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Session 2533

Effectively Teaching Power Flow Analysis Through the Use of a One-Line-Based Industrial Power Flow Program

Scott C. Dunning University of Maine

Abstract perform power flow studies. Invariably, the students review the theory, read the software As multi-media software becomes the manual, then realize that they do not adequately standard, commercial programmers are continually understand load flow analysis. This leads to improving traditional engineering software. increased training time before the student can Unfortunately, many engineering schools are not provide acceptable results. familiar with the latest commercial programs. At the University of Maine, the teaching Thus, many topics are presented in equation form approach to this topic was modified to alleviate with minimal focus on actual application of the these problems. First, a review of the software theory. Power flow analysis is often presented this currently used by industry was completed. An way. Many schools present the theory and then ask informal survey of industrial firms and public students to write short programs in Basic or C utilities was performed to determine which which apply the theory. This paper presents an products were the most widely used. Then, the alternative approach to presenting power flow most popular programs were compared to analysis utilizing available commercial software. determine which program would be the most The benefits of this approach are discussed along effective tool for teaching power flow analysis with a presentation of student feedback. concepts. Desirable features were; user- friendliness, concise manual, program flexibility, Background easy data entry, and clear one-line representation.

Traditionally, power flow analysis has been Software Highlights introduced to students as a dry, mathematical derivation. The general power flow equations are It was determined that EasyPower by derived in various texts. 1,2 So, faculty typically Electrical Systems Analysis of Oregon was the best cover the derivation quickly in lecture and then suited for power flow instruction. This program present the iterative process.. Students are then was originally developed jointly with General required to develop a simple power flow program Electric Company. It is currently used by many in a common computer language. This approach industrial firms and utilities. Since the time of the leaves students with a minimal understanding of survey, additional programs have come on the how the modification of input parameters affects market that appear to have similar features to the output results and no experience with typical EasyPower. industry applications. There are several key features about In the past, students on a cooperative EasyPower that made it a good choice for use in an experience with utilities have been required to educational curriculum. One feature is it's easy

1996 ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings

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Dunning, S. C. (1996, June), Effectively Teaching Power Flow Analysis Through The Use Of A One Line Based Industrial Power Flow Program Paper presented at 1996 Annual Conference, Washington, District of Columbia. 10.18260/1-2--6006