DC Load Flow Method

The DC load flow simplifies the AC load flow to a linear circuit problem. Consequently, it
makes the steady state analysis of the power system very efficient. The main shortcoming of the
DC load flow model is that it cannot be used in checking voltage limit violations. Because the
DC load flow uses a linear model, it is not only suitable to efficiently treat the problem of line
outages, but is also suitable to form linear optimization problems. Therefore, the DC load flow
method has been widely used in power system planning and operating problems.

The node active power equations of an AC load flow are given by ,

= Vi Vj (ij cos ij + ij sin ij ) ( = 1,2,3 . , )

Branch active power is

= Vi Vj (Gij cos ij + Bij sin ij ) t ij Gij Vi2

where t ij is the circuit transformer ratio per unit of branch ij, ij is the phase angle difference
across branch ij; Gij , Bij are the real and imaginary parts of corresponding elements of the node
admittance matrix, respectively

1
+ = = 2 2 + 2 + 2
+ +

where, rij , xij are resistance and reactance of line ij. When i=j,

=


Under assumptions applied in the fast decoupled method, the above AC load flow equations can
be simplified to the following equations.

= (=1,2,3..n)

which can be rewritten as,

= (=1,2,3..n)

From above , we know the first term in the right hand of the above equation is 0,
thus we have,

= (=1,2,3..n)

The DC flow model usually has no negative sign, thus we redefine as,

1
=

Thus,
1
=

Finally, we establish the DC flow equation,

= (=1,2,3..n)

Or in matrix form,

=
where is the node injection power vector and its th element is given by
= , here and are the generator output and load at node i, respectively; is
the phase angle vector and B is the matrix whose elements are
defined by (2.106) and (2.107).

Equation (2.109) can also be expressed as follows

= 1

Similarly, substituting the simplifying conditions into (2.102), one obtains the active power
flowing into branch ij,

= =

Or in matrix form,

If the number of branches is , is an diagonal matrix whose elements are branch

admittance; is the branch active power vector; is the end terminal phase angle difference
vector.