Static and Dynamic Power System Load Emulation in

Converter-based Reconfigurable Power Grid Emulator

Jing Wang, Liu Yang, Yiwei Ma, Jingxin Wang, Leon M. Tolbert, Fred Wang, Kevin Tomsovic
Center for Ultra-Wide-Area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT)
The University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN USA 37996-2250

Abstract — A hardware test-bed platform By customization and optimization, converters could

emulating multiple-area power system scenario
dynamics has been established aiming at multiple
time-scale emulations. In order to mimic real power
flow situation in the system, the load emulators
have to behave like real ones in both its static and
dynamic characteristics. A constant-impedance,
constant-current, and constant-power (ZIP) model
has been used for static load type, while a three-
phase induction motor model has been built to
represent dynamic load types. In this paper, ways of
modeling ZIP and induction motor loads and the
performance of each load emulator are discussed. A
comparison between simulation and experimental
results are shown as well for the validation of the
emulator behavior.
be built to satisfy various application environments.
According to different control requirements,
loading conditions, and switching capabilities of
semiconductor devices, closed-loop controlled
behavior bandwidth of the power electronic converter
can be demonstrated up to several kHz.
Because of their fast, accurate, and flexible closed-
loop behaviors, it is feasible to control them to mimic
static or slower-time scaled electrical dynamics.
Power system study in general, is observed by the
time scale of milliseconds, seconds, minutes or even
hours. These dynamic details can be easily captured by
power converters.

Index Terms — reconfigurable power grid emulator,

regenerative converter, power hardware-in-the-loop, power
electronic load emulator, ZIP load, three-phase induction
motor load, control algorithms, numerical method, starting up
transient, dynamic performance.

I. INTRODUCTION

There are various ways of analyzing power system

scenarios: simulation software like PSSE, FPGA based
hardware emulation tool like RTDS and etc. However,
as the virtual simulation and emulation methods have
different focus, such as concentration on small time
scale in order to adequately capture transients which
results in insufficient computing resource for long
duration simulations, or they focus on large time scale
for overall system behavior but then have little
information about transient dynamics.
Power electronics are known for their versatile
control algorithms and different power stage options.
Sponsored by NSF, DOE and CURENT industrial partners.
Figure 1. Power electronic converter based
power system component emulator.
As illustrated from Figure 1, the three-phase side is
the electrical behavior connection interface with the
rest of the system. Voltage/current inputs are sampled
in real time for updating the power system component
model reference calculation. The references from the
model will be given to the hardware converter closed

978-1-4799-5776-7/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE 4008

loop for behavior control. Converters react within its
bandwidth capability to the voltage/current reference
changes.
The power system emulator integrates both the
advantages of power electronics high bandwidth
performance, and also the slower power system
behavior. In addition, by combining different types of
emulators together according to specific scenario
network, an emulation system could be both detailed,
presenting the transient dynamics, and full-pictured
with appropriate recording technique [2][3][4][6][8].
Under this development principle, conventional
synchronous generators [9][16] , renewable energy
generations [10][11][12], as well as most kinds of
power system loads could be emulated by flexible
power electronic converters [5][6][9].
By connecting the multiple modular and
reconfigurable units together, flexible network and
(a)
(b)
Figure 2. Example two-area power system: (a) scenario. (b) corresponding configuration of hardware test-bed.
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scenario emulation could be demonstrated.
Figure 2(a) shows a typical two-area system with
four conventional generations, two loading centers and
an interconnecting long-distance transmission line
between the two areas [7]. The corresponding
emulation network structure consisting of real power
electronic converter hardware is shown in Figure 2 (b),
with red highlighted three-phase interface as grid
emulation dynamics analysis platform.
The actual power system under analysis has a power
base of 900 MVA. After being converted to per unit
system, it is scaled to the ratings of the three-phase
power converter base of 15 kVA. Transmission line
impedance values are calculated and replaced with
passive inductors (for details of corresponding values,
please see the reference [16]).
Synchronous generators (or renewables
generations), load (or energy storage) and transmission
lines (in progress) are replaced by converters for the
behavior emulations. The power flow is shown with a II. LOAD EMULATOR CONTROL SCHEME
green arrow: from generator to load and also
transmitted from Area 1 to Area 2 (bus 7 to bus 9). The The load emulator was first developed by
whole structure is reconfigurable and could be changed researchers to substitute the passive loads and provide
to emulate a different power system structure. flexible loading conditions during testing power
Figure 3 shows the current architecture and real electronic converter applications such as
hardware of a power electronic converter based scaled uninterruptable power supply, transformers, switching
reconfigurable grid emulator single area. Each single devices and protection functions, etc. It works as
cluster includes: active rectifier for establishing and current sink with various static or dynamic current
stabilizing dc bus voltage, generators 1 and 2 in each behaviors.
area, combined static and dynamic load, and local
transmission line inductors.
The HTB will allow testing, integration and
demonstration of key technologies on the topics of
power system monitoring, control, and actuation. By
reconfiguring the test-bed, various kinds of scenarios
can be built, and the impact of new technologies, like
renewable energy sources [10][11][12], responsive
loads, and energy storage can also be evaluated [17].
In order to mimic the actual power system loading
behaviors, voltage- and frequency-dependent load
models should be established and programmed for
(a)
quantifying an emulator’s references.
vab vbc vca
This paper specifically shows the power system
load models adopted, including static and dynamic
characteristics. Also, verification for the load emulator Line voltage
behaviors is demonstrated with results comparisons
between simulation and experiments. Phase voltage
va vb vc
integral
θ ω
abc/dq 1/s
vq ‐
0
PI
+
limit lowpass
filter
(b)

(c)
Figure 4. Load emulator basic implementation:
(a) structure of current load emulator.
(b) PLL closed loop control structure details.
Figure 3. Back view of a cluster hardware (c) PI current controller in dq domain.
representing a power system area (curent structure).

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 Different from conventional passivee loads, a power
electronic load offers the option of circulating the
energy, which is especially beneficial for high power
applications [14].
The load emulator functions as a ccontrolled active
rectifier mode. The input three-phasse currents are
controlled to behave like the references calculated from
the emulated load model. Three-phasse currents are
sampled in real time for closed-loop control; three-
phase voltages are sampled and phasee locked for dq
domain frequency and real-time inpput updates for
emulated model. The current control sysstem is classical
PI controller designed in dq frame wiith decoupled d
and q axes. The calculation for each sw witching interval
current reference and actual duty cycle are done within
the Texas Instruments DSP28335. Botth the emulated
model and controller are established in dq domain, and
all the variables in steady state are connstant dc values,
thus enabling easier modeling and higher control
accuracy.
However, compared with other cuurrent controlled
load emulators, there are several technnical challenges
for the load emulator developmennts within the
reconfigurable grid emulator, including::
1) Control stability within paralleeled converter
structure.
2) Detailed power system load perform
mance transients
tracking capability.
3) Accurate load model that closelly imitates the
emulated object behavior.
For the determination of each emulaator unit current
controller parameters, classical thhree-phase dq
averaging circuit is analyzed for smalll signal stability
around a steady state operating pooint. The ideal
bandwidth for the current controller forr the emulator is
designed to be 2 kHz.
However, so far no standard or em mpirical research
modeling method for the control desiign of multiple
paralleled ac three-phase converters is applicable yet.
The paralleled converters different behaviors are not
considered in the current controller deesign procedure.
Thus, for the solution to technical chhallenge number
one, the trial-and-error method for modifying
controller parameters based on the dessigned values is
used. Nevertheless, experimental resultts show that the
control parameters are functioning up to satisfactorily
within the dynamic operating rangee of the grid
emulator.
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For solution to the second d technical challenge,
although the control parameeters of the current
controller are modified for bettter stability within the
structure, the trade-off on the current tracking
capability is trivial compared within power system
dynamics time scale.
Figure 5. Detailed example experrimental comparison
for induction motor emulatorr refs and outputs
(y axis as current in Amps, x axis as time in seconds).
Figure 5 illustrates an examplle of detailed induction
motor emulator experimentaal startup transients
waveform. As an example of dynamic
d power system
load, the induction motor has h the time-variant
references with frequency of 60 Hz in dq domain. The
recorded waveform from DSP sh hows strong and robust
tracking capability of the emulator under either the fast
changing or constant references for different operating
points.
For solution to the third technical challenge, each
load object model is establlished with classical
mathematical equations. Underr the assumption of
correct classical model, the emulator outputs would be
verified through comparison of simulated and
experimented outputs under samee input conditions.
III. ZIP LOAD EMULATOR
M
In power system analysis, co
onventional static load
model is represented by a series of equations (shown
below), which are called ZIP load. They stand for the
combination of constant impeedance (Z), constant
current (I) and constant power (P) loads in both real
and reactive power [7].
Commonly adopted in power flow calculation, ZIP
model represents the combin nation of the static
characteristics of power system load. The mathematical
polynomials are written as (1) and (2) under · ·
_ _ (3)
presumption of minor fluctuations around nominal grid
voltage [7]. Also, frequency dependency effect on the
· ·
load behavior is considered with the coefficients on _ _ (4)
real and reactive power.
When the grid voltage falls below a specified value
(1)
during a fault–caused sag, the polynomials described
above no longer represent the real power flow
(2)
condition, because of the relay protection and stall
effect of motors in the grid. Switching static load
In the equations, and stand for real and models to constant impedance expressions becomes
reactive power base value. and are coefficients necessary under that circumstance. , and , will
for constant impedance portions for real and reactive be set to zero and , will be adjusted in order to
power, while and are for constant current accommodate the change.
portions, and and are for constant power
portions. and are coefficients for the load
frequency dependency characteristics.

Figure 6. Emulated ZIP model inputs and

(a)
outputs relationship.
ZIP model could be used to fit the power
consumption curves for most kinds of power system
loads: higher order polynomials are neglected for
simplifying the model. In the meantime, the percentage
of Z, I and P for system load could be determined by
aggregating different load types and their usage within
the grid. By determining the values for , , and
, , , the static load operating state could be (b)
specified. It is always set such that the sum of , ,
is unity and the sum of , , , is unity.
As presented in Figure 6, the emulated model uses
voltages in dq domain and emulated grid frequency as
inputs for the ZIP model. External base real and
reactive power commands are given to the model for
specifying the actual power desired by customers.
Output currents are calculated using the equations as (3)
(c)
and (4) based on power equivalence relationship in dq Figure 7. ZIP load bus 9 emulator performance:
domain. The load emulator current behavior is (a) output P and Q for ZIP load emulator under voltage and
controlled accurately according to the references so as frequency variations experimental and simulation results
to ensure the power consumptions at the load bus to be comparison in broad time scale.
the ones described in (1) and (2). (b)(c) three phase currents and line to line voltage experimental
results during transients in micro-seconds time scale.

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 As observed from Figure 7, the multi-time scale accurate load emulator representing its dynamic
observations of the dynamics could be illustrated in the behavior is crucial to the system overall loading
results. The test conditions are all in per unit values: behavior estimation.
keep the external command P0 and Q0 of 0.6 and -0.2
while vary the power flow of the testing network to
cause the load emulator terminal voltage (top right)
and frequency (top left) to fluctuate.
Figure 7 (a) shows the seconds-scale results
obtained from the central visualized operation recorder,
illustrating the power system dynamics slow-changing
trend and overall power flow amplitude variations. The
accurate correspondence between simulation and
experimental results (bottom left and right) proves the
successful emulation of the ZIP load. (b)(c) present the
transients of load increase and decrease in micro-
seconds time scale. Line to line voltage is in PWM
shape due to no capacitor filtering in the power circuit.
Obvious changes in the current amplitude could be Figure 8. Emulated induction model inputs
observed, corresponding to the power fluctuations and outputs relationship.
shown in (a).
The induction motor per unit model is also
established in dq domain as shown in (5) - (9).
IV. THREE-PHASE INDUCTION MOTOR Electrical inputs for the model are voltage in dq domain
LOAD EMULATOR and synchronous speed angle from the three-phase
voltage. The mathematical matrix equations for the
Three-phase induction motor is a very common model is described with relationships among voltage,
dynamic power system load. Consisting up to 95% of current, flux, torque, inertia and rotating speed. The
the industrial load, a motor is the major element real-time update of electro-magnetic torque and rotor
contributing to the dynamics and transients for load speed in mechanical model are necessary in calculating
variations. The high-current start-up process could accurate current references. In a nutshell, both electrical
induce visible grid voltage and frequency fluctuations, and mechanical variables are working together
while on the other hand, rich dynamic behavior details determining the system’s behavior.
could be observed under grid variations. Thus, an

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4013

Figure 9. Induction motor model direct line free acceleration
startup process simulation results.
The simulation results based on the motor model
above is shown in Figure 9. The motor model is started
up with ideal voltage and frequency input conditions,
no motor drive adjustment and free acceleration. The
top left waveform shows the startup torque, while the
top right one represents the rotor speed. The bottom
pictures illustrate the d and q axis stator currents. The
whole startup process takes around 4 s, which is
determined by both the induction motor electrical
parameters and also the mechanical inertia time
constant.
Figure 10. Induction motor startup process experimental
results using explicit Euler method(failed).
Being the computing resource for the time-variant
coefficient ordinary differential equations containing
vectors of 6x1 variables, a digital signal processor
could not provide good calculation accuracy and
stability based on simple discrete numerical method,
because of its limitation on the minimum time step size,
real-time fluctuations on the inputs and digital
processor data precision. Figure 10 shows the DSP
recorded real-time startup experimental results with the
explicit Euler method: the induction motor’s
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performance is not according to expectations. The
electro-magnetic torque keeps fluctuating and rotor
speed does not increase. The calculation results are not
accurate or stable while compared with Figure 9.
(a)
(b)
Figure 11. Induction motor startup process experimental
results with implicit trapezoidal method:
(a) dsp recorded results in dq comparison with simulation.
(b) oscilloscope results overall and detailed shape in abc
(constant current bases are added on top of motor references).
In order to improve the model’s calculation
convergence capability within limited time step,
explicit 4th order Runge Kutta was applied to the model.
The convergence indeed was improved by the upgrade
of the numerical method, however, judging from the
fluctuations and spikes on the current reference curves,
the startup performances were not very robust/up to
satisfaction.
Further upgrade of the numerical method to implicit
trapezoidal method is adopted. With less processing
time, same iteration time interval and high complexity
ODEs, the model’s performance is greatly improved.
The real-time calculated results exhibit high accuracy
and robustness after repetitive tests of the whole startup
process and the sudden jump of torque.
As shown in Figure 11, left top part shows the
comparison between d q currents references and outputs
while the right top one shows the calculated
electromagnetic torque and rotor speed (in per unit)
inside DSP. Bottom left and right waveforms present
the voltage and frequency inputs (in real value) for the
induction motor model during the experiment.
The stable and robust model references calculation
and good tracking capability of the load emulator’s
control algorithm are illustrated in Figure 11 with the
smooth transients and high alignment between the
references and the outputs.
V. CONCLUSION
This paper focuses on developing various load
emulators with ZIP static and induction motor dynamic
models. By flexibly programming the load emulator’s
models in the digital controller, different load behaviors
could be presented. Their applications in the power
system emulation system of hardware test-bed could
enable various scenarios emulation and dynamics
forecast.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported primarily by the
Engineering Research Center Program of the National
Science Foundation and the Department of Energy
under NSF Award Number EEC-1041877 and the
CURENT Industry Partnership Program.
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