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AUTOMATION OF ELECTRICAL POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

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RESEARCH PAPERS

AUTOMATION OF ELECTRICAL POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

By
ROSHNY MATHEW * M.S. SRINATH ** N.S. JYOTHI ***
* M.Tech. Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgam, India.
** Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malnad College of Engineering, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgam, India.
*** Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan, Visvesvaraya Technological
University, Belgam, India.

ABSTRACT
Today energy is the most important basis for development of any country. Generation, transmission, distribution, and
usage of energy are to be optimized for the proper conservation of energy. Electrical energy is generated from different
founts like hydraulic power plants, thermal power plants, nuclear power plants etc. India has ample water sources to
produce electrical energy. Presently the long time outage and fault detection during distribution will be a very serious
problem. Also accidents are not uncommon in electrical transmission systems. It is too late to implement advanced
systems for power distribution systems if not implemented now. The main focus of the present work is to modernize the
present systems with powerful tools like PLC and SCADA for automatic control of distribution systems. The automatic tap
changer maintains the voltage of whole system normally. Thus much manpower could be reduced and avoid major
outages with maximum safety to the system.
Keywords: Power Distribution System, Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA).

INTRODUCTION tampering of meters and pilferage of electricity are some

Power distribution networks are used for the regulation of
supply to all over the country. High Voltage (HV)
transmission systems are used in our country because of
high transmission loss. Due to deficit of intelligent
automation systems in the field of electrical power
distribution system, power losses and accidents are not
unaccustomed in our countr y. The haphazard
development of distribution systems resulting in high
system outages in addition to impecunious quality of
supply. Efficient operation and maintenance of
distribution system is hampered by non-availability of
system topological information, current health
information of the distribution components like distribution
transformers and feeders, historical data etc. The lack of
use of efficient tools are the other reasons for operational
planning and advanced methodology for quick
detection of fault, isolation of the faulty section and
service restoration etc. Presently, fault detection, isolation
and service restoration takes a long time causing the
interruption of supply for a longer duration. Manual meter
reading, delay in billing, faulty and inaccurate metering,
of the main reasons for poor return of revenue to electricity
utilities in India. Previously the power distribution
automation and the communication infrastructure are by
the application of microcontrollers [1,3]. For the power
system design and analysis power flow analysis is used
and MATLAB programming is used for software package
[2]. Many international standards like IEC 61850, IEC
61499 etc are used for the automation of electrical power
system [4,7]. Some of the systems use the CDMA wireless
communication and analyse the system using various
tools [6,11]. The present status of the distribution system is
the 'smart grid' by using relays [5,8,10]. The substation,
which was already tried to design and automate using the
latest tools PLC and SCADA to overcome the problems
that arise in the power station [9,12,13]. It is too late to
modernize these distribution networks without these
advanced automation tools. The present work is to
integrate complete operations of the electrical substation
to the SCADA installed in a computer. The SCADA
communicate with the PLC and the entire system control
is done through PLC.

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1. Introduction To PLC and SCADA consummate electrical isolation between controlled

A PLC or programmable logic controller is a particularized circuits and control). The relays were used to perform
digital computer. logical operations in previous computers and sweepingly
in telephone exchanges. The relay logic systems are using
1.1 PLC: Programmable Logic Controller
a number of relays to accomplish one control sequence.
Control engineering has evolved is over time. In the past
In relays, the no. of poles is limited to three so that more
manual control, were the main methods for controlling a
relays are to be used if same input is coming in many
system. More recently electricity has been used for control
places.
and early electrical control was based on relays. These
1.1.1 PLC operation
relays allow power to be switched on and off without a
mechanical switch. It is common to use relays to make A PLC works by continually scanning a program. This scan
simple logical control decisions. The development of low cycle consists of 3 important steps shown in the Figure 2
cost computer has brought the most recent revolution, and the detailed description of the scan cycle illustrated
the PLC. A PLC is a specialized digital computer. Unlike in the Table 1.
general-purpose computers, a PLC is designed especially After the third step the PLC goes back to step one and
for industrial use with multiple input and output, rigid repeats the steps continuously. One scan time is defined
construction, immunity to electrical and mechanical as the time it takes to execute the 3 steps listed below.
impacts and ease of programming and reprogramming. 1.1.2 SCADA
When combined with supervisory control and data
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems (SCADA)
acquisition, they can allow monitoring and control of
which control supervisory level and collect data through
complex systems.
The Figure 1 shows the comparison of relay logic system
with PLC. The relay usually defined as an electrically
operated switch. To operate a switch mechanically, most
of the relays use electromagnet. Presumably other
operating principles are also applied in relays like solid-
state relays. The application of relays where umpteen
circuits must be controlled by single signal, or it is
imperative to control a circuit by low-power signal (with

Figure 2. Scan Cycle

Step Description
1 Check Input Status-First the PLC takes a look at each input to
determine if it is on or off. In other words, it checks
whether the sensor connected to the input on.
2 Execute Program-Next the PLC executes the program one instruction
at a time. Maybe the program said that if the first input was on
then it should turn on the first output. Since it already knows
which inputs are on/off from the previous step it will be
able to decide whether the first output should be
turned on based on the state of the first input.
It will store the execution results for use
later during the next step.
3 Update Output Status-Finally the PLC updates the status of the
outputs. It updates the outputs based on which inputs were
on during the first step and the results of executing
your program during the second step.

Figure 1. Comparison between Relay Logic System and PLC Table 1. Scan Cycle of PLC Operation

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distribution system. It means that the supervisory control
system is at the top of the real time control system. The
process has been controlled and monitored by the
supervisory control system and that is external to the
control system. A separate or integrated real-time
automated control system can respond quickly as
countervail ample for process changes. The processes
are of 3 types: industrial based, infrastructure based and
facility based. They are described below:
·Industrial processes: manufacturing, production,
power generation, fabrication, and refining. This may
run in continuous, batch, repetitive, or discrete
modes.
·Infrastructure processes: public or private electrical
power transmission and distribution, and large
communication systems, include water treatment
and distribution, wastewater collection and
treatment, oil and gas pipelines,
·Facility processes: occur both in public facilities and
private ones, including buildings, airports, ships, and
space stations. They monitor and control HVAC,
access, and energy consumption.
The main objective of the Automation of Electrical Power
Figure 3. Design Methodology of Automated System
36 i-manager’s Journal on Power Systems Engineering, Vol. 3 l
Distribution system is to automate the electrical power
distribution system using PLC and SCADA and enhance
the detection of variations in the voltage and
temperature. In addition the enhancement of fault and
outage detection in the system and notification. The
automation of the feeder switching also can achieve by
the system.
2. Design Methodology
The design methodology (Figure 3) adapted to the system
as follows: The present work of automated electrical
power distribution system is done using PLC. The PLC being
a mini-controller uses ladder based logic to control the
distribution of power. Since the automated power supply is
of large scale magnitude and importance will be utilizing
the help of a model-simulation to show the working. The
work consists of one main station and four sub stations.
Each of the substations consists of the feeders.
The system basically consists of 3 modes of operations
shown in the Table 2.
Sl.No Modes
1 Manual mode
2 Auto mode
3 Time bound mode
Table 2. Modes of Operations Carried out by the System
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The manual mode is where the main station is ON and simple contacts that simulated the opening and closing
switched OFF through two different push buttons. This of relays, Ladder logic programming has been expanded
mode is the archaic conventional mode where the to include such functions as counters, timers, shift registers
substations can be switched ON only if the main station is and math operations. The first two rungs of the ladder logic
switched ON. The feeders can be switched ON only if the utilized in the system as shown in the Figure 4.
corresponding Substation is switched on. The whole SCADA is the supervisory control of the system. The
substations and the sub feeders have their own ON and operator can accomplish the task very easily by applying
OFF push buttons. SCADA to the system. PLC programming and SCADA are
The second mode is the automatic mode, which in combined together for the automation of electrical
normal conditions acts like manual mode. But when the power distribution system. The SCADA system consists of
'auto' switch (toggle) is switched ON the logic acts in a one main window. The main window of the SCADA exhibits
different way. If any of the sub feeders are switched OFF in the selection of the other controlling windows. There are
the automatic mode, it gets OFF first but after a minor four windows in the system, which take part in the operator
delay will restart again itself automatically using the PLC to accomplish the task more easily as shown in the Figure
logic. 5.
The next mode is the 'time bound' mode. This mode is
controlled through SCADA. The time bound mode is where
the operator can decide the hours in which the power can
be distributed and hold. That is if the operator sets a time
between 5pm to 9pm; the sub feeder gets OFF from 5pm
to 9pm and switches ON automatically after the time is
over. The time delay and the range of operation can be
set though SCADA. There are some problems related to
the accuracy time during load shedding. This mode is
useful for load shedding.
The present work focused a perfect conglomeration of
PLC and SCADA and power supply control, which reduces
human effort and throws light on a new dimension in
automated.
2. Results and Discussion
The automation of electrical power distribution system is Figure 4. Ladder Diagram used in the System
achieved by using PLC and SCADA. The earlier methods
used for automation were replaced by Programmable
Logic Controller (PLC), which controls the whole system.
Simplicity, flexibility, quick and more sophisticated control
are the essential features of PLC.
The software part of the system consists of two
components: PLC and SCADA. Ladder logic is the most
commonly used PLC programming language. Ladder
Diagram (LD) Traditional ladder logic is graphical
programming language. Initially programmed with
Figure 5. Menu Selection Window

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The control window, which shows the status of the main
station (Figure 6), substations and feeders and controlling
of all the stations and feeders. The selection of manual
and auto mode also from the control window. In auto
mode during the time of outage, time taken to restore the
power in the substation also shown in the Figure 7.
Time synchronising is applied for the load shedding of
feeders. The whole system should be in manual mode.
The time synchronising window shows the status of the
feeders during the time of load shedding. The time in
which the feeder should off and the time in which it should
on are indicated in the window as shown in the Figure 8.
The alarming system, which produces alarm in various
fiasco conditions of voltage and temperature as shown in
the Figure 9. The primary side voltage of the main station

Figure 6. Main Station Figure 8. Time Synchronising of the System

Figure 7. Main Control of the System

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Figure 9. Alarming Condition in the System
will be measured in the alarm window.
Automatic tap changer also present in the system, which
maintain the output voltage of the main station normally.
Trend produces the graphical representation of the
various parameters like voltage, current, temperature etc.
The real time graphical representation of the parameters
like voltage, current, temperature etc can be monitor by
the trend. Trend represents the slight changes in the
parameters. The variation of voltage indicated in the
Figure 10.
Conclusion
Figure 10. Trend of the System
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The presented system for automation of electrical power
distribution using PLC and SCADA eliminate some of the
problems occurred in the earlier methods. This simple,
flexible and reliable method is allowing to the prevailing of
distribution system. The method ensures safest and fastest
transmission and distribution of power. Automatic
restoration of power reduces time consumption and total
outage time of feeders. The automatic tap changer
maintains the voltage of whole system normally. The
automation of electrical power distribution system
emphasise easiest platform for the operator in this field.
References
[1]. Neha Gaur, Priyanka Gaur, (2012). “Automation in
power distribution system: present status”, Review Article,
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[2]. Dharamjit, D.K. Tanti, (2012). “Load Flow Analysis on
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[3]. Palak Parikh, “Distribution System Automation” ES 586b
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[4]. Neil Higgins, Valeriy Vyatkin, Nirmal-Kumar C. Nair,
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[5]. R. P. Gupta and R. K. Varma, “Power distribution
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Encyclopedia of life support systems (EOLSS), Vol.3.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Roshny Mathew is currently is doing her M.Tech in Industrial Automation and Robotics(IAR), Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan. She has completed her graduation from The Institution of Engineers
(India) in Electrical Engineering. She has nearly 1.5 years of industrial experience. She has worked as substation operator in
Kerala State Electricity Board.

Dr. M S Srinath is presently working as a Professor [PG-IAR] in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Malnad College of
Engineering, India. He has nearly 18 years of teaching, industry, and research experience. He has worked as Principal
Coordinator for VGST sponsored project “Development of Cavitation Erosion Resistant Cladding through Microwave Energy”. He
is presently the Principal Investigator of AICTE sponsored project “Melting of Materials using Microwave Energy”. He has also
published 14 Journals and 25 Conference papers. His areas of interests include Advance Manufacturing, Microwave Material
Processing and Modeling and Simulation of Manufacturing Systems.

Dr. N. S. Jyothi is presently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering at Malnad
College of Engineering, Hassan, Karnataka, India. He has received his B. Tech. Degree from Government Engineering College,
Thrissur, University of Calicut, M. Tech. from Regional Engineering College (National Institute of Technology), Calicut and Ph.D.
from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He is having an academic experience of 27 years. He is involved in various
academic activities like curriculum developments, syllabus revisions etc. at Visvesvaraya Technological University and
autonomous body of Malnad College of Engineering. He has taken part in the e-Learning program of Visvesvaraya
Technological University and gave lectures on Modern Control Theory. He has published about 10 research papers in National,
International Conferences and Journals. He has attended more than 30 National and International Conferences, Workshops,
Seminars, Faculty and Development Programs. He is a member of Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE), The Institution of
Engineers (India) and Senior Member of IEEE. His technical interests are in the area of Dielectrics and Insulations, Control systems,
and Electrical machines etc.

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