Nile Valley University

Faculty of Engineering & Technology

Department of Electrical & Electronic
Engineering

Power System Stability

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Othmanabdeen_nvu@hotmail.com

Power System Stability

1. INTRODUCTION :-

Power system security in general may be defined as

the system robustness to operate in an equilibrium
state under normal and perturbed conditions.
Power system security covers a wide range of aspects,
usually subdivided into static and dynamic
phenomena. Power system stability currently refers to
the dynamic part of security.
Power system stability may be defined broadly as that
property of a power system that enables it to remain
in a stable equilibrium state under normal operating
conditions and to regain an acceptable equilibrium
state after being subjected to a disturbance.

Figure 1.1 Types of power system

stability phenomena.

1.1 Power system transients :Power system transients are power-quality

disturbances that can be harmful to electronic

equipment.
THE TERM transient originates from electric
circuit theory where it denotes the voltage and
current component that occurs during the
transition from one (typically sinusoidal) steadystate to another steady-state.
Electric circuits are described by means of
differential equations, whose solutions are the
sum of a homogenous solution and a particular
solution. The particular solution corresponds with
the steady-state; the homogeneous solution

In electric circuit theory a transient is always

associated with a change in steady state due to a

switching action.
In power systems the term transient is used in a
slightly different way: it denotes those
phenomena in voltage and current with a short
duration. There is no clear limit, but phenomena
with aduration of less than one cycle (of the
power-system frequency, 50 or 60 Hz) are
generally referred to as transients.
The interest in power system transients has
traditionally been related to the correct operation
of circuit breakers and to over voltages due to
switching of high-voltage lines. But more recently
transients are viewed as a potential power-quality

CATEGORIZATION OF POWER SYSTEM

TRANSIENTS
A. Impulsive Transients

An impulsive transient is a sudden change in the

steady state condition of voltage, current or both,

that is unidirectional in polarity (primarily either
positive or negative).
Impulsive transients are normally characterized
by their rise and decay times.
The most common cause of impulsive transients
is lightning .
Fig 1. 2 shows an impulsive transient measured in
a 132 kV network.

Fig 1.2 Voltage waveform of an impulsive transient

(measurement in a 132-kV network).

B. Oscillatory Transients

A typical example of an oscillatory transient

is caused by the energizing of a capacitor

bank.
The oscillation frequency is mainly
determined by the capacitance of the
capacitor bank and the short-circuit
inductance of the circuit feeding the capacitor
bank.
Fig.1. 3 Distribution system for the simulation
of voltage amplification due to capacitor
energizing.

Fig.1. 3 Distribution system for the simulation of

voltage amplification due to capacitor energizing.

C. Multiple Transients With a Single Cause

Due to one single switching action. However in

many cases the transient waveform is due to more

than one switching action leading to overlapping
transients.
Other examples of multiple transients with a single
cause are current chopping and restrike. Current
chopping occurs when the current during opening of
a circuit breaker.
Restrike may occur when a capacitor is de-energized
by a slowly moving switch. An example of multiple
restrikes is shown in Fig 1.4 As shown in the figure
multiple restrikes can lead to an escalating voltage
over the capacitor leading to an internal flashover
and serious damage to the equipment.

Fig 1.4 Voltage waveform for multiple restrikes

during capacitor de-energizing. From top to
bottom:
(a) line side; (b) capacitor side.

TABLE 1.1 CATEGORIZATION OF TRANSIENTS BASED ON

WAVEFORM SHAPES AND THEIR UNDERLYING CAUSES (OR
EVENTS)

1.2 Electromagnetic and

Electromechanical transients :Electromagnetic transients

Electromagnetic transient phenomena

are usually triggered by changes in the

network configuration, which may be
caused by the closing or opening action
of circuit breakers or power electronic
equipment, or by equipment failure or
faults, such as a lightning stroke on a
transmission line.

The study of electromagnetic

transient phenomena includes

switching surges, transient
recovery voltage, and etc...
Electromagnetic transients
programs (EMTP) are common
digital computer tools for the
analysis of this class of transients.

Electromechanical transients

Electric drive systems consist of an

electric motor, a transfer mechanism,

an electrical energy converter and a
control system .
The control system consists of a
microcontroller with data connection
interfaces, data channels (data
network), sensors and actuators
(motors).

To couple electrical motor with mechanical

load, the mechanical drives are used.

The basic types of mechanical drives are:
a) Geared transmission, which provides
specific fixed type ratios.
b) Belt drives, providing flexibility in the
positioning of the motor.
c) Chain drives, providing infinitely variable
speeds.
d) Traction drives, which provides adjustable
speed with relatively high speed.

Thus, electromechanical system consists of

two parts: electrical and mechanical.

Converter of electric energy and control
system compose an electrical part, moving
masses form a mechanical part (see Fig1.5).

Figure 1.5 Structure of electromechanical system

Electromechanical transients are

slower transients that are caused

by a mismatch between power
production and consumption, and
therefore involve the oscillation
of machine rotors because of an
unbalance between turbine and
generator torques.

Table 1.2. Various dynamic phenomena