ETAP COMMON ERRORS& SOLUTIONS:

 Published on May 19, 2017

Hasan Tariq

Darmstadt | Ex- K-Electric | Ex-Midas Safety | NED | Electrical | Maintenance | Automation |

Data analytics | MS EE& IT | MS Industrial Management
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1)     UNDER POWER, UNDER EXCITATION ISSUE.

When you will run the load flow, you will observe that etap will show under power and
under excitation problem. So, what is this? Under power means that generator is not
given power to which it will operate. Although you have entered its MW rating. Still it
will show this problem. The Power Factor will be low when Under Excitation is
experienced. Steps to solve this problem is given below:

STEP 1: Open the generator properties. There you will use the option of " DESIGN". If
suppose generator is rated at 210MW. Enter its value in the design by yourself i.e.
210MW.

STEP 2: You should know at what value generator is being operated. In properties you
will see the option of “operating value " . " MW and Mvar option".Enter the operating
values of the generator in "MW". Like if a generator is operated at 210MW. its
dispatched power will be around 200MW (for example). So i would put , 200 MW in
operating values.

STEP 3: In generator's properties, you will see option of "Mvar Limits". Set it to
capability curve. By doing this you will observe that etap will by default calculate the
values of Qmax and QMin. By doing this Both your under power and under excitation
issue will be solve

2)    LOAD FLOW DID NOT CONVERGE IN MAXIMUM NUMBER OF ITERATION :

SOLUTION 1: Reduce your load and then try to run load flow. Than step by step,
reconnect your load and run load flow.

SOLUTION 2: Try to increase number of iterations from load flow study case.

SOLUTION 3: Make sure that you don't have infinite bus and if you have more than one
infinite bus then you should have more swing generators so try to make all you
generators swing and then try after that try to change generators to voltage controlled
type and see in the load flow report , does it work or not ?

SOLUTION 4: if there is any load that is connected to the transformer directly. Then
first insert a bus, then connect those loads to the transformer via that bus. Do not
connect it directly to transformer.

3)     UNDER VOLTAGE ISSUE:

SOLUTION 1: Under voltage issue can be resolved by changing the transformer

tapping. On which ever cable there is under voltage, Go to its nearest Transformers
properties and change its tap setting to 5%. Do it on one side only. Either primary or
secondary side.

SOLUTION 2: By adding a capacitor bank, under voltage problem can be resolved.

Capacitor bank will be inserted in parallel and formula for finding capacitor bank's
rating will be :

Rating of Capacitor Bank (MVAr) = MW * (Tan ф1 – Tanф2) 

Where ф1 and ф2 can be calculated by follow `

Cos ф1 = Existing Power Factor

Cos ф2 = Required Power Factor

You can find existing power factor by running load flow at under voltage condition.
Theoretically, capacitors could provide 100 % of needed reactive power. In practical
usage, however, power factor correction to approximately 95 % provides maximum
benefit. 95 % is a good economic power factor for industrial purposes. So put required
power factor as " 0.95"

4)      BUS BASE KV IS OUT OF 40% RANGE FROM BUS NOMINAL KV.”

SOLUTION :

you've entered the voltage wrong for some of your buses, or else some of your
transformers. Check if your transformers are correctly connected (HV to HV and LV to
LV). Check ratings of primary and secondary of transformer. 100% it will be wrongly
connected. If this error appears

5)   THE SYSTEM HAS NO SWING POWER GRID OR GENERATORS.

SOLUTION:

You should have at least one swing generator or power grid in your load flow study
case. Go to the main generators or power grid properties and change its type to swing.

6)    THE SYSTEM HAS NO ENERGIZED BRANCHES

STEP 1: No energized buses means that you have not configured the source of power
properly. You must have at least one power source configured as a swing bus. Check if
you have swing generator in your system or not. Secondly there must be more than 2
buses for the load flow to execute so add more system elements.

STEP 2: If there is any breaker or fuse in the system than check whether its close or
not. If not than close it

7)       NUMBER OF ENERGIZED BUSES IS LESS THAN TWO

SOLUTION: There should be at least two buses to execute the load flow. ETAP requires
some elements, like a cable,line or transformer.

If a transformer cannot be included in your diagram, you have to add a new bus and
connect it using a short cable (say, 25 sq.mm, 50m length) . This may be labeled
dummy, if you like, and won’t affect the calculations in any way.