UNIT 2: POWER FLOW ANALYSIS

1.Why power flow or load flow analysis is made?

Power flow analysis is performed to calculate the magnitude and phase angle of voltages at the
buses and also the active power and reactive voltamperes flow for the given terminal or bus
conditions. The variables associated with each bus or node are,
a. Magnitude of voltage |V|
b. Phase angle of voltage δ
c. Active power, P
d. Reactive voltamperes, Q

2.What is power flow study or load flow study?

The study of various methods of solution to power system network is referred to as load study.
The solution provides the voltages at various buses, power flowing in various lines and line
losses.

3. What are the information that are obtained from a load flow study?
The information obtained from a load flow study are magnitude and phase angles of bus
voltages, real and reactive power flowing in each line and line losses. The load flow solution also
gives the initial conditions of the system when the transient behavior of the system is to be
studied.

4. What is the need for load flow study? (MAY/JUNE 2006)

The load flow study of a power system is essential to decide the best operation of existing system
and for planning the future expansion of the system. It is also essential for designing a new
power system.

5. What are the works involved in a load flow study? (NOV/DEC 2004)
The following has to be performed for a load flow study.
a. Representation of the system by single line diagram.
b. Formation of impedance diagram using the information in single line diagram.
c. Formulation of network equations
d. Solution of network equations.

6. What are the different types of buses in a power system?

The buses of a power system can be classified into three types based on the
quantities being specified for the buses, which are as follows:
a. Load bus or PQ bus (P and Q are specified)
b. Generator bus or voltage controlled bus or PV bus (P and V are specified)
c. Slack bus or swing bus or reference bus (|V| and δ are specified)

7. Define voltage controlled bus(generator bus/PV bus).

A bus is called voltage controlled bus if the magnitude of voltage |V| and real power (P) are
specified for it. In a voltage controlled bus, the magnitude of the voltage is not allowed to
change. Voltage controlled bus is also called as Generator bus and PV bus.

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8. What is PQ bus(load bus)? (APR/MAY 2005)
A bus is called PQ bus or load bus when real and reactive components of power are specified for
the bus. In a load bus, the voltage is allowed to vary within permissible limits.

9.What is swing bus(slack bus/reference bus)?

A bus is called swing bus when the magnitude and phase of bus voltage are specified for it. The
swing bus is the reference bus for load flow solution and it is required for accounting for the line
losses. Usually one of the generator bus is selected as the swing bus.

10. What is the need for slack bus? (APR/MAY 2004),(NOV/DEC 2004)
The slack bus is needed to account for transmission line losses. In a powersystem, the total
power generated will be equal to sum of power consumed by loads and losses. In a power
system, only the generated power and load power are specified for the buses. The slack bus is
assumed to generate the power required for losses. Since the losses are unknown, the real and
reactive power are not specified for slack bus. They are estimated through the solution of line
flow equations.

11. List the quantities specified and the quantities to be determined from load flow study
for various types of buses. (MAY/JUNE 2006)
The following table shows the quantities specified and the quantities to be obtained for various
types of buses.
Bus type Quantities Quantities to
specified be obtained
Load Bus P,Q |V |,δ

Generator Bus P,|V | Q, δ

Slack Bus |V |,δ P, Q

12. Write the load flow equation of Gauss-Seidel method.

The load flow equation of Gauss-Seidel method is given by,

[ P p− j Q p−1 n
1
K ¿ - ∑ Y pq V q – ∑ Y pq V q
K+ 1 K K
=Y
p
Vp
pp ( V p ) q=1 q= p +1

Where,
K+ 1 K
V p & V p = (K+1) and Kth iteration voltage of bus ‘p’ respectively.
K +1 K
V q & V q = (K+1) and Kth iteration voltage of bus ‘q’ respectively.

13. Write the load flow equation of Newton-Raphson method.

The load flow equation of Newton Raphson method is given by,

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14. Discuss the effect of acceleration factor in the load flow solution algorithm.
(APR/MAY 2004)
In load flow solution by iterative methods, the number of iterations can be reduced if the
correction voltage at each bus is multiplied by some constant. The multiplication of the constant
will increase the amount of correction to bring the voltage closer to the value it is approaching.
The multipliers that accomplish this improved converged are called acceleration factors. An
acceleration factor of 1.6 is normally used in load flow problems.

15. How will you account for voltage controlled buses in the load flow algorithm?
The acceleration factor is a real quantity and it modifies the magnitude of bus voltage alone.
Since in voltage controlled bus, the magnitude of bus voltage is not allowed to change, the
acceleration factor is not used for voltage controlled bus.

16. Why do we go for iterative methods to solve load flow problems?

The load (or power) flow equations are nonlinear algebraic equations and so explicit solution is
not possible. The solution of nonlinear equations can be obtained only by iterative numerical
techniques.

17. What do you mean by a flat voltage start?

In iterative methods of load flow solution, the initial voltage of all buses except slack bus are
assumed as 1+j0 p.u. This is referred to as flat voltage start.

18.When the generator bus is treated as load bus? What will be the reactive power
and bus voltage when the generator bus is treated as load bus?
If the reactive power of a generator bus violates the specified limits, then the generator bus is
treated as load bus. The reactive power of that particular bus is equated to the limit it has violated
and the previous iteration value of bus voltage is used for calculating current iteration value.

19. What are the advantages of Gauss-Seidel method?

The advantages of Gauss-Seidel method are,
a. Calculations are simple and so the programming task is less
b. The memory requirement is less
c. Useful for small systems.

20.What are the disadvantages of Gauss-Seidel method?

The disadvantages of Gauss-Seidel method are,
a. Requires large number of iterations to reach convergence.
b. Not suitable for large systems.
c. Convergence time increases with size of the system.
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21.How approximation is performed in Newton-Raphson method?
In Newton-Raphson method, the set of non-linear simultaneous (load flow) equations are
approximated to a set of linear simultaneous equations using Taylor’s series expansion and the
terms are limited to first order approximation.

22. What is Jacobian matrix? How the elements of Jacobian matrix are computed?
The matrix formed from the derivates of load flow equations is called Jacobian matrix and it is
denoted by J.
The elements of Jacobian matrix will change in every iteration. In each iteration, the elements of
the Jacobian matrix are obtained by partially differentiating the load flow equations with respect
o unknown variable and then evaluating the first derivates using the solution of previous
iteration.

23.What are the advantages of Newton-Raphson method?

The advantages of Newton-Raphson method are,
a. This load flow method is faster, more reliable and he results are accurate.
b. Requires less number of iterations for convergence.
c. The number of iterations are independent on the size of the system.
d. Suitable for large system.

24.What are the disadvantages of Newton-Raphson method?

The disadvantages of Newton-Raphson method are,
a. Programming is more complex.
b. The memory requirement is more.
c. Computational time per iteration is higher due to larger number of
calculations per iteration.

25.Mention (any) three advantages of N-R method over G-S method?

The three advantages of N-R method over G-S method are,
a. The N-R method has quadratic convergence characteristics and so converges
faster than G-S method.
b. The number of iterations for convergence is independent of the system in N-R
method.
c. In N-R method, the convergence is not affected by the choice of slack bus.

26.Compare G-S method and N-R methods of load flow solutions.

G-S method N-R method

1. The variables are expressed in rectangular 1. Variables are expressed in polar coordinates.
co-ordinates. 2. Computation time per iteration is more
2. Computation time per iteration is less. 3. It has quadratic convergence characteristics.
3. It has linear convergence characteristics. 4.The number of iterations are independent of
4. The number of iterations required for the size of the system.
convergence increase with size of the system. 5. The choice of slack bus is arbitrary.
5.The choice of slack bus is critical.

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27.How the convergence of N-R method is speeded up?
The convergence can be speeded up in N-R method by using Fast Decoupled Load Flow (FDLF)
algorithm. In FDLF method, the weak coupling between P-δ and Q-V are decoupled and then the
equations are further simplified using the knowledge of practical operating conditions of a power
system.
28. How the disadvantages of N-R method are overcome?
The disadvantage of large memory requirement can be overcome by decoupling the weak
coupling between P-δ and Q-V (i.e., using decoupled load flow algorithm). The disadvantage of
large computational time per iteration can be reduced by simplifying the decoupled load flow
equations. The simplifications are based on the practical operating conditions of a power system.
29. Write the equation for power flow in the transmission line.
The equation for power flow in the transmission line (say p-q) at bus ‘p’ is given by,

30. Give the matrix notation of YbusV= I

31.Give the equation to find Kth Bus voltage.