PHASOR MEASUREMENTS-BASED ONLINE

AUTO DETECTION OUT-OF-STABILITY ALGORITHM

Mohamed A. Ali Wael R. Anis
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Benha
Cairo11925, Egypt

Department of Electrical Engineering

University of Zagazig
Cairo11351, Egypt

mohamed.mohamed02@feng.bu.edu.eg

Wael.anis@ibec-egypt.com

Wagdy M. Mansour

Fahmy M. Bendary

Department of Electrical Engineering

University of Benha
Cairo11925, Egypt
wagdy_ibrahim2001@yahoo.com

Department of Electrical Engineering

University of Benha
Cairo11925, Egypt
Fahmy_bendary@yahoo.com

Abstract- In this paper, a proposed algorithm for detecting

the online out-of-stability is presented. The algorithm is based on
real-time measurements via Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs),
online Rotor Angle Detection (RAD) algorithm, and online
Critical Clearing Angle (CCA) algorithm based on Adaptive
Neuro Fuzzy Inference system (ANFIS). The algorithm is created
to be implemented to detect the stability margin of the generators
and the actual Critical Clearing Angle (CCA) then gives the
adequate Remedial Actions (RAs) to trip the critical generators.
The RAD algorithm is based on real-time PMUs measurements
and direct equations to determine the rotor angle. Due to the
unavailability of PMUs, an off-line simulation is adopted to get
the required PMUs measurements to be used in the proposed
algorithm. Simulation results for Single Machine Infinite Bus
(SMIB) under several testing cases are presented to show the
effectiveness and validity of the proposed algorithm.

whether the machine is going to out-of-stability has to be

made right at that instance (objective of any relay) and not
based on hypothetical scenario. This method is applicable for
two area power system. However to apply for a multimachine
system, network reduction is required to obtain an equivalent
two area system. This method not only requires local
information but also requires information from other buses, so
additional communication devices and phasor measurement
units (PMU) are required for the determination of the power
curves [2-10].
Reference [11] proposed out-of-stability detection technique
based on fuzzy logic and [12] proposed the application of
neural networks for out-of-stability detection. Methods based
on fuzzy logic and neural network are very effective in on-line
applications. The methods perform well if adequately trained
and appropriate input signals are identified.

Index TermsReal time, online, transient stability, outofstability

algorithm.

To apply the previous algorithms to a multi-machine require

network reduction technique to reduce to an equivalent two
area system. Thus the complexity of the above procedures
increases as the size of the power systems increase. The
objectives of this paper are;

I. INTRODUCTION
Equal Area Criterion (EAC) describes the system stability
based on the area under the power system curves. This concept
has been employed for out-of-stability detection [1]. The
power curves for pre-disturbance and post-disturbance of the
system are estimated and areas under them are evaluated to
detect out-of-stability condition. To determine the power
curves, offline calculations are done using the measurements.
Offline calculations are usually done for dynamic security
analysis of power system, where all the possible credible
contingencies are analyzed. In such analysis, plot of versus
time for all the machines are determined. Based on -t curve,
the machine that may become out-of-stability is identified and
possible remedial measures are taken. However, this kind of
analysis for EAC in -domain is not effective to solve the outof-stability protection problem. The reason behind this is the
luxury of obtaining various time domain simulations is not
feasible for out-of-step protection because the decision

Developing a simple algorithm for out-of-stability

detection which avoids complex system studies and
extensive offline calculations.
Propose an algorithm which can be applied directly to a
multi-machine configuration of a power system without
any network reduction.
Developing an algorithm which is entirely based on the
local electrical quantities available at the point of
installation and hence avoid the need of any extra
communication devices.

This paper is focused on the development of a simple and

effective on-line out-of-stability algorithm capable of
detecting out-of-stability condition in a complex power
system. To achieve this, the paper has gone through three
distinct stages: development of an algorithm, simulation, and
its testing. To test the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm,
various out-of-stability conditions are simulated by applying
several disturbances in the chosen power system
configuration.

(3)

So that, the generator rotor angle can be detected using

equation.3 which depends on real-time measured parameters
which are Pe, Qe, , and . Also, generator data sheet
parameter which is d, and. All previous steps are just for
monitoring and control but for tripping decision the Critical
Clearing Angle (CCA) of the generator must be defined in the
real-time via on-line artificial intelligence (AI) technique to be
used as a reference signal in the real-time RAD algorithm the
AI used is the well known Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference
System (ANFIS) the ANFIS technique is based also on the
real-time measurements of the PMUs to detect the CCA
according to the current operating conditions of the generators.
Then using the CCA as reference signal to be used in
comparative module to calculate the stability margin of the
generator as percentage of the actual rotor angle based to the
CCA which considered as the maximum rotor angle for
system stability. If the actual rotor angle detected by RAD
algorithm is equal or equal minus a safety tolerance factor an
instant tripping command must be sent to the generator
tripping circuit as shown in figure.2.

II. ONLINE ROTOR ANGLE DETECTION ALGORITHM

Detecting the stability of generators in real-time is considered
an important issue. So that, the need for real time
measurements is the solution key via the implementation of
the Phasors Measurement Units (SPMUs). But, the problem is
to find how to detect the stability of the generators using these
PMUs in power system networks. Thus, in this paper the
implementation of PMUs to detect the rotor angle stability via
the proposed real-time Rotor Angle Detection (RAD)
algorithm. The algorithm uses the real-time measurements via
PMUs then detects the generator rotor angel instant by instant
and makes rotor angle monitoring, supervision, and conntrol.
The algorithm implementing the measurements of currents and
voltages via the generator PMU installed at the high tension
side of the step up transformer as shown in figure.1.

Implementing these algorithms, the generator stability can be

detected automatically without any presetting values. The
algorithm is based only the real-time measurements and one
data sheet parameter. Thus, the algorithm can be considered
and named Auto Detection Out-of-Stability (ADOS)
algorithm.

Fig.1: Sample generator/transformer set with PMU installed at HV side

To derive direct equation to be implemented to detect the

generator rotor angle in real-time, it is important to be based
on real-time measurements and fixed generator data sheet
parameters. The generator rotor angle equation can be founded
be calculating the electrical active and reactive power
delivered to the network from the generator which can be
directly measured instantly via the PMU as shown in figure.1.
Also, can be calculated according to equation.1, and
equation.2 respectively.
(1)
Fig.2: ADOS algorithm schematic diagram

(2)

It is important to consider that the algorithm accuracy depends

on the resolution step (number of samples per cycle) of the
PMUs. Thus, the increase of number of samples per cycle, the
increase of algorithm accuracy. 20 samples per cycle i.e.

According to equation.1, and equation.2 the generator rotor

angle can be deduced as follows;

measuring via PMUs every 1ms is sufficient for the algorithm

for very satisfactory accuracy. The ADOS algorithm flowchart
is shown in figure.3

IV. MODELING AND SIMULATION

The employed power test system is simulated using classical
model for synchronous machine representation. The power
system model is simulated using MATLAB (version 7.0)
programs developed by the authors.
V. SIMULATION RESULTS
The power test system employed in this paper is the SMIB
with two parallel lines as shown in figure.4. A three phase
short circuit occurs at the generator H.V bus with 1300
contingency cases (1300 training samples) covering the
generator operating range. The ANN and ANFIS are trained
through the mentioned contingency cases which cover the full
and worst overloading range of operating conditions for the
sake of achieving more accurate results. The Time Domain
Equal Area Criterion (TDEAC) solution is employed for
determining the exact CCA for the test cases. Also, the
estimated CCAs using the proposed ANN and ANFIS are
presented. Numerical comparisons are shown in table.1 under
the normal operating loading conditions and table.2 for
overloading conditions. Figure.5 shows a comprehensive
comparison between TDEAC, ANFIS, and ANN through 20
test samples. Figure.6 shows the percent of error between
ANFIS, and ANN through the all trained and checked range.

Fig.3: ADOS algorithm flowchart

III. CRITICAL CLEARING ANGLE DETERMINATION

Fig.4: Power test system

According to the ADOS algorithm, it is important to find the

CCA in real-time condition to be implemented as reference
signal as shown in ADOS flowchart in figure.3. so that, AI
techniques might be implemented to match the real-time
application. In this paper two AI techniques are implemented.
One is using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and the other is
Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). The
ANFIS will be highlighted more than ANN due to the better
accuracy as shown in results listed in table.1 and table.2.

TABLE.1: Comprehensive comparison between ANN, and ANFIS for CCA

estimation under normal operating rang
Pe
(pu)

EAC
CCA

ANN
CCA

ANFIS
CCA

ANN
%Error

ANFIS
%Error

0.1

140.30

139.30

140.26

0.71

0.03

0.2

123.60

122.90

123.57

0.56

0.03

0.3

111.11

110.55

111.11

0.51

0.00

0.4

100.71

100.23

100.72

0.48

0.01

The proposed ANFIS comprises 30 input Membership

Functions (MFs) type gbellmf, linear output MF, training
FIS using the hybrid optimization method with 10 epochs for
zero error tolerance. The achieving average testing error is
0.00037. the 30 ANFIS rules is listed below.

0.5

91.79

91.38

91.80

0.45

0.01

0.6

84.12

83.77

84.12

0.42

0.01

0.7

77.52

77.21

77.51

0.39

0.01

0.8

71.79

71.53

71.80

0.37

0.00

IF (Pe is in1mf1) THEN (CCA is out1mf1)

IF (Pe is in2mf2) THEN (CCA is out2mf2)
up to the rule No. 30

0.9

66.85

66.62

66.85

0.34

0.01

1.0

62.67

62.48

62.66

0.30

0.00

TABLE.2: Comprehensive comparison between ANN, and ANFIS for CCA

estimation under overloading conditions
Pe
(pu)

EAC
CCA

ANN
CCA

ANFIS
CCA

ANN
%Error

ANFIS
%Error

1.1

59.22

59.07

59.22

0.26

0.01

1.2

56.41

56.28

56.41

0.22

0.00

1.3

54.10

54.00

54.10

0.19

0.00

Thus, Matlab programs is created to simulate power system

disturbances and execute the ADOS algorithm to detect the
out-of-stability of the tested power system.
The critical clearing time corresponding to CCA of the test
case is approximately 500ms. So that, for 500ms fault duration
the system is critically stable and instant tripping signal must
be sent to the generator tripping circuit as shown in figure.7
and figure.8.
Also, for 600ms fault duration the system will be out-ofstability. Also, instant tripping signal must be sent to the
generator tripping circuit as shown in figure.8 and figure.9.
Whereas, for 200ms fault duration the system will be stable
and no signals for tripping will be sent to generator tripping
circuit as shown in figure.10.
The algorithm time consuming to detect the out-of-stability is
no more than 1ms according to Matlab clock for several
testing cases. Also, this time can be reduced more when
implementing the algorithm via micro-processor with low
level programming langue in practical application. Thus, it is
very suitable for real-time applications.

Fig.5: Comprehensive comparison between TDEAC, ANFIS, and ANN

through 20 test samples

Fig.7: 500ms 3-phase fault at sending end.

Fig.6: Comprehensive comparison between ANFIS, and ANN through the

normal operating range

After approving the ANFIS-based CCA algorithm for

determining the CCA in real-time according to the variety in
operation conditions. The next step is simulating the system
under various fault duration to check the validity and time
consuming of the ADOS algorithm.

Fig.8: Instant tripping message by the real-time RAD algorithm.

The ADOS algorithm could be extended for multi-machine

power systems using the Parallel Algorithms (PAs) for
transient stability assessment [13].

REFERENCES
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V. Centeno, "An adaptive out-of-step relay [for power system

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[3]

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[4]

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Fig.10: 200ms 3-phase fault at sending end.

[10]

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VI. CONCLUSION

[11]

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[12]

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[13]

M. A. Ali and W. M. Mansour: "A Proposed Approach for Online

Transient Stability of Multimachine Power Systems Using Parallel
Microprocessors", ICEENG 2008 proceedings, EE149, pp:901:910.

Fig.9: 600ms 3-phase fault at sending end.

According to the previous simulation results the ADOS

algorithm is more suitable for real-time application due to its
negligible decision time which is not more than 1ms as
mentioned in the paper test cases. Also, ADOS algorithm can
be used for monitoring and supervising the generator rotor
angle which leads to accurate out-of-stability decision in realtime application. the ADOS algorithm does not require any
presetting tripping time or CCA so that it can be considered as
an adaptive tripping algorithm because the algorithm needs
only the SPMU measurements and only one generator data
sheet parameter which is d. Thus, no need to any other
presetting values algorithms like the blinder algorithm
implemented in the conventional relays.