IndependentPowerEngineers

NeverTrusttheMachine,trusttheengineer!

Whoarewe?
IPE(IndependentPowerEngineers)isanonprofitorganizationpassionateaboutthe
power engineering industry. Our main mandate is to test and expose the different
issuesanddysfunctionsofdifferentpowersystemsimulationsoftwares.Pleasenote
that all of our tests are made available also on YouTube for transparency. Look for
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Product
Manufacturer
Version
Revision
Operatingsystem
Systemproperties

ETAP
OTI(OperationTechnologyInc)
6,7.1,7.5,11,12.0and12.5
Allversions
Windows7/64Bit
CPU@1.80GHzRAM:2.00GB

ETAPCASE0039

Analysis

All Load Flow Methods( Adaptive Newton Raphson, Newton Raphson, Fast Decoupled,
AcceleratedGaussSeidel)
Analysisdetail
Precision=0.000000001,MaxNo.ofIteration=9999
Issue
Wrong results, The incoming current to a node and outgoing current from node are not
equal?
Reason
WrongCalculation/ConvergencewhenR(Resistance)isHigherthanInductanceR>2X
(LVCables)
Proposedsolution none

ETAPCASE0039Overview:
WedecidedtoremodelanextremelysimplerealnetworktotesttheLoadFlowengineforloadflowinETAP12.5.
The model consists of a source, two cables (Selected from ETAP library), Two similar inductions motors (Selected
fromETAPDatabase).

Figure1:SimpleNetworkmodeling

IndependentPowerEngineers

NeverTrusttheMachine,trusttheengineer!

Source(SCrating=40MVA,X/R=10,0.46KV,Isc=50KA)
Motor No.1& 2,: (0.415KV, 100 HP, PF=85.22%, Eff= 95.23%, LRC=625.4%, PF(Locked Rotor)=30.99%,
LRT=103.8%,MaxT=198.4%,Ns=1800,Nr=1782,Slip=1.02%,In=127.8A),ModelSingle2:Singlecagewithdeep
bar,H=1.44,LoadModel:TL=100w3
CableNo.1(CABLEC001):3X1C95mm2,ICEA,AL,1KV,Rubber,(R=0.37671ohm/1000m,
X=0.13884ohm/1000m,Y=0.0),Length=150m
CableNo.2(CABLEC002):3X1C35mm2,ICEA,AL,1KV,Rubber,(R=0.37671ohm/1000m,
X=0.13884ohm/1000m.Y=0.0),Length=200m
BusbarNo.1NominalVoltage:460V
BusbarNo.2and3NominalVoltages:415V

Observation
Werunloadflowinalltheloadflowmethodsandfollowingresultswillbeobtained.

Figure2:Loadflowresults,demonstratingbranchescurrents

Aboveresultswillbeobtainedwithoutanywarnings.
Doyouthinkresultsarecorrect?WejustwanttoanalysesresultsaboutBusbarsincoming/outgoingCurrents:
B002:incomingActivecurrentis259x0.869=225.07<outgoingactivecurrentis122.4x.852+136.6x0.875=223.81
SoinB002theincomingActivecurrentis225.07Aandoutgoingactivecurrentis223.81A.Thedifferenceis1.26A

B002:incomingActivecurrentis136.6x0.875=119.525<outgoingactivecurrentis136.6x0.852=116.38
SoinB003theincomingActivecurrentis119.525Aandoutgoingactivecurrentis116.38A.Thedifferenceis3.15A

ETAPCASE0039Explanation:
ItseemsthatthereisanEstimationinCalculationwhenR(Resistance)isHigherthanReactanceR>2X(LVCables)
thatloadflowhasbeenconverged,butresultsarewrong.Howthiscouldhappensincewedecidedtohavehighest
Precision=0.000000001?

These problems exist in All Load Flow Methods (Adaptive Newton Raphson, Newton Raphson, Fast Decoupled,
AcceleratedGaussSeidel)andisasanatureofETAPsoftwareinLVnetworks
WestronglyrecommendtoETAPsupporttoclearthisissueassoonaspossible.