Optimal Power Flow Formulation Based on Equivalent Circuit Methods

电网代表着我们社会的关键基础设施，清洁和经济高效地发电是世界范围内的优先事项。未来的智能电网依赖于有效的算法和软件工具来优化AC（交流电）功率流。联邦能源管理委员会（FERC）报告说，“近似解决方案技术每年可能不必要地花费数百亿美元”，“由于不必要的排放和浪费能源而造成环境损害。卡内基梅隆大学的研究人员最近推出了一种新的公式化方法，用于基于一种新的等效电路表示法来建模和模拟电网的功率流。新的潮流算法受益于形式主义的电路方法和研究遗产的电路仿真技术，先进的电子工业，所以有效地。具体来说，这项工作提出制定最优潮流问题，使用新的等效电路的方法，并使用相应的电路解决方案的算法，有效地解决it.Preliminary结果表明，这种提法更准确地代表了真正的物理网格，并导致在优化问题，是显着更容易解决。这项工作将开发一个原型实施，将用于优化东部互联电网，其中包括大约50%的电力传输在美国拟议的研究准备作出巨大的影响，用于运行的电网和相应的市场，确定发电和配电的成本的方法。这项工作将进一步影响可再生能源融入未来的智能电网，并使电力系统与电气和计算机工程系的主流电路课程更加兼容。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The power grid represents critical infrastructure for our society, and generating electricity cleanly and cost efficiently is a world-wide priority. Tomorrow's smart grid relies on effective algorithms and software tools for optimizing the AC (alternating current) power flow. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has reported that "approximate-solution techniques may unnecessarily cost tens of billions of dollars per year" and "result in environmental harm from unnecessary emissions and wasted energy." Carnegie Mellon researchers have recently introduced a new formulation approach for modeling and simulating the grid's power flow based on a novel equivalent circuit representation. The new power flow algorithms are shown to benefit from the formalism of circuit methods and the research legacy of circuit simulation techniques that have advanced the electronics industries so effectively. Specifically, this work proposes to formulate the optimal power flow problem using the new equivalent circuit approach, and use the corresponding circuit solution algorithms to efficiently solve it. Preliminary results indicate that this formulation more accurately represents the true physics of the grid, and results in an optimization problem that is significantly easier to solve. This work will develop a prototype implementation that will be used to optimize the eastern interconnection grid that comprises roughly 50% of the power transmission in the U.S. The proposed research is poised to make a dramatic impact on the methods used for operation of electric power grids and the corresponding markets that determine the cost of electrical power generation and distribution. This work will further impact the integration of renewable energies into the future smart grid, and make power systems more compatible with the mainstream circuits curriculum in Electrical and Computer Engineering departments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.