Application of Equal Area Criterion:

To illustrate the EAC of stability, we now consider some of the several types of disturbances
that may occur in a power system network consisting of a single machine infinite bus bar
system.
(a). Sudden change in input:
Fig.1 shows the one-line diagram of a synchronous generator connected to an infinite bus.
  ῀ Pe

V∠00
Fig.1
Infinite bus
G

Let us consider the case of sudden change (Increase) in the mechanical input. Fig.2 shows the
plot of , the power angle curve with the system operating at point ‘a’ corresponding to input
Ps. Let the mechanical input be suddenly increased to as shown. The accelerating power
cause the rotor to accelerate. Hence the rotor angle ‘δ’ increases, the electrical power
transfer increases, reducing till a point ‘b’ at which.
The rotor angle ‘δ’, however, continues to increase because of the inertia of the rotor and
becomes negative causing the rotor to decelerate, at some point ‘c’ where area A1=area A2 or
, the rotor velocity becomes zero (this corresponds to synchronous speed) and then starts to
become negative owing to continuing negative. The rotor angle thus reaches the maximum
value ‘δ2’ and then starts to decrease.
From Fig.3 areas A1 &A2 are given by,

For the system to be stable, it should be possible to find angle ‘δ2’ such that A1= A2, as is
increased, a limiting condition is finally reached when area A1 equals the entire area A2 above
the line as shown in Fig.3. Under this condition ‘δ2’ acquires the maximum value δm such that
Now, the system is said to be ‘Critically Stable’. Any further increase in means the area
available for A2 is less than A1, so that the system becomes unstable. It has thus been shown
by the use of EAC that there is an upper limit sudden increase in mechanical input for the
system in equation to remain stable. The power is Transient State Limit (TSL) of the system. As
clearly visible from the fig.3, TSL() is less than SSSL() of the system
 
b).Sudden loss of one of the parallel lines:
Let us consider a single machine connected to an infinite bus through two parallel lines as shown in Fig.4. The circuit
model of the system is given in Fig.5.
The transient stability of the system when one of the lines is suddenly switched OFF from the system, while operating
under steady load conditions is now being considered.
Case-1: Before switching OFF, the power angle equation is,

Case-2: On switching OFF line-2, the power angle equation is,

The Fig.6 shows the two curves where in as. As soon as line-2 was switched OFF, the original operating point ‘a’ on
cruve-1 is shifted to a point ‘b’ on cruve-2. Accelerating energy corresponding to area A 1 is put into rotor followed by
decelerating energy. If an area A 2 equal to A1 is found above the Ps line, the system will be stable, and finally at ‘c’
corresponding to a new rotor angle.
For the limiting case of stability, has a maximum value is given by
; Which is the same condition as the previous example.
(c).sudden short circuit in one of the parallel lines:
Case-1: Short circuit at one end of a line: Let us assume that a three-phase short-circuit occurs at the end of line-2 of a
double circuit line as shown in Fig.7.

Before the occurrence of a fault, the power angle curve is given by,

Upon occurrence of a three-phase fault at the end of line-2, there is no power flow as seen from the Fig. i.e P e2=0.
The circuit breakers at the two ends of the faulted line open at time t1 (corresponding to angle ), called the clearing time,
disconnecting the faulted line. The power flow is now restored via the healthy line-1. With power angle curve is given as,

Obviously, Pm3 < Pm1. The rotor now starts to decelerate as shown in Fig.8. The system, will be stable if a decelerating area
A2 can be found equal to the accelerating area A 1 before reaches ‘’ the maximum allowable value .
It easily follows that larger initial loading (P s) increases A1 for a given clearing angle () & therefore, quicker fault clearing
would be needed to maintain stable operation.
Case-2: Short circuit away from line ends:
 When a three-phase fault occurs away from line ends (say in the middle of a line), there is some impendence between the paralleling
buses & the fault. Therefore, some power is transmitted while the fault is still on the system. The one-line diagram of the system is
shown in Fig.9.

The equivalent circuit before occurrence of fault is shown in Fig.10.

The power angle curve is given by;
Circuit model of the system during fault is shown in Fig.11.
Here, Xf= transfer reactance of the system. The power angle curve during fault is therefore given by;
After the clearing of the fault by opening of the circuit breakers, the equivalent circuit is as shown in Fig.12.
The power angle curve during fault is therefore given by;
The power angle curves to Pe1, Pe2 & Pe3 are shown in Fig.13. The system is stable only if it is possible to find an area A 2 equal to
A1.
 
Critical Clearing Angle and Critical Clearing Time:
In the previous case, if Ps is increased, then δ1 increase, area A1 increases and to find A2=A1, δ2 is increased till it
has a value δm, the maximum allowable limit for stability. Then the system said to be critically stable. The angle
δ1 is then called as the critical angle (δcc). The time corresponding to this is called critical clearing time (tcc).
The critical clearing angle can be determined from the EAC. However, the critical clearing time cannot be
obtained from EAC. It is possible to estimate critical clearing time using the swing curve. This time is very much
essentials in designing the protective circuit breakers for the system. The case of critical stability of the system is
shown in Fig.15.
Applying EAC to the above case, we get; A1=A2
 
Where ;
Integrating, we get

The angles in the above equation are in radians. If the angles are in degrees, the equation modifies as below;
Problems: 1. An equivalent generator connected to a 50Hz infinite bus has steady state
power limits before, during & after a fault is cleared as 2.0pu, 0.5 pu and 1.5 pu. Evaluate
the critical clearing angle if the initial load is 1.0pu.
 Solution:
Pm1=2 pu ; Pm2=0.5 pu ; Pm3=1.5 pu ; Ps =1.0 pu
 

 
; we have;

This is desired results

2. A 50Hz generator is delivering 50% of the power that it is capable of delivering trough a
transmission line to an infinite bus. a fault occurs that increase the reactance between the generators
& the infinite bus to 500% of the value before the fault. When the fault is isolated the maximum
power that can be delivered is 75% of the original maximum value. Evaluate the critical clearing angle
for the condition described.
 Solution;
Let Pm be the maximum power that can be delivered by the generator, from the given data, we find that

; we have;

This is desired results

3.Evaluate the critical clearing angle for the system shown in Fig.1 for a three-phase fault at
the point ‘P’. The generator is delivering 1.0pu power under pre-fault conditions.

Solution: (a). Before fault: The equivalent circuit before fault is as shown in Fig.2
The transfer reactance between the generator & the infinite bus is 0.25+ (0.58/2)+0.17=0.71
(b). During fault: The reactance diagram is shown in Fig.3. Converting the delta to star, the reactance network
is changed to that of Fig.4. Further, upon converting star to delta we obtain the network of Fig.5.

;
(c). After fault: After the faulty line is taken out of service, the equivalent circuit is as shown in Fig.6.
The transfer reactance between generator & the infinite bus=0.25+0.58+0.17= 1.0pu

; We have;

Using the values from (1) to (5) in the above equation, we get,

; This is desired results

4. A loss free alternator supplies 50MW to an infinite bus, the SSSL being 100MW. Evaluate if the alternator will
remain stable if the input to the prime mover of the alternator is abruptly increased by 40 MW.

Solution:
The power angle curve of the alternator depicting the problem is shown in Fig.7
Let ‘δ0’ be operating power angle when load is 50MW.
we have
At point ‘b’, when load is 50+40=90MW, the operating angle is given as,

At point ‘c’, the operating angle

From the power angle diagram, it can be observed that,

It can observed that from the results that the accelerating area A 1 is greater than the decelerating area A2. Hence the
machine will fall out of synchronisation i.e, it will lose its stability when the input is suddenly increased by 40 MW