Frequency estimation and tracking by two-layered iterative DFT with re-sampling in non-steady states of power system

Abstract Frequency deviation off the nominal one is incurred by sudden changes of frequency and could introduce harmonics and inter-harmonics in the power system, which influences the accuracy of frequency estimation with method of discrete Fourier transform (DFT). A two-layered iterative DFT (TLI-DFT) with re-sampling was presented to measure the frequency in non-steady states. A simple frequency estimation method named exponential sampling is amended to calculate the initial sampling frequency in the inner-layered process of the DFT iteration. In reality, frequencies of two consecutive cycles are always interrelated with each other, so an idea of frequency tracking by outer-layered DFT between cycles is adopted. TLI-DFT can track the frequency in non-steady state in different scenarios, e.g., sudden and random frequency change, signal modulated by a cosine signal, and contaminated by decaying direct current offsets. Mean squared error of measured frequency, rate of change of frequency, and total vector error at different transient conditions indicate that the proposed algorithm is valid and more accurate than the traditional one in the non-steady states of a power system