Design of Electrical System Based On Load Flow

Analysis Using ETAP For IEC Projects

J. Arockiya Xavier Prabhu, Sudhanshu Sharma, M.Nataraj, Divya Prakash Tripathi
Electrical Department
Fluor Daniel India LTD
New Delhi, India
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract— This paper explains about performing load flow mode. In swing mode, V & δ are known value and P & Q are
analysis using ETAP for IEC projects and selection of electrical unknown value. In voltage control mode, P & V are known
equipment parameters based on ETAP result. Load flow analysis value and Q & δ are unknown value. In PF-control mode, P &
is the basic analysis for electrical power system design, electrical PF are known value and V, Q & δ are unknown value. In
power system planning, etc. This paper discusses about input
required for modeling electrical system, standard/typical values
MVAr control mode P & Q are known value and V & δ are
of input, values to be assumed if input is not available, acceptable unknown value.
limit of load flow analysis result and methods to be followed to In ETAP, all the electrical equipment shall be modeled in
achieve correct result. All the power system equipments are the form of Single Line Diagram (SLD). All electrical
designed to withstand worst case conditions. This paper also equipment requires certain input for load flow calculation and
discusses about certain worst cases to be analyzed using load flow details about those input is discussed in section II. ETAP
analysis.
considers the bus connected to load (motor or static load) as
Keywords— load flow analysis using ETAP; modeling electrical
load bus. ETAP considers the bus connected to source (Grid or
equipment in ETAP; modeling study cases; modeling configuration generator) operating in swing mode as swing bus. Similarly
status; result analysis; worst case to be analyzed using load flow ETAP chooses V-control bus, PF control bus and MVAR
analysis. control bus based on the source operating condition.
Transformers, generators and switchgear buses are
I. INTRODUCTION designed to operate under rated capacity. Electrical parameters
In Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) (voltage, current, power, etc.) of the power system under
industries, load flow analysis is performed using ETAP to plan different operating condition shall not exceed the rated
new power system and to plan the expansion of existing capacity of the transformers, generator and switchgear buses
industry. Load flow analysis deals with voltage (V), voltage in the power system. Using load flow analysis result
transformer rating, generator rating and switchgear busbar
angle (δ), real power (P) & reactive power (Q). Buses are
rating can be verified.
categorized as swing bus, generator bus and load bus for load
flow analysis. Swing bus and generator bus are source buses. Capacitors are provided in switchgear buses to improve
For swing bus V & δ are known value and P & Q are the power factor of the bus. Under any operating condition of
unknown value. For generator bus P & V are known value and plant the power factor shall not be below the acceptable limit.
Q & δ are unknown value. For load bus P & Q are known Required capacitor rating under different conditions can be
value and V & δ are unknown value. The unknown parameters analyzed using load flow analysis.
of buses (i.e P & Q for swing bus, Q & δ for generator bus and The results of load flow analysis provide the voltage across
V & δ for load bus) are calculated based on the known value all switchgear buses under various operating condition.
of buses (i.e V & δ for swing bus, P & V for generator bus and Transformer Off Circuit Tap Changer (OCTC) position can be
P & Q for load bus) and impedance between these buses (Zij) finalized based on voltage across switchgear buses under
using load flow calculation. After performing load flow various operating condition.
calculation all the four parameters (V, δ, P & Q) are available
for swing bus, generator bus and load bus. All the other
II. INPUT REQUIRED FOR LOAD FLOW CALCULATION
electrical parameters (e.g current, power factor, apparent
power) for the entire electrical system can calculated based on In this section, the minimum input required to model
these four parameters (V, δ, P & Q) and impedance between equipment in ETAP for performing load flow calculation is
the buses (Zij). discussed. In case of non availability of input, standard values
to be followed and values to be assumed is discussed in this
In ETAP four mode of operations are available for source. section.
They are swing mode, voltage control (V-control) mode,
power factor control (PF-control) mode and MVAr control
978-1-5090-0128-6/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
 For load flow analysis study cases, configuration status D. Motor Input
and electrical equipments with interconnection between them Motor model requires rated power, rated voltage, power
(in the form of SLD) are to be modeled. Commonly used factor and efficiency at 100%, 75% and 50% loading, demand
electrical equipment parameters are discussed in sub section A factor based on working duty (continuous, intermittent and
to sub section F of this section. Details about study case spare), status of working duty and % loading of motor.
modeling are discussed in sub section G of this section and Normally HV motors are modeled as individual motor.
configuration status is discussed in sub section H of this %Loading is calculated using break kW of driven equipment.
section. Efficiency and power factor data are received from motor
manufacturer. Normally demand factor of continuous duty is
A. Grid Input considered as 100%, intermittent duty as 30%-50% and spare
Since grid is a source, mode of operation (swing mode, V- duty as 0-10%.
control, etc) shall be chosen. Generally grid is chosen as a Certain motors will be loaded with different load at
swing bus. In swing mode V and δ are provided as input. In V- different operating condition (for example summer load of
control mode, P & V are provided as input. In PF-control HVAC and winter load of HVAC). In ETAP motor parameters
mode P & PF are provided as input. In MVAr control mode P contains 10 Nos. of loading category (design, Normal, brake,
& Q are provided as input. Other than these inputs, grid winter load, etc.). The % loading shall be entered in one of the
impedance (or short circuit MVA) can be modeled in ETAP. load category. Hence 10 Nos. of % loading cases can be
But ETAP doesn’t consider grid impedance for load flow analyzed. ETAP considers the different % loading of motor
analysis. based on the type of loading category chosen in study case
Grid model consists of 10 Nos. of generator category (refer sub section G of this section).
(Design, Normal, Shutdown, Emergency, etc.). The V, δ , P, ETAP considers motor as constant kVA load i.e. kVA of
Q, Qmax & Qmin are entered in any of these generation the motor load doesn’t change with change in voltage. Hence a
category. Hence 10 Nos. of generator operating condition can current flow through motor is inversely proportional to
be analyzed in ETAP. ETAP considers the V, δ , P, Q, Qmax voltage.
& Qmin value for load flow calculation based on the
generation category chosen in study case (refer sub section G E. Lump Load Input
of this section)
Generally LV loads are modeled as lump load. Each LV
B. Generator Input bus is modeled with lump load. Lump load represents total
load connected to the bus. Total sum of actual power (in kW)
Rated power (MW), rated power factor, rated voltage (V), and reactive power (in kVAr) of motor and static load
rated efficiency, maximum reactive power, minimum reactive connected to the bus is calculated and provided as input to
power and mode of operation shall be provided as input. lump load. Also percentage motor load and percentage static
Based on mode of operation (swing mode, V-control, etc.) V, load connected to the bus is modeled in ETAP. Like motor
δ, P, Q & PF shall be provided as input (as explained in sub lump load also has 10 Nos. of loading category. ETAP
section A of this section). considers static load as constant impedance load i.e. kVA of
the static load proportional to square of voltage.
C. Transformer Input
Primary voltage, secondary voltage, rated apparent power, F. Busbar Input
impedance, X/R ratio, impedance tolerance value and tap Rated voltage, rated current and type of bus (switchgear
position are the input for transformer. Rated apparent power is bus, MCC bus or switchboard bus) are required as input.
selected based on load connected to the transformer. Rated
apparent power of transformer has to be verified based on load G. Study Case Input
flow analysis and motor starting analysis. Impedance of
transformer shall be as per [1]. X/R ratio is calculated using Load flow study case is used to model certain operating
copper loss of transformer based on [2]. If copper loss of condition of power system. Loading category (refer sub
transformer is not available at the initial stage of project then section D & E of this section), generation category (sub
typical X/R ratio provided in ETAP shall be used. Off Circuit section A & B of this section), method of calculation
Tap changer (OCTC) tap position is chosen based on ETAP (Adaptive Newton Raphson, Newton Raphson, Fast
result. Transformer impedance tolerance value shall be chosen Decoupled, Accelerated Gauss-Seidal), adjustment to
based on [3]. ETAP considers positive tolerance for load flow impedance and alerts are modeled in study case. Based on
analysis. loading category and generation category the values for source
and loads are considered in calculation. Generally Newton
If transformer is provided with On Load Tap Changer Raphson method is chosen as method of calculation.
(OLTC) and Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) then Maximum allowable loading of each equipment, maximum
voltage lower band in %, voltage upper band in %, maximum allowable bus voltage and minimum allowable bus voltage can
tap, minimum tap and step size of tap are required as input. If be modeled in Alert tab. If any of equipment is loaded above
the bus voltage exceeds the upper band or reduces below the specified limit or bus voltage exceeds the limit then ETAP
voltage lower band then ETAP varies the tap position until the provides alert report. Generally transformers, generators and
bus voltage is in between upper band and lower band. switchgear buses are allowed to load up to 80% during Front
End Engineering Design (FEED) stage and 90% during detail (say Bus A and Bus B) connected by buscoupler. Each bus is
engineering stage. Acceptable limit of switchgear bus is connected to transformer (say Trafo A & Trafo B) via incomer
discussed in section IV. Circuit Breaker (CB). Under normal operation both the
transformers operates and buscoupler is open for system
H. Configuration Status Input voltage up to 11kV because switchgears are not designed for
Configuration status also used to model different operating parallel operation of transformer. System with voltage above
condition. Switching equipment (contactor, circuit breaker, 11kV, buscoupler CB may be closed under normal operation
switch and fuse) close/open status can be modeled in because transformers may operates in parallel. Maximum load
configuration status. Suppose a switching device is closed in operation for double ended switchgear is buscoupler CB
one configuration status then the same switching device can be closed, one transformer out of service and corresponding
modeled as open in another operating condition. Hence by incomer CB open.
choosing one configuration status switching device closed
condition can be analyzed and by choosing another B. Switchgears with more than two incomer designed for
configuration status switching device open condition can be parallel operation of generators or transformers (case 2)
analyzed. Generally system with HV generators (with rated voltage
3.3kV and above) is designed for parallel operation of
III. WORST CASE TO BE ANALYZED USING LOAD FLOW generator. Transformers with secondary voltage suitable for
ANALYSIS 33kV and above may designed for parallel operation. In such
cases switchgears are selected with more than two incomer
Generally Oil & Gas and Petrochemical plants are CBs. Under normal operation all the transformers or
designed with N+1 transformers and generators. In other word generators operates in parallel.
if one transformer or one generator is out of service then the
remaining ‘N’ transformer or generator can supply power to Under maximum load operation, one transformer/generator
the entire load connected to the switchgear. Study case is out of service and corresponding incomer CB is considered
scenarios are created in ETAP to analyse the power flow as open (because system is designed for N+1 configuration).
under the following operation Since transformers /generators are operating in parallel the
load sharing will be equal. Hence any transformer or generator
• normal operation (all the generators and transformers (1st transformer or 2nd transformer or last transformer) can be
are working) considered as out of service for analyzing the worst case
• maximum load operation (some generator, transformer loading of transformer or generator. But for analyzing the
and grid are not working) worst case loading of switchgear bus, 1st
transformer/generator or last transformer/generator shall be
• No load operation (all the loads and capacitors are not considered as out of service.
connected to switchgear).
If bus differential protection is provided for this type of
Load flow analysis under normal operation is performed to switchgear then bus loading and transformer loading shall be
find voltage, current, power factor, etc. under normal analyzed by considering plant operation after bus differential
operation. Load flow analysis under maximum load operation trip occurs. If bus differential fault occurs then the entire CBs
is performed to find maximum load on transformers, including buscoupler CBs connected to the bus will be tripped.
generators, switchgear buses, worst case power factor etc. Due to this some transformer/generator get isolated from
Since transformers are loaded to the maximum in maximum parallel operation. But the loads connected to faulty bus may
load operation therefore the voltage across the switchgear bus be transferred to healthy bus (either by turning ON spare loads
will be minimum. Hence worst case minimum voltage of or by closing buscoupler of downstream switchgear i.e
switchgear can be calculated in maximum load operation. transformer connected to healthy bus feeds power to entire
downstream switchgear). Under this condition load flow
Load flow under no load condition is performed to find the analysis shall be performed to find the worst case loading of
maximum voltage across the switchgear. The switchgear bus transformer/generator and switchgear bus.
voltage depends on transformer loading. When transformers
are operating under no load, maximum voltage occurs in In no load operation, all the loads and capacitors shall not
switchgear bus because voltage drop across transformer will be connected to this switchgear.
be zero (due to no current flows through transformer). But
switchgear bus voltage doesn’t depend on generator or grid C. Switchgear with incomer from grid and generator (Case
loading because load flow calculation doesn’t depend on 3)
generator or grid impedance.
In certain cases generator operates in parallel with grid.
Few switchgear configurations used in Oil & Gas and Mostly generator voltage doesn’t match with grid voltage.
Petrochemicals plants are listed in subsection A, B & C. Hence transformers are provided in grid supply to match with
generator supply or transformers are provided in generator
A. Double ended switchgear (case 1) supply to match with grid supply.
Normally switchgears are designed as double ended In some cases generators are designed to supply total plant
switchgear. Double ended switchgear consists of two buses load and provide power to grid. If generator is out of service
then plant may be running on grid supply. Normal operation The power flow from generator under normal operation,
for this case is generator supplying power to the grid. maximum load operation and no load operation are available
Maximum load operation of transformer may be supplying from ETAP result. Apparent power flow from generator shall
power to gird or sometimes generator out of service and be less than rated apparent power and power factor shall be
transformer supplying power to the plant load. more than rated power factor under any worst case. Small
generators are designed for power factor of 0.8 lagging. Large
In some cases generators are designed to supply fraction of generators are designed for power factor of 0.85 lagging and
plant load and remaining portion of plant load is supplied from above. If power factor is less than rated power factor then the
grid. If generator is out of service then entire plant load is fed generator capability under that power factor shall be checked.
from grid supply. In this case grid transformers are sized for
supplying total plant load. Normal operation for this case is Sometimes incorrect result related to generator rating may
both generator and grid sharing plant load. Maximum load occur in ETAP calculation due to incorrect input. Few cases
operation is generator out of service and grid supplying power are discussed as follows.
to all the plant loads.
Fig. 1 shows the ETAP load flow result for system with
For no load operation (to find maximum switchgear bus transformer and generator operating in parallel. Grid
voltage) grid or generator connected directly to switchgear connected to transformer is operating in swing mode and
(without transformer) shall be isolated from switchgear and generator in V-control mode & real power (P) setting as
grid or generator connected to switchgear via transformer shall 3.6MW. In this case load flow result shows that the power
be considered as operating. All the loads and capacitors shall factor at generator is unity and power factor at grid is less than
not be connected to switchgear. 0.8 lagging. Because transformer secondary side voltage
(6.9kV) is approximately 105% higher than system voltage
IV. ALLOWABLE VOLTAGE VARIATION (6.6kV) but generator rated voltage (6.6kV) is equal to the
system voltage. Hence grid + transformer voltage (say 6.9kV)
The allowable voltage variation in switchgear bus depends is higher than generator terminal voltage (say 6.6 kV). If
on the maximum and minimum voltage withstand capacity of voltage of generator is less than grid voltage then generator
electrical equipment connected to the bus. Capacitor can reduces the reactive power generation. This problem can be
withstand 110% for 12 hours in a day [5]. Generally capacitors solved by adjusting the tap setting of transformer. Fig. 2
are manufactured to withstand +5% variation. There is no
limitation for capacitor operating under voltage less than rated
voltage. Transformer can withstand +5% variation under rated
frequency [3].There is no limitation for transformer operating
below rated voltage under rated frequency. Generators and
motors can operate in voltage variation of ±5% continuously
[4]. Generator and motor can operate in ±10% of voltage
variation but continuous operation is not recommended. Hence
±5% voltage variation is safe voltage variation for all the
electrical equipment.

V. RESULT ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION

Load flow analysis shall be performed in ETAP for normal
operation, maximum load operation and no load operation.
ETAP provides the output of load for these scenarios. In this Fig. 1. ETAP output for parallel operation of generator and transformer with
section, equipment ratings to be analyzed with load flow result principal tap.
are discussed.

A. Generator
The rated output of generator expressed in apparent power
(kVA) with power factor [4]. Generator armature windings are
designed to deliver rated apparent power irrespective of power
factor. Generator field winding designed to deliver rated kVA
at rated power factor (lagging). If power factor of generated
power is less than rated power factor then field winding is
capable for generating kVA more than rated kVA but armature
winding is suitable for rated kVA at any power factor.
Similarly if power factor of generated power is less than rated
power factor then field winding is capable for generating kVA
less than rated kVA. Generator capacity based on power factor
is determined as per generator capability curve. Fig. 2. ETAP output for parallel operation of generator and transformer with
+2.5% tap at primary side.
shows the ETAP result for same system with change in
transformer tapping from principal tapping to +2.5% tap at
primary side (all the other parameter are same for all
equipments). The power factor at the transformer terminal
increases above 0.8 lagging because of change in transformer
tapping.
Fig. 3 shows the ETAP load flow result for system with
generator and grid operating in parallel. Generator is operating
in PF-control mode with PF setting of 0.85 & real power
setting (P) of 3.6MW. Grid is operating in swing mode. The
result shows that the power exported to grid with the power
factor of 0.69. This is due to the load power factor (0.9) is Fig. 5. ETAP output for scenario with Gen A operating in swing mode and
higher than generator terminal power factor (0.85). Due to this Gen B & Gen C operating in V-control mode and P setting = 3.6 MW.
the power factor at grid is less than 0.8. This problem can be
mitigated by providing proper PF setting value to generator.
Fig. 2 shows the ETAP load flow result for same system with
change in generator PF setting from 0.85 to 0.9 (all the other
parameter are same for all equipment). The power factor
exported to grid is increased to 0.9 due to change in PF
setting at generator. This scenario is applicable for MVAR-
control also.
Fig. 5 shows the ETAP load flow result for system with
three generators (Gen A, Gen B & Gen C) operating in
parallel. Gen A is operating in swing mode. Gen B & Gen C
are operating in V-control mode with P setting of 3.6 MW.
Fig. 6. ETAP output for scenario with Gen A operating in swing mode and
The results shows that Gen A is absorbing power (acting as Gen B & Gen C operating in V-control mode and P setting = 2.25 MW.
motor). This problem is due to sum of power generated by
Gen B & Gen C (2 x 3.6MW) is higher than load consumption Gen C from 3.6MW to 2.25MW (all other parameter are same
(6MW). This problem can be mitigated by reducing the P for generators and load). Gen A is delivering power to load.
setting of Gen B and Gen C. Fig. 3 shows the ETAP load flow
result for same system with change in P setting of Gen B & B. Transformer
Transformer rating is expressed in apparent power (kVA).
Rated kVA of transformer indicates that primary winding
capacity [3]. In other word the power flows through the
primary side of transformer shall not be higher than rated
kVA. Power flows through transformer under scenarios
available from ETAP result. Based on ETAP result
transformer rating can be verified.
Sometimes incorrect result related to transformer rating
may occur in ETAP calculation. This is applicable for parallel
operation of transformers having OLTC and AVR. The OLTC
position is chosen by ETAP based on the bus voltage
Fig. 3. ETAP output for parallel operation of grid and generator with PF
control mode and PF setting of 0.85.
calculated, voltage lower band input & voltage upper band
input. Sometimes different tap position is chosen by ETAP for
each transformer due to different initial tap position and due to
that transformers shares load unequally (as shown in Fig. 7).
Initial tap position for calculation is updated by ETAP for
every calculation. This problem can be mitigated by
maintaining same initial tap position for all transformers
before performing load flow calculation. Fig. 8 shows the
ETAP result of transformer parallel operation with the initial
tap position maintained equal before running load flow
calculation. The tap position of both the transformer is equal
in ETAP result.

C. Capacitor
Fig. 4. ETAP output for parallel operation of grid and generator with PF
control mode & PF setting of 0.95. The power factor of switchgear incomer is available in ETAP
result. Capacitors are provided to maintain power factor at the
 MCC will be 5% more when compared to MCC bus operating
under 100% voltage. Similarly Distribution Board (DB) bus
feeds power to 100% static load. If DB bus operating under
105% voltage then the current flows through the DB bus will
be 5% more than the current flows through DB bus under
100% voltage.
Hence 5% margin shall be considered in MCC and DB bus
selection. In other word MCC and DB bus shall be allowed to
load up to 75% in FEED stage and 85% during detail
engineering stage.
Switchgear Bus feeds power to static and motor load.
Because of voltage variation, the increase in current due to
motor load is compensated by decrease in current due to static
load. But %motor load will not be equal to %static load.
Hence margin calculated based on (1) shall be considered for
Fig. 7. ETAP output for parallel operation of transformer with different
OLTC position at initial condition .
switchgear bus.
 100 %V 
%Margin = %M ×  −  + %V − 100 (1)
 %V 100 
Where %M is percentage motor load and %V is percentage
voltage. Consider %V as 105% if %M less than 50% and
consider %V as 95% if %M is more than 50%.

E. OCTC tap setting

The switchgear bus voltage is allowed to vary from 95% to
105%. If the bus voltage varies beyond these limit then OCTC
tap setting shall be varied to achive required result. The
transformer secondary voltage is 5% higher than bus voltage.
If primary side of transformer (say Trafo1) is connected to
secondary side of another transformer (say Trafo 2) then
voltage across the Trafo1 secondary terminal will be 10%
Fig. 8. ETAP output for parallel operation of transformer with same OLTC under no load operation (if both transformers operates in
position at initial condition. principal tap). Hence it is necessary to adjust the transformer
tap setting.
incomer more than the required power factor. The required
power factor varies from project to project. VI. SUMMARY
In this paper, performing load flow analysis using ETAP is
D. Bus loading discussed with details about modeling electrical equipment
Percentage loading of bus is available in ETAP result. parameters, modeling worst case scenario for equipment
Generally buses are allowed to load up to 80% during FEED sizing. Possibility of incorrect result and mitigation to correct
stage and up to 90% in detail engineering stage. The bus rating the result is also discussed in this paper.
is chosen based on current through it. Normally total apparent
power of the load connected to the bus is calculated. Current REFERENCES
through the bus is calculated using total apparent power and [1] IEC 60076-5, Power transformers – Part 5: Ability to withstand short
considering 100% voltage across the switchgear bus. Standard circuit.
bus rating [6] higher than the current flows through the [2] IEC 60076-8, Power transformers – Part 8: Application guide.
switchgear is chosen and this bus rating is checked in ETAP. [3] IEC 60076-1, Power transformers – Part 1: General.
Sometimes ETAP results shows higher current compared to [4] IEC 60034-1, Rotating electrical machines – Part 1: Rating and
calculated value because ETAP considers actual voltage at performance.
different operating condition. This voltage may vary from [5] IEC 60871-1, Shunt capacitors for a.c. power systems having a rated
95% to 100%. ETAP model consists of motor load (constant votlage above 1000V – Part 1: General.
kVA load) and static load (constant impedance load). Motor [6] IEC 60059, IEC standard current rating.
load kVA doesn’t vary with voltage. Motor Control Centre
(MCC) bus feeds 100% motor load. If MCC bus operating
under 95% of bus voltage then the current flows through the