Instrumentation and measurement of a power distribution system laboratory for meter placement and network reconfi guration studies

IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine, 10 (5) : pp. 10 - 19.The monitoring and automation of power distribution systems has significantly improved with advancements in digital signal processing (DSP) and in computer and web-based technologies [1], [2]. Power distribution systems could realize benefi ts from an improved instrumentation and measurement (I&M) configuration for network reconfi guration and meter placement. Drexel University has developed the Reconfi gurable Distribution Automation and Control (RDAC) laboratory; it has a power distribution system in which various meter placements and network reconfi guration techniques can be implemented and studied. We designed a unique and fl exible I&M system consisting of software and hardware instruments to perform network reconfi guration and meter placement studies; it can adapt to power system planning and operating scenarios. We tested this system in the RDAC laboratory and present our results here