A protection scheme for microgrid with multiple distributed generations using superimposed reactive energy

With the growing integration of distributed generation, distribution networks have evolved toward the concept of microgrids. Microgrids can be operated in either the grid-connected mode to achieve peak shaving and power loss reduction or the islanded mode to increase the reliability and continuity of supply. These two modes of operation cause a challenge in microgrid protection, because the magnitude of fault current decreases significantly during the transition of a microgrid from the grid-connected mode to the islanded mode. This paper proposes a protection scheme for the microgrid based on superimposed reactive energy. The proposed scheme uses the Hilbert transform to calculate the superimposed reactive energy (SRE). The sequence components of superimposed current are adopted to detect fault incidents in the microgrid. The faulty phase and section are recognised by using the directional characteristics of SRE along with a threshold value. Moreover, a relay structure, which enables the proposed protection scheme, is designed. The significant feature of the proposed protection scheme is that it has the ability to protect the looped and radial microgrids against solid and high-impedance faults. To verify the efficacy of the proposed approach, extensive simulations have been carried out using the MATLAB/SIMULINK software package. The results show that the proposed scheme successfully identifies and isolates various types of fault in a microgrid and performs well with different fault resistances and fault locations.     

一种新型的微网自适应过流保护方法

微网灵活的运行模式给保护带来了严峻的挑战,对此提出了一种新型的微网自适应过流保护方法。以微网三处典型的故障为案例,从并网和离网角度剖析了微网自适应保护应具备的功能。以此为基础,给出了微网自适应保护方案并阐述了集中式微网保护的主从工作机制;提出了三段式自适应保护的过电流整定算法,设计了故障识别流程;基于分析传统过电流保护时限配合在微网保护中存在的弊端,提出了微网自适应保护在并网和孤岛时的动作时限优化方案,结合案例分析了其优点。理论和案例分析表明,所提自适应保护方法能够快速可靠地识别故障区域,满足微网对保护的要求。     

Coordination of dual setting overcurrent relays in microgrid with optimally determined relay characteristics for dual operating modes

Fault current magnitude in a microgrid depends upon its mode of operation, namely, grid-connected mode or islanded mode. Depending on the type of fault in a given mode, separate protection schemes are generally employed. With the change in microgrid operating mode, the protection scheme needs to be modified which is uneconomical and time inefficient. In this paper, a novel optimal protection coordination scheme is proposed, one which enables a common optimal relay setting which is valid in both operating modes of the microgrid. In this context, a common optimal protection scheme is introduced for dual setting directional overcurrent relays (DOCRs) using a combination of various standard relay characteristics. Along with the two variables, i.e., time multiplier setting (TMS) and plug setting (PS) for conventional directional overcurrent relay, dual setting DOCRs are augmented with a third variable of relay characteristics identifier (RCI), which is responsible for selecting optimal relay characteristics from the standard relay characteristics according to the IEC-60255 standard. The relay coordination problem is formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem, and the settings of relays are optimally determined using the genetic algorithm (GA) and the grey wolf optimization (GWO) algorithm. To validate the superiority of the proposed protection scheme, the distribution parts of the IEEE-14 and IEEE-30 bus benchmark systems are considered.     

面向多能互补微网的故障辨识与继电保护算法

由于含有多种具有互补特性的分布式电源,多能互补微电网在能源综合利用、供电可靠性和运行经济性方面具有明显的优势。然而与传统配电网相比,各类分布式电源的并入导致微电网拓扑结构和运行方式变得更为复杂,并网和离网运行对应的故障特性存在差异,使得传统继电保护方案难以满足此类微电网保护的要求。针对这一问题,首先围绕传统继电保方案的不足展开讨论,分析微电网网内故障特点,继而提出一种适用于微电网的改进故障辨识算法,以实现对网内故障的快速准确辨识。综合考虑多能互补微网继电保护的需求,结合改进故障辨识算法,将改进电流差动保护与广域自适应电流速断保护相结合,提出一种适用于微电网分布式电源上下游线路的综合继电保护算法,在缩小故障影响范围的基础上,提高保护响应速度并降低保护拒动的概率。最后,利用RT-LAB实时仿真系统构建含风、光、储、微型燃气轮机等分布式电源在内的多能互补微网模型,通过网内模拟不同类型故障,验证了所提故障辨识和继电保算法的有效性。     

微电网保护研究综述

微电网的保护是微电网大规模发展过程中需要解决的关键问题之一。由于微电网存在孤岛运行模式以及分布式电源的大量接入,导致其故障电流的特征不明显,使得配电网中传统的保护策略存在拒动或者误动的情况,国内外研究人员针对此问题展开广泛研究。总结并分析了近年来微电网保护领域内的研究成果,首先梳理出微电网保护需要克服的难点和关键技术,然后将相关文献中采用的微电网保护方法分成七类,分别归纳了差动保护、过流保护、距离保护、自适应保护、基于电压量的保护、基于智能算法的保护以及故障电流补偿方法的技术特点和适用性。最后,在结论部分给出了微电网保护技术的主要特点和未来发展趋势,为其后续研究和应用提供参考。     

基于储能变流器的微电网稳定控制策略

微电网是一种将分布式电源、储能装置、变流器、负荷以及监控保护装置有机整合在一起的小型发、配、用电系统。微电网运行方式复杂,为维持微电网电压和频率的稳定,提出一种基于储能变流器的下垂控制与恒频恒压（V f）控制相结合的微电网稳定控制策略。微电网并网运行时,储能变流器采用下垂控制;微电网离网运行时,若电压和频率在设定的范围内,储能变流器仍然采用下垂控制,若超出设定范围,储能变流器采用V f控制。仿真结果表明,提出的控制策略在微电网并网运行、离网运行、以及并/离网切换过程中均能维持微电网电压和频率的稳定。     

零序非工频分量注入式微电网接地故障保护方案

微电网中含有大量的分布式电源,且具有很多不同于传统配电网的特点,传统配电网中的保护方案难以满足其对可靠性与稳定性的要求。基于微电网的结构和故障特点,建立了含多个逆变型分布式电源的微电网故障网络模型,提出了一种基于零序非工频分量注入的微电网接地故障保护方案。该方案利用注入的零序非工频电流产生的故障特征,能够正确识别并切除微电网内部的各类接地故障,且同时适用于并网和孤岛2种运行方式。最后,在PSCAD/EMTDC软件中进行了仿真分析,结果验证了所提保护方案的有效性与可靠性。     

微网实验系统结构特征及控制模式分析

微网是一种可将各种分布式电源组合起来为当地负荷提供电能的中、低压小型电网,具有并网和孤岛2种运行模式,能提高负荷侧的供电可靠性.文中总结了目前世界范围内的微网发展状况,按结构和控制模式对现存的微网实验室和示范工程加以分类,并进行了深入的分析,依据国外一些微网实验室和示范工程的建设经验给出了对中国微网建设具有指导意义的建议.     

A novel fault protection system using communication-assisted digital relays for AC microgrids having a multiple grounding system

This paper develops a novel fault protection system for AC microgrids having a multiple grounding system. Communication-supported digital relays which have different protection modules are used for this novel microgrid protection system. The protection modules in a digital relay have various functionalities to protect AC microgrids from various fault types, such as: low/high-impedance ground faults and short-circuits. To effectively use the developed novel microgrid protection system, the first step is to reconfigure different microgrid structures into a standard microgrid configuration having a multiple-grounding system through using delta/wye-grounded or wye-grounded/wye-grounded transformers. Then, a fast–dependable–adaptable (FDA) fault protection algorithm is developed to protect AC microgrids from faults occurring at trunk lines, common buses or branch lines. At an islanded operation mode of AC microgrids, by using digital relays, a new protection module is designed to detect, locate, and classify the faults occurring at trunk lines and common AC buses, while other protection modules can use the existing protection methodologies (e.g. directional/non-directional overcurrent protection principles, etc.) to detect and clear the faults at source branches or load branches of the microgrids. At a grid-connected operation mode, standard overcurrent protection modules are applied for the FDA fault protection system. Simulation and experiment results obtained from various fault cases at a real low-voltage AC microgrid have validated the effective operation of the FDA fault protection system.     

Integration of a hybrid fuel cell-battery system to a distribution grid

In order to integrate a proton exchange membrane type (PEM) fuel cell system (FCS) combined with a battery bank to a distribution grid; this paper proposes a local controller based on fuzzy logic. The proposed system provides primary frequency control and local bus voltage support to the local grid. This opposes the passive distributed generation of the present that do not provide auxiliary services, such as back-up power, voltage support and reliability of supply as they operate under constant power factor equal to 1 at all times. During network disturbances, the distributed generations of the present are disconnected until normal operation is reestablished. When the distributed generation penetration is high this may lead to system instability. The microgrid concept is the effective solution for the control and quality improvement of grids with high level of DG penetration. So, the proposed system, also, can be an active controllable microsource of a microgrid in the future that cooperates with other microsources in order to cover the local load demands for active and reactive power either under grid-connected mode or under islanding operating mode. In cases where the distribution grid (working as microgrid) is forced to operate in islanded mode, the hybrid system provides the demanded active and reactive power. The FCS is connected to a weak distribution grid so that the system performance is studied under the worst conditions. The simulation results are obtained using MATLAB software under a severe step load change where the grid is still connected and under islanded operation. In both cases the system presents a good performance.     

基于电流行波的微电网保护策略

针对微电网的故障电流小、潮流双向性等特性,提出了适合微电网的保护策略并进行了仿真。传统的基于过电流的电网保护技术对于微电网的保护受到一定限制,因而需要对新的技术进行探索。在对这些因素分析的基础上,提出了微电网的保护策略:通过小波变换对电流行波进行分析判断故障位置,母线电压确定故障发生与否及扰动电压判断故障类型。利用SVPWM控制原理在Matlab/Simulink中使用SimPowerSystems搭建微电网的模型,并对孤岛运行模式下微电网不同的故障类型进行仿真分析,仿真结果表明所提出的保护策略在孤岛运行的方式下是有效的。     

Overcurrent protection for distribution feeders with renewable generation

Distribution systems in Taiwan are typically radial type or normally open loop type. Distribution feeders have a simple protection system that usually employs overcurrent relays. When renewable generation (RG) is connected to the distribution feeder, the feeder changes from a single-source system to a complex multi-source system, which causes loss of the original coordination among feeder protection devices. The operation of RG units can cause protection failure. Fault current produced by RG units may reduce the current measured by the feeder relay. Therefore, this paper proposes connecting RGs to the feeder via four-way circuit switches with overcurrent relays, and dividing the feeder into several protection zones. Each protection zone is capable of isolating fault itself.The algorithm process and design procedure of overcurrent protection are also proposed for distribution feeders with RG. Results of this research provide a valuable reference for overcurrent protection that improved protection coordination and system reliability.     

Corrective economic dispatch in a microgrid

In this paper, a corrective economic dispatch problem formulation for distributed generators in a microgrid is presented, which considers the transition from grid‐connected operation to islanded operation. Various constraints related to the operation of a microgrid are modeled, such as spinning reserve requirement for the variation of load demand and the output of intermittent sources, the flow limits between the control areas, and ramping limits of distributed generators. The resulting problem is then solved by an interior point method. Numerical tests based on a three‐area ten‐unit microgrid system show the effects of these constraints on the generation cost. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive overcurrent protection scheme coordination in presence of distributed generation using radial basis neural network

The operational performance of conventional overcurrent protection relay coordination connected to a distribution network is adversely afected by the penetration of distributed generators (DG) at diferent buses in the network. To address this problem, this paper proposes a novel adaptive protection coordination scheme using a radial basis function neural network (RBFNN), which automatically adjusts the overcurrent relay settings, i.e., time setting multiplier (TSM) and plug setting multiplier (PSM) based on the penetration of DGs. Short circuit currents and voltages measured at diferent buses are acquired using the remote terminal units (RTU) connected to diferent buses within the terminal network. Communication between the various remotes and local end station RTUs is through hybrid communication systems of fber optic and power line communication system modules. The new adaptive overcurrent protection scheme is applied to the IEEE 33-bus distribution network with and without DGs, for single and multi-DG penetration using both the ETAP and MATLAB software. The simulation results show the proposed scheme signifcantly improves the protection coordination.     

Day-ahead optimal charging/dischargingscheduling for electric vehicles inmicrogrids

Microgrid as an important part of smart grid comprises distributed generators (DGs), adjustable loads, energy storage systems (ESSs) and control units. It can be operated either connected with the external system or islanded with the support of ESSs. While the daily output of DGs strongly depends on the temporal distribution of natural resources such as wind and solar, unregulated electric vehicle (EV) charging demand will deteriorate the unbalance between the daily load curve and generation curve. In this paper, a statistic model is presented to describe daily EV charging/discharging behaviors considering the randomness of the initial state of charge (SOC) of EV batteries. The optimization problem is proposed to obtain the economic operation for the microgrid based on this model. In dayahead scheduling, with the estimated power generation and load demand, the optimal charging/discharging scheduling of EVs during 24 h is achieved by serial quadratic programming. With the optimal charging/discharging scheduling of EVs, the daily load curve can better track the generation curve. The network loss in grid-connected operation mode and required ESS capacity in islanded operation mode are both decreased.     

基于故障分量的微电网保护适用性

微电网具有潮流双向流动、并网孤岛运行时故障电流差别大以及拓扑结构灵活多变的特点,给微电网的保护带来了很大的挑战。基于故障分量原理的保护相较于其余的保护方法具有明显的优势,但微电网中的大多数微电源经逆变器接入电网,其故障特性主要受控制策略影响,不同于传统的同步发电机,现有的故障分量分析方法已不再适用。因此,分析故障分量保护在含逆变型分布式电源(IIDG)的微电网中的适用性十分必要。文中主要针对IIDG在恒功率控制策略下的等效模型,建立含多个IIDG的微电网故障附加网络,比较同一母线上的故障线路与其余馈线的正序电流故障分量,从幅值和相位两个角度对故障分量原理进行了分析,并在PSCAD软件中对微电网模型进行了仿真,验证了分析的正确性。     

分布式发电对配电网继电保护的影响

传统的放射状链式配电网接入分布式发电系统后,配电网继电保护及安全自动装置的配置和整定变得非常复杂和困难。详细分析了分布式电源的接入对原有的配电网继电保护和安全自动装置运行的影响,提出了一种在分布式电源并网时的保护及自动装置配置方案,该方案将配电网原有的距离保护改造为允许式方向纵联保护,提高了并网变电站的供电可靠性,具有实际可行性。     

Adaptive intelligent techniques for microgrid control systems: A survey

This paper introduces a survey on the adaptive and intelligent methods that have been applied to microgrids systems. Interestingly, the adaptive technique is effectively exercised in various control issues including stability, tracking error, and parameter uncertainties. Adaptive control has been extremely developed by using intelligent algorithms to automatically tune the control parameters namely fuzzy logic, particle swarm optimization, bacterial search algorithm, and etc. The objective is to evaluate and classify the design control methods and evaluation algorithms for the microgrid systems to maintain stability, reliability, and load variations by adjusting the controller parameters especially in standalone operation mode. The stability of islanded microgrids are constantly impacted by the related loads. A significant part of the research on an islanded microgrid involves droop control technique. In normal operation, distributed generation units and storage units provide power quality control. Once a shutdown is occurred, microgrid can be isolated from the main grid and operate in a local grid to support the local loads. Thus, distributed generations co-operate storage units to sustain the stability of the islanded microgrid.     

Directional overcurrent and earth-fault protections for a biomass microgrid system in Malaysia

Over-current protection is principally intended to counteract excessive current in power systems. In distribution systems in Malaysia, non-directional over-current protection is adopted because of the radial nature of the power system used. Relay typically used in distribution network are designed to cater for current flow in one direction, i.e., from transmission network to load. However, with the forecasted increase in generation from renewable sources, it is important that adequate codes are in place with regards to their integration to sub-transmission/distribution network. Distribution network dynamically changes from “passive” to “active” network. With distributed generation connected to distribution network, power flows bi-directionally. Hence, directional over-current protection is adopted along the line between the transmission grid and the distributed generation. The bi-directional flow of power also complicates the earth fault protection. This is due to the presence of the distributed generation that will cause the line near the delta side of the transformer to be still energized after the operation of earth fault relay during single-phase-to-ground-fault. This paper investigates the directional over-current and earth fault protections used to protect the microgrid (biomass generator) in Malaysia. In this study, under-voltage relays are adopted at the delta side of the transformer to fully clear the single-line-to-ground fault, which cannot be cleared by earth fault relay. Three-phase-balanced fault and single-line-to-ground-fault at all possible locations in the network have been simulated. Simulation shows good coordination and discrimination between over-current relays.     

Dynamic performance enhancement of microgrids by advanced sliding mode controller

Dynamics are the most important problems in the microgrid operation. In the islanded microgrid, the mismatch of parallel operations of inverters during dynamics can result in the instability. This paper considers severe dynamics which can occur in the microgrid. Microgrid can have different configurations with different load and generation dynamics which are facing voltage disturbances. As a result, microgrid has many uncertainties and is placed in the distribution network where is full of voltage disturbances. Moreover, characteristics of the distribution network and distributed energy resources in the islanded mode make microgrid vulnerable and easily lead to instability. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the suitable mathematical modeling based on microgrid characteristics and to design properly inner controllers to enhance the dynamics of microgrid with uncertain and changing parameters. This paper provides a method for inner controllers of inverter-based distributed energy resources to have a suitable response for different dynamics. Parallel inverters in distribution networks were considered to be controlled by nonlinear robust voltage and current controllers. Theoretical prove beyond simulation results, reveal evidently the effectiveness of the proposed controller.