Analysis and Optimization of Partial Power Flow Calculations for the Power Grid

Because of recent awareness of the vulnerability of the power grid in the United States, current research has focused on finding a rapid response method for protecting the system from cascading blackouts. This paper focuses on a method of controlling the power grid through Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) devices to prevent excessive line overloading from occurring. Partial Power Flow (PPF) was proposed in a previous paper as a method to accelerate the calculations of power flow through the system during the optimization of the FACTS device settings. Methods used to connect the disjoint components during PPF are described in detail along with the effects these methods have on the speed of partial power flow. Finally, where it was previously thought that connecting the disjoint components leads to a monotonic speed increase, this paper shows that this is not always true and explores the reasons why the increase is not monotonic