Design,Development and Experimental setup of a

PMU network for monitoring and anomaly detection

Vishwajit Roy Stephen Bayne Anitha Sarah Subburaj
Electrical and Computer Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering School of Engineering, Computer
Texas Tech University Texas Tech University Science and Mathematics
Lubbock, USA Lubbock, USA West Texas A&M University
vishwajit.roy@ttu.edu stephen.bayne@ttu.edu Canyon, USA
asubburaj@wtamu.edu
Subrina Noureen Michael Giesselmann Mark A. Harral
Taufique Atique Electrical and Computer Engineering Group NIRE
Electrical and Computer Engineering Texas Tech University Lubbock, USA
Texas Tech University Lubbock, USA mark.harral@groupnire.com
Lubbock, USA michael.giesselmann@ttu.edu
subrina.noureen@ttu.edu
taufique.atique@ttu.edu

Abstract— Introduction of Synchronized phasor measurement
unit (PMU) in power system is a solution for monitoring system
wide disturbances. PMUs provide precise information about a
system’s phasors such as magnitude and phase angle of sine
waves of the system. PMU data is a valuable source when
determining the post-mortem of a fault, or a system disturbance.
It can be unveiled what time the system began to falter and
exactly what instabilities the system experienced. Knowing the
cause of such instabilities will allow enhancement of the current
system protection system. This will help in minimizing risk,
disruptions or total system collapse. PMUs are synchronized via
global positioning system (GPS). For wide area monitoring
(WAM), synchronization of the PMUs allows for interconnected
systems to be monitored simultaneously, giving real time
records. This paper explores the impact of PMU in modern
power system, deployment strategies of PMU network around
Texas Tech University, importance of PMU data collected from
the network, correlation of events by data analysis and focus on
how the time stamped information is valuable for grid stability.
The ongoing smart architecture of grid will increase dependency
and importance on PMU based network in future.
Index Terms-- Data analysis, Deployments, Network connectivity,
Phasor Measurement Unit
I. INTRODUCTION
The continuous increment of demand in power system has
made the system complex. At the same time introduction of
new renewable resources has introduced more complexity for
power system monitoring and control [1]. In modern power
system, the key part is to monitor and control the system. With
the increment of load the power system has introduced the
idea of wide area monitoring. The wide-area monitoring,
protection and control (WAMPAC) system basically relies on
the measurement accuracy. Measurement accuracy helps to
improve the efficiency of the system and to obtain maximum
output. Energy Management System (EMS) depends on the
accuracy of state estimation which plays an important role in
voltage stability, security analysis and load dispatch [2]. In
this regard the consistency and reliability of power system is a
major concern for new technology. Starting from 1980, the
synchrophasor technology has gained a good progress around
the world for its measuring capability [3]. Synchrophasor
technology has the capability for both real-time operations and
off-line engineering analysis which helps to improve grid
reliability, efficiency and lower operating costs [4].The idea of
PMU evolved from 1969 while American Electric Power
(AEP) Corporation was developing computer based distance
relay [5]. The idea of measurement in every cycle with
continuous quantity gave birth to the idea of real time
observation. In 1990 the first standalone PMU was built in
Virginia Tech which was capable of measuring voltage and
current with the help of Global Positioning System (GPS) to
synchronize all the measurements around a large power
system. Later, the 2003 blackout in the Northeast part of USA
and Canada propagated a new era for the reliability of power
network [5]. In the meantime the PMU has gained large
popularity in power system control. USA has already installed
420 PMUs in North-East, 400 PMUs in Midwest, 150 PMUs
in South, 120 PMUs in Texas, 500 PMUs in WECC and at
least 300 PMUs in Mexico. Over 2500 networked PMUs are
installed in North America as of now [5].
A phasor is a sinusoidal quantity which represents
magnitude and phase angle as shown in Fig.1. A pure
sinusoidal wave can be represented as:

978-1-7281-0137-8/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE

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 ‫ݔ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ ൌ ܺ௠ Ǥ ‘•ሺ߱‫ ݐ‬൅ ߮ሻሺͳሻ
Considering a time reference point (t=0) as reference and
the phasor can be represented as:
ܺ௠ ܺ௠
ܺൌ Ǥ ݁ ௝ఝ ൌ  ሺܿ‫ ߮ݏ݋‬൅ ݆‫߮݊݅ݏ‬ሻሺʹሻ
ξʹ ξʹ
௑೘
Here the magnitude is rms value of sinusoid
ξଶ
phase angle is ߮.
Fig.1. Phasor Representation of a Sinusoidal Waveform [6]
In digital measurement, a reference wave form is used as
shown in figure 2. When the input signal frequency is
different from the reference frequency, there will be error in
the magnitude as well as phase angle. This difference in
frequency proves that there was a disturbance in the input
signal [7].
Digital signal processing techniques are used to compute
the voltage and current phasors. As power system
continuously changes with the variation of loads, the Dynamic
State Estimation (DSE) has been developed. For state
estimation, voltage magnitude, angle, current and frequency
values are measured. To provide accurate and continuous
measured values with respect to a reference time, deployment
of PMUs have played a vital role.
Fig.2. Phasor Measurements at Bus 1 and Bus 2 [6]
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The time stamped data of PMU provides advantages with
the help of angular measurement. PMU introduces the method
of direct angular measurements from all the buses where
PMUs are installed.
and the
Fig.3. Basic components of a PMU [8]
To measure the network state, a PMU collects positive
sequence components of different measured data around the
network [9]. The collected voltage and current signals are
converted to voltage (using instrument transformer within ±
10 V) which will match the requirements of A/D (analog to
digital) converter. The sampling rate controls the frequency of
the anti-aliasing-filter where cut-off frequency is less than half
of sampling frequency to satisfy Nyquist criterion [8]. The
phase of the sampling clock of oscillator (phase-locked
oscillator) is locked by signal generated from GPS
receiver’s(as shown in figure 3) one pulse per second signal.
The signal created from GPS along with the output of the
microprocessor is used to generate time stamped data which
constitute the synchronized state variables such as voltage,
current, phase angle. The final output from PMU (time
stamped data) is transmitted over different communication
networks to higher level of system according to system
hierarchy [8]. The output files are required to maintain
industry standards and synchrophasor standards that were first
introduced in 1995 [10]. The network hierarchy contains
PMU at bottom level, then the phasor data concentrator (PDC)
level and at top the super phasor data concentrator. The
devices on the hierarchy need to be synchronized by a
grandmaster clock of universal time coordination and to
support the IEEE standards [5]. The IEEE synchrophasor
standards tend to continue modifications according to the
requirements including IEEE Standard 1344-1995 [11]. All
the PMUs installed around the network record the low
frequency oscillations of power grid. The synchrophasor
network nowadays is intelligent enough to evaluate the
dynamic state of power grid, adaptive islanding, self-healing
aspects and Remedial Action Scheme (RAS) [5].
Power system stability solely depends on meeting
equilibrium between generation and demands. The instability
due to demand and supply can be measured with the deviation
of voltage and frequency. Voltage instability defines that the
reactive power of a power system is imbalanced. On the other
hand, frequency instability defines the difference between real
power (difference between load demand and generation). Both
of these factors are highly essential to make power system
stable. In this regard, the accuracy of measurement of
parameters and continuous measurement of values are highly
essential. Without proper measurements the undesirable integration of real time PMU data for simulation on real time
blackout is inevitable. High reactive power in any bus system simulator 7) study of cyber security issues for PMU network
denotes under-voltage situation. High active power denotes 8) manage and develop platform for “big data” issues
under frequency. In case of under frequency we need to generated by synchrophasors.
provide proper generation boost up and in case of under Based on the above goals several PMUs are already
voltage we need reactive power control. In all these cases, the installed in different locations of Texas. Starting from
continuous measurement values can provide on time and September 2016, the present network is capable of fulfilling
appropriate action. the network standards and transmits data over network from
SCADA (Supervisory control and data acquisition) system distance location. The scope of the study is also to integrate
measures voltage magnitude and power flow in every 2-3 the measurements from smart grid under GLEAMM solar and
seconds. The main component of SCADA system are RTUs wind-based energy resources which have already been
(Remote Terminal Units) which collects data from sensors, implemented. The following sections discuss the installation
meters, loggers or process equipment [6]. Synchrophasors can of PMU at TTU and West Texas A&M University
provide real time stamped data for 32 to 60 samples per (WTAMU).
second. The advantages of PMU over SCADA system are as
follows [6]: A. Installation of TTU PMU Network
• PMUs can calculate measurements with respect to GPS Seven PMUs are installed in different areas around TTU.
global angle reference which helps to get specific critical NI 9725 PMU model (National Instruments 9725 Grid
measurements. At the same time PMUs collect voltage Automation System) was considered for these installations.
and angle measurements directly from bus. SCADA All of these PMUs are connected to PDC in Reese
system measures voltage, active and reactive power, and Technology Center (RTC). The data from seven PMUs of
angle from network parameters which may not be always different locations are collected to PDC. The structure of the
precise. PMU network is shown in Table 1.
• The data collected by SCADA are asynchronous and of TABLE I: PMU location and distance from TTU PDC
low rate. The asynchronous data are not able to provide
accurate phase angle difference from network’s consequent S.No Name of the PMU Location Distance
buses. On the other hand low data rate may not be able to from
capture short duration disturbances in a grid [12]. PDC at
RTC
• Synchrophasors provide coherent data which is collected (miles)
around the network. The trend of voltage and phase angle 1 TTU ECE PMU ECE Building TTU 8.93
difference helps to monitor coherent groups of generators 2 TTU JUNCTION 254 Red Raider Ln, Junction, 250
PMU TX 76849
and interconnected buses stability issues. The phase angle 3 TTU AUSTIN PMU 10000 Research Blvd, 374
difference is helpful to determine the power transfer 250Austin, Texas 78759
margin. The SCADA system cannot provide dense 4 DRG PMU 4th street, Lubbock, Texas 4.62
sampled data which contains precise voltage angle 5 RTC TOP PMU At Reese Technology Center, 0
difference. Building 250, Lubbock, TX
79416
• Synchrophasor measurements can provide protection for 6 RTC BOTTOM At Reese Technology Center, 0
series compensated lines, multi terminal lines and the PMU Building 250, Lubbock, TX
inability to satisfactorily set out-of-sets relays [6]. 79416
7 ABILBAOHOME01 19thStreet, Lubbock, TX 5.77
II. PMU DEPLOYMENTS
The continuous expansion of power generation as well as The location of the different PMUs are shown in the Fig.4
load demand is subject to continuous monitoring and
mitigates solution. In this connection the deployment of a
PMU and transmitting data over the network is a challenge
for power system. The challenge includes PMU installation,
proper placement, commissioning and communication
network development. The objective of the deployment of
PMUs under the Texas Tech University (TTU), GLEAMM
(Global Laboratory for Energy Asset Management and
Manufacturing) and GNIRE collaboration network was to
explore the 1) performance and data validation of
synchrophasor 2) the barriers and challenges of installation
and commissioning 3) developing ideas on accessory
components for PMU installation 4) installation and
development of a data network for PMU data transmission 5)
sharing PMU data across the grid with other PDCs 6) Fig.4. Location of PMUs in google map

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 The TTU PDC is connected with Group NIRE PDC over
the TTU network. Moreover, one Sandia Lab PMU is
connected with TTU PDC. The overall scenario of TTU PMU
network is shown in Fig.5.
Fig.5. TTU PMU Networks
PMUs from different locations use TTU network for data
communication over Internet Protocol (IP). For remote
connectivity of other domain PMUs, Virtual Local Area
Network (VLAN) connections are provided for data
communication. These seven PMUs are connected to PDC
through OpenPDC software. The connectivity steps are
shown below in Fig. 6. For analysis, data is retrieved from the
openPDC archive with the help of openHistorian. This data is
considered for study and analysis.
A PDC is a server which collects phasor measurements
from PMUs from different locations. As all the data are time
synchronized with Universal time the PDC can compare each
sample for the PMU–PDC connection. The TCP/IP protocol
is used according to IEEE regulation. The data format
considered for the network was IEEE 37.118 [13].
Fig.6. PMU connectivity steps
The OpenPDC software was installed inside the PDC to
observe and record the three phase parameters collected by
PMU as shown in Fig.7. The data stream sent by the PMU is
captured in the OpenPDC archive for post analysis. PMU
connection tester is software administrated by Grid Protection
Alliance (GPA) to test data connection from PMU.
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Fig.7. PMU to PDC Network Connectivity
Using the PMU connection tester the time stamped real
time data propagation is visible. Different protocols are
supported by PMU connection tester, example: IEEE
C37.118.2-2011, IEEE C37.118-2005, IEC 61850-90-5, IEEE
1344-1995 [14]. To make the connection using TCP/IP to a
PMU, the IP address of the specific PMU, the device ID and
the specific protocol (ex. IEEE C37.118.2-2011) need to be
provided in the PMU connection tester software. The
OpenPDC is phasor data concentrator software administrated
by GPA. It is used to concentrate time stamped data from
multiple PMUs. At the same time OpenPDC can visualize
different data stream like voltage, current and phase angle. As
the data values are time aligned, it is easy to find the
deviations from different bus data of the grid.
B. Installation of WTAMU PMU Network
As a part of the newest PMU setup collaboration, in
February’2018, a three phase three wire connection was set
up with the SEL 351 PMU. PMU using potential transformer
(PT) and current transformer (CT) is shown in Fig. 8. The
location was chosen at a substation of Palo Duro Research
Facility, WTAMU for the PMU placement.
To step down the nominal voltage of three phase line from
480 V to 120 V, 1.2% accuracy, 0-8 VA PT was used. The
secondary of PT was connected to the input side of the PMU.
The line voltages can be considered to be 25% excess at the
nominal 480 V at 60 Hz. For measurement of three phase
current, CT was used considering maximum voltage of 600 V
and input current range of 250 to 500 A. The rated accuracy
of CT is 10% to 300% at rated current.
A fiber based IT network at WTAMU was considered for
PMU data communication. In this experimental setup 30
samples/second data were considered for PDC.
 turn help turn on/off the breakers and protection system to
maintain the healthy condition of grid. The following section
discusses a case study of detected events from TTU PMU
Network.
V. CASE STUDY FROM TTU PMU NETWORK
Power system post event analysis is important to take
preventive measurements in future which help to reduce cost
and time [17]. The TTU network captures data from PMU at
different buses around the grid. Each twelve-hour data is
considered for analysis. This data helps to recognize how
synchrophasor is helpful for event detection, analysis and
Fig. 8. PMU connectivity with three phase bus in WTAMU
determination of various kinds of faults such as line tripping,
load fluctuation around power networks. The events
III. DATA STORAGE AND PREPROCESSING described here occurred on Feb 19th, 2018. This event started
Data captured by PDC is stored in openPDC Archive in a with the line real power fluctuation which in turn affected the
compressed format. The compered data is extracted using frequency. At 05:51:06.400 PM the event was first detected
openDataHistorian. The following steps are followed for data by DRG PMU and the frequency value was detected as
preparation: 59.94455 Hz. The same event affected the consecutive buses
1) Data cleaning: helps to improve quality separating noisy and affected another bus (detected by ABILBAOHOME01-
and missing data. 2) Feature extraction: Features like voltage, FQ at 05:54:06.000 (59.94607 Hz) and RTCTOP at
current, voltage phase angle, frequency are extracted from 05:54:06.366 pm (59.94586 Hz). The following figures 9-12
raw data set for different PMUS. 3) Transform data: In this shows the example event.
step data is joined for analytical overview. 4) Data modeling:
In this step data is analyzed to find relationship of events and
anomalies.
IV. EVENT AND FAULT DETECTION FROM DATA
ANALYSIS
There are different types of faults in power system. The
fault detection and fault clearance are the important issues in
power system. Faults occur while two or more conductors
come in contact making a short circuit or the conductor
makes contact with ground. Faults can be classified as single
-line-to-ground fault, line-to-line faults, double line-to ground
faults and three phase faults [15]. Different events can put a
power system in faulty state like generator tripping,
transmission line fault, tripping of transmission line due to Fig. 9 Event detection of DRG PMU at
flash over, overloaded condition . A fault can be defined as an 05:51:06.400 PM
abnormal situation in power system. Any fault can lead to
serious issues like transmission and distribution outage,
outbreak of fire, residential and industrial power outage
which intern cause socio-economical and appliance loss.
To overcome the problems in the grid, an unusual event
need to be detected as earlier as possible to avoid any
unwanted situation. In order to collect data from different
sources for diagnosis, the data needs to be stored, filtered,
verified and the decision must be transmitted to remove the
fault. The accuracy of recovering strategy solely depends on
monitoring and fast decision making strategy.
Power system fault detection and islanding the faulty
segment from the entire network is a common part of control
[16]. Communication between different loads, generation and Fig. 10 Event detection of ABILBAOHOME01 PMU at
05:54:06.000 PM
distribution equipment help to detect the issues faster. The
data collected from the different buses and key location
points of the grid helps to make correct decisions which in

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Fig.11 Event detection of RTCTOP PMU at
05:54:06.366 PM
Fig.12 An example of sustained transient (between RTCTOP,
ABILBAOHOME and DRG PMU)
For ease of analysis one hour data was extracted. The time
series plot for the three PMU data was done for an hour
which gives a clear view of the simple frequency fluctuation
event. The transient fault started to recover within a short
time and the first recovery (59.97028 Hz) was detected by
DRG PMU at 05:55:43.500 pm. The other two PMUs
followed the recovery and was recorded at 05:56:12.633 PM
(59.97021 Hz) by ABILBAOHOME PMU and at
05:55:43.866 PM (59.97033) by RTC TOP PMU. The
transient event sustained for almost 90 sec as shown in
Fig.12. The GPS time stamping provides the propagation of
fault around the grid with a clear picture of what happened at
the disturbance [18].
VI. CONCLUSION
Throughout this paper, the strategies behind PMU
deployment and PMU data analysis were focused. An
intelligent network with proper monitoring and detection of
events is only possible by high rate of PMU data. As PMUs
can provide more sampling within a second, load and
generation fluctuation can be easily diagnosed by the data
analysis. In this context, introduction of new renewable
resources which can cause high power fluctuation is an added
dimension to use PMU based microgrid network. In this
paper, a comparative study of deployment issues which
occurred during TTU PMU network is discussed. The paper
provides scenario of TTU PMU network and WTAMU
network infrastructure, implementation barriers and analysis
strategies. The present network includes the PMU data
collected from 150 kW solar, 300 kW wind generation and
70 kW battery sources. With the PMU data analysis, future
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disturbances can be more predictable, thus leading to a more
reliable power protection system. All of these studies will
help to introduce different protection system analysis and to
find new strategies for power system stability which can help
to build a smart and intelligent grid.
VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This material is based upon research work “Deployment of
PDC at WTAMU" funded and supported by the Group NIRE,
Lubbock, Texas. We also would like to acknowledge
GLEAMM for their contribution.
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