ECE 695: Power Distribution System Analysis

Lecture 1: Power Distribution Systems Overview

References: Kersting, Chapter 1
Gonen, Chapters 4, 5, 6

Instructor: Vassilis Kekatos

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Why study distribution systems?

• No commercial interest or technical challenges in the past

– largely oversized equipment
– with an electric vehicle, a typical 5kW household can become 15kW+

• Smart grid technologies connected to distribution grids

– energy management systems

– voltage regulation

• New monitoring and control apparatus

– remotely controlled devices (switches, regulators, capacitors)
– micro-PMUs and smart meters
– smart inverters

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Efficiency and resiliency

• Pressing need for efficiency (handle uncertainty)

– demand response, TOU pricing, peak reduction
– conservative voltage reduction (CVR)
– smart buildings and smart thermostats
– aggregators

• Pressing need for resiliency

– low-frequency high-impact events
– climate change
– microgrids (campus, military, hospital)
– islanded operation

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Transmission vs. distribution systems

• Imbalance and multiphase conditions

– unbalanced load
– untransposed lines (single- or two-phase laterals)
– no single-phase equivalent
– no symmetrical components
– neutral wire and earth

• Different R/X ratios

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z = 0.12 + j0.20 ⌦/mile

– fewer strands, no bundling, shorter span
– underground cables
– no P/theta and Q/V decoupling

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• Topologies and equipment z = 0.05 + j0.5 ⌦/mile

– radial vs. meshed

– regulators and capacitor banks
– reclosers and sectionalizers
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The big picture

[Kersting]

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 Substransmission network
connects one or more distribution substations to
one or more transmission substations (buses)

Distribution substation
hosts equipment for protection, switching,
metering, and voltage transformation/regulation

Primary feeders
a typical 84 MVA transformer may be serving 3 feeders

Primary (or medium-voltage) distribution network

Single-, two-, and three-phase laterals
circuit between substation and dist. transformers

Secondary (low-voltage) distribution network

circuit between dist. transformers and
[Gonen] customers
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Sub-transmission network

• Network of overhead (OH) or underground (UG) subtransmission lines

operating in 69/115/138 kV; transmission bus may be at 230 kV

230 kV
Bulk power source bus

[Gonen]

115 kV

34.5 kV
Radial-type sub-transmission network Loop-type sub-transmission network

• What does radial or tree structure mean?

• During topology reconfiguration, ensure ratings are respected
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Meshed sub-transmission network

• For increased reliability, subtransmission may involve multiple transmission

buses and have a meshed architecture

[Gonen]

Grid- or network-type subtransmission

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Distribution substation

• Voltage transformed from sub-trans. to primary distribution (e.g., 115 to 34.5 kV)

• Substation may be hosting multiple transformers

[Kersting]

Breaker-and-a-half [why?] substation scheme

• Each transformer may be serving multiple primary feeders

e.g., 84-MVA transformer serving 3 feeders at 34.5 or 12.47 kV
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Primary distribution feeders [Gonen]

[Gonen]

Radial-type primary feeder

• In-line transformers could be lowering voltage from say 12.47 to 4.16 kV 10

Other radial feeders

[Gonen]
[Gonen]
Radial feeder with express feeder and backfeed
Radial feeder with tie switches

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Meshed primary feeders

[Gonen]

Loop-type feeder [Gonen]

(loop tie disconnect can be NO or NC) Network-type primary system

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Distribution lines

three-phase four-wire multi-grounded Y

three-phase Delta (under replacement)

[Blume]
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Secondary distribution network

• Distribution XFMRs form the boundary between primary and secondary distribution

• Secondary distribution voltages

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240/120 V single-phase distribution transformers

[Blume]
three-winding transformer

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208/120 V three-phase distribution transformers

[Blume]

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480/277 V three-phase distribution transformers

[Blume]

Small single-phase transformers provide 120 V from 480 V for lighting/office use
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Switches and circuit breakers

Switches
• located at substation or feeder
• isolate equipment for maintenance or
grid reconfiguration
• cannot interrupt faults
• manual or remote control

[K. Schneider]

Circuit breakers
• similar to switches, but can break fault currents
• used for protection rather than switching
• located at substation (due to size and rating)

[K. Schneider]

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 Fuses

• Low-cost devices used to interrupt fault currents

• Once fuse interrupts overcurrent, it has to be

manually replaced by a line crew

• Fuse coordination: the practice of selecting fuse sizes

so that fuse closest to the fault blows first

• Fuse coordination requires knowledge of system

load and gets complicated with distributed resources

Photo courtesy of K. Schneider

• Operate on an inverse time curve:

the higher the fault current, the quicker the fuse will blow

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 Example of fuse protection

• Permanent line to ground fault on line 705-712

• Fuse blows due to overcurrent, thus isolating single-

phase lateral

• Customers at 712 and 742 call in to report power outage

• Utility dispatches a line crew to investigate

• Line crew locates fault and repairs condition

• Line crew replaces blown fuse with a new one

• Single-phase lateral is back to service

Courtesy of K. Schneider

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 Protection relays

• Use local measurements to generate control signals

• Fuses measure only current; relays measure

voltage and current so can also estimate
- real and reactive power
- sequence components
- phasor measurements

• They can be accessed remotely for maintenance

and updates

Courtesy of K. Schneider

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 Reclosers
• Designed to minimize number of
customers affected by momentary fault

• Not needed in transmission or underground

distribution systems

Operation
1. Fault occurs
2. Recloser interrupts fault current and remains
open for a time period (1-2 sec) to allow
Courtesy of K. Schneider
momentary faults to clear
3. Recloser closes back into fault and sees if fault
has cleared
4. If fault has cleared, recloser stays closed;
otherwise, recloser reopens
5. Number of tries to reconnect is user-
configurable (usually 3)
6. After final ‘shot’, recloser locks open
7. Utility crew must locally reset the unit
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 Sectionalizers

• Operate on local measurements and with

proper coordination of upstream reclosers

• Combination of reclosers and sectionalizers

is ideal for system with permanent and Recloser

temporary faults

Operation
1. Sectionalizer detects overcurrent but cannot

Sectionalizer #1

Sectionalizer #2

Sectionalizer #3
interrupt fault
2. It starts counting recloser shots
3. During the second/third recloser shots, the
sectionalizer opens under no load
Courtesy of K. Schneider

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 Example of sectionalizer protection
• Permanent line to ground fault on line 710-735

• Overcurrent causes R1 to open

• S1 detects overcurrent and prepares to open

R2 S3
• S2 does not detect overcurrent

• R1 waits and closes back in; repeats 3x before locking open

• S1 opens on 3rd shot during no load

R1
• R1 closes back in, sees no fault, and remains closed
S1
• Customers downstream of 708 report power outage and
utility dispatches line crew
S2
• Line crew locates fault; repairs condition; and recloses sect.

• Lateral back to service

Courtesy of K. Schneider
What is the sequence for fault on 741?

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Voltage regulation

• Voltage magnitude should lie within ±5% of nominal (114-126 V for 120 V)

• Voltage regulators: special transformers that change turns ratios depending on load
conditions to maintain voltage on secondary side within range

• Capacitors: can switch on/off depending on load to regulate voltage via PF correction

[Kersting]

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Voltage transformers

On-Load Tap-Changing (OLTC) transformer

§ a.k.a. Tap Changing Under-Load Transf. (TCUL)
§ located at the substation; can serve multiple feeders
§ maintains constant low-voltage side under varying
distribution load or transmission-side conditions
§ can be substituted with transformer & regulator
§ faster response than regulators

In-line transformers and regulators

Distribution transformers

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Radial feeders
primary ‘main’ feeder:
2-30 MVA @ 2-34 kV
secondaries:
5-500 kVA @ 120-480 V

3, V, single-phase laterals

in-line transformers

distribution transformers
240/120 V 1-phase (split-phase)
208/120 V 3-phase
480/277/120 V 3-phase
400/230 V 3-phase (Europe)

regulators and cap banks

protection devices
[Kersting]

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 Distribution feeder map

• Transformers (kVA rating, connection)

• Shunt capacitors (kVAR rating, phase)
• Voltage regulators (phase, ratios, compensator
settings)
• Lines (OH/UG, distance, conductor, phase)
• Switches (NO/NC)
• Geographical distances
• Conductors (radius, diameter, resistance)

[Kersting]

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