Patent Application
20230022661
The disclosure relates to power systems, and, more particularly to, systems and methods for differential protection of a power substation.
Topology replicas of busbar protection intelligence electronic devices (IEDs) in a power substation may be used to calculate, in real-time, protection measurement boundaries and tripping boundaries to emulate dynamic changes in bus operating modes. This may be a challenging task considering that a substation topology scheme can have a large number of different operating modes, as defined by combinations of current transformers (CTs), circuit breakers (CBs), and isolator operations.
Some conventional busbar protection systems may provide such capabilities and may be configured through settings or by drawings using pre-defined templates. These systems, however, have drawbacks. One example drawback may include the requirement that a user configuring the settings or drawings have both product knowledge and general busbar protection knowledge to be able to translate a single-line diagram (SLD) of the substation into topology settings or drawing templates. Any mistake in the configuration process may have consequences, such as a loss of protection or mal-operation in the substation. A second example drawback may include that while these systems often support most common busbar topology schemes, certain special or complex schemes may not be natively supported. A third example drawback that is related to the second drawback is that the topology software may need to be modified to support previously unsupported topology schemes. This maintenance work may be time-consuming and risky, as modifications may not be compatible with already-supported topology schemes. Additionally, some conventional systems may require that a topology drawing is broken down into smaller components that are each assigned to different peripheral units (PUs), which may be a complicated process. This may also be risky and off-putting to users as any mis-assignment of PUs may lead to loss of protection or mal-operation.
The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict example embodiments of the disclosure. The drawings are provided to facilitate understanding of the disclosure and shall not be deemed to limit the breadth, scope, or applicability of the disclosure. In the drawings, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numeral may identify the drawing in which the reference numeral first appears. The use of the same reference numerals indicates similar, but not necessarily the same or identical components. However, different reference numerals may be used to identify similar components as well. Various embodiments may utilize elements or components other than those illustrated in the drawings, and some elements and/or components may not be present in various embodiments. The use of singular terminology to describe a component or element may, depending on the context, encompass a plural number of such components or elements and vice versa.
This disclosure may relate to, among other things, centralized AI-based topology process for differential protection of a power substation. Particularly, the systems and methods described herein may utilize a centralized architecture that may handle topology drawings in a fully automatic way that does not require an SLD to be separated into multiple “virtual zones” including different elements of the SLD. That is, the systems and methods described herein include a drawing-based topology replica solution for a fully digital busbar protection IED. Automatic searches may be performed within a provided SLD for any connection paths between substation components illustrated in the SLD, such as current transformers (CTs), circuit breakers (CBs), isolators, busbars, etc. These searches may be performed with the knowledge of the substation SLD and the real-time status of CBs and isolators (and/or other components) to work out the differential protection measurement boundaries and tripping boundaries and other useful topology information. The solution can be relatively easy to use because, in some cases, the only configuration required may include providing an SLD of the substation. There may also not be a requirement for any pre-defined topology settings or templates. The system is also self-adaptive to be able to work with any common or new busbar topologies.
In some embodiments, the system topology that is analyzed may be configured by drawing the SLD using power system components including CTs, CBs, isolators, feeders, busbars, etc., without the need for dividing the drawing and assigning partial drawings to any peripheral units or any other manual intervention. The topology configuration data structure may also involve the creation and modification of connection matrices. A connection matrix may represent a topology drawing in a format that is able to be processed by a processor. An example of a connection matrix may be illustrated in
In some embodiments, the systems and methods may also include performing a validation check of an SLD that is created and provided for analysis. The validation maybe used, among other purposes, to automatically detect unconnected components in the SLD. During this validation process, a warning may be generated if (1) any feeder, isolator, CT or CB component has one or two sides that are not connected to any component or (2) any busbar component is not connected to any other component. In some cases, an indication of these unconnected components may be provided to a user. For example, the components may be highlighted in the drawing or a text-based indication may be presented, to name a few non-limiting examples. The validation may also automatically detect any portions of the drawing that are not protected by any bus zones (as used herein, the term “zone” may refer to a busbar).
In some embodiments, as mentioned above, the systems and methods described herein may employ the use of artificial intelligence to eliminate the need to manually separate the SLD into different “virtual zones.” The artificial intelligence may include any type of artificial intelligence, including, for example, machine learning, deep learning (for example, convolutional neural networks), and the like. Examples of convolutional neural networks may include regional CNN (R-CNN), fast regional CNN (fast R-CNN), faster regional CNN (Faster R-CNN), you only look once (YOLO), and/or single shot detection (SSD) to name a few non-limiting examples. The artificial intelligence may use image classification and/or component detection. The artificial intelligence may be implemented locally, or may be maintained at a remote location, such as a remote server (or multiple server(s)). The artificial intelligence may receive the SLD, and, using the one or more SLD, may identify potential issues with the substation topology included in the SLD.
In some cases, the artificial intelligence may be pre-trained before being implemented to perform real-time analyses. The pre-implementation training may be performed by providing input data to the artificial intelligence algorithm, while also indicating what the corresponding output(s) should be for the given input data. For example, the input data may be one or more pre-determined SLDs. The artificial intelligence may be provided with corresponding outputs for the input data, such that the artificial intelligence may develop an understanding of SLDs that may include issues with certain component connections (or other types of issues with the topology). Additionally, the artificial intelligence may also be continuously trained even after being implemented as well. That is, the artificial intelligence may be pre-trained before being implemented to analyze actual SLDs, but may continue to be trained while analyzing actual SLDs. In this manner, the artificial intelligence may become more effective at identifying potential issues with topologies depicted in SLDs over time as more and more input data is provided to the artificial intelligence (for example, as more and more data is provided for the artificial intelligence to analyze).
In some cases, there may be a number of benefits to the approach described herein. First, the approach simplifies certain configuration steps. For example, the configuration of the topology for analysis may simply involve providing an SLD. Unlike the setting- or template-based solutions, specific protection knowledge or product specific knowledge may not be required to configure the topology. Additionally, the topology drawing may not need to be broken up into relatively small parts and assigned to multiple peripheral units (PUs). The enhanced usability, as a result of higher level of automation, reduces costs, and increases protection reliability and availability. The approach is also more flexible and may be capable of handling any kind of topology scheme (subject to basic validation checks) as a result of an ability to intelligently and dynamically search the whole SLD for connection paths between substation components such as CTs, CBs, isolators and busbars, etc. In contrast, while the conventional setting- and template-based solutions, which operate with a finite set of settings, rules, or templates, can often support most of the common topology schemes, certain special or complex schemes may not natively be supported. The approach is also self-adaptive and maintenance-free. In contrast, conventional setting-template-based solutions may need to have the topology software modified to support previously unsupported topology schemes by expanding the algorithms. This approach however, being self-adaptive, requires no such maintenance. The approach is also fully scalable. The approach is also usable as an offline simulator. The system has a full offline simulator to demonstrate the topology engine's operation using simulated switches status.
In some embodiments, the central processing unit 102 may include one or more processors 104 that may include any suitable processing unit capable of accepting digital data as input, processing the input data based on stored computer-executable instructions, and generating output data. The computer-executable instructions may be stored, for example, in the data storage 108 and may include, among other things, operating system software and application software. The computer-executable instructions may be retrieved from the data storage 108 and loaded into the memory 106 as needed for execution. The processor 104 may be configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause various operations to be performed. Each processor 104 may include any type of processing unit including, but not limited to, a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) microprocessor, a Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) microprocessor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a System-on-a-Chip (SoC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and so forth.
The data storage 108 may store program instructions that are loadable and executable by the processors 104, as well as data manipulated and generated by one or more of the processors 104 during execution of the program instructions. The program instructions may be loaded into the memory 106 as needed for execution. The memory 106 may be volatile memory (memory that is not configured to retain stored information when not supplied with power) such as random access memory (RAM) and/or non-volatile memory (memory that is configured to retain stored information even when not supplied with power) such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, and so forth. In various implementations, the memory 106 may include multiple different types of memory, such as various forms of static random access memory (SRAM), various forms of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), unalterable ROM, and/or writeable variants of ROM such as electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, and so forth.
Various program modules, applications (for example, module(s) 110), or the like may be stored in data storage 108 that may comprise computer-executable instructions that when executed by one or more of the processors 104 cause various operations to be performed. The memory 106 may have loaded from the data storage 108 one or more operating systems (O/S) that may provide an interface between other application software (for example dedicated applications, a browser application, a web-based application, a distributed client-server application, etc.) executing on the server 106 and the hardware resources of the server 106. More specifically, the 0/S may include a set of computer-executable instructions for managing the hardware resources of the server 106 and for providing common services to other application programs (for example managing memory allocation among various application programs). The O/S may include any operating system now known or which may be developed in the future including, but not limited to, any mobile operating system, desktop or laptop operating system, mainframe operating system, or any other proprietary or open-source operating system.
In some embodiments, the central processing unit 102 may also include any of the components described with respect to the computing device 600 of
In some embodiments, the topology drawing 101 may be a drawing that is representative of a physical configuration of elements in a power substation or other location. As shown in the figure, the topology drawing 101 may be an SLD, which may be a blueprint of an electrical system that may display a distribution path from the incoming power source to each downstream load. The topology drawing 101 may include one or more components, such as one or more busbars (for example, busbar 111 and/or busbar 112), one or more feeders (for example, feeder 113), one or more current transformers (CTs) (for example, CT 114, CT 115, CT 116, and/or CT 117), one or more circuit breakers (CBs) (for example, CB 118, CB 119, and/or CB 120), and/or one or more switches (for example, switch 121, switch 122, switch 123, switch 124, switch 125, switch 126, switch 127, and/or switch 128). A busbar may be a metallic strip or bar that may be used for high current power distribution. A current transformer may be a device used to produce an alternating current in a secondary winding, which is proportional to an AC current being measured in its primary winding. A current transformer may be used when a current or voltage is too high to measure directly. The induced secondary current may instead be suitable for measuring instruments or processing in electronic equipment. A circuit breaker is an electrical switch that may automatically open to protect a circuit from damage caused by excess current. These are just a few examples of types of components that may be included in a topology drawing 104, and any other type and/or number of components may also be included as well.
In some embodiments, not every row in the connection matrix 210 needs to be processed and only certain rows of a component are selected depending on whether the component is (or is considered as being) open or closed. For example, only first side and second side rows are selected if an component is open and only connected row may be selected otherwise. As such, the connection matrix 210 may be reduced into a reduced matrix 240. This reduction process may first involve converting the connection matrix 210 into an interim matrix 220. As depicted in the figure, the highlighted rows in the connection matrix 210 may be selected for inclusion in an interim matrix 220. The interim matrix 220 may represent the connections between all the components in the SLD 202 based on their status. The information, however, may be fragmented with each row only showing an component's immediate surrounding. Complete connection paths may be revealed by connecting up rows where a connection exists. In so doing, connected rows may be merged together and the matrix reduced in size. Specifically, matrix reduction may involve searching, reducing, and exhausting the connection matrix 210 until no two rows have any value of ‘1’ in the same column, (for example, until no two rows are connected).
In some embodiments, the flowchart 300 illustrated in
In some embodiments, the CB search of the flowchart 400 may begin with operation 402. Operation 402 may include constructing and reducing a first interim matrix (for example, generating an interim matrix 220 from a connection matrix 210 as shown in
In some embodiments, the CT search of the flowchart 400 may begin with operation 404. Operation 404 may involve constructing and reducing a second interim matrix Similar to the first interim matrix, constructing the second interim matrix may involve receiving a connection matrix associated with a received SLD for a particular substation as an input. In some cases, the connection matrix may be the same connection matrix used in operation 402. Constructing the second interim matrix may also involve establishing one or more parameters. The parameters may include considering all CTs as being open and using real status information relating to all CBs and isolators. The second reduced matrix may be referred to herein as “matrix B.” Following operation 404, the flowchart 400 may proceed to operation 408 and operation 410. Operation 408 may involve finding dead zone CTs in matrix B. Particularly, if a row in matrix B has no zone and no feeder on one side of a CT and this is the only CT in the row and the other side of the CT is connected to a feeder, then the CT may be marked as a dead zone. Any dead zone CTs may then be provided as outputs of the flowchart 400. Operation 410 may involve merging rows in matrix B. Rows may be merged in matrix B if either of these two conditions are met: (1) if the CB is a feeder CB and its associated CT is connected to a feeder in matrix B or (2) if the CB is a coupler CB with 2 CTs. This merging may be performed assuming that an open CB is closed. The matrix resulting from operation 410 may be referred to as “matrix C.” Following operation 410, the flowchart may proceed to operation 414. Operation 414 may involve merging any connected zones. Merging any connection zones may be performed as follows. A search may be performed in matrix C, and if a row in matrix C has more than one zone, then it may be determined that the zones are connected. If two zones are connected, any component that belongs to the second zone may be added to the first zone. The second zone may then be deleted. This process may be repeated until no two zones are connected. The resulting matrix may be referred to herein as “matrix E.” Following operation 414, the flowchart 400 may proceed to operations 418 and 420. Operation 418 may involve finding zone CTs. Finding zone CTs may be performed as follows. In the matrix E, if a row has one side and only one side of a CT and a feeder, then the CT may be added to the check zone. In the matrix E, if, in the reduced matrix, a side of CT is not connected to any zone or feeder or CT and the other side is not connected to a feeder then the other side of the CT is also taken out of any connected zones taking the whole CT out of any zone. In the matrix E, if a row has a zone and one side of a CT add the CT to the zone. If a row has a zone and both sides of a CT take the CT out of the zone. Operation 420 may involve handling couplers with two CTs. In the matrix E, for a coupler with two CTs, the coupler-components-only row may be merged with any applicable rows, by assuming one of the coupling CTs is closed but the second coupling CT open, but keeping the coupler-components-only row. Then coupler-components-only row may be merged with any applicable rows, by assuming the second coupling CTs is closed but the first coupling CT open. The coupler-components-only row may then be deleted. The resulting matrix may be referred to as matrix F. Following operation 420, the flowchart 400 may proceed to operation 424, which may involve identifying zone CTs and non-protectable zones. A non-protectable zone may be where a feeder is connected to a busbar without a CT, meaning that the zone has a feeder on which the current cannot be measured therefore the zone cannot be protected by the differential protection. In the matrix E′, if a row has both a zone and a feeder then raise a flag to indicate this zone can't be protected as it has a feeder without CT. In the matrix E′, if a row has a zone and one side of a CT add the CT to the zone. If a row has a zone and both sides of a CT take the CT out of the zone. In the matrix E′, if a row has a zone and two or more CTs from the same coupler take the CTs out of the zone. In the matrix E′, for a bus coupler with two CTs, if one of the CTs is not connected to any zone or feeder remove the other CT from any zone too.
In some embodiments, the method 500 may also include identifying a connection issue associated with a first component of the one or more components in the SLD. The method 500 may also include presenting an indication of the connection issue on a user interface, wherein identifying the connection issue further comprises identifying a first component of the one or more components that includes only one connection to a second component or includes no connections to other components.
In some embodiments, analyzing the connection paths between the one or more components in the SLD further comprises identifying a connection between the CB and the busbar, wherein identifying the connection between the CB and the busbar comprises converting the SLD into a connection matrix, the connection matrix including a first value to indicate a connection between a first component and a second component of the one or more components, and a second value to indicate an absence of a connection between the first component and a third component of the one or more components, wherein identifying the connection between the CB and the busbar is based on establishing the CB as open, establishing the CT as closed, and determining a real-time status of the isolator.
In some embodiments, analyzing the connection paths associated with the one or more components in the SLD further comprises reducing the connection matrix into a reduced matrix.
In some embodiments, the method 500 may also include merging any connected zones in the reduced matrix.
In some embodiments, analyzing the connection paths between the one or more components in the SLD further comprises identifying connections between the CT and the busbar, wherein identifying connections between the CT and the busbar comprises converting the SLD into a connection matrix, the connection matrix including a first value to indicate a connection between a first component and a second component of the one or more components, and a second value to indicate an absence of a connection between the first component and a third component of the one or more components, wherein identifying the connection between the CB and the busbar further comprises establishing the CT as open, and determining a real-time status of the isolator and the CB.
In some embodiments, analyzing connection paths associated with the one or more components in the SLD further comprises generating a single connection information file for processing by the AI system, and wherein analyzing the connection paths is performed without separating the one or more components into smaller parts.
The operations described and depicted in the illustrative process flow of
The one or more processors 602 can access the memory 604 by means of a communication architecture 606 (e.g., a system bus). The communication architecture 606 may be suitable for the particular arrangement (localized or distributed) and types of the one or more processors 602. In some embodiments, the communication architecture 606 can include one or many bus architectures, such as a memory bus or a memory controller; a peripheral bus; an accelerated graphics port; a processor or local bus; a combination thereof, or the like. As an illustration, such architectures can include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, an Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express bus, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) bus, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), and/or the like.
Memory components or memory devices disclosed herein can be embodied in either volatile memory or non-volatile memory or can include both volatile and non-volatile memory. In addition, the memory components or memory devices can be removable or non-removable, and/or internal or external to a computing device or component. Examples of various types of non-transitory storage media can include hard-disc drives, zip drives, CD-ROMs, digital versatile disks (DVDs) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, flash memory cards or other types of memory cards, cartridges, or any other non-transitory media suitable to retain the desired information and which can be accessed by a computing device.
As an illustration, non-volatile memory can include read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). The disclosed memory devices or memories of the operational or computational environments described herein are intended to include one or more of these and/or any other suitable types of memory. In addition to storing executable instructions, the memory 604 also can retain data.
Each computing device 600 also can include mass storage 608 that is accessible by the one or more processors 602 by means of the communication architecture 606. The mass storage 608 can include machine-accessible instructions (e.g., computer-readable instructions and/or computer-executable instructions). In some embodiments, the machine-accessible instructions may be encoded in the mass storage 608 and can be arranged in components that can be built (e.g., linked and compiled) and retained in computer-executable form in the mass storage 608 or in one or more other machine-accessible non-transitory storage media included in the computing device 600. Such components can embody, or can constitute, one or many of the various modules disclosed herein. Such modules are illustrated as modules 614.
Execution of the modules 614, individually or in combination, by the one more processors 602, can cause the computing device 600 to perform any of the operations described herein (for example, the operations described with respect to
Each computing device 600 also can include one or more input/output interface devices 610 (referred to as I/O interface 610) that can permit or otherwise facilitate external devices to communicate with the computing device 600. For instance, the I/O interface 610 may be used to receive and send data and/or instructions from and to an external computing device.
The computing device 600 also includes one or more network interface devices 612 (referred to as network interface(s) 612) that can permit or otherwise facilitate functionally coupling the computing device 600 with one or more external devices. Functionally coupling the computing device 600 to an external device can include establishing a wireline connection or a wireless connection between the computing device 600 and the external device. The network interface(s) 612 can include one or many antennas and a communication processing device that can permit wireless communication between the computing device 600 and another external device. For example, between a vehicle and a smart infrastructure system, between two smart infrastructure systems, etc. Such a communication processing device can process data according to defined protocols of one or several radio technologies. The radio technologies can include, for example, 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, 5G, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, Bluetooth, ZigBee, near-field communication (NFC), and the like. The communication processing device can also process data according to other protocols as well, such as vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, and the like. The network interface(s) 612 may also be used to facilitate peer-to-peer ad-hoc network connections as described herein.
As used in this application, the terms “environment,” “system,” “unit,” “module,” “architecture,” “interface,” “component,” and the like refer to a computer-related entity or an entity related to an operational apparatus with one or more defined functionalities. The terms “environment,” “system,” “module,” “component,” “architecture,” “interface,” and “unit,” can be utilized interchangeably and can be generically referred to functional elements. Such entities may be either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. As an example, a module can be embodied in a process running on a processor, a processor, an component, an executable portion of software, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computing device. As another example, both a software application executing on a computing device and the computing device can embody a module. As yet another example, one or more modules may reside within a process and/or thread of execution. A module may be localized on one computing device or distributed between two or more computing devices. As is disclosed herein, a module can execute from various computer-readable non-transitory storage media having various data structures stored thereon. Modules can communicate via local and/or remote processes in accordance, for example, with a signal (either analogic or digital) having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as a wide area network with other systems via the signal).
As yet another example, a module can be embodied in or can include an apparatus with a defined functionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric or electronic circuitry that is controlled by a software application or firmware application executed by a processor. Such a processor can be internal or external to the apparatus and can execute at least part of the software or firmware application. Still, in another example, a module can be embodied in or can include an apparatus that provides defined functionality through electronic components without mechanical parts. The electronic components can include a processor to execute software or firmware that permits or otherwise facilitates, at least in part, the functionality of the electronic components.
In some embodiments, modules can communicate via local and/or remote processes in accordance, for example, with a signal (either analog or digital) having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as a wide area network with other systems via the signal). In addition, or in other embodiments, modules can communicate or otherwise be coupled via thermal, mechanical, electrical, and/or electromechanical coupling mechanisms (such as conduits, connectors, combinations thereof, or the like). An interface can include input/output (I/O) components as well as associated processors, applications, and/or other programming components.
Further, in the present specification and annexed drawings, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “data store,” “data storage,” “memory,” “repository,” and substantially any other information storage component relevant to the operation and functionality of a component of the disclosure, refer to memory components, entities embodied in one or several memory devices, or components forming a memory device. It is noted that the memory components or memory devices described herein embody or include non-transitory computer storage media that can be readable or otherwise accessible by a computing device. Such media can be implemented in any methods or technology for storage of information, such as machine-accessible instructions (e.g., computer-readable instructions), information structures, program modules, or other information components.
Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain implementations could include, while other implementations do not include, certain features, elements, and/or operations. Thus, such conditional language generally is not intended to imply that features, elements, and/or operations are in any way required for one or more implementations or that one or more implementations necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or operations are included or are to be performed in any particular implementation.
What has been described herein in the present specification and annexed drawings includes examples of systems, devices, techniques, and computer program products that, individually and in combination, permit centralized AI-based topology process for differential protection of a power substation. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components and/or methods for purposes of describing the various elements of the disclosure, but it can be recognized that many further combinations and permutations of the disclosed elements are possible. Accordingly, it may be apparent that various modifications can be made to the disclosure without departing from the scope thereof. In addition, or as an alternative, other embodiments of the disclosure may be apparent from consideration of the specification and annexed drawings, and practice of the disclosure as presented herein. It is intended that the examples put forth in the specification and annexed drawings be considered, in all respects, as illustrative and not limiting. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
