown variable is now fixed to its limiting
U { L '
" L 
" L /?
"*W value and a control mode change is executed.
In this mode are the four specified variables
U 1 L 
" L %
W (f) In each control mode there are four prespecified variables.
and are the unknowns.
If the tap-changer at the rectifier hits a limit in the control In the new control mode, the unknown are computed using the
mode (A) under current control in rectifier, this control mode dc equations.
(g) Repeat step 2c /
" 5
" /1
 5

(B) occurs.
G
" /¡
" !<
L L L
Since / and 2 are specified, can be obtained. More- (h) Calculate all the and other quantities that

4L

" are essential for modifying the mismatch vector and the jacobian
over, 
 and can2 be

 computed as for control mode (A).
Also is specifed, thus can be computed using equation 6. elements for ACDC load flow. Return to main program.
 152 NATIONAL POWER SYSTEMS CONFERENCE, NPSC2002

TABLE III TABLE IV

30 B US SYSTEM WITH DC LINK - B US VOLTAGE M AGNITUDE AND DC LINK SOLUTION
I NJECTED POWER
,ÁÀ
11
!À
BUS ANGLES VOLTAGES REAL REAC 13
/

POWER POWER 53.48259
5

1 0.0000 1.0600 1.4731 0.0469 16.35902


2 -.0535 1.0436 0.1830 0.3730 1.50027
 
3 -.1396 0.9855 0.2000 0.1000 0.31277


4 -.2961 1.0448 -.3000 0.2400 1.15000
/
"
5 -.1176 1.0100 -.0942 0.0187 53.48259
5
"
6 -.2205 1.0530 0.0000 0.2400 7.71430

"
7 -.2362 0.9988 0.0000 0.0000 1.50027
'("
8 -.2520 0.9756 -.0580 -.0200 0.17453

"
9 -.2205 1.0210 -.1120 -.0750 1.150003
!

10 -.2244 0.9151 0.0000 -.1900 5.64859
11 -.0860 1.0153 -53.5586 -.0160
12 -.1426 0.9839 -.2280 -.1090
13 -.1447 0.9809 53.4826 0.0000 AC and DC equations seperately or with increased size of Jaco-
14 -.2394 0.9999 -.0620 -.0160 bian to be used for AC and DC systems.
15 -.2411 0.9888 -.0820 -.0250
16 -.2384 0.9939 -.0350 -.0180 R EFERENCES
17 -.2518 0.9754 -.0900 -.0580 [1] J.Reeve, G.Fahmy and others, ”Versatile Load Flow methods for Multi-
18 -.2584 0.9712 -.0320 -.0090 terminal HVDC Systems”, IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and
Systems, Vol.PAS-96, No.3, 1977, pp. 925-933
19 -.2651 0.9641 -.0950 -.0340 [2] H.Fudeh AND C.M.Ong, ”A simple and efficient AC-DC Load Flow
20 -.2629 0.9661 -.0220 -.0070 method for Multiterminal DC system”, IEEE Transactions on Powr Ap-
paratus and Systems, Vol.PAS-100,No.7, 1981, pp. 4389-4396.
21 -.2585 0.9595 -.1750 -.1120 [3] J.Arrillaga, C.P.Arnold and B.J.Harker, ”Computer Modeling of Electri-
22 -.2574 0.9592 0.0000 0.0000 cal Power Systems”, John Wiley and Sons, 1983.
23 -.2487 0.9623 -.0320 -.0160 [4] T.Smed, G.Anderson and others, ”A New Approach to AC/DC Power
Flow, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol.6, No.3, August 1991.
24 -.2523 0.9360 -.0870 -.1100 [5] K.R.Padhiyar, ”HVDC Power Transmission System”, Wiley Eastern Ltd.
25 -.2385 0.9172 0.0000 0.0000
26 -.2475 0.8975 -.0350 -.0230
27 -.0719 1.0239 -.0240 -.0120
28 -.1491 0.9700 0.0000 0.0000
29 -.2514 0.8926 -.0240 -.0090
30 -.2710 0.8796 -.1060 -.0190

(3) Using the modified mismatch vector and jacobian for ACDC
system, the ACDC load flow problem is solved in the same man-
ner as the AC load flow problem.

VI. R ESULTS
IEEE 30 bus test system was used. The dc link was connected
between bus 11 and 13, replacing the existing ac line. The New-
ton load flow was run for four of the control modes(A-D). The
table III and IV contain the bus voltage magnitude and injected
power and dc link solution obtained for system respectively.

VII. C ONCLUSION
The New method to include dc system in power flow calcula-
tions is proposed. The method is easy to implement and can also
be combined with developments in ac load flow solution tech-
niques. This method is more efficient than sequential method
and conventional unified method as it requires only to modify
few Jacobian elements compared to solve the complete set of