APPLICATIONS

OF GPS IN
POWER
ENGINEERING

What is GPS?
GPS or Global Positioning Systems is

a highly sophisticated navigation

system developed by the United
States Department of Defense. This
system utilizes satellite technology
with receivers and high
accuracy clocks to determine
the position of an object.

The Global Positioning

System
A

constellati
on of 24
highaltitude
satellites

GPS is
A constellation of satellites, which

orbit the earth twice a day,

transmitting precise time and
position (Latitude, Longitude and
Altitude) Information.
A complete system of 21 satellites
and 3 spares.

GPS at Work
1. Navigation - Where do I want to go?
2. Location- Where am I?

3. Tracking
as it moves

- Monitoring something

4. Mapping
else?

- Where is everything

5. Timing - When will it happen?

Why do we need GPS?

Safe Travel
Traffic Control
Resource Management
Defense Mapping
Utility Management
Property Location
Construction Layout

4 birds (as we say) for

3-D fix

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Applications

in Power Systems

Power companies and utilities have

fundamental requirements for time and
frequency to enable efficient power
transmission and distribution.
Repeated power blackouts have
demonstrated to power companies the
need for improved time
synchronization throughout the power
grid. Analyses of blackouts have
led many companies to place GPSbased time synchronization
devices in power plants and

Why GPS For power Eng

It furnishes a common-access timing pulse
which is accurate to within 1 microsecond at any
location on earth.
A 1-microsecond error translates into
0.021
for a 60 Hz system and 0.018 for a 50
Hz
system and is certainly more accurate
than
any other application

GPS time synchronization

By synchronizing the sampling
processes for different signals
which may be hundreds of
kilometers apart it is possible
to put their phasors in the same
phasor diagram

GPS time synchronization

V1
V

V1

Substation 1

V2

FFT or any other

technique gives:
Magnitude
Phase angle
With respect to GPS

V
Substation 2
t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t6 t7
GPS time synchronized
pulses

V2

Absolute Time Reference

Across the Power System

Phasor Measurement Units PMUs

Synchronized phasor
measurements (SPM) have
become a practical
proposition.
As such, their potential use in
power system applications has
not yet been fully realized by
many of power system engineers.

Phasor Measurement Units

(PMU)
[or SYNCHROPHASORS]

Phasor Measurement Units PMUs

Phasor Measurement Units

)PMU)

They are devices which use

synchronization signals from the
global positioning system (GPS)
satellites and provide the phasor
voltages and currents measured at a
given substation.

Phasor Measurement Units PMUs

input
Secondary
sides of the
3 P.T. or
.C.T

PMU

output
Corresponding
Voltage or
Current phasors

Phasor Monitoring Unit (PMU) Hardware

Block Diagram:

Sampling at Fixed Time

Intervals Using an Absolute
Time Reference

The GPS receiver provides the 1 pulse-per-second

(pps) signal, and a time tag, which consists of the year,
day, hour, minute, and second. The time could be the
local time, or the UTC (Universal Time Coordinated).
The l-pps signal is usually divided by a phase-locked
oscillator into the required number of pulses per
second for sampling of the analog signals. In most
systems being used at present, this is 12 times per
cycle of the fundamental frequency. The analog
signals are derived from the voltage and current
transformer secondary's.

The Birth of the PMUs

Computer Relaying developments in

1960-70s.

Now

SEL421

RES
521

Phasor Measurement Units

Phasor Measurement Units PMUs

central data
collection

 Data Concentrator (Central Data Collection)

Different applications of
PMUs in
power system

Applications of PMU in power

1. Adaptive relaying System
2. Instability prediction
3. State estimation
4. Improved control
5. Fault recording
6. Disturbance recording
7. Transmission and generation modeling verification
8. Wide area Protection

9.Fault location

Applications of PMU in power System

1-Adaptive relaying

Adaptive relaying is a protection

philosophy which permits and
seeks to make adjustments in
various protection functions in
order to make them more tuned to
prevailing power system conditions

Applications of PMU in power System

2-Instability prediction

The instability prediction can be used

to adapt load shedding and/or out of
step relays.
We can actually monitor the progress of
the transient in real time, thanks to the
technique
of
synchronized
phasor
measurements.

Applications of PMU in power System

3-State estimation
The state estimator uses various measurements
received from different substations, and, through an
iterative nonlinear estimation procedure, calculates the
power system state.
By maintaining a continuous stream of phasor data
from the substations to the control center, a state
vector that can follow the system dynamics can be
constructed.
For the first time in history, synchronized phasor
measurements have made possible the direct
observation of system oscillations following system
disturbances

Applications of PMU in power System

4-Improved control

Power system control elements use local feedback to

achieve the control objective.
The PMU was necessary to capture data during the
staged testing and accurately display this data and
provide comparisons to the system model.
The shown figure
shows a typical
example of one of
the output plots
from the PMU
data

Applications of PMU in power System

5-Fault Recording
They can capture and display actual 60/50 Hz wave
form and magnitude data on individual channels during
power system fault conditions.

Applications of PMU in power System

6-Disturbance Recording

Loss of generation, loss of load,

or loss of major transmission
lines may lead to a power system
disturbance, possibly affecting
customers and power system
operations.

Applications of PMU in power System

Disturbance Recording
These
figures
are
examples of long-term
data used to analyze
the effects of power
system disturbances on
critical
transmission
system buses.

Applications of PMU in power System

7-Transmission and Generation

Modeling Verification
Computerized power system modeling and studies are
now the normal and accepted ways of ensuring that
power system parameters have been reviewed before
large capital expenditures on major system changes.
In years past, actual verification of computer models
via field tests would have been either impractical or even
impossible
The PMU class of monitoring equipment can now
provide the field verification required

Applications of PMU in power System

7-Transmission and
Generation Modeling
Verification

The shown figure compares a remote substation 500

kV bus voltage captured by the PMU to the stability
program results

Applications of PMU in power System

8-Wide Area protection

The introduction of the Phasor
Measurement Unit (PMU) has greatly
improved the observability of the
power system dynamics. Based on
PMUs, different kinds of wide area
protection, emergency control and
optimization systems can be designed

Applications of PMU in power System

9-Fault Location
A fault location algorithm based on synchronized
sampling. A time domain model of a transmission line
is used as a basis for the algorithm development.
Samples of voltages and currents at the ends of a
transmission
line
are
taken
simultaneously
(synchronized) and used to calculate fault location.

Applications of PMU in power System

The Phasor
measurement units are
installed at both ends
of the transmission
line. The three phase
voltages and three
phase currents are
measured by PMUs
located at both ends of
line simultaneously

Fault Location

PMU A
Synchronize
d phasor

Modal Transform of
synchronized
samples

PMU B
Synchronize
d phasor

SPM-based applications in
power systems
off-line studies
real-time monitoring and visualization
real-time control, protection and

emergency control

42

SOME RESEARCH
PROGECTS (I
participated
in)

Global Positioning System (GPS)Based Synchronized Phasor

Measurement
By

Eng. Marwa M. Abo El-Nasr

Supervised by

Prof. Dr. Mohamed M. Mansour

Dr. Said Fouad Mekhemer

CONCLUSIONS
The conclusions extracted form the present work can be
summarized as follows:
1. A technique for estimating the fault location based on
synchronized data for an interconnected network is
developed and implemented using a modal transform
2. One-bus deployment strategy is more useful than tree
search for fault location detection as it gives more
system observability

Conclusions

3- The average value of mode 1 and 2 of

Karrenbauer transformation is used for 3-phase
and line-to-line faults, while the average value of
the 3 modes is used for line-to-line-ground and
line-to-ground faults
4- The results obtained from applying the developed
technique applied to a system depicted from the
Egyptian network show acceptable accuracy in
detecting the fault and locations of different
faults types.

Essence:
This thesis is to address three issues:
1-

Optimal
allocation
of
Phasor
Measurement
Units
(PMUs)
using
Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization
(DPSO) technique.

2-

Large scale power system state

estimation
utilizing
the
optimal
allocation of PMUs based on Global
Positioning Systems (GPS).

3-

Power system voltage stability

monitoring based on the allocated PMUs
readings.

Prepared By

Fahd Mohamed Adly Hashiesh

Under Supervision of

Prof. Dr. M. M. Mansour

Dr. Hossam Eldin M. Atia

Dr. Abdel-Rahman A. Khatib
Cairo Egypt
2006
49

Research Objective
Propose a protection system (strategy) to
counteract
wide
area
disturbance
(instability), through employing adaptive
protection relays, and fast broadband
communication
through
wide
area
measurement.
Configure and adapt the proposed system to
be applied on Egypt wide power system
network.
50

A Master Student
is Trying to
Implement a PMU
Lab Prototype in
Ain-Shams Univ.

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORKS

thanks to their multiple advantages,

nowadays, the technologies based on

synchronized phasor measurements have
proliferated in many countries worldwide (USA,
Canada, Europe, Brazil, China, Egypt !,..).
up to now most applications based on
synchronized phasor measurements have
concerned mainly off-line studies, on-line
monitoring and visualization, and to a less
extent the real-time control, Protection, and
the emergency control.
the toughest challenge today is to pass from
Wide Area Measurements Systems (WAMS) to
Wide Area Control Systems (WACS) and WAP.
52

Off-line SPM-based
applications

software simulation validation

SPM-based technologies can be very useful to help the

validation of (dynamic) simulation software

system parameter/model identification (e.g. for loads,

lines, generators, etc.)

the identification of accurate model/parameter is a
very important and tough task for the power system
analysis and control.
difficulty: large number of power system components
having time-varying characteristics.
synchronized disturbances record and replay
this task is like that of a digital fault recorder, which

can memorize triggered disturbances and replay the

recorded data if required.
the use of SPM allows more flexibility and
54
effectiveness.

Real-time monitoring SPM-based

applications

fault location monitoring

accurate fault location allows the time reduction of maintenance of the

transmission lines under fault and help evaluating protection performance.

power system frequency and its rate of change monitoring

the accurate dynamic wide-area measured frequency is highly desirable

especially in the context of disturbances, which may lead to significant
frequency variation in time and space.

generators operation status monitoring

this function allows the drawing of generator (P-Q) capability curve. Thus,
the generator MVAr reserve, can be supervised.

transmission line temperature monitoring

the thermal limit of a line is generally set in very conservative criteria,

which ignores the actual cooling possibilities. The use of SPM allows the
higher loading of a line at very low risk.

on-line "hybrid" state estimation

the SPM can be considered, in addition to those from the Remote Terminal
Units (RTU) of the traditional SCADA system, in an on-line "hybrid" state
estimation.

SPM-based visualization tools used in control centers

display: dynamic power flow, dynamic phase angle separation, dynamic

voltage magnitude evolution, real-time frequency and its rate of change,
etc.
55

Real-time (emergency) control SPM-based

applications
automatic (secondary and tertiary) voltage control
aim: optimize the var distribution among generators, controllable ratio
transformers and shunt elements while keeping all bus voltage within
limits.
in the context of WAMS application, the solution of this optimization
problem can be used to update settings of those reactive power
controllers, every few seconds.

damping of low frequency inter-area oscillations (small-signal

angle instability)
low frequency inter-area oscillations (in the range of 0.2 1 Hz) are a
serious concern in power systems with increasing their size and loadability.
In Europe, in particular, many research studies have been performed to
reveal such oscillations as well as provide best remedial actions to damp
them out.

transient angle instability

since such instability form develops very quickly, nowadays, Special

Protection Systems (SPS), also known as Remedial Action Schemes (RAS),
are designed to act against predefined contingencies identified in off-line
studies
while being less effective against unforeseen disturbances.
56

Real-time (emergency) control SPM-based

applications (contd)

short- or long-term voltage instability

a responde-based (feedback) Wide-Area stability and voltage Control
System (WACS) is presently in use by BPA.
this control system uses powerful discontinuous actions (switching
on/off of shunt elements) for power system stabilization.

frequency instability
the underfrequency load shedding has its thresholds set for worst
events and may lead to excessive load shedding.
new predictive SPM-based approaches are proposed aiming to avoid the
drawbacks of the conventional protection.

57

Conclusions:
A- Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization
Technique:
A new modified DPSO technique is developed to
determine the optimal number and locations for PMUs
in power system network for different depths of
unobservability. It gives the optimal PMUs' allocation
for different depths of unobservability comparable to
other techniques
The developed DPSO is tested on both 14-bus and 57bus IEEE standard systems.
For small power systems, DPSO gives either equivalent
or better results. However for large power systems, it
gives almost better locations and sometimes less
number of PMUs for large power systems.
DPSO determines the optimal PMUs' allocation for
complete observability of the large system depicted
from the Egyptian unified electrical power network.

Conclusions
(continued)
:
B- Hybrid State
Estimation Technique:
The phasors readings of PMUs are taken into
consideration in a new hybrid state estimation analysis
to achieve a higher degree of accuracy of the solution.
The effect of changing the locations and numbers of
PMUs through the buses of the power network on the
system state estimation is also studied with a new
methodology.
The hybrid state estimation technique is tested on both
14-bus and 57-bus IEEE standard systems. It is also
applied to a large system depicted from the Egyptian
unified electrical power network.
PMUs' outputs affect the state estimation analysis in a
precious way. It improves the response and the output
of the traditional state estimation.

Conclusions
(continued):
The locations of PMUs according to state estimation
improvement do not need to be similar to those
locations according to observability depth.
The system parameters, system layout and power flow
affect the PMUs' positioning for optimal state
estimation.
For each system there is a certain number of PMUs
with certain connections that reduces the estimation
error significantly. As the number of PMUs' increases
over the optimal solution, the estimation analysis
begins to magnify the measurements error of the other
devices.

Conclusions
C- On-line :Voltage Instability Alarming Predictor:
(continued)

The readings of the allocated PMUs are to be utilized

using a newly developed technique for on-line voltage
instability alarming predictor.

The predictor gives two types of alarms, one for

voltage limit violation (10% voltage decrease) and the
other for voltage collapse prediction according to the
maximum permissible angle difference between bus
voltages for certain bus loading angle.

The time taken by the alarming predictor is small, and

is determined by the speed of PMUs and the used
computational system.
The voltage instability alarming predictor concept is
tested on both 14-bus IEEE standard system. It gives
effective results.
The alarming predictor is applied to the large system
depicted from the Egyptian unified electrical power