Energy efficiency of an unbalanced distribution system based on the conservative voltage reduction with optimal placement and sizing of capacitor using ant colony optimization technique / Mohd Ainor Yahya

Energy efficiency can be achieved through reducing the loss of the power by using an adequate amount of power in an electrical distribution system. In this thesis, the energy efficiency is analysed based on an electrical distribution system along with the implementation of the Conservative Voltage Reduction (CVR), and the Optimal Capacitor Placement and Sizing (OCPS). In order to determine optimal location and sizing of the capacitors, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is implemented. The capacitors will ameliorate the energy efficiency through energy consumption and power loss minimization. Prior the ACO is implemented to solve OCPS, specific number of busbars is allocated. The Power-Loss-Index (PLI) is performed to achieve the pre-selection of busbar. Three variables will represent the objectives and fitness of the proposed optimization technique, which are, the total cost of power losses, energy consumption and capacitor installation. The parameters that are considered as the proposed optimization technique constraints are; the voltage magnitude limit, Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) limit, power factor limit and capacitor size limit. Conservative Voltage Reduction (CVR) is used to gain further enhancement of the energy efficiency. This is achieved through changing the transformer tap setting in order to lower and then retain the voltage magnitude at a specific level whilst ensuring the stability of the electrical distribution system. In this study, MATLAB® is used as a platform to implement the proposed methods. These techniques will firstly transfer the information, execute the three-phase unbalanced load flow solution and retrieve. Then it will collect the results or data from the three-phase unbalanced electrical distribution systems which are modeled in the SIMULINK® toolbox. The evaluation and the effectiveness of the conducted methods, in order to improve the energy efficiency, are verified through several case studies. The findings are collected from two test systems, IEEE 13-bus unbalanced electrical distribution system and the pragmatic electrical distribution system model of Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah (SSAAS) building in Shah Alam, Selangor. Finally, our proposed methodology has shown ability to reduce the cost utility bills of SSAAS building. Particularly, our methodology managed to reduce the cost of maximum demand in utility bills.