Evaluation of seismic performance of an electric substation using event tree/fault tree technique

In this study, we use the event tree/fault tree technique to evaluate the performance of an electric substation in the event of an earthquake. The substation is considered as a combination of components (equipment and structures), and the event trees and fault trees are established to delineate the interrelationships of these components. Using the fragility data of individual components in the event trees and fault trees, the probabilities that the substation as a whole fails at various levels of ground shaking can be determined and displayed as substation fragility curves. Furthermore, using the minimum cut set technique, the most critical and vulnerable component in the substation can be identified. Substation 21, a key electric power supplier to several major hospitals in downtown Memphis, is selected to illustrate this technique.     

On the use of non-coherent fault trees in safety and security studies

This paper gives some insights on the usefulness of non-coherent fault trees in system modelling from both the point of view of safety and security.A safety-related system can evolve from the working states to failed states through degraded states, i.e. working state, but in a degraded mode. In practical applications the degraded states may be of particular interest due e.g. to the associated risk increase or the different types of consequent actions. The top events definitions of such states contain the working conditions of some sub-systems/components. How the use of non-coherent fault trees can greatly simplify both the modelling and quantification of these states is shown in this paper. Some considerations about the interpretation of the importance indexes of negated basic events are also briefly described.When dealing with security applications, there is a need to cope not only with stochastic events, such as component failures and human errors, but also with deliberate intentional actions, whose successes might be characterised by high probability values. Different mutually exclusive attack scenarios may be envisaged for a given system. Hence, the essential feature of a fault tree analyser is the capability to determine the exact value of the top event probability containing mutually exclusive events. It is also shown that in these cases the use of non-coherent fault trees allows solving the problem with limited effort.     

Application of support vector machines for fault diagnosis in power transmission system

Post-fault studies of recent major power failures around the world reveal that mal- operation and/or improper co-ordination of protection system were responsible to some extent. When a major power disturbance occurs, protection and control action are required to stop the power system degradation, restore the system to a normal state and minimise the impact of the disturbance. However, this has indicated the need for improving protection co-ordination by additional post-fault and corrective studies using intelligent/knowledge-based systems. A process to obtain knowledge-base using support vector machines (SVMs) is presented for ready post-fault diagnosis purpose. SVMs are used as Intelligence tool to identify the faulted line that is emanating and finding the distance from the substation. Also, SVMs are compared with radial basis function neural networks in datasets corresponding to different fault on transmission system. Classification and regression accuracies are is reported for both strategies. The approach is particularly important for post-fault diagnosis of any mal-operation of relays following a disturbance in the neighbouring line connected to the same substation. This may help to improve the fault monitoring/diagnosis process, thus assuring secure operation of the power systems. To validate the proposed approach, results on IEEE 39-Bus New England system are presented for illustration purpose.     

Dynamic event trees in accident sequence analysis: application to steam generator tube rupture

A dynamic event tree method for analyzing the risk associated with dynamic nuclear power plant accident sequences is presented. The method provides a framework for treating stochastic variations in operating crew states (defined by substrates characterizing the accident diagnosis, the planned actions, and the crew quality) as well as stochastic variations in hardware states. Plant process variables are treated deterministically; they are used when determining the likelihood of stochastic branchings. The method is used in an analysis of a steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) accident; it is shown that a number of important operator behavior patterns can be reasonably represented, and that, comparing with conventional event trees, sources of dependencies between failure events can be better defined.     

三端背靠背柔性直流输电的虚拟同步发电机控制策略及其在配电网中的应用

探讨了一种在10 kV配电网中引入三端背靠背（back-to-back,BTB）柔性直流输电（voltage source converter based HVDC,VSC-HVDC）系统的接线方案,通过VSC-HVDC的控制实现提高供电可靠性和抑制环流的目的。VSC-HVDC系统中换流站在传统控制模式下几乎没有转动惯量,难以有效地参与电网调节。为了提高电网受端系统频率的稳定性,改善系统发生故障后的运行特性,在中压（10 kV）交流配电网的背景下,提出了虚拟同步发电机（virtual synchronous generator,VSG）控制策略在三端BTB VSC-HVDC系统中的应用。首先在10 kV系统中加入三端BTB VSC-HVDC互联装置建立交直流混合配电网,建立换流站在传统控制和VSG控制下的数学模型,然后通过PSCAD/EMTDC平台进行仿真,在2种控制方式下得到系统在受到扰动和发生故障时的运行特性。结果表明,三端BTB VSC-HVDC系统受端换流器使用VSG控制能有效地参与电网调节,增加系统惯性,改善系统的暂态特性,提高电网运行的可靠性。     

Adaptive-neuro-fuzzy inference system approach for transmission line fault classification and location incorporating effects of power swings

In the present milieu, changes in regulations and the opening of power markets have manifested in the form of large amount of power transfer across transmission lines with frequent changes in loading conditions based on market price. Since conventional distance relays may consider power swing as a fault, tripping because of such malfunctioning would lead to serious consequences for power system stability. A frequency domain approach for digital relaying of transmission line faults mitigating the adverse effects of power swing on conventional distance relaying is presented. A wavelet-neuro-fuzzy combined approach for fault location is also presented. It is different from conventional algorithms that are based on deterministic computations on a well-defined model for transmission line protection. The wavelet transform captures the dynamic characteristics of fault signals using wavelet multi-resolution analysis (MRA) coefficients. The fuzzy inference system (FIS) and the adaptive-neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) are both used to extract important features from wavelet MRA coefficients and thereby to reach conclusions regarding fault location. Computer simulations using MATLAB have been conducted for a 300 km, 400 kV line and results indicate that the proposed localisation algorithm is immune to effects of fault inception, angle and distance. The results contained here validate the superiority of the ANFIS approach over the FIS for fault location.     

Resistance varying characteristics of DC superconducting fault current limiter in MTDC system

Recent years, voltage source converter-based multi-terminal high voltage DC power transmission (MTDC) is widely developed in the world. However, it is difficult for the existing DC breaker to cut off the fault transmission line with large short-circuit fault current. Then, it would be helpful to develop DC fault current limiter for the MTDC system. In this paper, DC superconducting fault current limiter (DCSFCL) is proposed to limit fault current. In order to study the resistance-time performance of the DCSFCL under the rapid change of fault current, a simulation model of Zhoushan MTDC system with DCSFCL is established, and the current-limiting performance of the DCSFCL at different location of the grid is studied. The simulation results show that DCSFCL can effectively limit short-circuit current and improve the operation reliability of MTDC system.     

Decision tree-based fault zone identification and fault classification in flexible AC transmissions-based transmission line

Transmission line distance relaying for flexible AC transmission lines (FACTS) including thyristor controlled series compensator (TCSC), STATCOM, SVC and unified power flow controller (UPFC) has been a very challenging task. A new approach for fault zone identification and fault classification for TCSC and UPFC line using decision tree (DT) is presented. One cycle post fault current and voltage samples from the fault inception are used as input vectors against target output dasia1psila for fault after TCSC/UPFC and dasia0psila for fault before TCSC/UPFC for fault zone identification. Similarly, the DT-based classification algorithm takes one cycle data from fault inception of three phase currents along with zero-sequence current and voltage, and constructs the optimal DT for classifying all ten types of shunt faults in the transmission line fault process. The algorithm is tested on simulated fault data with wide variations in operating parameters of the power system network including noisy environment. The results indicate that the proposed method can reliably identify the fault zone and classify faults in the FACTs-based transmission line in large power network.     

A practical method for accurate quantification of large fault trees

This paper describes a practical method to accurately quantify top event probability and importance measures from incomplete minimal cut sets (MCS) of a large fault tree. The MCS-based fault tree method is extensively used in probabilistic safety assessments. Several sources of uncertainties exist in MCS-based fault tree analysis. The paper is focused on quantification of the following two sources of uncertainties: (1) the truncation neglecting low-probability cut sets and (2) the approximation in quantifying MCSs. The method proposed in this paper is based on a Monte Carlo simulation technique to estimate probability of the discarded MCSs and the sum of disjoint products (SDP) approach complemented by the correction factor approach (CFA). The method provides capability to accurately quantify the two uncertainties and estimate the top event probability and importance measures of large coherent fault trees. The proposed fault tree quantification method has been implemented in the CUTREE code package and is tested on the two example fault trees.     

Comparative Study of Resistive and Inductive Superconducting Fault Current Limiters SFCL for Power System Transient Stability Improvement

This paper presents a comparative study of resistive and inductive superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) for power systems transient stability improvement. Two applications of transient stability assessment are presented in this paper: The first shows the efficiency of the resistive and inductive SFCL in series with a generator, the second uses SFCL installed in series with a transmission line. SFCL can just be operated during the period from the fault occurrence to the fault clearing; the modeling and the effect of SFCL has been investigated to have higher benefits for the power system. In the present work, modification of the admittance matrix method is used for modeling of SFCL; Critical Clearing Time (CCT) has been used as an index for evaluated transient stability. The transient stability is assessed by the criterion of relative rotor angles, using the Runge–Kutta method. The effectiveness of the proposed method is tested on the WSCC3 nine-bus system applied to the case of three-phase short circuit fault in one transmission line. A simulation and comparison are presented in this document.     

A PSA-based vital area identification methodology development

This paper presents a vital area identification method based on the current probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) techniques. The vital area identification method in this paper is focused on core melt rather than radioactive material release. Furthermore, it describes a conceptual framework with which the risk from sabotage-induced events could be assessed.Location minimal cut sets (MCSs) are evaluated after developing a core melt location fault tree (LFT). LFT is a fault tree whose basic events are sabotage-induced damages on the locations within which various safety-related components are located. The core melt LFT is constructed by combining all sequence LFTs of various event trees with OR gates. Each sequence LFT is constructed by combining the initiating event LFT and the mitigating event LFTs with an AND gate. The vital area could be identified by using the location importance measures on the core melt location MCSs. An application was made to a typical 1000 MWe pressurized water reactor power plant located at the Korean seashore.The methodology suggested in the present paper is believed to be very consistent and most complete in identifying the vital areas in a nuclear power plant because it is based on the well-proven PSA technology.     

裂纹故障对行星齿轮传动系统动力学特性的影响

针对行星传动装置动态特性复杂、故障率高的问题,拟从动力学角度探索行星传动系统的故障机理。采用改进能量法,仿真分析正常与含裂纹齿轮时变啮合刚度,考虑时变啮合参数影响,运用集中参数法建立了行星齿轮传动系统动力学模型;求解得到了正常与含故障齿轮传动系统动态响应,并对比分析了裂纹故障对动力学特性的影响;通过台架实验,分析了裂纹故障对齿轮动态响应的影响,结合小波分析与EEMD方法对齿轮振动信号进行频谱分析,并对比分析了正常与故障齿轮的频域特性差异,揭示了行星齿轮传动系统的故障机理。研究表明:所建立的动力学模型精度较高,能够很好地描述含故障齿轮传动系统的动力学特性;由于裂纹故障引起传动系统振动的调制效应,导致在齿轮啮合频率附近出现明显边频带,故障齿轮箱的振动能量主要集中在高频段。     

Differential equation-based fault locator for unified power flow controller-based transmission line using synchronised phasor measurements

The fault location algorithm based on a differential equation-based approach for a transmission line employing a unified power flow controller (UPFC) using synchronised phasor measurements is presented. First, a detailed model of the UPFC and its control is proposed and then, it is integrated into the transmission system for accurately simulating fault transients. The method includes the identification of fault section for a transmission line with a UPFC using a wavelet-fuzzy discriminator. Features are extracted using a wavelet transform and the normalised features are fed to the fuzzy logic systems for the identification of fault section. After the identification of the fault section, the control shifts to the differential equation-based fault locator that estimates the fault location in terms of the line inductance up to the fault point from the relaying end. Shunt faults are simulated with wide variations in operating conditions and a pre-fault parameter setting. The instantaneous fault current and voltage samples at the sending and receiving ends are fed to the designed algorithm sample by sample, which results in the fault location in terms of the line inductance. The proposed method is tested for different fault situations with wide variations in operating conditions in the presence of a UPFC.     

Application of the fault tree analysis for assessment of power system reliability

A new method for power system reliability analysis using the fault tree analysis approach is developed. The method is based on fault trees generated for each load point of the power system. The fault trees are related to disruption of energy delivery from generators to the specific load points. Quantitative evaluation of the fault trees, which represents a standpoint for assessment of reliability of power delivery, enables identification of the most important elements in the power system. The algorithm of the computer code, which facilitates the application of the method, has been applied to the IEEE test system. The power system reliability was assessed and the main contributors to power system reliability have been identified, both qualitatively and quantitatively.     

Reliability importance analysis of Markovian systems at steady state using perturbation analysis

Sensitivity analysis has been primarily defined for static systems, i.e. systems described by combinatorial reliability models (fault or event trees). Several structural and probabilistic measures have been proposed to assess the components importance. For dynamic systems including inter-component and functional dependencies (cold spare, shared load, shared resources, etc.), and described by Markov models or, more generally, by discrete events dynamic systems models, the problem of sensitivity analysis remains widely open. In this paper, the perturbation method is used to estimate an importance factor, called multi-directional sensitivity measure, in the framework of Markovian systems. Some numerical examples are introduced to show why this method offers a promising tool for steady-state sensitivity analysis of Markov processes in reliability studies.     

Smart Power Line and photonic de-icer concepts for transmission-line capacity and reliability improvement

This paper introduces the Smart Power Line (SPL) concept. This novel approach can be implemented on existing transmission lines comprising of single- or multiple-conductor bundles. It can also be applied to new, advanced line schemes. The SPL addresses three important needs: line de-icing, line impedance modulation and line monitoring.Line de-icing (LDI) can be activated prior to or during any severe climatic event, for concentrating the total power line current into one subconductor at a time and therefore de-icing by the Joule effect. Line impedance modulation (LIM) is another feature of the SPL by which line power flow and stability are also controlled by individually switching in and out subconductors of bundled-conductor lines, thereby modifying the net line impedance directly and dynamically. Line monitoring (LMO) provides real-time data related to electrical, mechanical or climatic events needed for line de-icing, power flow or stability control. By combining these three functions together, the SPL concept is expected to improve transmission-line reliability and transmission-line capacity. The power line reliability and life expectancy are increased by avoiding line and tower collapse due to ice deposits, hard rime or wet snow, reducing metal fatigue and avoiding failure due to galloping. The SPL concept can be applied to bundled-conductor transmission lines at any voltage level (HV and UHV).In addition to the SPL concept, new de-icing equipment, the so-called photonic de-icer, is also introduced in this paper. In order to ensure the mechanical robustness of the transmission line in the event of severe ice storms, past experience has shown that the switchgear must be maintained operational at all times. The photonic de-icer is operated at ground level and at ground potential to melt ice on substation apparatus or to keep the latter warm during icing events.     

Maximal network reliability for a stochastic power transmission network

Many studies regarded a power transmission network as a binary-state network and constructed it with several arcs and vertices to evaluate network reliability. In practice, the power transmission network should be stochastic because each arc (transmission line) combined with several physical lines is multistate. Network reliability is the probability that the network can transmit d units of electric power from a power plant (source) to a high voltage substation at a specific area (sink). This study focuses on searching for the optimal transmission line assignment to the power transmission network such that network reliability is maximized. A genetic algorithm based method integrating the minimal paths and the Recursive Sum of Disjoint Products is developed to solve this assignment problem. A real power transmission network is adopted to demonstrate the computational efficiency of the proposed method while comparing with the random solution generation approach.     

Dc bias system of a 35 kV/90 MVA saturated iron core SFCL

Saturated iron core superconducting fault current limiter (SIC-SFCL) is a promising fault current limiting device for high or extra-high voltage power grids. It has low impedance in normal power transmission and turns high impedance when a short-circuit takes place. The dc bias system of a saturated iron core superconducting fault current limiter plays a key role in realizing these features. Our 35 kV/90 MVA SIC-SFCL has been running live-grid since January 2008 at Puji substation in Yunnan, China. In this paper, the working principle of the dc bias system will be introduced and results of artificially imposed short-circuit tests will be provided, which verifies the validity of this system.     

Assessment of fire vulnerability for nuclear power plant safety systems by combining fault-and success-oriented logic with physical models

The time behaviour of potential accident sequences may carry important information regarding nuclear power plant (NPP) safety operation and shutdown. In the case of external and environmental events, the ability of NPP components to operate correctly can be changed dramatically in a short time. In contrast to the failures caused by internal events, these two groups of undesirable events may lead to dynamic dependent failures among components of one or several systems. Such kinds of failure should be taken into account in the models of NPP behaviour. To evaluate how successfully the tasks of the safety systems will be carded out, logical models such as fault trees are usually used. The fault trees are not efficient at describing the short-term changes of the failure probabilities for system components. A method that has some advantages over the pure fault tree logic is proposed. The main features of the method are demonstrated by using examples.