Florida State University Libraries

2016

Study of FSU Campus Distribution System

Xiaoxiang Gao

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 FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

STUDY OF FSU CAMPUS DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

By

XIAOXIANG GAO

A Thesis submitted to the

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Science

2016

c 2016 Xiaoxiang Gao. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright
Xiaoxiang Gao defended this thesis on April 5, 2016.
The members of the supervisory committee were:

Reza Arghandeh
Professor Directing Thesis

Simon Foo
Committee Member

Shonda Bernadin
Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies
that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements.

ii
To my parents, who always supported me.

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research is based on Florida State University main campus distribution system, under the
instruction of Dr.Reza Arghandeh from Florida State University Electrical and Computer Engi-
neering department, Mr.Trevor Gossett P.E. and Mr.Jay Luedecke from Florida State University
Facilities. I am honored to work with them.
The successful achievement of this research would not happen if without the help of my co-worker
Parth. Although he is an electrical engineering senior student, he is really helpful on modeling with
SKM Power Tool. During the project, Parth working on modeling below the transformer, which
is building level, whereas I am working on the 15kV distribution level. Thanks to Mr.Nariman
Nusserwanji and Mr.Richard Farmer who provided the building historical data in FSU Stadium,
as well as Mr.Steven Hall and Mr.Mark Baker for providing the knowledge of electrical equipment,
which made me understood the project better. We worked together and learned a lot from each
other. The patient explanations from them give me lots of help. I really appreciate them.
Mr.James Stephens is to be thanked for because of he gave me the opportunity to intern in
Florida State University facilities and first time conduct my research into real application.
Special thanks to Dr.Foo, who made the exchange program between Tianjin University of Tech-
nology and Florida State University and his consistent helps on academics. And Dr.Mingxing Du,
Dr.Weimin Ge in Tianjin University of Technology. Thanks to them for providing the opportu-
nity to study abroad. Thanks to Dr.Joselyn Vaughn and Dr.Robert Hughes from Florida State
University Center for Global Engagement Special Academic Program.
I want to thank my parents, it is them that funded me to complete my study. They gave me
the strength to overcome all the difficulties in my life.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
List of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 US university smart grid summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2.1 Georgia Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.2 UC San Diego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.3 University of Texas, Austin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.4 NC State University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Modeling mythology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 FSU Campus Distribution Protection Analysis 5

2.1 FSU main campus distribution layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 SKM model and protection study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2.1 TCC (Time Current Coordination) study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3 OpenDSS Model of FSU Campus and Data Analysis 20

3.1 OpenDSS model introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.1.1 Composition of OpenDSS model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.1.2 Activating OpenDSS COM interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2 Meter data acquisition and management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.1 Data category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.3 3D data visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.4 Google map integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.5 OpenDSS model validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.6 Results and analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4 Conclusion and Future Work 37

4.1 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.2 Future Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Biographical Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

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 LIST OF TABLES

3.1 Bus XY coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.2 Line code information in OpenDSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.3 Line code properties in OpenDSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.4 Transformer properties in OpenDSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

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 LIST OF FIGURES

2.1 Layout of power distribution system in Florida State University main campus. . . . . 6

2.2 Layout of power distribution system at FSU stadium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.3 Layout of switch distribution system in Florida State University main campus. . . . . 9

2.4 SKM model of FSU stadium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.5 Relay representation of SKM model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.6 TCC drawing of circuit 23 and branch circuit 23C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.7 One line giagram of circuit 23 and branch circuit 23C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.8 Updated TCC drawing of circuit 23 and branch circuit 23C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.9 TCC drawing include cable damage analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.10 One line diagram of TCC drawing include cable damage analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.11 TCC drawing include transformer damage analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3.1 FSU stadium distribution model in OpenDSS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3.2 Composition of OpenDSS model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3.3 Environment of OpenDSS model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.4 Master script for FSU stadium distribution model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3.5 Line to line voltage of circuit 23, 23A, 23B, 23C change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3.6 Comparison between meter measured real power and calculated real power. . . . . . . 32

3.7 Real power consumption at FSU stadium throughout a day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

3.8 Interface for choosing specific date and time period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

3.9 Google map based campus utility map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

3.10 The results plot of FSU stadium circuit 17B from MATLAB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AMI ”Advanced Meter Infrastructure”

SCADA ”Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition”
PMU ”Phasor Measurement Units”
GIS ”Geographical Information System”
FREEDM ”Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management”
EPRI ”Electrical Power Research Institute”
PILC ”Paper Insulated Lead Covered”
EPR ”Ethylene Propylene Rubber”
ANSI ”American National Standards Institute”
AWG ”American Wire Gauge”
TCC ”Time Current Coordination”
CT ”Current Transformer”
ICEA ”Insulated Cable Engineers Association”
CSV ”Comma Separated Values”
BAS ”Building Automation System”
DEM ”Digital Energy Monitor”
QSTS ”Quasi Static Time Series”

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 ABSTRACT

This paper demonstrates a throughout study of Florida State University main campus distribution
system, particularly for Stadium power distribution system. With the advanced power system
analysis software, a refined distribution protection scheme is developed, which is very important
for distribution planer and operators. Combined with data analysis method, all meters electrical
data are collected for campus smart grid analysis. 3D data visualization also used in this research
in order to provide the energy consumption model for university facility planners. Geographic data
are also integrated to energy consumption model, which display clearly on the map. This project
also constructed a part of campus distribution model, which provided a platform for the futures
campus smart grid research.

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 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

With the development of science and technology, people are devoting themselves to make our
electrical power system grid smarter. The concept of Smart Grid, which was first proposed by
the end of last century, is to use data analysis and communications with the electrical power
grid, resulting in the bi-directional information exchange and data management. Smart Grid can
perform its advantage in the modern power system, especially when dealing with the integration
of Renewable Energy Sources, which can bring lots of impacts on the current power system. The
data analysis algorithm behind the Smart Grid can ensure the whole systems power quality and
reliability, regardless of the perturbation and uncertainty.

1.2 US university smart grid summary

Campus smart grids became a very hot topic in the last decade. Almost every universitys elec-
trical engineering department has research in this area. Campus smart grids can connect research
and real application effectively because campuses are the place where college students and faculty
members are doing study and research. In addition, campuses provided a good test bed for smart
grids application. Researchers can conduct smart grid research based on the campus distribution
test bed, so that many goals can be achieved. Generally speaking, the very basic functions of cam-
pus smart grids are dealing with data from different data sources, such as AMI (Advanced Meter
Infrastructure), SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), PMU (Phasor Measurement
Units), etc. Then data acquisition, data analysis and data visualization can be completed in the
second stage. The third stage should be to validate the distribution model with all available data so
that it can ensure the comprehensive smart grid model is correct. Based on the model, recommen-
dation and suggestion should be provided in terms of reducing energy consumption and costs. In
other words, the purpose is to improve the efficiency and reliability of campus distribution systems,
as well as help research and teaching.

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1.2.1 Georgia Tech

Georgia Techs smart energy campus project is one of the famous smart grid project in United
States. The smart energy campus is a living smart grid test bed of Georgia Tech, which covers 200
buildings with more than 400 smart meters [1]. Researchers in Georgia Tech achieved many goals
such as data acquisition, distribution system modeling, distribution system state estimation, load
modeling and visualization based on that campus test bed. They also combined GIS (geographical
information system) data into their distribution model, which provided a good model for system
planning and operating. Whats more, a real-time pricing system also developed for the future price
and consumption forecast.

1.2.2 UC San Diego

The most famous campus microgrid project was completed at the University of California at
San Diego, which integrated building automation system, demand response function, renewable
energy resources and energy storage. The campus microgrid serves around 50,000 students and
staff, as well as 100 buildings. Researchers developed an extremely cost-effective microgrid, which
saves the university more than 8 million dollars a year in power costs as compared to importing
the same amount of energy [2]. As we all know, different renewable energy sources (such as solar
plant, wind farm, etc.) highly depend on the external environment. The beauty of the microgrid
at UCSD is that advanced control technology can coordinate different renewable energy sources
intelligently and provide an optimal solution to the microgrid. Its microgrid has an instantaneous
peak demand of 43 megawatts (MW) with a single connection to the utility at 69,000 volts, and
the campus self-generates about 30 MW of its annual load on campus [3].

1.2.3 University of Texas, Austin

The Energy Institute of University of Texas, Austin is the heart of their campus energy manage-
ment and energy research. Although there doesnt have integral campus smart grid, the university
has solar farm integrated into their campus distribution grid. The university also can produce
monthly energy bulletin. In addition, University of Texas, Austin is the foundation of Pecan Street
project, which is famous for its world’s largest dataport. Pecan Street’s Dataport is the world’s
largest source of disaggregated customer energy data for university researchers around the world
[4].

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1.2.4 NC State University

NC State University, as well as Florida State University, is the member of FREEDM (Future
Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management) system center. Based on the FREEDM
platform and centennial campus smart grid feasibility study at NC State University, a strategic
plan and implementation of a smart grid project were demonstrated [3]. Advanced meter data
acquisition method, Control of distributed renewable generation, energy storage strategy and plug-
in electric vehicle technology are integrated to the NC State University smart grid system. In the
future, Smart Grid Advisory Board at NC State University will be established, which will provide
consistent planning and support to maintain the campus smart grid and will conduct the economic
and environmental analysis. NC State University definitely is a good example that combined both
research and real application.

1.3 Modeling mythology

In terms of distribution system modeling, both SKM Power Tool [5] and OpenDSS [6] are used in
this project. On the one hand, SKM Power Tool is component based software and mainly focus on
the distribution system protection, such as power system fault analysis, time current coordination
and arc flash analysis. SKM Power Tool has been used to modeling FSU stadium 15kV distribution
system. By conducting DAPPER Studies in SKM Power Tool, the utility operators and engineers
can better understand electrical power distribution system in Florida State University main campus.
DAPPER is an integrated set of modules for Three-Phase Power System Design and Analysis
including rigorous load flow and voltage drop calculations, impact motor starting, traditional fault
analysis, demand and design load analysis, feeder, raceway and transformer sizing, and panel, MCC,
and switchboard schedule specification [5]. With this powerful simulation software, we can obtain
better protection scheme by comparing different situations quickly. For example, SKM Power Tool
has the function which can compare the load in different conditions. Whats more, it can plot the
results on the same graph, which can provide a very clear comparison to distribution planners and
operators. Another advantage of SKM Power Tool is it has shared project database and interface,
which can save lots of time when we run the program. In addition, the high quality reports which
generated by SKM Power Tool are also very helpful to the engineers.

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 On the other hand, OpenDSS is script based software which developed by EPRI (Electrical
Power Research Institute), using to conduct distribution model validation and load flow study.
Whats more, OpenDSS have the capability to run time series power load flow analysis by invoking
COM interface. For example, through COM interface, the OpenDSS program can be controlled by
third party software such as MATLAB or VBA. Because there is no loop program inside OpenDSS
itself. So, by activating the interface, we can use third party software to control OpenDSS do some
loop during time series load flow study.

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 CHAPTER 2

FSU CAMPUS DISTRIBUTION PROTECTION

ANALYSIS

2.1 FSU main campus distribution layout

Figure 2.1 shows the layout of power distribution system in Florida State University main
campus.
Two underground high voltage circuits which are 110kV from the City of Tallahassee enter to
two FSU main switch gear. One of them is ABB switch gear, the other one is GE switch gear. The
whole power of Florida State University main campus is fed from there. After two huge switch gear
which is both located at Central Utilities Plant of Florida State University, the circuits diverge into
20 separate circuits. All cables in the circuit are also underground and connect proper switches
through many different manholes. After each switch, the cable either connects transformers or
tied with other cables by using a tie breaker. The purpose of the transformer is to step down the
voltage from medium voltage level, such as 15kV, to a reasonable range that can be accepted by
the end users. Through each transformer, there will be a main distribution panel in each building,
which provide protection devices, such as fuses for each branch and feed electricity into downstream
circuits. Many circuit breakers will also be installed at this stage in order to prevent over-current,
which will cause the serious damages in the power system. In general, On FSU main campus, the
primary side of transformer is 15kV while the secondary side of transformer is 208/120V because
of almost every reciprocal will have 60Hz, 120V voltage rating. The main tie main structure,
however, is a kind of protection scheme that can make sure although one circuit suddenly loses
power for some reason, the other circuit can still power the rest of system by closing the tie breaker
which between the two circuits. There are many main tie main schemes shown in the layout of
power distribution system in Florida State University main campus, which protect our campus and
improved the reliability of power distribution system.
In terms of Florida State University Stadium, which is a typical model in this paper, will be
discuss more in details in the this chapter. As mentioned above, every corner on main campus is

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 Figure 2.1: Layout of power distribution system in Florida State University main campus.

powered by 20 circuits. The stadium however, is power by two circuits which from central utility
plant directly. As shown in Figure 2.2, circuit 17 and circuit 23 fed the stadium through main
switch gear. There has a main tie main structure between circuit 17 and circuit 23 clearly.
The purpose is in in case one circuit has power outage, the other circuit can still power the
whole stadium. After the main switch gear, the two circuit separate into 8 different feeders. At the
beginning of each circuit will be a circuit breaker to protect the insulation of the cable. Circuit 17A
through switch 15SW201 supply north end zone of stadium, east side field light, AT&T and switch
15SW204. After 15SW204 is west side field light and west stand bus. An underground cable which
is almost across 50-yard line of stadium connect both switch 15SW201 and switch 15SW204. Circuit
17B provide power to university center B and penthouse through switch 15SW22D. There has four
pothead in each terminal of the switch. Then circuit 17B come to switch 15SW22C by connect with
a sectionalizing switch. The working principle of a sectionalizing switch is it can detects and counts

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fault current interruptions by the recloser or circuit breaker, after a pre-determined number of
interruptions, the sectionalizing switch will open, thereby isolating the faulty section of the circuit,
allowing the recloser to restore supply to the other non-fault sections [7]. When a fault happened
in circuit 17B, the feeder breaker will trip and circuit 17B will lost power entirely. In that situation,
the rest of system can powered by circuit 23B and vice versa. Circuit 17C and circuit 17D feed
into FSU film school directly while circuit 17E provide the power to university center A which is
the administration building of FSU. Circuit 23A through switch 15SW202 supply the east stand
bus. There also is a sectionalizing switch between circuit 17A and circuit 23A. The function of this
sectionalizing switch is exact same as the one between circuit 17B and 23B as mentioned above.
Circuit 23B is the longest circuit all over the stadium, which begin with main switchgear and end
with the farthest building in stadium, that is, university center D. It also powered west side media
equipment, north end zone sky board as well as university center C. Circuit 23C feed into stadium
utility plant, where located four chillers.

Figure 2.2: Layout of power distribution system at FSU stadium.

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 2.2 SKM model and protection study

The following paragraph will introduce the detail of modeling the FSU stadium power distribu-
tion system by using SKM Power Tool. As mentioned in introduction chapter, SKM is components
based software. The components which are used for set up this model are utility, bus, cable, trans-
former, circuit breaker, relay, fuse, vacuum interrupter and load. Utility is the power source of
this model, which provide electricity to the system. Actually in this model, utility can be simply
considered as the power plant from City of Tallahassee. Switchgear is a common device in elec-
trical power distribution system. The component which in the back of switch gear is called bus
bar. The element of bus bar is typically copper or aluminum which are very good conductor. The
shape of bus bar determined it can carry large amount of electricity and reduce the power loss via
reducing the corona effects [8]. Cable is also very important in terms of power system, regardless
of transmission or distribution. Typical conductor type of cable include copper and aluminum and
insulation type include PILC (Paper Insulated Lead Covered), EPR (Ethylene Propylene Rubber),
etc. In FSU stadium, the cable are either PILC or EPR. In addition, cable size also need to be
specified before set up the model. In terms of transformer, the type of them is exactly same pad
mount transformer. In order to minimize the loss of power from transmission side, transformers
are used to step up the voltage from power plant and step it down to the end user side. This is due
to the energy is conservative, the large the voltage, the lower the current. As we all known that
the format of power loss is heat effect, which relevant with the current cross the conductor. So,
the heat loss will be reduce by increasing the voltage. Circuit breaker is a common electrical power
system protection device. The main function of circuit breaker is to trip the circuit when there has
an over-current situation occur. In FSU stadium distribution system, all of the circuit breakers
are medium-voltage breaker. Usually every circuit breaker will come with a relay to control the
breaker. Depending on different applications, the relay setting will be different. According to the
ANSI standard and FSU design guild line, every feeder has both phase relay and ground relay
(ANSI 50/51) [9]. There has a good metaphor indicate the relationship between relay and circuit
breaker, that is, relay is the brain of circuit breaker. The complicated electronic circuits inside relay
will tell circuit breaker when to trip. Fuse is the device that provide over-current protection. As
mentioned before, high current will cause temperature increase. The characteristic of fuse is that
it can detect the thermal difference and melt the circuit once the temperature over certain range.

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 Figure 2.3: Layout of switch distribution system in Florida State University main campus.

Vacuum interrupter is a circuit breaker that clearing the arc in vacuum. It has very good perfor-
mance in medium voltage application. As for load, the chillers at stadium plant are considered as
motor load, the rest of load are regular load.
Figure 2.3 shows the switches distribution of Florida State University main campus. The SKM
model is based on the switches distribution in FSU stadium. Figure 2.4 shows the layout of SKM
model for FSU stadium. This is a typical radical power distribution system. The circuit 17 (on the
left) and circuit 23 (on the right) comes from central utility plant, then through the underground
manholes fed the whole stadium. There has a main switch gear after the two circuits entering the
stadium and every bus bar is clearly shown in the SKM model. In most cases, there will be a switch
between the main switch gear and transformer. However, in University Center A and FSU film
school, there are no switches between them, just an EPR cable connect the building transformer
and main switch gear directly. As for the west stand bus and west side field light, there is an
underground cable between switch 15SW-201 and switch 15SW-204. This underground cable is

9
overlapped with FSU stadium 50-yard line horizontally. In some switches, such as switch 15SW-
201, has vacuum interrupters, which is very important in power distribution system protections.
The vacuum interrupters in the stadium are G&W type1 vacuum interrupter, all of them are
matched with SKM component library. Most of the transformers used in FSU stadium is Square
D, pad mount transformer. Some of them, for instance, the university center D, is Westinghouse
pad mount transformer. During field work, the detail information such as the size of the transformer
and its capacity, impedance as well as the winding configurations can be obtained. The primary
side of every transformer is 15kV. Although some of the transformers secondary voltage is 480V
(line to line), most of the secondary voltage of building transformer is 208V(line to line) due to the
stranded voltage is 120V(line to neutral). The only different case is the transformer which located
in central utility plant which is fed by circuit 23C. The secondary voltage of that transformer is
4160V (line to line) because of its secondary side connected to chillers directly. The voltage rating
of chillers is 4160V. In order to build the model more accurately, cable information should also be
considered during the field work. In FSU stadium, because of the recent renovation, the all the
cables are replaced to EPR cable. Compared with traditional PILC cables, EPR cable has many
advantages. On the one hand, EPR cable has better insulation. On the other hand, PILC cable
is very heavy while EPR cable is lighter, which can help maintenance staff repair the fault easier
[10]. According to the field work, the size of each cable is specified based on American wire gauge
(AWG), also known as the Brown and Sharpe wire gauge. In terms of the length of each cable,
because of this part of data is lost, so a rough estimation based on campus utility map is used in
measuring the length of each cable. As is well known that resistance of a cable is proportional with
the length of the cable. Because of the cable are inside the manholes, the closest distance between
two manholes, which is a straight line between two manholes, will be considered as the length of a
part of the cable. The reason why to make this estimation is because this can be the worst case of
the model. Due to the complexity and unpredictability of the layout of cables inside the manholes,
straight line estimation is the best solution for modeling the length of cable so far.

2.2.1 TCC (Time Current Coordination) study

The advantage of using SKM Power Tool is it can conduct protection study in detail once get the
relevant parameters. All the electrical parameters in the SKM model are based on field work. The
first distribution protection study is time current coordination study. In the medium voltage power

10
 Figure 2.4: SKM model of FSU stadium.

distribution system, almost every medium voltage circuit breaker has its own relay. The relay is
like the brain of the circuit breaker. Inside the relay are complicated electronic circuits, which can
control circuit breaker accurately. When a power system fault occurs, the current of the system will
increase. At that point, the current crossed CT (current transformer) which usually located on the
line side of the circuit breaker will also increase. The electronic sensor inside the relay will detect
this situation and generate a signal telling circuit breaker trip immediately. That is the working
principle of relay and circuit breaker. The purpose of time current coordination study is, first, to
ensure relay setting meet the life safety requirement. Basically, it means the protective devices
should be able to carry the maximum load current and withstand the fault current when a fault
occur. Peoples safety always the first thing to consider. Then, protective devices should be able
to protect electrical equipment, that is, make sure equipment current range is in normal condition.

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 Figure 2.5: Relay representation of SKM model.

Cable and transformer damage curve should properly coordinate with the relay setting. Examples
will be provided I the following section. The main idea behind the time and current coordination
study is to make sure that each medium voltage branch circuits relay setting is coordinate with
main circuit. In practical application, when a fault occurs, the best scenario is that circuit breaker
which is located closest to the fault location trip first, not the main circuit breaker. For instance,
if a fault occurs at university center A, we dont want the main circuit breaker trip which will
cause the whole campus lose power. Nobody wants to see that happen on campus because the only
location which has the problem is at the stadium. A similar accident happened before at WSFU,

12
 Figure 2.6: TCC drawing of circuit 23 and branch circuit 23C.

where a feeder relay setting was not coordinate with the main breakers relay. The consequence is
when fault occurs, the main circuit tripped instead of the branch circuit. The whole facility lost
power suddenly, which cause a temporary disorder. So time current coordination study can ensure
the circuit breaker will trip according to the distance of fault location so that can avoid electrical
power disorder on campus.
Figure out how does every circuit breaker and its relay coordinate with each other is very
important. Most medium-voltage circuit on main campus and the stadium have both phase relay
and ground relay. Therefore, in the SKM model, as shown in Figure 2.5, we use two relays to
represent both phase relay and ground relay. All the phase relay time current coordination drawing
of the main circuit breaker and each branch circuit breaker are plotting in the same graph whereas
all ground relay time current coordination drawing of the main circuit breaker and each branch
circuit breaker are plotting in the other graph due to the different nature of those two type of

13
 Figure 2.7: One line giagram of circuit 23 and branch circuit 23C.

relays.
Figure 2.6 demonstrated a real relay setting situation above phase relay setting of main breaker,
phase relay setting of circuit 23 and phase relay setting of branch circuit 23C in the stadium.
Figure 2.7 shows the one line diagram of that. The horizontal axis represents the value of current
times 10, the vertical axis shows the trip time in seconds. In general, there are three types of
function for relay depending on its reaction time. As it shown in the plot, the time increase from
the bottom to the top. Usually, the instantaneous trip function is below three cycles of the time
axis. This is because when certain fault occurs in the circuit, we want to the relay control the
breaker to trip the circuit as quick as possible under large current condition. There should be no
extra delay in that situation due to the high magnitude fault current will cause arc flash which could
very dangerous for both people and distribution system. Once arc flash occurred, it can lead to

14
 Figure 2.8: Updated TCC drawing of circuit 23 and branch circuit 23C.

deadly consequences, such as blast pressure waves and hearing loss. As mentioned above, it is vital
to make sure instantaneous trip function works well in each relay. The second function is short-
term setting, which indicates 3 to 30 cycles. The purpose of short-term function is to give the fault
current several cycles to be cleared by themselves before tripping the circuit breaker. Short term
setting of the relay always relevant with the inrush of motors or transformers. It will be discussed
in the following section in detail. The Third function of the relay is long term setting. Usually, it
is on the top area of time current coordination drawing. The time period is from 0.5 seconds to
1000 seconds. The reason for long-term setting of the relay is to protect the cable insulation, which
could be destroyed by the long time overloading current. It is called thermal tripping effect. The
current in the thermal portion of the curve is inverse proportion with time. The larger the current,
the circuit breaker will trip sooner and vice versa.
In Figure 2.6, in terms of instantaneous trip function, every phase relay coordinate very well.

15
The curve of Micro 51 phase relay and SEL relay in the lower right area is flat. This is because that
the instantaneous trip function is blocked in both Micro 51 phase relay of circuit 23 and SEL relay
of circuit 1321. However, it is clearly showed that two curves overlapped in short term function
area. The green curve is main phase relay whereas the purple one is feeder 23C. This is a big issue
because the feeder phase relay and main phase relay are not coordinate with each other. What will
happen is that if there has a fault which will draw 700A fault current in feeder 23C and the fault
last for 2 seconds, feeder 23Cs breaker will not trip. Instead of that, the main breaker of circuit 23
will trip at first, which means the entire circuit 23 will lose power immediately. This situation is
very bad because it can cause stadium power disorder absolutely. Imagine that circuit 23 supply
the university center D, which has lots of classrooms for FSU College of communication students.
Under this situation, the relays of those two locations need to be reset in order to coordinate with
each other. Figure 2.8 shows the TCC curve after resetting the phase relays for both circuit 23 and

Figure 2.9: TCC drawing include cable damage analysis.

16
 Figure 2.10: One line diagram of TCC drawing include cable damage analysis.

branch circuit 23C, which are coordinate very well.

Figure 2.9 shows another circuit time current coordination study, which include cable damage
analysis. Figure 2.10 shows the one line diagram. From the drawing, all the relays are coordinated
with each other, regardless of the instantaneous trip function or short-term function. There are
some straight line on the right side of this drawing. That is cable damage curve. Those cable damage
curve are relevant with industry standard, such as ICEA (Insulated Cable Engineers Association).
In order to protect the cable, especially protect the insulation of the cable, all the relay curve should
on the left side of cable damage curve. In this way, the cable can be protected properly because
when current close to the limit of the cable, the relay which is closest to the cable will trip the

17
circuit breaker.
Figure 2.11 shows the time current coordination study which take transformer damage and
inrush into consideration. The transformer damage curve is similar to cable damage curve and
should be set on the right side of the relay curve so that it can be protected and avoid permanent
irreversible damage or reducing transformers lifetime. The transformer inrush however, is very
special and should take into consideration carefully when conduct the time current coordination
study. The inrush current of transformer is an instantaneous maximum current when transformer
first energize. It can be ten to fifteen times larger than the normal load current and it will last for
several cycles. Generally, inrush current will not cause damage to transformer. Therefore, how to
set a relay so that it can coordinate with transformer inrush current correctly is very important.
If transformer inrush current and relay setting are not match with each other, unwanted trip
will happen when the transformer first energized. It will cause very serious consequence so that

Figure 2.11: TCC drawing include transformer damage analysis.

18
distribution system cannot working properly. There has an example in terms of the transformers
at FSU civic center. Last semester, FSU civic center had a renovation project which replaced two
old 500 kVA transformer into 1500 kVA transformers. But at that time, no one realize that the
inrush current was change due to the replacement of transformer. Obviously the new inrush current
is increased dramatically whereas the relay setting is still as before. So when the staff completed
the installation of new transformers and close the circuit, the circuit breaker tripped immediately.
The circuit breaker keep tripping before facilities engineer found the problem. Finally they reset
the relay setting and considered the new transformer inrush current. The distribution system in
FSU civic center working very well now. This is a vivid example that demonstrated how important
to coordinate relay and transformer inrush current. In fact, not only transformer, as long as the
equipment has windings, it will has inrush current. Another example would be the motor and some
power electronic devices. All in all, as shown in Figure 2.11, the inrush current of equipment should
not interrupt the relay so that cause unwanted trip for the circuit.

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 CHAPTER 3

OPENDSS MODEL OF FSU CAMPUS AND DATA

ANALYSIS

This section mainly focuses on a distribution model and its validation for Florida State University
campus electrical distribution system by using OpenDSS distribution simulator. OpenDSS distri-
bution simulator is a powerful distribution simulation tool which developed by EPRI (Electrical
Power Research Institute) [6]. It contains many useful functions, such as distribution planning and
analysis, distribution feeder simulation with AMI data and the voltage profile function which detect
the whole systems voltage from the reference point so that a clearly demonstrate voltage changes
throughout the distance from reference point can be given.
In this section, the meter data are collected from Florida State University Facilities upon the
authorization. It is very important to validate the distribution model along with historical meter
data, which include the voltage for each phase, current for each phase, real power, reactive power
and power factor. Comparing the difference between data from the measurement and results of
power load flow from OpenDSS distribution model, which based on the available meter data, will
provide a good reference of how accurate the distribution model is.

3.1 OpenDSS model introduction

In Figure 3.1 , FSU stadium distribution system was demonstrated. There has two main circuit
from FSU central utility plant to stadium directly (gray line), which is circuit 17 and circuit 23
respectively. The whole stadium is powered by the two circuit. Circuit 17 and 23 diverge into 8
branch circuit (feeders) in main switch gear room inside stadium. Through the manhole around the
stadium, 8 feeder circuits feed 16 building transformers. FSU Facilities updated advanced meter in
each building of the main campus by using Siemens Building Automation system. However, due to
the availability of the data, only two main circuit and 6 feeder meter data available in this project.
Those data are enough for distribution level study.

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 Figure 3.1: FSU stadium distribution model in OpenDSS.

Modeling the stadium electrical distribution system for FSU Facilities has been completed in
the previous section by using SKM Power Tool, which mainly focus on distribution protection
study. So there have two ways to build distribution model in OpenDSS distribution simulator.
One is written the program to convert SKM model into OpenDSS model. It is feasible theatrically
because SKM can generate scripts based program for all electrical components. It is possible to use
the text editor or some other editor to convert SKM program command by command and translate
the keywords into OpenDSS. However, it is hard to achieve due to strict regulation. The other
way is to record all the parameters in SKM, such as transformer impedance, line data, etc. Then
convert it into OpenDSS model manually. The process is time-consuming but works very well.

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 Figure 3.2: Composition of OpenDSS model.

3.1.1 Composition of OpenDSS model

Figure 3.2 and Figure 3.3 which are cited from [11] and [20], shows the composition of OpenDSS.
Due to the nature of OpenDSS is script based files, model means the integration of all files which
the file suffix are .dss. The main file should be set up after built each individual .dss file such as
linecode.dss, line.dss, transformer.dss and load.dss.
linecode.dss file contains the description of actual lines in the model, it will define the line for
future use. In line.dss file, line configuration for the model is specified. In terms of transformer.dss
file, the definition of the transformer is defined within this file. load.dss include load data and load
profiles.
In addition, the X-Y coordinates of all nodes provided a straightforward way to view electrical
power distribution system. The main file is also known as master files, which included all separate
dss file. The next thing to do is compile all of them. One thing should notice before compiling is to
make sure all .dss files are located in the same folder. Otherwise, an error will occur while running
the program.

Bus information. It is important to specify bus information in OpenDSS model. The bus
information here is not only the traditional parameter such as voltage rating, but also the definition

22
 Figure 3.3: Environment of OpenDSS model.

of bus name and X-Y coordinates of that bus. This is because of in the OpenDSS model, bus name
is used to match with the cable connection. Whats more, the X-Y coordinates show how cable
connected graphically. For instance, in Table 3.1 coordinates are specified for FSU stadium model.
The location data of node M15-23 is (250, 150), the location data of node M15-23C is (230, 50). The
reason why node M15-23C is connected to node M15-23 directly instead of other nodes is because
the bus name of M15-23 is matched with M15-23C. X-Y coordinates only provided a straightforward
way to view the distribution system model more clearly. It also should be noticed that it is possibly
more than one connection happened in the same node.

Cable type information. Combining the field work at FSU stadium as well as the historical
database in FSU facilities, the cable type data can be obtained. Cable data are important for
linecode definition and per length unit parameters can be found from there. In FSU stadium
distribution model, cable types are different from each other. Each cable will be specified in
linecode. After constructing all the linecode needed in this model, master scripts file should be set
up. By calling linecode inside the master scripts file, all the cable can be matched.

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 Table 3.1: Bus XY coordination

1 SouceBus 200 400

2 670 200 350
3 671 150 300
4 672 250 250
5 666 150 200
6 667 150 150
7 M15-17 150 100
8 679 250 200
9 M15-23 250 150
10 M15-17B 100 50
11 M15-17A 115 50
12 M15-17D 130 50
13 M15-17C 145 50
14 M15-17E 160 50
15 M15-23C 230 50
16 M15-23A 245 50
17 M15-23B 260 50

Table 3.2: Line code information in OpenDSS

Name Type Size R1 R0 X1 X0 Emergamps

mtx350pilc Cu 350 0.04 0.384 0.036 0.274 386.4

Table 3.2 shows how to build linecode.

mtx350pilc is the name of this cable, R1 X1 positive R0 X0 zero (ohms/1000 feet) shunt suscep-
tance in this cable is not available. Emergamps is the cables ampacity from cable datasheet. The
cable conductor type is copper, and size of that is 350AGW/kcmil. Once all cable parameters are
ready, OpenDSS can calculate Rmatrix, Xmatrix and Cmatrix automatically. In this distribution
model, linecode.dss is looks like:

New linecode.mtx350pilc nphases=3 BaseFreq=60 R1=0.04 X1=0.036

~ R0=0.384 X0=0.274 units=mi Emergamps=386.4

Table 3.3 which is cited from [11], showing line code properties.

24
 Table 3.3: Line code properties in OpenDSS

Name Function
Nphase Number of phases.Default is 3.
R1 Positive sequence resistance, ohms per unit length.
X1 Positive sequence reactance, ohms per unit length.
R0 Zero sequence resistance, ohms per unit length.
X0 Zero sequence reactance, ohms per unit length.
Units Length units.
Rmatrix Series resistance matrix, ohms per unit length.
Xmatrix Series reactance matrix, ohms per unit length.
Cmatrix shunt nodal capacitance matrix, ohms per unit length.
BaseFreq Base frequency at which impedance value are specified. Default is 60 Hz.
Emergamps Emergency ampacity, amps.

Cable connections. After specifying the line code, the next thing should connect them. As
mentioned in bus information section, each node has a unique name, which is used for connections.
In addition to bus name, the length of cable and length unit are also needed in this part. An
example script is in the following:

New Line.M15-23M15-23C Phases=3 Bus1=M15-23.1.2.3 Bus2=M15-23C.1.2.3

~ LineCode= mtx350epr Length=0.0356 unit=ft

At first, the new line, as well as line phase are defined. In FSU stadium project, all cable are
three phase. Bus1 and Bus2 indicate that the connection between two buses and the following
number specify the configurations of the connection. As mentioned above, line code is prepared
in advance which specified the cable parameters. Length is another important information in the
model because it will have an influence on resistance and voltage. It is important to select proper
length unit, otherwise a huge error will occur in distribution calculation, which will definitely affect
the accuracy of the model.

Transformer. Transformer is a typical power delivery element in OpenDSS distribution

model. All transformers in FSU stadium are three phase, two windings transformer. The con-
figuration of transformer is Wye-Delta connection. Compare with line code, transformer are more
complicated. A sample script from stadium model as following:

New Transformer.T1 Phase=3 Windings=2 XHL=7.6

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 Table 3.4: Transformer properties in OpenDSS

Name Function
Phase Number of phases.Default is 3.
Windings Number of windings. Default is 2.
Bus Definition for the connection of this winding.
Conn Connection of this winding.
Kv Rated voltage for this winding. Default is 12.47 kV
Kva Based Kva rating of this winding.

~ wdg=1 bus=670 conn=Wye kv=110 kva=18000

~ wdg=2 bus=671 conn=Delta kv=12.78 kva=18000

Table 3.4 shows the Transformer Properties in OpenDSS based on [11].

It is also very easy to set up a monitor on the secondary side of the transformer. In a real
application, almost every electrical meter is installed on the secondary side of the transformer due
to the billing purpose. The user can define time step of the monitor and what kind of value are
needed.

Load information. In OpenDSS model, the load is a common power conversion element.
All the loads are on the secondary side of the transformer and are assumed exactly same in each
phase due to the availability of data. Two important parameters for the load are real power and
reactive power, which will be collected in historical meter database. Loadshape is also a very useful
function in OpenDSS. Usually, it has fixed time step from second, hour and day. The purpose of
Loadshape is it give a new way to indicate the variation of the load.
Example:

New Load.M15-17B Bus1=M15-17B.1.2.3 Phases=3 Conn=Wye Model=1

~kV=12.47 kW=467 kvar=86.8

Basically, load definition is very similar to transformer definition. Bus1 in there means where does
the power come from, which matched with cable connection. The point of time series load flow
study is to change the parameters of load throughout time. Ideally, real power and reactive power of
loads are considered as constant value. However, loads change moment by moment. It makes sense
because sometimes people will turn on a light, probably they shut down their washing machine five
minutes later. So, time series load flow study has the capability to capture the change of real power

26
 Figure 3.4: Master script for FSU stadium distribution model.

and reactive power at certain time step and run load flow based on the new coming real power
and reactive power. In this way, the load flow results should be also time series. In the following
section, running time series load flow with OpenDSS and MATLAB will be introduced in detail.

Master scripts. After setting up all individual script files, the main script file is needed to
complete the model. Similar to any other program, individual script files are included in the main
script file. Make sure the syntax in the master script file is correct before compiling other files. In
general, compare with the rest files, the master script file is shortest.
Figure 3.4 shows the master script for FSU stadium distribution model. Usually, every master
script file begins with the command clear. In OpenDSS, comments begin with an exclamatory
mark, and will not have any influence on the program itself. Per unit voltage is also defined in
the master script file. Source is the point between power generation system and power distribution
system.

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3.1.2 Activating OpenDSS COM interface

The powerful function of OpenDSS is it can not only run the simulation by itself but also can
run the simulation by third party software, such as MATLAB, Python, VBA and C++. In order to
make third party software available in OpenDSS, COM interface will be invoked. COM interface,
which means Component Object Model, is implemented on the in process server DLL version of
the program to allow knowledgeable users to use the features of the program to perform new types
of studies [11]. In the academic field, [12] and [13] demonstrated a QSTS load flow studies which
using third party software (MATLAB) through COM interface to run the program inside OpenDSS.
The COM provided the high level of freedom to programmers to customize loop functions, solution
mode, etc.
In this project, MATLAB is used as third party software. Before connecting MATLAB with
OpenDSS, the DLL file OpenDSSEngine.dll should be run through command prompt at first. In
this stage, administrators authorization maybe needed. Then, it is necessary to register COM
server. In MATLAB, the command is as following:

DSSObj = actxserver(’OpenDSSEngine.DSS’);
DSSStartOk = DSSObj.Start(0);
DSSText = DSSObj.Text;

If the DSSStartOk return value is 1, it means COM interface is activated successfully. At this point,
it is possible to do some advanced programming in MATLAB so that OpenDSS simulation can be
customized. In MATLAB, it is easy to change the command which is text based. For instance,
OpenDSS itself doesnt have loop function but MATLAB does. In order to achieve loop function in
OpenDSS, a for loop should be written in MATLAB. The next thing is compile both software and
runs the simulation through MATLAB. Since the data has already transferred into MATLAB, the
number simulation results are equal to the number of iteration inside the for loop. By using text
command in MATLAB, all results such as per unit voltage can be export to a specific folder. In
general, OpenDSS default export file is CSV (comma separated values) file.

3.2 Meter data acquisition and management

Power measurement devices are widely used in the modern electrical power system, especially
in the distribution level. The purpose of installing all kinds of different power measurement devices,

28
on the one hand, from the utilitys point of view, is to let power system planners and operators know
what happened inside the power system in detail. On the other hand, from the consumers point of
view, it can provide a straightforward concept to let them know how much power they consumed
during a certain period. There are many types of different modern power measurement devices in
different applications. Through the different power measurement devices, the researchers will get
different data. All those data are in different resolutions.

3.2.1 Data category

SCADA. SCADA system is widely used in substation, which is real time communicated with
utility control center. It can measure voltage, current, real power and reactive power. SCADA
data are typically recorded and transmitted in real-time over 2 to 4 seconds but are often archived
on a 5 to 15 minutes sample basis [17].

AMI. AMI is an integrated system of smart meters, communications networks, and data
management systems that enables two-way communication between utilities and customers [18].
AMI is mainly designed for billing purpose, customer demand response as well as power outage
analysis. It provided a good platform for customer to understand how much electricity demand they
need and also provided an interface that make utility manage power distribution system better.
The biggest advantage of AMI is the cost. Comparing with other metering infrastructure, AMI
is cost effective. In terms of time resolution, most AMI have hourly records, which is not that
high. This is mainly because AMI cannot handle large sets of data. Hourly electrical data are good
enough for both customer and utility in terms of billing purpose. Some researchers are working
on combining AMI data with SCADA data and micro-PMU data, which can be very useful for
distribution study.

PMU and micro-PMU. PMU, also known as synchrophasor, is commonly used in power
transmission system. There has many great features that PMU have. The most important one is
that PMU is GPS time stamped. When conducting power measurements in certain power system,
the most important thing is to ensure that the measurements of two different points are at same
time. It is very hard to achieve before the development of GPS technology. Because of PMUs
time synchronized ability, it can make the measurement precisely. High time resolution is also
good features of PMU. Comparing with SCADA and AMI system, the measurement of PMU is 100

29
times faster, which make PMU have the capability to capture the power system events in detail.
Whats more, PMU will have its own data management center, which provided a high-efficiency
data analysis engine for power system operators. In order to make interconnected power grid more
stable, many ISO (Independent System Operator) would share PMU information.
Recently, Micro-PMU attracted many researchers because of its high resolution rate (512 simples
per cycle) and GPS time stamping, which dramatically increased visibility of power system. It
should notice that PMU is usually used in power transmission system whereas Micro-PMU used
for power distribution system,

Line sensor. In order to gather distribution lines information, some distribution line installed
wireless powerline sensors. The data collected from the sensor are current, conductor temperature,
etc. Based on the existed software platform such as SCADA system, the line sensor data can be
viewed from there. Line sensors are usually used to locate the fault.
Siemens APOGEE is the primary building automation system used on campus. Through BAS
system, both electrical parameters and mechanic parameters are recorded. Those electrical pa-
rameters included voltage, current, real power, reactive power, power factor. Mechanic parameters
included temperature, pressure and HVAC status. The system currently has over 700,000 points
for data collection. Individual systems can be reviewed at main control room which is located at
central utility plant. Most of the system can be remotely controlled. All meter data obtained in
this project are based on the BAS meters. Most of the buildings on campus are installed Siemens
DEM (Digital Energy Monitor) meters. The data type of this kind of meter is pretty much same
as smart meter data. Throughout campus, all meters are usually installed at the secondary side of
the transformer for billing purpose. However, not every building has meters. Whats more, some
buildings meter data are not available due to technical reason. The meter in the stadium is Square
D power logic meter. There has an interface between Square D meter and Siemens BAS system
which convert meter data recorded by Square D into Siemens BAS system database. An Ethernet
path was established to transmit the data to BAS control center. The available data time step is
30 minutes. All data are collected in CSV files.
In order to make distribution model more accurately, good meter accuracy is required. The
accuracy of the meter used on FSU main campus is 1 percent based on ANSI standard [16]. Another
consideration of the meter data is to make sure all those data are in real time or near real time.

30
 Figure 3.5: Line to line voltage of circuit 23, 23A, 23B, 23C change.

Because of load uncertainty, voltage, current and real power changes from time to time. It is
unavoidable. However, it is important to calculate the load flow based on real-time voltage and
current. If the data are not in real time, the real power and reactive power even power factor we
got are not happened in same time point so that make an error for the future comparison. Our goal
is to minimize the errors which are caused by the unsynchronized parameters. Figure 3.5 shows
the line to line voltage of circuit 23, 23A, 23B, 23C change from 02/12/2016 to 02/14/2016. It is
clearly shown in the plot that the feeder voltage follows with main circuit voltage very well.
Figure 3.6 shows the error comparison between meter measured real power and calculated real
power throughout a certain day. In general, the real power follows very well. However, at some
points, such as right most parts of this plot, the error is larger than the rest of this plot. The
purpose of showing this graph is to minimize the error caused by meter itself. From both plots
showing above, a conclusion can be drawn that the meter data itself are almost accurate.

3.3 3D data visualization

Data visualization is more and more popular in last decades. There are so many advantages of
data visualization. For example, it can make complex data simpler, giving people a fairly simple

31
 Figure 3.6: Comparison between meter measured real power and calculated real power.

way to understand data. Data visualization provided an easy way to convert raw data into a
straightforward graph, which is widely used in all kinds of fields. In this project, data visualization
not only demonstrates the historical data but also combine with GIS (geographic information
system) data on FSU main campus, so that all data are showing in 3D map. Figure 3.7 shows
the real power consumption at FSU stadium throughout a day. Users can pick up a specific day
based on the data availability. In order to achieve 3D data visualization, Excel Power Map [14]
was used. The advantage of Excel Power Map is that it is very helpful for campus distribution
operators to construct a big picture in their mind so that they can make better decisions for the
campus distribution system.
When constructing the 3D map in Excel Power Map, it automatically send GIS data into bing
map [15] so that bing map can set up connection and build a specific point for that. Then the
users can use power map view to view the 3D data. The power map is capable of handling more
than a million rows of data, which can be set up in 3D mode from Excel table [14]. Since all meter
data from FSU facilities are in CSV format file, it is easy to establish Excel table from there. The
data, regardless of voltage or current, has the date and specific time. So all data are time relevant
and time step is every 30 minutes. When launching the power map, time axis can be found on the

32
 Figure 3.7: Real power consumption at FSU stadium throughout a day.

second page. It is feasible to create a time line which correspondent with data and time of meter
data itself. In this way, data can be visualized by simply choose specific date and time period like
demonstrated in Figure 3.8. In terms of longitude and latitude data, both of them are obtained
from field work at the stadium.

3.4 Google map integration

In order to make FSU campus distribution system more clearly, especially help distribution
planner and operator understand this system better, a google map based campus utility map was
established [19]. Figure 3.9 shows the google map based campus utility map. As it shown below,
every feeder, switch and transformer is plot precisely in the map. It can be change into satellite
map by simply add one sentence of code. The google API (Application Programming Interfaces)
provided a very good platform for user to customize google map depend on their own needs. By
applying google API keys, user can obtain the permission of using that under developer mode. The
code is based on the HTML environment and programming language is Javascripts. Switches and
transformers are distinguished by using different markers. Information for each component are also
saved in the program, which will come out automatically by adding click event in google map API.

33
 Figure 3.8: Interface for choosing specific date and time period.

3.5 OpenDSS model validation

When all the meter data are ready, it is time to use data validate OpenDSS distribution model.
As mentioned in the last section, COM interface is invoked to let third party software control
OpenDSS to achieve some advanced functions. In this project, MATLAB is used to perform loop
functions to OpenDSS so that the load flow can be solved at each time interval, which named QSTS
(Quasi-Static Time Series) Simulation. On the one hand, the time series study can figure out the
variation of voltage in each feeder, which will help distribution planners and operators make better
decisions for the system. On the other hand, each result can be compared with the meter measured
data, which provided good criteria to validate the distribution system model. After comparison, if
the error is small, that means the model is good enough.

34
 Figure 3.9: Google map based campus utility map.

3.6 Results and analysis

Figure 3.10 shows the results plot of FSU stadium circuit 17B from MATLAB. We just randomly
pick a feeder for demonstration purpose. The meter data is converted into MATLAB at first. Then
with the imported data and loop function inside MATLAB, OpenDSS got the command to run the
load flow for one day and time step is 30 minutes.
It is clearly shown in the plot that simulation results cannot follow meter measurement data
very well. The reason for that is not because the model is not correct, but because of meter data
itself. First, due to the availability of meter measurement data, we only got average real power in
each circuit. So in OpenDSS model, it assume three phase parameter is exactly same, which means
all the decimal information are loss. It can cause an error when we run the load flow study in
OpenDSS. Second, there has delay between current and voltage, which means current not change
with voltage simultaneously. Under this situation, voltage at 12:00 pm probably not match with
the current at that point. This can cause a relevant big error because of the time step is 30 minutes
which is too large. The information between two 30 minutes point are loss totally. Third, the
voltage rating of main transformer is 13.1kV, however, it is not constant 13.1kV. The secondary

35
 Figure 3.10: The results plot of FSU stadium circuit 17B from MATLAB.

side voltage of transformer will change throughout the day depends on the real time load demands.
In a word, those three points are explained the main reason why simulation results cannot follow
meter measurement data very well.

36
 CHAPTER 4

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

4.1 Conclusion

This thesis focuses on the comprehensive study of FSU main campus distribution system and
laid a foundation of future FSU campus smart grid. In terms of distribution protection study,
SKM power tool was used to construct campus distribution protection model, which provided
lots of valuable information for FSU facilities, such as detailed SKM distribution system model
construction, time current coordination study and arc flash analysis. As for time series load flow
analysis, OpenDSS and MATLAB are used to conduct QSTS research and model validation through
COM interface. The difference between simulation results and meter measurement were analyzed.
A 3D map data visualization method was developed in terms of the power consumption at FSU
stadium based on the historic meter data.

4.2 Future Work

In the future, with the development of science and technology, the power measurement devices
contain more advanced functions gradually. In general, the power measurement devices are com-
posed of advanced electronics components which can measure current, voltage, real power, reactive
power very accurately. However, traditional power measurement devices can only measure all the
data mentioned above in a one way mode, which means the data that generated by the traditional
power measurement devices cannot have any feedback to the power system control center. For
instance, if there has a power outage happened in your house, all the appliances will lose power
instantly. So all the voltage in your house will be zero at that point. Then you will probably
call the utility company to report a power outage. On the contrary, modern power measurement
devices such as Micro-PMU, can provide bi-directional data from power measurement devices to
power system control center. In this case, instead of receiving phone call from costumer, the utility
company will get that power outage information very quickly from power system control center and
then locate the fault accurately. In summary, advanced power measurement devices communicate

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with power system control center make our electrical power grid smarter. Whats more, compare
with other smart meters which also have bi-directional data transform, Micro-PMU has precisely
GPS time clock. This means that Micro-PMUs can operate under almost exact same clock. It
is the biggest difference between Micro-PMU and other advanced meter infrastructure. There are
many research in this area, [17] is most famous one. Micro-PMUs will be installed on FSU main
campus shortly, which will definitely improve the reliability of FSU campus distribution system. It
will be helpful in both research and real application. Based on the Micro-PMUs data, a real-time
model can be set up, which can be more accurate.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Zhang, X., Grijalva, S. Smart Energy Campus: A Smart Grid Test Bed for Advanced Modeling,
Simulation, and Decision-Making.

[2] The Magic of the Microgrid.(n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
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[3] NCSU Centennial Campus Smart Grid Feasibility Study. (n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2016,
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[4] Dataport — A Universe of Energy Data, Available Around the World. (n.d.). Retrieved March
09, 2016, from https://dataport.pecanstreet.org/

[5] SKM Systems Analysis, Inc. - Power System Software and Arc Flash Hazard Analysis and
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[6] EPRI. (2013). Open Distribution System Simulator. Available:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/electricdss/

[7] Abiri-Jahromi, A., Fotuhi-Firuzabad, M., Parvania, M., Mosleh, M. (2012). Optimized section-
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[8] Busbar Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
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[9] ANSI Device Numbers Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 28, 2016, from
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[11] Dugan, R. C. (2012). Reference guide: the open distribution system simulator (opendss).
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[12] Monger, S., Vega, R., Krishnaswami, H. (2015, July). Simulation of smart functionalities
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[14] Get started with Power Map. (n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
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[16] Digital Energy Monitor (DEM) Series 1000 and Series 2000. Technical Specification Sheet
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[17] Stewart, E. M., Kiliccote, S., McParland, C., Roberts, C., Arghandeh, R., von Meier, A. (2014).
Using Micro-Synchrophasor Data for Advanced Distribution Grid Planning and Operations
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[18] Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Customer Systems. (n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2016,
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penetration of PV with grid support features. PSERC Publication 13, 45.

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 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

The author was born in Urumqi, China. After getting bachelor’s degree of Electrical Engineering
in Tianjin University of Technology, the author completed a Master of Science degree at Florida
State University. Meanwhile, he working at both Florida State University Facilities and Center for
advanced Power System, doing research on campus smart grid system. His research interest include
power distribution simulation, data analysis and distribution protection.

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