Annual Technical Volume

An Objective Analysis of Micro-Synchrophasors

Technology for Monitoring and Control of Active
Distribution Network

Mohd Zuhaib, Abul Khair, Mohd Rihan

Department of Electrical Engineering, Z. H. College of Engineering and Technology,
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202001, Uttar Pradesh
 mohd.zuhaib@zhcet.ac.in
 abulkhair1986@gmail.com
 n.rihan.eed@amu.ac.in

Abstract
The Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) has proved its benefits in enhancing the situational awareness of
the grid operator in the transmission network. They are widely accepted and used in several monitoring
and control applications. They enable deep insight of dynamic behaviour of the transmission system
possible. These conditions are also penetrating in modern distribution network due to the penetration
of Distributed Energy Resources, changing load behaviour etc. This lead to a new concern in
Distribution System operation and demands improved monitoring and control capabilities. Since the
measurements are to be done at a lower scale, µPMU technology, a customized form of conventional
PMU in terms of sampling rate, bandwidth and accuracy is quite promising and is gaining momentum.
This paper discusses the emerging issues in the modern distribution network and highlights the utility
of µPMU to address these issues. Several potential diagnostic and control applications enabled due to
µPMU technology are also discussed to address distribution concerns relating to the management of
distribution systems with multiple sources of generation.
Keywords : Micro phasor measurement unit, Synchrophasor measurement, State estimation phasor
data concentrator, Distributed energy resources, Smart distribution system, Distributed energy
resources

Introduction for better system reliability and requires better

In recent years Distribution System (DS) has been
transformed in several ways, such as deregulation,
penetration of Distributed Energy Resources
(DER) like solar, wind, hybrid electric vehicles
etc. These developments have transformed the
grid from passive to complex active network.
This has led to the need for stricter requirements
management/control of the network. The
penetration of DER into the grid has introduced
variability, uncertainty etc. in the grid but at the
same time provide diverse energy opportunities
for grid services.
It also results in short-term and unpredicted
disturbances in the power grid that reflects in
the form of variation of voltage, current, and

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Annual Technical Volume
phase angle. This demands a need for more
advanced sensors and monitoring technology
to observe, manage, control and understand the
grid at distribution level [1, 2]. After successful
implementation of synchrophasor technology
worldwide for monitoring and control of
transmission network, extensive research
work is being carried out to identify its utility
at the distribution side. Various educational
and industrial platforms such as University of
California at Berkeley (UCB), Power Standard
Labs (PSL), Lawrence National Lab (LBNL)
etc. have come forward and worked together
to develop a high precision µPMU and explore
its effectiveness in various diagnostic and
control applications in the DS. After successful
development and testing of µPMUs, several
µPMUs were installed on the distribution circuit
in LBNL and UCB campus. For monitoring and
visualization, a powerful time series database
called Berkeley Tree Database (BTrDB) was
developed. Several such projects are going on to
customize the existing PMU Technology to work
effectively on the distribution scale. Dynamic
nature and complexity of the distribution network
also demand this kind of supervision by the PMU.
However, both networks are quite different in
several aspects. The DS has highly unbalanced
and asymmetrical architecture. They also possess
diversity among circuits and are subject to more
external influences. The system parameters
such as voltage, current, phase angle difference,
power flows etc. are quite small compared to the
transmission system [3]. Therefore the monitoring
of DS by conventional PMUs cannot be justified
and is economically illogical. Therefore concept
of µPMU comes in to picture that has the same
time synchronized measurement capability that of
conventional PMUs but customized according to
the DS architecture in terms of resolution, sampling
rate, bandwidth etc. This paper discusses the role
of µPMU in the DS and examines the range of
applications it offers in its better monitoring and
control [4, 5].
The paper is divided into the following sections.
Section II briefly describe the concept of
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synchrophasor technology and its benefits in
the DS, section III summarizes the impact of
DER in the DS, section IV gives an overview of
Smart Distribution System (SDS) equipped with
advance sensor and measurement devices while
section V highlight the potential application of
µPMU in smart distribution environment. The
paper is concluded in section VI.
Synchrophasor Technology
Micro-Synchrophasor Measurement
A complex representation of sinusoidal voltage
and current having both magnitude and phase
angle synchronized with the help of precise time
stamping techniques are called synchrophasors.
This measurement is done by µPMU. It calculates
positive sequence component of bus voltage
and their respective currents with around 1
micro-second synchronization accuracy. This
time synchronization of samples from different
location on a common reference signal helps
in phasor calculation of different locations
(Figure 1) at the same time instant as defined
by the time tag. The µPMU measurement of the
same time stamp is used to determine the current
operating state of the power system [6, 7].This
technology is considered to be the most promising
technology for complexDS monitoring and control
due to its ability to collect voltage and current
phasors from widely dispersed location. It helps
in developing the coherent picture of the complete
power system and enhances the decision-making
process of the grid operator. These devices are
widely accepted as they can provide grid operator
better knowledge of the static and dynamic states
of the system [8].
Why Micro-PMU in DS ?
Since µPMU provides precise phase angle
difference, it can play an important role in
distribution planning and operation. This is
because the measurement of the phase angle
between two points with µPMU leads to accurate
measurement of impedance. However higher
accuracy is required in case of DS compared to
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Figure 1 : Common Reference for Phasor Calculation at Different Locations
transmission system because of different X/R
ratios. Phase angle measurement also provides
information about the direction of power flows
that can be used for topology changes and error
analysis. Challenges offered in monitoring and
control of the DS are [9, 10].
1. The order of phase angle difference between
two nodes is significantly because of smaller
power flows and reactance between the lines.
Accuracies of commercial available PMU is
around ±1o, however, for the µPMU accuracy
of the order of ±0.05o should be achieved [9].
2. The DS measurements are highly
contaminated with noise and filtering of
these noisy components is also a challenging
task. This is because of a large number of
devices in the DS including load, transformer,
switching capacitor that is the prime source of
harmonics and transients [10].
3. The latency of µPMU should be reduced.
The sampling frequency should be high for
capturing the accurate dynamics of the system.
However, it may result in data handling issues
[11].
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4. The numbers of nodes are much larger, even
the distribution transformer in the system
itself constitutes a circuit node. Therefore it is
quite complex to perform the State Estimation
(SE) for such complex network.
Impact of DER on Distribution System
Before the introduction of DER into the grid on a
large scale, it is necessary to understand its impact
for guaranteeing power quality, estimating feeder
capacity and figure out both the cost and benefits
associated with it. In view of certain environmental
challenges posed by conventional energy
resources such as CO2 emission, large investment
on DER infrastructure is continuously increasing
particularly in the DS. However, it affects its
characteristic based on its size (penetration level)
and location (site of the network) [12, 13]. Its
introduction in the DS affects the power flow
through the network, voltage level at consumer
equipment and switch fault rating. Therefore for
DG interconnection separate network has to be
designed or existing network has to be improved
to enable DG interconnection without breaching
standards such as voltage variation, fault current
limits, phase imbalance etc. The possible impact
that should be considered is listed in Table 1 [14].
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Table 1 : Possible Impact of DER on DS
Smart Distribution System
Since DGs integration has post a major challenge
in DS, which were not capable of handling
dispersed generation and change its state to active
network. This active nature leads to certain steady
state and disturbance constraints, power quality
issues like voltage sag and swell, reactive voltage
and power control, island operation, protection
related issues etc. [15, 16]. This demands precise
monitoring and control of the DS for its smooth
operation. Hence there is need of a paradigm shift
in speeding up the modernization of the existing
DS and successful implementations and testing
of µPMU in the distribution circuit is a major
boost towards this direction. Also the recent
advancements in information and communication
sector proves to be a major breakthrough in
transforming the conventional grid to smart DS
for its better monitoring, control and protection.
However it demands revisions in network
architecture and finding new rules and regulations
for DS [17, 18].
Just like Smart Transmission Grid, Smart
Distribution Grid is a hybrid system that
includes advanced power and measurement
equipments and with advanced communication
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technologies capable of handling huge amount
of data. This data can be effectively utilized to
estimate the state of the DS through feedback
control system, hence can improve the situational
awareness even at the distribution stage.
Figure 2 shows the conceptualized model for
smart transmission and distribution grid where
precise phasor measurements are obtained not only
at transmission level but also at each important
distribution node. They not only contain PMUs but
also incorporate smart and intelligent devices like
smart meters or AMI, protective devices etc. This
enormous amount of data containing information
of DS is sent via proper communication network
and received, concentrated, aligned at master
PDC at decision and control support system. This
system is basically a backbone for determining
accurate preventive, controlling and protective
measures [19, 20].
Application of Micro-PMU
Several potential applications supported by
µPMU are presented in the literature. They are
distinguished as diagnostic and monitoring,
operation and control, and planning applications.
Diagnostic and monitoring applications are useful
for the grid operator for the better understanding
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Figure 2 : Smart Distribution System
of the past or present status of the DS which
enhances their decision-making process regarding
system interconnection, equipment maintenance
etc. Operation and control applications are
specifically used for altering the operating states
of the network such as demand response or
power injections, network topology etc. Various
diagnostic and control applications are discussed.
These applications are broadly classified
depending upon their utility in DS analysis and
control [4, 21].
Monitoring and Diagnostic Application
Some of the potentially useful monitoring and
diagnostic applications include the following.
Phase Identification
It is very difficult for the utility to obtain the exact
information about the load connected to 3 phase
distribution line. However, it is essential to avoid
excessive losses due to over/under loading of any
phase as a result of unbalance loading. It usually
occurs due to maintenance, restoration, and
reconfiguration activities which are very difficult
to track. Among diagnostic applications the major
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source of error is the error in phase identification
[2, 22].
State Estimation
The SE characterizes the operating state of the DS
by determining the steady-state voltage and angle
magnitude at various nodes in the distribution
network. Characterizing the operating states
means determining the active and reactive power
flows in each line, power injected and withdrawn
from each bus etc. However, the SE in case of
a DS is more challenging than the transmission
system.
This is because modeling of the DS is very
complex due to phase imbalance, small X/R
ratios, a large number of nodes and few physical
measurements compared to nodes [23]. This
problem can be eliminated by voltage and angle
measurement from µPMU as a state variable into
DSE, which may provide accurate information
into the Distribution Management System
(DMS). Figure 3 shows the basis for SE and the
function it offers for real time as well as offline
applications [24, 25].
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Figure 3 : SE basics and its application
Topology Status Verification
Detection of opening/closing states of the
switches is very important for safe operation and
accurate estimation of the states of the system.
It plays an important role in real-time operation
and control of the DS. In the literature, most
of the algorithms for topology detection are
based on SE. They include states of switching
devices as an additional state variable. These
are easy to implement but highly depends on the
accuracy of the SE. Various topology detection
algorithm based on µPMU data are presented in
the literature. Their effectiveness is based on the
fact that the signature it depicts under different
topology transition. However, its accuracy also
depends on the location and number of µPMUs
installed through the DS. The idea behind this
approach is the specific signature it creates in the
measurement under different switching states [8,
26,27].
Reverse Power Flow Detection
Its goal is to determine the reversal of power
flow in a radial distribution network. However,
it is not of much concern in some situations and
its significance relies primarily on the type of
protection system used by the utility. Its affect the
system voltages and post-operational challenges
32
with DG acting as a source of harmonics. Since
power flow between the lines depends on the
phase angle difference between the nodes,
placement of µPMUs at an important location in
the distribution system make this approach more
economical [8].
Unintentional Islanding
In the modern power system, unintentional
islanding is considered as one of the most
important aspects as it allows greater penetration
of DGs and DS with more complex dynamic.
Sometimes potentially dangerous conditions arise
due to the isolation of DG from the grid, even
though it continues to supply the local portion
of the network. Therefore it is very important to
distinguish between the fault condition and the
abnormal condition arises due to the separation
of DG from the grid. Measurement of the phase
angle between an Island and the remaining
grid is the most important parameter that can
determine that an island can be synchronized to
the remaining portion of the grid during a stressed
grid condition. This not only reduces the stress
on the conventional energy resources but also
ensures distribution power quality which is one
of the most desirable features in modern power
system [2, 28].
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Figure 4 : Classification of Applications in DS Based on Analysis and Control
Operation and Control Applications
Phasor based control using µPMU may enable
proper management and active control of the
distribution network. Presently most of the
controls suggested are confined to the simulated
environment but the continuous efforts in this
direction may produce promising results. The
basic idea is that phasor measurement may reflect
even very small changes in the operating states
of the power system. These include generation,
demand, and other contingencies. By tracking
the target phasor at any point in the network,
any abnormal behaviour in the system can
be prevented by proper control action. It also
diminishes the computational requirements
for power flow calculations required for any
abnormal detection. Therefore phasor based
control using µPMU data offers potential control
application in the modern power system. It may
include Voltage-VAR optimization, micro-grid
coordination, protective relaying, intentional
islanding and synchronization of micro-grids etc.
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Some potential control applications are broadly
classified in Figure 4 [8].
Protective Relaying
The idea here is to accommodate the abnormal
conditions in the power system with the suitable
protection scheme. With µPMU, it is possible
to develop a supervisory relaying system that
suggests individual device setting based on the
condition in the power system which includes
abnormal behavior.
Volt-VAR optimization
It is a function that determines the optimized set
of control actions for all the voltage regulating
and VAR control devices without breaching
the actual operating constraints such as load,
demand or voltage limits etc. The µPMU can
offer an inherent advantage in this regard but its
effectiveness is yet to be explored.
Micro Grid Control
To harness the opportunities for active control
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based on µPMU measurements, the grid is first
to be operated in an islanded mode and then
exploring the techniques by choosing phase angle
from the PMU measurements as a state variable
for resynchronization. However conventional
frequency regulation techniques work effectively
in this regard but the incorporation of phase
angle measurement may provide the more
versatile indicator. The idea is to develop a self-
synchronized island that automatically gets
connected/disconnected to the core grid based on
its voltage phase angle without any interruption
of supply to the load. This strategy is tested for a
single generator and smooth transition was found
for the continuous load with the least transient
effect.
Conclusion
With the high penetration of DGs and growing
complexity in the modern distribution system,
accurate monitoring and control of the distribution
network are the prime requirements. The advent
of µPMU with high resolution precisely time-
stamped measurement of voltage phase angle
may serve this purpose. There is no doubt that
this technology has lots of potential in wide area
monitoring, real-time control, and protection of a
distribution system. However, the amount of data
generated in the distribution system is substantially
higher than the transmission system, hence creating
data handling issues. This issue necessitates the
need for µPMU data compression, with minimum
loss of information. The recent advancements in
data compression techniques can overcome this
issue. Several potential applications of µPMUs
are discussed such as islanding detection, phase
identification, DG characterization etc. and their
proper implementation will prove as a basic
tool for the development of new applications for
enhanced system reliability and improvement.
However, there are numerous monitoring and
control applications that are yet to be explored.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the support provided by
34
UGC under MANF category as Junior Research
Fellowship.
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