IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS,VOL. 28, NO.

5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1992

1102

Improved Power Flow Robustness

for Personal Computers
Daniel J. Tylavsky, Senior Member, IEEE, Peter Crouch, Senior Member, IEEE,
Leslie F. Jarriel, Member, IEEE, and Rambabu Adapa, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract-Mine electrical power flow solutions are often obtained using personal computers. Because of the limited precision used by the compilers on these machines, power flow
solution procedures may diverge or possibly oscillate until the
iteration limit is reached, even though an operable solution
exists. A simple method is provided in this paper to create
virtually extended-precision calculations in both full NewtonRaphson and decoupled power flow algorithms without the attendant slowdown associated with full double precision codes.
Numerical results give a strong indication that the XB and BX
decoupled algorithms with a successive iteration strategy (vis a
vis the classical iteration strategy) and virtual-extended precision may perform well on mine electrical power flow problems.

I. INTRODUCTION

E LIMITED precision utilized by most Fortran

compilers can lead to cases where the solution procedure does not converge, even though the mine electrical
engineer may know that an operable solution does exist.
The objective of this paper is to provide a method that
can allow any existing power flow algorithm to execute in
a virtually extended-precision mode with few modifications and little execution speed penalty. Since this problem is endemic to both mine power systems and utility
power systems, it is convenient to examine methods to
correct these problems in both full Newton algorithms,
which are primarily used in the mine electrical community, and the various fast decoupled formulation used in
control center applications by the electric utility industry.
Since the first practical implementation of a power flow
solution procedure using Newtons method in 1967 [l] and
the introduction of the fast decoupled method in 1974 [2],
power flow solution algorithms have been outstandingly
robust but have experienced some troublesome cases [3].
Some of these cases have resulted in divergence and may
or may not have real solutions, whereas others oscillate
around a region close to convergence, sometimes eventuPaper PID 91-24, approved by the Mining Industry Committee of the
IEEE Industry Applications Society for presentation at the 1990 Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, October 7-12.
This work was supported by the Electric Power Research Institute under
agreement RP2473-38 and the Salt River Project through the Electric
Power Research Laboratory at Arizona State University.
D. J. Tylavsky and P. Crouch are with the Center for System Science
and Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-5706.
L. F. Jarriel is with Power Software and Consulting, Scottsdale, AZ
85251.
R. Adapa is with EPRI, Palo Alto, CA 94303.
IEEE Log Number 9201868.

ally converging after an unacceptable number of iterations. Recent developments [4] have brought to light the
occurrence of oscillations when the BX algorithm (using
the classical iteration scheme) is used to solve power flow
data cases that include lines with high R/X ratios.
It is shown in this paper that at times, power flow
algorithm data cases that appear oscillatory fail simply
due to the lack of precision. The remedy suggested to
make the most of the precision available for both full
Newton and fast decoupled problem formulations is particularly important for power flow implementations on
personal computers. Many PCs use 24 b mantissas compared with 48 b for an IBM or Cray mainframe. First, we
establish the notation and discuss the remedies for precision deficiency and then discuss the connection between
precision deficiency and oscillation.
11. FORMULATION
/ NOTATION

The Newton iteration with variables in polar form may

be found in many texts and is given by

The following two equations are solved consecutively

and represent one full fast decoupled iteration
[ A P / V ] = [ B ] [A @ ]
(3)
and the B and B entries for the BX and XB algorithms
are defined as in [21,[41. The two iteration schemes that
can be used with (2) and (3) are the classical scheme, in
which each iteration is completed only if one of the
mismatches exceeds the convergence tolerance, and the
successive scheme, in which (2) and (3) are solved successively until both AP and AQ are within the specified
tolerance.
111. PRECISION
DEFICIENCY
SIMULATION
The flow chart, which is given in Fig. 1, shows the main
subroutines of the Newton power flow program. The
flowchart given in Fig. 2 is that of the fast decoupled
power flow algorithm. The effects on the power flow
convergence performance caused by precision deficiency
were simulated by limiting the precision of each routine
discussed below:
MISMAT-calculates the real and reactive power mismatches and checks for convergence.

0093-9994/92$03.00 0 1992 IEEE

1
1103
TYLAVSKY et al.: IMPROVED POWER FLOW ROBUSTNESS FOR PERSONAL COMPUTERS

Jacobian Solve Routines

JAC-BUILD-builds the individual elements of the
Jacobian based on the present iteration power mismatches.
LU-FACT-performs LU factorization on the Jacobian.
LU-SUBS-performs forward and backward substitution to get the updates to the angles and voltages
(assuming polar form of the bus variables).

INPUT

MISMATCH
(solve

(4) S ( 5 ) )

4+----yl
OUTPUT

Precision limitation was approximated by developing a

mask that zeroed the m least significant bits of the
mantissa resulting from every floating-point calculation in
the above routines. The word-bit map and mask used to
zero the 12 least significant bits of a real variable is
illustrated in Fig. 3 for an IBM PC. All testing was
performed on an IBM PC that has a word length of 32 b
for both integer and real (single precision). (Single precision real variables have 24-b mantissas and are used
throughout the software except as indicated, where the
precision is reduced or where double precision is indicated.) A convergence tolerance of 0.01 per unit and
maximum number of full iterations (equal to two half
iterations of the FDM) of 60 is used, unless otherwise
stated.

Fig. 1. Newton power flow subroutine flowchart.

ri
PF=QF=O

CALCULATE A P / V

PF=O

L=r.T/
SOLVE (6),UPDATE 9

PF = 1

N)

SOLVE (7). UPDATE V

Fig. 2. Fast decoupled power flow flowchart, classical scheme.

IV. FULL
NEWTONPRECISION
SIMULATION
Precision Limiting in Jacobian Solve Routines
Results from initial testing showed that the occurrence
of convergence was very sensitive to the precision of the
mismatch routine but not very sensitive to the precision of
the other routines such as the Jacobian solve routines
(JAC-BUILD, LU-FACT, LU-SUBS). In some cases,
precision could be limited in the Jacobian solve routines
so that real variables were represented by a mantissa as
small as 5 b, and convergence would still be reached.
Fig. 4 shows the minimum number of bits of precision
required for convergence of the solution procedure for
the IEEE 14, 30, 57, and 118 bus systems as a function of
mantissa precision when the Jacobian solve routines were
precision limited, whereas the MISMAT routine was left
unchanged with single precision. A 43-bus case that has
trouble converging as documented by both Stott [2] and
Iwamoto [5] is also included in this table and an 11-bus
mine electrical power system. All but one of these systems
resulted in a divergent solution procedure once precision was
suficiently limited. This suggests that the slopes of the
tangent lines to the curves defined by the bus power
equilibrium equations can be approximated quite crudely
before these slopes yield unacceptable voltage update
values. One exception to this behavior was the 30-bus
case, which showed a cyclic behavior that persisted for
over 60 iterations. It is plausible that the inaccuracy of the
tangent line slopes was sufficient to cause oscillations but
insufficient to cause divergence. These results are not
surprising since the decoupled methods use approximate
slopes and converge nicely for many problems.

_ -

__

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I E E E TRANSACTIONS O N INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 28, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER / O C T O B E R 1992

1104
2322

31 30

Exponent
I
Mantissa (lower significanl bits)

S I

16

TABLE I
MINIMUM
NUMBEROF BITSOF PRECISION TO MAINTAINCONVERGENCE
OF NEWTONALGORITHM

Mantissa

15

s = sign bit O(+), 1(-)

Note the most significant bit is not stored.
The 2nd most significant bit is bit 22,
while the least significant bit is bit 0.

System
Size

For example masking out the 12 least

significant bits, leaving a 12 bit mantissa
requires that the word, FOOOFFFF H ~ ~ .
be logically 'anded with the word in
memory to be masked.
23 22

31
1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1

I
15

I 1

1 1 111

16
1 1 1 1 1

Fig. 3. Floating-point bit map and precision limiting mask for IBM PC
using Fortran.

Min. Bits for Convergence Jacobian Solve Routines

Partial
Flow
Exprmntal
(Bits)

Actual
Line Flow
Exprmntal
(Bits)

Naive Act.
Line Flow
Theory
(Bits)

21.7
18.6
19.7
23.9
19.5
21.9

21
18
19
24
19
23

20
18
18
24
19
23

15
14
15
17
15
15

17362.0
3863.5
8282.9
154519.0
7210.1
38647.0

11
14
30
43
57
118

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0

B,,(,,,)

Partial
Flow
Theory
(Bits) (6)

Newton power flow but would converge using the same

code with double precision. The precision used in [5] was
not specified; however, these results suggest that it was a
machine using 32 b of precision. Convergence failure
occurs at a prescribed bit level because the limited precision prevents accurate representation of the partial results needed in the formation of the mismatch values.
Thus, the way in which partial results are calculated
becomes important. Consider the case in which mismatch
values are obtained by adding partial line flows. Partial
line flows are those obtained by inner product evaluation
of the form of the bus current relationship 1 = YE appearing under the summation sign in (4).
APk

= P i p - v k c v m ( c o s8kmGkm- sin 8kmBkm) (4a)

m

11

14

30

43

57

118

System Size Number of Buses

AQk

QLp -

vm(COS8kmBkm- Sin 8kmGkm). (4b)

v
k
m

Minimum number of bits required for convergence for various

size systems.

The partial flows on each line (i.e., terms in the inner

product) are evaluated (in effect) as if the bus voltage at
one end of the line is zero. In the 30 bus case under a flat
Precision Limiting Mismatch Routine
voltage profile assumption, the largest partial line power
The onset of nonconvergence was more rapid as preci- flow was 8456.40 at bus 6, which is a zero injection bus
sion was limited in the MISMAT routine (whereas the (P'p = 0 and Q s P = 0). To converge to a tolerance of 0.01
Jacobian-solve routines were left unscathed). The symp- per unit, the computer would have to accurately represent
toms that indicated that precision was suficiently limited to 845640, or else the mismatch tolerance would never be
prevent convergence usually involved small mismatch and reached. Recognizing that 219 = 524288 and 2" = 1
voltage oscillations about the known solution. The oscilla- 048576, would suggest that 19 b would be insufficient for
tion pattern observed was that of nonlinear oscillations in convergence, whereas the approximate minimum number
which no discernible period or magnitude of the oscilla- of bits needed for convergence is given by the simple
tion could be established. The minimum number of bits of relationship
mantissa precision permitted while maintaining convergence of the power flow solution procedure for the test [log2 vm'2;mx')]b
systems mentioned are listed in Table I (in the column
labeled partial flows experimental). Although no conver= [19.67] = 20b. ( 5 )
gence problems were experienced with the 43-bus case
under full precision, the case failed once the precision was The theoretical values listed in the partial flows theory
reduced by a single bit. (It is interesting that the iteration column of Table I are calculated using the Bmm(max)
behavior for this case is oscillatory at the critical precision values listed in the table and agree well with those found
point, i.e., the point in precision space where the solution experimentally. Notice that these calculations explain why
first fails to converge.) This is consistent with the varying the 43 bus system has given convergence trouble in the
results documented about this case since it is indeed on past since the largest B m m ( m a x ) value is 154519.0 and
the threshold of convergence for the typical 32-b machine requires a minimum of 23.9 b to be represented with
(with a 24-b mantissa). It was shown in [5] that the 43-bus precision sufficient to be represented within the 0.01
data case would not converge from a flat start using a full tolerance. These results also suggest that a simple test of

1105

TYLAVSKY et al.: IMPROVED POWER FLOW ROBUSTNESS FOR PERSONAL COMPUTERS

the power flow input data can be constructed, which can and means that in the evaluation of the terms such as
be used to tell the user whether convergence is possible,
cos(e, - e,)
given the precision of a particular computing engine.
(8)
Since the method presented is approximate, it gives
nearly the minimum number of bits necessary for conver- the angle difference is computed using double precision
gence but will not always provide the absolute minimum arithmetic, cos(.) is a single precision evaluation, and the
as shown in Table I. The minimum obtained in practice overall difference is done using double precision. This
can not be calculated in general since it requires a de- results in some speed penalty, but the extra execution
tailed knowledge of the program statements used in each time was too small to measure in the cases examined
values
of the programs subroutines, the compiler used, and its here. Using this modified flow calculation, Bmm(max)
treatment of roundoff/truncation. In addition, the mini- were increased by dividing the smallest branch reactance
mum will be a function of the specific numerical content by 2, 5, 10, 20, 100, etc., until convergence within a
of the problem with a small change in one parameter tolerance of 0.01 pu was no longer reached. Equation (5)
leading to a change in roundoff error, which in turn can was then used to determine the virtual number of bits of
affect the minimum number of bits needed for conver- precision that such a change yielded, and the results are
gence. Similarly, this approximate method does not guar- listed in Table 11. Note that the virtual precision is apantee that the number of bits predicted is sufficient for proximately 40 b using this simple code modification.
convergence, as is evident from the data of Table I, for Double precision throughout the code would have yielded
the same reasons cited above. This technique does, how- only an additional 8 b of precision. The variability of the
ever, provide a fast and acceptably accurate method for results in this table is due to the rather coarse steps used
value. This techproviding the minimum degree of precision necessary for in determining the approximate Bmm(max)
power flow convergence. In practice, a safety factor of 2 to nique is relatively easy to implement in an existing pro4 b above. this minimum can be used to account for gram and has been found to result in convergence for a
wider range of problems.
roundoff error in other routines.
The results of Table I suggest that one approach to
V. FASTDECOUPLED
PRECISION
SIMULATION
enhance convergence behavior with limited precision is to
Similar precision simulations to those performed for
construct the mismatch values using actual line flow calculations that are numerically much smaller than the partial the Newton algorithm were performed for the XB and
flow calculations. Actual flow calculations involve evaluat- BX versions of the fast decoupled algorithm using both
the classical successive iteration schemes, that is, preciing each term in the summation
sion was limited in the MISMAT routines of both the A P
and AQ iteration, and a simulation was performed to see
AP, = Pip - V,
[(V, - V, COS 8km)G,,
mek
if convergence was obtained within 60 half A P and/or 60
half A Q iterations. These results, which are shown in
Table 111, indicate that the number of bits of precision
required for convergence is essentially the same as that
required by the full Newton algorithms. Introduction of
the modified actual flow calculations into the BX and XB
schemes using the successive iteration methods led to the
results shown in Table IV. This indicates that the same
(where PL and QL are the total contribution of shunt number of bits is needed for convergence of full Newton
injections, line charging, and tmnsformer losses) by first algorithms as well as fast decoupled type algorithms.
evaluating the terms in parenthesis and then evaluating Further, these results indicate that using the modified
the terms in brackets. The partial results obtained by this actual line flows calculation in the fast decoupled algoapproach involve smaller intermediate values that should rithms works about as well as similar modifications in the
allow convergence with less bits of precision. This ap- full Newton case. The variability in the virtual precision
proach is shown to give marginal improvement in Table I values listed in Table IV is due to the rather coarse step
even though theoretically derived values predict a much used in determining Bmm(max).
larger improvement. (See data under the actual line flows
Effect of Precision on Decoupled Power Flow Oscillations
theory and actual line flows experimental columns).
Decoupled power flow algorithms have not been used
A way to forestall divergence caused by precision limitations is to make appropriate variables and numerical in the mine-electrical industry area primarily for two
operations double precision in the mismatch routine. Nor- reasons. First, the execution time of full Newton algomally, this will penalize speed by a factor of about 3. rithms has been acceptable on mainframe and minicomHowever, it has been found experimentally that outstand- puters to date. Second, many industrial power systems
ing results can be achieved by making only the global V have lines with high R/X ratios, which have often led
and 8 vectors double precision. This method of calcula- to divergence when decoupled power flow algorithms have
tion is referred to as the modified actual line flow method been used. As power flow algorithms have been and are

v, v,

1106

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 28, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 1992
BX Cyclic Case for the 30 bus system
- Mismatch at Bus 12
(X-Factor = 2 5 , Classic Scheme)

TABLE I1
EFFECTIVEPRECISION
USING
MODIFIED
ACTUALLINEFLOWS
System
Size

B"(max)
(Per Unit)

Virtual
PrecisiodBits)

11

0.22 E 11
0.10 E 10
0.12 E 10
0.87 E 10
0.61 E 10
0.25 E 10

41
37
37
40
39
38

14
30
43
57
118

TABLE 111
OF BITSNEEDED
FOR CONVERGENCE OF FAST
MINIMUM
NUMBER
DECOUPLED
POWER
FLOW
ALGORITHMS
USINGPARTIAL
FLOW
CALCULATIONS
Algorithm
System

XB
Classic
(Bits)

XB
Successive
(Bits)

BX
Classic
(Bits)

BX
Successive
(Bits)

~
26

~
28

30
32
34
ITERATIONS lresults at end of each hain

36

Fig. 5. Mismatch versus iteration number for the BX algorithm using

the classical iteration with an X scale factor of 0.25.

the decoupling of the P and Q subproblems. We have

noticed that oscillations like these tend to occur when the
11
21
21
21
21
R / X ratio is high and when the X values have been
14
18
18
18
17
scaled down from a baseline problem. The occurrence of
30
19
19
19
19
these problems tends to be less severe if R values are
43
24
24
24
24
57
19
20
19
19
scaled up to get the high R / X ratio or if the successive
118
21
21
23
23
iteration scheme is used. These points suggest that such
oscillations are similar to those encountered in limit cycle
type
problems.
TABLE IV
It is important to determine whether precision plays
EFFECTIVE
PRECISION
USINGMODIFIED
ACTUAL
LINEFLOWS,
SUCCESSIVE
ITERATION
SCHEME
any role in the occurrence or support of these oscillations.
The iteration numbers versus X scale factor using full
Algorithm
XB
BX
System
(Bits)
(Bits)
line flows with 1) single precision, 2) virtual-extended
precision (modified actual line flows) and 3) double preci11
40
40
14
37
38
sion on an 11-bus mine electrical power system are plot30
40
37
ted in Figs 6-9. Notice that the BX and XB algorithms
118
44
38
are examined using the classical and successive iteration
schemes. Inspection of these figures shows that successive
being migrated to PC's, enhanced speed performance has iteration schemes have an advantage in reducing oscillabecome desirable for larger industrial electrical systems. tory behavior. Similar plots have been generated for the
With the advent of the new BX successive algorithm IEEE 14, 30, 57, and 118 bus systems with similar results.
(which has been shown to work well on some systems with Inspection of the results of the X B and BX algorithms
"high" R / X ratio lines [4]) and the recognition that the that use virtual-extended or double precision and the
decoupling procedure in the BX algorithm is exact if the successive iteration scheme shows nearly monotonic besystems of interest are radial [61, it is necessary to reassess havior as the X factor is decreased. These algorithms
the utility of the decoupled algorithms on industrial as bear further examination.
well as utility systems.
VI. CONCLUSION
One of the problems that occurs when high R / X ratio
lines occur in a model used as input to a decoupled power
It has been shown that insufficient precision for converflow algorithm is that the algorithm may diverge or oscil- gence of the IEEE 118 bus system occurs near the single
late. It has been stated previously that if precision is precision limit of an IBM PC. It is further shown that the
limited in Jacobian-solve routines, that divergence re- number of bits required for convergence can be simply
sulted (in all cases examined but one), and that if preci- and quickly estimated. It was also shown that the most
sion was limited in the mismatch routines, then irregular critical routine in which precision generally needs to be
oscillation results. The oscillations seen in the decoupled increased is the mismatch routine, and a simple program
power pow algorithm using single precision when high R / X modification is suggested to achieve a virtual-extended
ratio lines are included are often regularperiodic oscillations, precision capability. The fast method for estimating the
as shown in Fig. 5. The P and Q mismatches for bus 12 of minimum number of bits for convergence was shown to be
the IEEE 30 bus system versus the BX iteration number applicable to decoupled power flows.
using the classic iteration scheme with all branch reacLimited precision in the Jacobian-solve routine caused
tances scaled using a multiplier of 0.25 are plotted in Fig. divergence, whereas limited precision in the mismatch
5. These oscillations are not usually like the previously routines caused irregular oscillations to occur in the bus
mentioned oscillations and appear to be brought on by mismatch variables. High R / X ratios, such as those found

TYLAVSKY et al.: IMPROVED POWER FLOW ROBUSTNESS F O R PERSONAL COMPUTERS

Holden 11 Bus System - Iteration vs. X Factor

XB - Classic Scheme
I

1 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 0

X Faclor

. Modified Flow

Single Prec.

...

Double Prec.

Fig. 6. Iterations versus X scale factor for the XB algorithm using the
classic iteration scheme and full flows for single precision, virtual-extended prekision, and double precision.

Holden 11

Bus
XB

in mine power systems, can cause the decoupled algorithms to oscillate with periodic oscillations, suggesting
the cause of this oscillation is something other than
precision. This suspicion is supported by the data that
show that the precision has little effect on the occurrence
of these oscillation and, thus, plays a minor role. This data
also suggests that the BX and XB algorithms that use
virtual-extended or double precision and a successive iteration strategy may be the best decoupled algorithm at
present for mine power system applications.

REFERENCES
111
[21

System - Iteration vs. X Factor

Successive Scheme

[31

141

[51
0

no]..........^
1 0.50.250.20.170.150.130.11 0.1 0.080.070.060.060.040.03

[61

X Fador
6.
Single

Prec. -.*

Modified Flow

-=-

Double Prec.

Fig. 7. Iterations versus X scale factor for the XB algorithm using the
successive iteration scheme and full flows for single precision, virtual-extended precision, and double precision.

Holden 11 Bus System - Iteration vs. X Factor

EX - Classic Scheme

l
1

0 . 5 0.25 0.2 0.17 0.15 0.13 0.11 0.1 0.08 0.07 0.06 0 . 0 6 0 . 0 4 0.03
X Factor

Single Prec.

Modified Flow

Double Prec.

I-

Fig. 8. Iterations versus X scale factor for the BX algorithm using the
classic iteration scheme and full flows for single precision, virtual-extended precision, and double precision.-

1107

171

W. F. Tinney and C. E. Hart, Power flow solution by Newtons

method, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PAS-86, pp.
1449-1460, NOV.1967.
B. Stott and 0. Alsac, Fast decoupled load flow, IEEE Trans.
Power App. Syst., vol. PAS-93, pp. 859-869, May/June 1974.
B. Stott, Review of loadflow calculation methods, Proc. IEEE,
vol. 62, pp. 916-929, 1974.
R. Amerongen, A general-purpose version of the fast decoupled
loadflow, in Proc. IEEE PES Summer Mtg. (Portland), 1988.
S . Iwamoto and Y. Tamura, A load flow calculation method for
ill-conditioned power systems, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol.
PAS-100, no. 4, Apr. 1981.
A. Monticelli, A. Garcia, and 0. R. Saavedra, Fast decoupled
load flow: Hypothesis, derivations and testing, in Proc. IEEE PES
Winter Mtg. (New York), 1989.
S. Pissanetsky, Sparse Matrix Technology. New York Academic,
1984.

Daniel J. Tylavsky (SM87) was born in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1952. He received the B.S. degree
in engineering science in 1974 and the M.S.E.E.
and the Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering
from the Pennsylvania State University in 1978
and 1982, respectively.
From 1974-1976, he worked for Basic Technology Inc., and from 1978-1982, he was an
instructor of Electrical Engineering at Penn
State. In 1982, he joined the faculty of the
Electrical Engineering Department at Arizona
State University and now is currently an Associate Professor. His interests are in parallel and vector processing of static and dynamic system
simulations.
Dr. Tylavsky is a member of S.I.A.M., a senior member of the IEEE
PES and IAS societies, an RCA Fellow, a NASA Fellow, and a member
of Phi Eta Sigma, Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi, and Phi Kappa Phi.

Peter Crouch (SM91) was born in NewcastleUpon-Tyne, England, in 1951. He received the
B.Sc. degree in 1974 and the M.Sc. degree in
1974 from Warwick University, England, and
Diverged
the Ph.D. degree in applied sciences from Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, in 1977.
He was a lecturer in the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Warwick
from 1977 to 1985, spending 1982 as a research
fellow at Hamard University and 1984-1985 as a
Visiting Associate Professor at Arizona State
University Department of Mathematics. At Warwick University, he was
s o 4
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
;
. . .
a member of the Control Theory Center, acting as its Director during
1
0.5 0.25 0.2 0.17 0.15 0.13 0.11 0.1 0.08 0.07 0 . 0 6 0 . 0 6
1983-1984. In 1985, he became an Associate Professor of Electrical
X Fador
Engineering at Arizona State University, becoming a professor in 1988.
.*Single Prec. 3. Modified Fbw *I= Double Prec.
He served as Acting Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering
during 1988-1989 and was appointed Director of the Center for Systems
Fig. 9. Iterations versus X scale factor for the BX algorithm using the Science and Engineering in 1989. His research interests lie in nonlinear
successive iteration scheme and full flows for single precision, virtual-ex- control theory and engineeringwith applications to aerospace and electended precision, and double precision.
tric power.
Holden 11 Bus System - Iteration vs. X Factor
BX - Successive Scheme

I E E E TRANSACTIONS O N INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 28, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 1992

1108

Leslie F. Janiel (M'91) received the M.S. degree

from Arizona State University in 1991 and the
B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Florida in 1982.
From 1982 to 1989, he worked for the Controls and Composition Division of Harris Corporation, Melbourne, FL. There, he developed and
delivered power system-related software for
turn-key computer systems. Major areas of development included network analysis software,
optimal power flow, and power system simulation software for their operating training simulator. He currently works
as an independent consultant and software contractor. His current
research interests revolve around developing software and network models for real-time network analysis, including both static and dynamic
simulation.

Rambabu Adapa (SM90) was born in Andra

Pradesh, India, in 1956. He received the B.S.
degree from the Jawaharial Nehru Technological University, India, in 1979, the M.S. degree
from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1981,
and the Ph.D. degree from the University of
Waterloo, Canada, in 1986, all in electrical engineering.
He was a Staff Engineer in the Systems Engineering Department of McGraw-Edison Power
Systems until 1989,when he joined EPRI, where
he manages the electro-magnetic transients program development and
maintenance project, commercialization of the harmonic analysis software endeavor, and several other EPRI/NSF funded programs. His
areas of interest include EMTP, power systems planning and operations,
HVDC transmission. and harmonics.