Blackout 101

Dr. B. Don Russell

Texas A&M University
Dr. Bruce Wollenberg
University of Minnesota
Mr. John McDonald
KEMA, Inc.
Dr. Pete Sauer
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
An Electric Power System Tutorial - Part 1
How Power Systems Work
Bruce Wollenberg
Sponsored by IEEE PES and IEEE-USA
Friday, February 6, 2004
How Power Systems Work
Manufacturing Electric Energy
Convert mechanical energy to electrical
energy in a power plant, produces AC
voltages
Raise the AC voltage, move the energy over
transmission lines
Drop the voltage for distribution
Drop the voltage for use in homes and
businesses
Why do we use Alternating Current
(AC) for Electric Power?
Construction of Generators:
Key component is the 3 phase generator
Ease in raising and lowering voltages:
Generators limited to about 25kV
Transmission at 345,500 and 765kV (low
losses)
Subtransmission at 115, 69, 22kV
Distribution at 12, 8, 4kV
Key component is the power transformer
Large Steam Generator
Hydroelectric Generators
Where does AC come from?
AC voltages and currents are usually
produced by rotating generators in a power
system.
Producing DC voltages using a generator is
very hard and is limited in magnitude
A one phase AC generator
N S
ROTOR
STATOR
Single Phase Circuit
Requires 2 wires to deliver power
Real and Reactive Power
Instantaneous power may flow in both
directions
Instantaneous power may be broken up into
two components:
Real Power only flows in one direction, its
average value is zero or positive
Reactive Power always oscillates in one
direction and then reverses an equal
amount. Its average value is always zero.
What is a 3 Phase AC system?
Three phase is generated by a generator with
three sets of independent windings which are
physically spaced 120 degrees around the
stator.
Voltages are labeled phase a, phase b, and
phase c and are the same magnitude but
differ in phase angle by 120 degrees.
3 Phase Generator
N S
ROTOR
STATOR
a
a'
b
b'
c
c'
3 phase circuit
If the three phase load is balanced only three
wires are needed (instead of six).
3 Phase
Load
Phase a
Phase b
Phase c
Why use 3 phases?
Smooth torque on generator shaft
Delivery of constant power to a 3 phase load
3 Wires and not 6
AC Power Transmission lines usually consist
of multiples of three wires
Substations: where transmission
lines interconnect
Voltage from generator to Customer
22.5KV
transformer
transformer transformer
transformer
500 KV
115 KV
69 KV
transformer
customer
4 KV
220 V
Power Transformers
Why use very high voltages?
Resistance R
Current I
Loss = I
2
R
Generator Terminal
Voltage V
Motor Load
Voltage is
V - IR
In this example the load is connected through a transmission
line with resistance R. The motor is designed to operate at
the same voltage as the generator terminal voltage. Losses
are large and motor voltage is low.
Transformer Basics
V
1
V
2
-------
N
1
N
2
------- Turns Ratio = =
V
1
I
1 I
2
V
2
N
1
turns of wire N
2
turns of wire
Only works with AC voltages
Voltage V
2
can be much greater than
V
1
Why use very high voltages?
Transformer increases voltage to 10 times the
generator terminal voltage. Current in transmission
line is 1/10 I, losses are 1/100, and motor voltage is V-
IR/10
Resistance R
Loss = I
2
R/100
Generator Terminal
Voltage V
Motor Load
Voltage is
V - IR/10
Current I/10
Voltage = 10V Voltage = V
1:10 10:1
High Voltage Transmission
Reduces losses
Transmission conductor can have a smaller
cross section
Provides better voltage regulation at the load
bus
How does
power flow?
Flow from production
point to purchase
point uses every
transmission path
available
Flow on each
intermediate
transmission facility
is determined by its
impedance
1
2 3
4 5
6 7
11
8 9
10
REGION A
REGION C
REGION B
REGION D
7
1
4
.
0
2
8
6
.
0
44.6
5
6
9
.
2
1
8
9
.
4
1
7
4
.
4
6
7
.
0
6.9
1
8
1
.
3
6
0
.
1
2
4
1
.
5
0.7
100.1
1
8
8
.
7
2
8
8
.
0
2
8
1
.
9
3
8
8
.
1
3
7
0
.
5
1000 MW SALE
1000 MW PURCHASE
Major Problem
Line Overloads
Power System Security
Lightning causes a transmission line to fail.
Failure can result in other lines overloading.
What happens
when a line
opens?
Line A (from 1 to 3)
is closed
Color
represents flow on
Line A
1
2 3
4 5
6 7
11
8 9
10
REGION A
REGION C
REGION B
REGION D
What happens
when a line
opens?
Line A (from 1 to 3)
Opens
Flow
must go elsewhere
Most lines in the
network will see a
change
1
2 3
4 5
6 7
11
8 9
10
REGION A
REGION C
REGION B
REGION D
How do you protect against a
dangerous outage situation?
Build a model of the power system (in the
computer)
Run a power flow with each line removed one
at a time, if overloads or voltage limit
violations alarm operator.
Operator will take evasive action so that if the
contingency occurs it will not cause trouble.
Most transfer limitations in a transmission
system system are related to contingency
limits or stability.
Major Problem
Generation-Load Imbalance
Generation must equal load
If generation is less than
load -> frequency drops
If generation is greater
than load -> frequency
rises
If frequency goes too far
from 60 Hz the generators
are taken off line.
Often happens if you
isolate part of the power
system
GENERATION LOAD
Frequency high
too much
power delivered
over tie lines
Load + losses + Interchange
GENERATION vs. LOAD BALANCE
Frequency low
too little
power delivered
over tie lines
Generator Governor
GOV
P
ref
All generators have a speed governor to increase and decrease
mechanical power with frequency variations
Governors on multiple generators
LOAD
GOV
P
ref
G3
G4
GOV
GOV
P
ref
P
ref
GOV
P
ref
Governor Characteristics
Generator Output
Frequency
60 Hz
Gen 1
Gen 2
Frequency Drop
Frequency
Generator Output
60 Hz
Gen 1
Gen 2
Problem: Load Generation
balance is restored, but at a
lower frequency
Power System Operator
This is the end of Part 1. You may select from the
following options, or close this window to return to
the site where you linked to this presentation.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
PES Web Site
IEEE USA Web Site