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Fundamentals of PSCAD and General Applications: Tutorials 1 - 6 Getting Started and Basic Features
Fundamentals of PSCAD and General Applications: Tutorials 1 - 6 Getting Started and Basic Features
Applications
Version 4.2
Tutorials 1 – 6
Getting Started and Basic Features
Tutorial 1
Topics Covered:
Creating Cases
Saving your projects
Control Palette, Electrical Palette and the Master Library
Changing component parameters
Adding graphs
Displaying Channel units on graphs
Creating Libraries
Copying component definitions and creating instances
Modifying component definitions
T1.1 Create a new case by using either the Menu or Toolbar. A new case should appear in the Workspace entitled noname
[psc]. Right-click on this Workspace entry and select Save As… give the case a name.
NOTE: Do not use any spaces in the name!
Create a folder called c:……/PscadTraining/Tutorial_1. Save the case as case01.psc inside the folder you just created.
T1.2 Open the main page of your new case. Build the circuit that is shown below using the Master Library, Control Palette,
Electrical Palette and the Add Component Menu. You may use Wire Mode or the regular wires to connect different
components. Wire Mode can be initiated by pressing Ctrl + W.
You will have to double click (or right click and select Edit Parameters) on some components to enter the correct
parameters for this case.
Change the Output Channel parameters so they display their name on the circuit and on the graph.
If a unit is entered into the Output Channel configuration page it will be displayed on any graph that contains that Output
Channel (it will also display on meters too). Experiment with this feature.
-1.0
-2.0
-3.0
-4.0
-5.0
X1 X2
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
y
1.0
0.0
-1.0
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 ...
...
...
There are many ways to create plots in PSCAD. The first step is to place the Graph Frame (available on the Controls Palette
, or using the Add Component menu). Next a graph needs to be added to the frame. To do this, right click inside the
frame and select Add Overlay Graph (you can also place your pointer inside the frame and press the Insert key).
Next the signal must be added to the graph. Right click on the Output Channel for signal Y and select Input/Output
Reference Add as Curve
The entire process can also be done in one step by right clicking the Output Channel and selecting Input/Output Reference
Add Overlay Graph with Signal.
Can we change this circuit to calculate [Y = 9.75 * Tan 15t] without adding any new components?
T1.4 Save the case and then unload it. Create a new library by using File New Library. A new library should appear
in the Workspace entitled noname[.psl]. Right-click on this Workspace entry and select Save As. Save the library as
case02.psl in c:……/PscadTraining/Tutorial_1.
T1.5 Under the Definitions branch, copy the Definition called Multiplier from the Master Library into your new library. To
do this expand the Master Library and expand the Definitions (click the small + sign to their left). Find the Multiplier
definition, right click it and select Copy Definition.
Rename the definition as my_mult by right clicking the definition name and selecting Properties. You can also enter a new
description.
Create an instance of the component by right clicking my_mult and selecting Create Instance. Open the Design Editor for
your library(double click the library name in the Workspace or right click it and select Open) and paste the instance of
my_mult.
T1.6 Open case01.psc and save it as case02.psc. Replace the Multiplier in this case with the one from your library. Run the
case to verify you get the same results. Save case02.psc. Unload both the case and the library. Reload the case and then the
library, Do Not Save the Case! Run the case again. What happens?
Unload the case again and this time load your library before the case. Did this correct the problem? Leave your cursor
stationary over the multiplier in case02.psc. This pop up indicates the location of the definition for this component. Verify
that this location is different then the locations of the other components in the case.
T1.8 Change the function so Y = (2*X1) * X2. To do this we will edit the definition of my_mult. Right click on the
component definition (my_mult) in case03.psl and select Edit Definition. Click the Script tab located between the Design
Editor and the Output Window.
Replace the Multiplier in case03.psc with the one from case03.psl. Run the case and observe the results.
Topics Covered
Changing the solution and plot time step
Graph features (Zoom, Axis properties, crosshairs, curve properties, markers)
Component help
Single line and 3 line diagrams
Control signal arrays
Data Tap
T2.1 In your …Program Files/pscad42/examples/tutorial directory, open the case project called simpleac.psc. Save the case
as simpleac01.psc in c:……/PscadTraining/Tutorial_2. Set the Plot Step to 50 s and run the case. The simulations run
time, solution time step and plot step can all be adjusted by right clicking an open area of the Design Editor and selecting
Project Settings. These setting can be modified by clicking the Runtime tab.
T2.2 Run the case. Try to get familiar with the graph functions and their keyboard shortcuts. Using the Zoom feature, zoom
into the area where the fault occurs. To view the various zoom options right click on the graph and then select Zoom.
T2.3 Change the X axis scale manually. To access the horizontal axis properties double click on the X axis or right click on
it and select Axis Properties. You can assign the axis a title, change the limits, adjust the grid and toggle the markers from
this window.
The Y axis can be changed as well by double clicking on the axis or right clicking the graph and selecting Graph Properties.
Here you can toggle various graph preferences, assign a title, and change the limits and grid.
T2.5 Add the 3 Phase Source Current curve to the graph already containing the 3 Phase Breaker Current. This can be done
using several methods. This can be done by right clicking the curve name on the top graph and select Copy Curve. Then
paste the curve inside the second graph. Alternatively you can also left click in the curve name and hold, then drag the curve
name to the graph you wish to add that curve to. You can also drag and drop the correct Output Channel inside the graph.
The curve order within the Graph Frame can also be changed using the drag and drop method. You will see a bold
T2.6 Invoke the cross hairs mode and follow the curves using this function. To do this, right click on the graph then select
Preferences Show Cross Hair. Alternatively you can place your pointer over the graph and press the C key.
The cross hairs allow you to follow a curve point by point by left clicking, holding and sliding the mouse horizontally to
move along the curve. The X and Y coordinates for that point are displayed on the graph. To change curves within a single
graph use the space bar. The curve name which you currently have selected will be underlined.
Turn the cross hairs off, zoom out to the previous view and resize if necessary.
T2.7 Hide the Phase A and B traces (traces 1 and 2) from the 3 Phase Breaker Current channel and the 3 Phase Source
Current channel. Make the 3 Phase Breaker Current curve bold and change its color. To make Phase A and Phase B traces
invisible single left click the curve name and remove the check under V.
Experiment with the different styles available in the Curve Properties window.
T2.8 Experiment with the markers. To turn the markers on, right click on the graph and select Preferences Show
markers. You can also place your pointer over the graph and press the M key. The markers will show up on the X axis
labelled as X and O. Drag the X marker to the peak of one of the 3 Phase Load Voltage traces before the fault has occurred.
Hide the remaining traces. Move the O marker to the next successive peak and observe the . Next right click on the X axis
and select Toggle Frequency/Delta (or press the F key while your cursor is over the X axis). What is the frequency of the
wave you are measuring? What is the ?
Double click on the components or right click and select Edit Parameters, change the Graphics Display to Single line view.
T2.11 Measure the line to ground voltage on the sending end. Use the Data Tap to derive the three voltage signals from the
voltmeter connected to the single line. Plot the voltages.
Place a Voltmeter to Ground on the sending end. This meter will measure all 3 phase voltages and place them in an array. If
the voltmeter was connected to one of the single phase wires it would only measure that phase voltage. Each position of an
array can be “tapped” using the Data Tap component. Change the Start at Index Number parameter for the Data Tap
component to choose which phase voltage will be pulled from the VSE data array (phase A is position 1, phase B is position
2 and so on). Create the structure shown below to plot each array position.
Single click on the three phase curve name and observe the difference between it and the three, single phase curves. Change
the active trace and experiment with the cross hairs. The space bar will allow you to change which curve you are following
on a single graph. If a curve has multiple traces, the crosshair will only follow the active trace.
Topics Covered:
Constructing a more advanced case
Adding controls
Fly by windows
Multimeter
Units System
Online Frequency Scanner
Adding Polymeters
Adding Meters
Adding a Sequence of Events
Creating a Page module (imports, exports, nodes, Xnodes)
Data Merge
Radio links
T3.2 Open the main page of your new case. Construct the circuit as shown below using the methods discussed up until now.
Use the Three Phase Source Model 2 and externally control it using a Real Constant tag for frequency and a Slider to control
the voltage. How do you make the source externally controlled? Open the Slider parameters and title it Vsrc, change the
min and max values to 0 and 20. Set the initial value at 14.4. Add the slider to a Control Panel so you can graphically
change its values. To do this right click on the slider and select Input/Output Reference Add as Control. Add the
Control Panel and then right click inside and select Paste. This component can also be dragged and dropped inside the
control panel.
To view what will be output you can use a helpful feature in PSCAD called a fly-by window. Place your pointer over the
connection between the slider and source model (on the source side) and then leave the mouse stationary. You can see from
the window that the source is looking for L-G Peak at this connection.
Create a graph and monitor currents Ia, Ib and Ic using the Multimeter component (click the icon). The metering
components take the electrical signals and convert them to data signals. The Multimeter component is new to version 4.2 and
is convenient because it can perform the function of several meters all combined into one component. Alternatively the
phase currents could have been measured using the Internal Outputs page of the Three Phase Breaker component.
Set the Timed Breaker Logic for 1 operation and set the breaker so it is initially closed and will open at 0.4 sec.
Externally control the Three Phase Fault with a Dial. Initiate the fault at 0.1 sec., with a duration of 0.2 sec. How can you
tell which fault will occur at each dial position (if the sticky note wasn’t present)? Run the case multiple times, each time
trying a different Fault Type.
Experiment with different fault and breaker times. What happens when the series inductors are all set to 0.5 H? Why?
If you are loading a case from a previous version of PSCAD, by default the Units System will be disabled. You can enable
this function by right clicking an open area of the Design Editor, select Project Settings, click the Dynamics tab and put a
check in the box for Unit System. This process can also be used to disable the system in a 4.2 case.
T3.4 Your supervisor asks you to monitor the magnitude of the harmonic currents flowing through the breaker during each
fault: Use the On-Line Frequency Scanner component for this as shown below. Use the Data Tap component to pull only the
first 7 positions from the array (the first 7 harmonics). Set the starting index as 1 and the dimension as 7. Plot the
magnitudes in a standard time plot as well as in a Polymeter. To add a Polymeter, right click on the Output Channel and
select Input/Output Reference Add as Polymeter. Right click on an open section of the Design Editor and select Paste.
You will probably need to make the page bigger so you have enough room for your plots. To do this, right click an open area
of the Design Editor and select Page Setup. Choose a new paper size.
In the Polymeter, each bar represents the time varying magnitude of a harmonic. The first bar represents the fundamental; the
second bar represents the second harmonic and so on.
Main : Graphs
HMaga
0.300
0.250
0.200
0.150
y
0.100
0.050
0.000
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 ...
...
...
In the time plots each curve represents a harmonic. Single clicking on the curve name will display the list of curves present
in the graph.
Run the case again multiple times, each time trying a different Fault Type.
T3.6 Add a Three Phase RMS Voltage Meter between the breaker and the fault branch. You can copy the example
implementation for the Meter page of the Master Library. Set the Voltage for Per-Unitizing to the voltage specified in your
source. Add the output to both a time plot and a meter.
To add the signal to a meter, place a Control Panel on the Design Editor. Right click the Output Channel and select
Input/Output Reference Add as Meter. Paste the reference inside the Control Panel. You can also hold down the Ctrl
key and drag and drop the Output Channel inside the Control Panel.
A sequencer is useful when performing an event driven process instead of simple time driven processes in which case the
timed logic may be acceptable. The sequencer can also be useful when you wish to perform a number of time driven
operations that exceed the number allowed in the simple timed logic.
T3.9 Create a page module and move the Three Phase Fault component, along with the Dial, inside of it. Use the
Component Wizard to construct this page module (click the icon or right click and select Create New Component).
Once the Wizard opens give your component a name, specify the number of connections needed (3 electrical and 1 data) and
check the Page Module box.
Next go through each connection, the top 3 will all be fixed electrical connections and the bottom will be integer input data.
The dimension for each can be left as the default of 1. If we were using a single connection for all 3 electrical nodes (single
line view) we would set the dimension as 3.
Double clicking on any of the nodes will allow you to change its parameters. The electrical connections are black and the
data connections are dependent on their Data Type (Logical = Pink, Integer = Blue, Real = Green). You can change what
will be displayed on the main page of the circuit here, you also can add text and shapes to make your component more
presentable. Experiment with the graphics.
C B A
A
FAULTS
FLTin
You will also need to paste the dial on this page. Three Xnodes are needed to interface the circuit to the graphics, they need
to have the same name as the node they represent in the graphics. Also an Import is needed to bring the data signal in, this
also needs to have the same name as the data node in the graphic.
T3.10 Add a Default Module to the main page to house all the plots (click the icon). A Default Module is simply a page
module without any connections. However, you can add connections and have all the same functionality as the component
we created using the wizard. Cut and Paste all of the plots inside the page module you just created. Your finished circuit
should look like the one below.
T3.11 Create a data signal to monitor the fault current by specifying Fault Current Names in the Three Phase Fault
Component dialog window. Transmit this signal out of the page module using the Radiolink. Receive this signal on the main
page and plot it. The module name where the transmitter is located needs to be specified for the receiver. The module name
can be found on the top bar of the PSCAD window or it can be found in the Workspace by clicking the plus sign next to the
case and then next to Main. All modules will be displayed as main.module_name. If modules are nested inside other
modules, their name will be displayed in a hierarchal format starting with main and working its way down.
All three phase currents can be output using one Radiolink by merging each current into an array (the dimension of the link
must be set to 3). Use the Data Merge component to perform this task.
Alternatively, you can export the signal the same way we imported the timing signal for the fault application. To do this the
Export component needs to be placed in the circuit as shown above. An output data node with the same name needs to be
placed in the graphic section as shown below. The dimension of this node needs to be set to 3.
Topics Covered:
File References
Reading external data files
Multiple Run component
Optimal runs
Harmonic Impedance Solution component
T4A.2 Open the main page of your new case. Construct the circuit as shown below using the methods discussed previously:
Add a File Reference to point to a file called signal.out in your course directory. To add the File Reference, right click on an
open area of the Design Editor and select Add Component File Reference. Right click the File Reference and select
Properties. Browse for the signal.out file. Double click the File Reference to view the contents of the file. NOTE:
signal.out is an output file created by PSCAD and is located on your course disk. The two columns of data represent time
and signal magnitude, which has an AC fundamental frequency, along with 5th and 7th harmonics.
Use the File Read component to input an external signal to the Single Phase Source, as shown in the diagram above. The
File Read component takes the data from the file and outputs it in an array. Use a Data Tap to take the second column of
data. Use that signal to control the voltage magnitude of the source. Under File Name in the File Read parameters page,
enter signal.out and change the number of columns in the output file to 2.
In the Project Settings dialog window set the simulation time to 0.15 sec and time and plot step to 50 s. Run the case and
plot the signals Vin and Vout as curves on the same graph. The series filter is tuned by default to pass only one frequency.
What frequency does the signal Vout appear to be? HINT: Use markers- mode on the graph
T4A.4 Change the value of the Variable Capacitor to variable name (such as C). Add the Multiple Run component and set
it up to sequentially vary the capacitance. Your circuit should resemble the one below.
T4A.6 Add the Online Frequency Scanner component to measure the magnitude of the fundamental. Use the Multiple Run
component to record the maximum of this value for each run and indicate which value of C results in the optimal run.
Set the Multiple Run component to record 1 channel and set the optimal run criteria as max for channel 1.
T4A.8 Modify the case to change the values of R, L and C to identify the optimal run. This time set the Multiple Run
component find the optimal run based on the minimum sum of the magnitudes of the 5th and 7th harmonics. Also record the
magnitude of the fundamental for each run.
T4A.10 Open circuit the voltage source and connect the Interface to Harmonic Impedance Solution component in its place.
Set the Minimum frequency to 50 Hz and the Maximum to 70 Hz. Set the increment to 2 Hz. Run the case and add a File
Reference to the Harm.out file that was just created (inside this case’s .emt directory). See Tutorial 6 for instructions on
plotting the data in Excel.
Topics Covered:
More practice with the topics we have covered so far
T4B.1 Create a new case and save it as Cap_switching.psc in c:……/PSCADTraining/Tutorial_4B
T4B.2 This circuit represents a 230 kV capacitor bank with 4 steps per phase. Each step is rated at 25 Mvar/phase. The
capacitor banks are solidly grounded. The inrush and the outrush reactor sizes are to be determined so that the switching
transients do not exceed the breaker capabilities and are within the IEEE standards. The values of the outrush/inrush reactors
have been determined using IEEE C37.06.2000. Peak inrush currents depend on POW (Point On Wave) switching. This
should be studied to ensure that the breaker meets the TRV and di/dt capabilities.
Add a Timed Breaker Logic component to control breaker R3. Set the breaker as initially open, a Multiple Run component
will adjust the time at which the breaker is closed
Add a Multiple Run component to vary the closing time of breaker R3. Record the maximum phase current flowing through
breaker RL and base an optimal run off of this criteria. Increment the breaker open time to cover 180 degrees of point on
wave switching in 10 degree increments. Set the starting time for the open signal at 0.4 seconds.
Disable the Multiple Run component and take a snapshot at 0.3 seconds. Enable the Multiple Run component, start from the
snapshot and run for 0.2 seconds.
Topics Covered:
Creating a simple leaf component using the wizard
Adding parameter pages
Creating script to define your component
Component graphics
T5.1 Create a new case named gain_block.psc and save it in your c:\.......PSCADTraining\Tutorial_5 directory.
T5.2 Create a new component using the wizard. The component will not be a page module and it needs a total of 2
connections. The first connection will be a Real, Input Data and the second connection will be Real, Output Data.
T5.3 Once you have created your new component, right click on it and select Edit Definition. Click on the Parameters tab at
the bottom of the Design Editor. Create a New Category by right clicking an open area and selecting New Category.
Alternatively you can use the icon on the top menu bar. Call your new category main and then click OK. Add a new
Input Control. To do this, right click on the category (grey box) and select New Control Input Field. You can also use
the icon.
Double click on the new input field or right click and select Properties. Pick a symbol name to represent the value that the
user inputs into this field. Also choose a descriptive caption so the user knows which parameter to enter. Pick a default
value and check Allow Signal Names. This option allows the use of variable names so parameters can be defined outside the
component.
T5.5 Click on the Graphics tab at the bottom of the Design Editor. Clean up the graphic for your new component. Add
some text to describe it. You can also add text that will display the value input by the user. To do this, add a text field by
right clicking on an open area and selecting New Graphic Text. You can also click the icon. The text needed to
display the input parameter on the component graphic is $Symbol_Name.
T5.6 Go up one module to the main circuit page and construct the circuit that is shown below. Use sliders to control the
input and the gain. Plot the output on a meter. Also, you can input the gain directly into the component instead of using a
variable name. Run the circuit to verify its operation.
Topics Convered:
Loading PSCAD output files in Excel
Pasting data points from PSCAD graphs in Excel
T6.1 To open a PSCAD .out file in Excel use the following steps. Start Excel and then got to File Open. Change the
Files of Type: drop down menu to All Files (*.*). Navigate to your Tutorial_4 directory and open the tunedfilt05.emt
directory (you will need to have run the case for this directory to be available). Find the Harm.out file and select Open.
The Text Import Wizard will open, change the Original data type to Delimited and click Next.
T6.2 Data used for graphs in PSCAD can also be copied and plotted in Excel. To do this, run a PSCAD case (tunedfilt01.psc
for this example). Right click on the Graph and select Copy Data to Clipboard. You have three options at this point; you can
copy all of the data points, only the visible data points (depending on your zoom, axis limits, etc…), or all the data points
between the markers (if you have them enabled).