Optimizing Phase Allocation in Unbalanced Power Distribution Networks using a Linearized DistFlow Formulation

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Gupta, Rahul K., Molzahn, Daniel K.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866910781928374272
author Gupta, Rahul K.
Molzahn, Daniel K.
author_facet Gupta, Rahul K.
Molzahn, Daniel K.
contents Power distribution networks, especially in North America, are often unbalanced but are designed to keep unbalance levels within the limits specified by IEEE, IEC, and NEMA standards. However, rapid integration of unbalanced devices, such as electric vehicle (EV) chargers and single-phase solar plants, can exacerbate these imbalances. This increase can trigger protection devices, increase losses, and potentially damage devices. To address this issue, phase swapping (or phase allocation) has been proposed. Existing approaches predominantly rely on heuristic methods. In this work, we develop a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) approach for phase allocation. Our approach uses linearized DistFlow equations to represent the distribution network and incorporates a phase consistency constraint, enforced with binary variables, to ensure that downstream phase configurations align with upstream configurations. We validate the proposed approach on multiple benchmark test cases and demonstrate that it effectively improves network balance, as quantified by various metrics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_06917
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Optimizing Phase Allocation in Unbalanced Power Distribution Networks using a Linearized DistFlow Formulation
Gupta, Rahul K.
Molzahn, Daniel K.
Systems and Control
Power distribution networks, especially in North America, are often unbalanced but are designed to keep unbalance levels within the limits specified by IEEE, IEC, and NEMA standards. However, rapid integration of unbalanced devices, such as electric vehicle (EV) chargers and single-phase solar plants, can exacerbate these imbalances. This increase can trigger protection devices, increase losses, and potentially damage devices. To address this issue, phase swapping (or phase allocation) has been proposed. Existing approaches predominantly rely on heuristic methods. In this work, we develop a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) approach for phase allocation. Our approach uses linearized DistFlow equations to represent the distribution network and incorporates a phase consistency constraint, enforced with binary variables, to ensure that downstream phase configurations align with upstream configurations. We validate the proposed approach on multiple benchmark test cases and demonstrate that it effectively improves network balance, as quantified by various metrics.
title Optimizing Phase Allocation in Unbalanced Power Distribution Networks using a Linearized DistFlow Formulation
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.06917