D.C.

LOAD FLOW STUDY

Consider bus i is connected to bus j over an impedance of Zij. The active power flow is given by

[ViVj sin (δi - δj)]

Pij = ----- (1)
Zij

Where, Vi = Vi δi

Vj = Vj δj

Let us make the following simplifying assumptions:

Xij ≈ Zij (Xij >> Rij)

Vi ≈ 1.0 pu

Vj ≈ 1.0 pu

sin (δi - δi) ≈ δi - δi

With these assumptions, equation (1) can be written as

(δi - δj)
Pij = = Bij (δi - δj) ----- (2)
Xij

This equation can be written in the matrix form as

[P]=[B][δ] ----- (3)

Hence, [ δ ] = [ B ]-1 [ P ] ----- (4)

Or, [δ]=[X][P] ----- (5)

Where, the [B] matrix is an (n-1) x (n-1) matrix for an n-bus system. The diagonal and off-diagonal
elements of the [B] matrix can be obtained by adding the series susceptances of the branches
connected to bus ‘i’ and by setting them equal to the negated series susceptance of branch ij,
respectively. The linear equation (5) can be solved by using matrix methods.

This approximate method of calculating the real power flows by solving first for the bus angles is
known as the DC Load-Flow Method, in contrast with the exact non linear solution, which is known as
the ac solution. The DC load-flow method is very fast because of the linear approximation made.
This method is useful to perform a large number of load-flow runs needed for comprehensive
contingency analysis on large scale power systems.