US Ignite: Track 1: Collaborative Research: DISTINCT: A Distributed Multi-Loop Networked System for Wide-Area Control of Large Power Grids

2003年东北大停电后，美国为实现电力基础设施的现代化做出了巨大努力，安装了名为相量测量单元的精密数字传感器。这些传感器以高精度持续跟踪大型复杂电网的健康状况。然而，随着这些传感器的数量增加到数千个，电网运营商正在努力理解如何将海量数据有效地传达到控制中心，以便及时采取控制行动，特别是在面临关键电网扰动的情况下。开发可靠的广域通信网络以保证及时的数据传输是最大的挑战。遗憾的是，这种网络的体系结构以及延迟和数据丢失对控制行动的影响都没有得到很好的理解。该项目将填补这一空白，并利用云计算和软件定义网络等尖端新兴技术，为未来电网开发具有高度弹性、容错和可靠性的分布式网络控制系统。电力系统是现代社会的重要基础设施组成部分。因此，本研究成果将对智能电网和智慧城市研究领域产生巨大的科学影响。拟议的多学科方法、试验台原型和行业合作将有助于在智能电网和网络物理系统领域培养下一代劳动力。克服网络引起的延迟、数据丢失和带宽限制是成功部署大规模电力系统广域控制的关键。这项研究的价值在于开发了一个分布式网络控制系统基础设施，解决了所有这些问题。该方法涵盖多个学科，从电力系统到控制系统，再到先进的网络和云计算技术。提出的体系结构将通过三个交互层来实现。第1层将由基于物理的控制器组成，用于抑制功率振荡。第2层将包含与电网控制器协同工作的通信网络的延迟控制规则。第三层将由一个通过在分布式云环境中嵌入和重新配置规则实现的监控控制器组成，该监控控制器持续监控系统状态，并确保整个闭环控制系统的容错性、弹性和可靠性。项目组还将开发具有开放接口的软硬件综合试验台，可供其他教育机构使用。

Following the Northeast blackout of 2003 tremendous efforts have been made to modernize the electric power infrastructure of the United States by installing sophisticated, digital sensors called Phasor Measurement Units. These sensors continuously track the health of large, complex power grids with high accuracy. However, as the number of these sensors increases up into the thousands, grid operators are struggling to understand how the gigantic volumes of data can be efficiently communicated to control centers for taking timely control actions, especially in face of critical grid disturbances. Developing a reliable wide-area communication network that guarantees just-in-time data delivery is the greatest challenge. Unfortunately, neither the architecture of such networks nor the impacts of delays and data losses on control actions are well understood. This project will address this gap, and develop a highly resilient, fault-tolerant, and reliable distributed network control system for tomorrow's power grids using cutting-edge emerging technologies, such as cloud computing and software defined networks. Power systems are a critical infrastructural component in modern society. Therefore, results of this research will have a tremendous scientific impact on the smart grid and smart city research communities. The proposed multidisciplinary approach, test bed prototyping, and industry collaborations will help in educating next-generation workforce in the fields of smart grids and cyber-physical systems. Overcoming network-induced latencies, data losses, and bandwidth limitations is the key for successful deployment of at-scale wide-area control of power systems. The merit of this research lies in the development of a distributed networked control system infrastructure that addresses all of these concerns. The approach encompasses multiple disciplines, ranging from power systems to control systems to advanced networking and cloud computing technologies. The proposed architecture will be realized via three interactive layers. Layer 1 will consist of physics-based controllers for power oscillation damping. Layer 2 will contain delay control rules for the communication network that work in tandem with the grid controllers. Layer 3 will consist of a supervisory controller realized through embedding and reconfiguration rules in a distributed cloud environment that continuously monitors the system status, and ensures fault-tolerance, resilience, and reliability of the overall closed-loop control system. The project team will also develop an integrated software and hardware testbed with open interfaces that can be used by other educational institutions.