Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Engineering

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Degree

MSE in Electrical Engineering

Date Completed

2018

First Committee Member

Magotra, Neeraj

Second Committee Member

Musiak, Ronald

Third Committee Member

Rahnamai, Kourosh

Additional Committee Member(s)

Li, Zhaojun; Cheraghi, Hossein

Abstract

"Distributed generation presents a futuristic form of power generation and consumption system which employs different technologies to generate electric power close to the point of consumption. Distributed generation is characterized by high efficiency, low emission of greenhouse fumes, high reliability, and high quality of power. However, the effectiveness of distributed generation is limited by several protection issues that arise from the disturbances induced by the incorporation of distributed generation in the main grid. The incorporation of distributed generation in the main gr id causes bi-directional power flow and impacts fa ult current levels which in turn affects the performance of the protection equipment of the conventional grid. The direction of power flow in conventional grid is unidirectional, power flows from the generation and the transmission side to the distribution side. Inserting distributed generation in parallel with the utility gr id cause the power to flow in more than one direction in which power flows to the distribution side and to the transmission side. The main protection issues associated with distributed generation include the blinding of protection, false tripping, and increase of fault current level. These issues have been explained and simulated using an IEEE 13 node model using MATLAB (Simulink) software. Simulation results validate these issues and shows how these issues depend on factors such as the size, location and type of distributed generation and the specific fault. With the increasing demand for electricity and growth of distributed generation, these issues will negatively affect the protection system currently integrated with the grid. Gaining a clear understanding of these issues represents a first step in solving these problems that have slowed the integration of distributed generation into the main power grid."

Share

COinS