Optimal Capacitor Placement and Sizing in

Distorted Radial Distribution Systems

Part I: System Modeling and Harmonic Power Flow
Studies
A. A. Eajal, Student Member, IEEE, and M. E. El-Hawary, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract- Shunt capacitors can be of great help in enhancing
the performance of distribution systems. However, the addition
of shunt capacitors may lead to high distortion levels causing
damage to electric equipment of both the electric utility and
customers. As a result, shunt capacitors should be optimally
located and rated taking the presence of harmonics into account.
The essential first step in solving the optimal placement and
sizing problem is modeling system components in detail. In
addition to system modeling, an efficient harmonic power flow
program plays a vital role in studying system response
characteristics when harmonics are being propagated in
distribution systems. In this paper , part I in a series of three
papers, three-phase representations of system components and a
harmonic power flow algorithm (HPF) that exploits the unique
characteristics of distribution systems are presented.
Index Terms—Distribution systems, harmonics,
capacitors.
I. INTRODUCTION
S hunt capacitors are commonly used in distribution systems
to reduce power losses, improve voltage profile, and
release system capacity. The achievement of such benefits
depends greatly on how optimally these shunt capacitors are
installed. Studies have indicated that approximately 13% of
generated power is consumed as losses at the distribution
level. In addition, with the application of loads, the voltage
profile tends to drop along distribution feeders below
acceptable operating limits. Along with power losses and
voltage drops, the electricity demand increases which require
upgrading the infrastructure of distribution systems.
Distribution systems are inherently unbalanced for several
reasons. First, distribution systems supply single and three-
phase loads through distribution transformers. Second, the
phases of transmission lines are unequally loaded. Third,
overhead lines in distribution systems are not transposed
unlike those in transmission systems.
Due to the widespread use of harmonic-producing
equipment in distribution systems, harmonics are propagated
A. A. Eajal is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University
of Sirte, Sirte, Libya (e-mail: eajal2000@yahoo.com).
M. E. El-Hawary is with the Department of Electrical Engineering,
Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada (e-mail: elhawary@dal.ca).
throughout those systems. Harmonics are undesirable and
cause equipment overheating due to the excessive losses
and potential malfunctioning of electric equipment.
Therefore, several standards have been established to
guide harmonic injections into the power system. The
IEEE standard 519-1992 [1], for instance, limits the
harmonic injections by the customers and those by the
electrical utility itself
Inclusion of shunt capacitors without considering the
presence of harmonic sources in the system may lead to a
rise in harmonic distortion levels due to resonance
between capacitors and the various inductive elements in
the system.
Shunt
II. THREE PHASE VS. SINGLE PHASE SYSTEM MODELING
When conducting harmonics analysis at the
transmission level, the system components can be
modeled by their single-phase positive sequence
equivalent models However, distribution systems are
totally different from their counterparts in the sense that
they are inherently unbalanced. The reason for this is that
multiple single-phase harmonic sources (nonlinear loads)
and single-phase shunt capacitors are distributed
throughout distribution systems. Over and above of this,
distribution systems usually supply unbalanced loads (e.g.
single- and/or three-phase loads). Consequently, it is
required at the distribution level that system components
be modeled in detail.
III. MODELING OF SYSTEM COMPONENTS AND POWER
FLOW ALGORITHM REQUIREMENTS FOR HARMONIC
STUDIES
To conduct harmonics analysis, the accuracy of the
system elements’ models and the power flow solution
require the following [2]:
ƒ Overhead lines and underground cables
representation should include skin effects when
carrying out harmonics analysis.
ƒ The other system components (e.g. loads, capacitors,
and transformers) should be modeled in detail.

978-1-4244-7245-1/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE

ƒ It is required that the nodal impedance matrices or the QCap : the capacitor reactive power injection.
admittance matrices be built for the entire range of
harmonic frequencies. I ka
ƒ The fact that multiple harmonic sources are scattered
throughout radial distribution systems (RDS) should be I kb

recognized and accounted for.

I kc
ƒ The harmonic currents flowing along the feeders in RDS
should be obtained at any harmonic frequency.
ƒ The system impedance matrix must be determined at any
b c
load bus to trace resonance conditions. a
Q Cap QCap QCap

1) Overhead Lines and Under Ground Cables

Under balanced operating conditions, overhead lines and
underground cables can be represented by their single-phase
positive sequence models, the single phase nominal PI model.
The PI model [2] consists of series impedance between the
two points connecting the transmission line to the rest of the
network. The PI model is enclosed by two shunt capacitances
to take the shape of the symbol PI. The PI model can also be
employed to model the three phase short lines in unbalanced
distribution systems as shown in Fig. 1. This model can be
further simplified by considering only the sequence impedance
of the line and neglecting the shunt capacitances. A series of
PI model is used to represent long lines for a more accurate
model.
Z aa( )
h
Fig. 2 Three-phase shunt capacitor model
3) Three-Phase Transformers
Generally speaking, there are two impedances
associated with any power transformer. They are the
leakage impedance and the magnetizing impedance [1].
The magnetizing impedance can be omitted from the
transformer model when operating in normal conditions.
However, the magnetizing part of the transformer can
always be included in the transformer model by a
harmonic current source when operating in saturation
conditions. Ref [2] reports three different transformer
models for harmonic studies as illustrated in Fig. 3 to
replace the leakage impedance.

Z ab( ) ( )
h h
Z bb
jhX jhX

Z bc( ) Z cc( )
h h
m k m k

2
80X V P
Y aa( ) Y bb( ) Y cc( )
h h h

Y aa( ) Y bb( ) Y cc( )

h h h

Y ab( ) Y bc( )
h h
RS jhX

Y ab( ) Y bc( )
h h
m k

RP

Fig.1. PI model of a short three phase line

2) Shunt Capacitors
In a harmonic-rich environment, shunt capacitors are Fig. 3 Transformer models for harmonics analysis.
important elements to be modeled for harmonic studies as they
4) Linear and Nonlinear Loads
may amplify harmonic distortion levels [2]. Thus, modeling
In distribution systems, loads can be of two types in
such components is very important. Generally, shunt
terms of harmonics: linear and nonlinear.
capacitors are specified by their kVAR ratings and nominal
voltages. Single-phase shunt capacitors are represented by
single-phase shunt capacitances, while three-phase capacitors a) Linear loads
are described by three-phase shunt capacitances. The shunt Linear loads are basically those loads that can be
reactance of a shunt capacitor is frequency-dependent and described as passive loads in terms of harmonics.
defined by: Pesonen et al introduced load models for harmonics
analysis as shown in Fig. 4 [2, 3].
Vk2 Model A, shown in Fig. 4, is composed of a resistance
(h )
X Cap = (1) and a reactance. The resistance and reactance are both
hQCap
determined in terms of the complex power of the load
being modeled and the nominal voltage.
Where:
Model B, shown in Fig. 4, the resistance remains
V k : the nominal voltage.
relatively constant for all frequencies, while the reactance
h : the harmonic order.
changes over the range of frequencies being considered [2].
Model C, shown in Fig. 4., consists of a resistance ( R ) in There is usually lack of information about the actual
series with a reactance ( X s ) [2]. The resistance and reactance load composition. Field measurements may be needed to
determine the portion of harmonic-producing loads. A
are both connected in parallel with another reactance ( X p ) general load representation for harmonic analysis is
such that: depicted in Fig. 5 [1].
hR
R = V 2 / P , X s = 0.073hR , Xp = with
6.7tanϕ − 0.74
Q
φ= Xt
P

The symbols P and Q stand for the load real and reactive
power respectively
Model D is basically the load impedance measured at the X( )
h

fundamental frequency as shown Fig. 4. That is, the load (h )

X m( ) X c( )
h
Ih h

impedance holds the same value for all frequencies [2].

R( )
h

2 2
jV KQ j hV Q

m k m k

2 2
V KP V P
Fig. 5 A general load representation for harmonics analysis

IV. HARMONIC POWER FLOW SOLUTION

jX S
R
m k m k
Xμ
Fig. 4 Load models for harmonics analysis.
b) Nonlinear loads
Nonlinear loads (harmonic-producing loads) inject
harmonics into distribution systems, and are commonly
modeled as harmonic current sources [4]. The harmonic
current magnitude of a harmonic-producing load is obtained in
terms of the typical harmonic spectrum and the rated current
of that load at the fundamental frequency as follow:
I h −spectrum
I ( h ) = I rated
I 1−spectrum
Where: the subscript ‘h-spectrum’ stands for the typical
harmonic-producing load spectrum of the harmonic-producing
2
jV Q
Once all system components are accurately modeled
and the harmonic current sources in RDS are determined,
V 2
P
the harmonic power flow calculations can be carried out.
The harmonic power flow algorithm (HPF) to be
implemented is the one developed by Teng et al [5]. The
HPF algorithm is based on the backward-forward sweep
technique. The backward sweep is used to form the
relationship matrix between the branch currents and bus
current injections for the hth harmonic order, while the
forward sweep is utilized to build the relationship matrix
between the harmonic bus voltages and harmonic bus
current injections.
A) Harmonic Power Flow Development
To describe the different stages of the harmonic power
(2) flow algorithm development, a distorted n-bus radial
distribution system (distorted-n-Bus-RDS) whose one line
diagram shown in Fig. 6 is treated.
V 1( )
h
V 2( )
h
V i( )
h
V n( )
h

B12( ) B i(−1,) i B i(,i +) 1 B n( −1,) n

h h h h

loads.
Z 12( )
h Ih2( )
h
Z i(−1,) i
h
( Ih ( ) + Is ( ) )
i
h
i
h
Z i(,i )+1
h
Z n( −1,) n
h Ihn( )
h

Harmonic-producing loads are modeled as constant PQ

loads at the fundamental frequency. Once the rated nonlinear I h( 2)
h
Z 2( )
h
I hi( )
h
Z i( )
h
Zs i( )
h ( )
I hn
h
Z n( )
h

load current is obtained at the fundamental frequency, the

phase angle of the harmonic current can be calculated as
follows:
Fig. 6 A single line diagram of a distorted n-bus radial
θ h = θ h −spectrum + h (θ1 − θ1−spectrum ) (3) distribution system

Where: In Fig. 6, bus 1 represents the main substation (the

θ1 : is the phase angle of the rated current at the supply source) and is modeled as a slack bus. The (2-n)
load buses are composed of linear and nonlinear loads.
fundamental frequency.
The hth harmonic currents contributed by nonlinear and linear ª¬ A ( h ) º¼ :The coefficient matrix due to the harmonic current
loads can be written in a vector form as follows: flows trough the branches.
T
ª¬Ih ( h ) º¼ = ª¬Ih2( h ) ! Ihi(−h1) Ihi( h ) Ihi(+h1) ! Ihn( h ) º¼ (4) The hth harmonic branch current of any branch can be
obtained by:
Where: T
B ij( h ) = ª¬ A ij( h ) º¼ ª¬ I ( h ) º¼
( • ) : the transpose of a vector or a matrix. (14)
T

Where:
In addition to the linear and nonlinear loads, a shunt capacitor
is installed at bus i as shown in Fig. 6. The harmonic current ª¬ A ij( h ) º¼ : The coefficient vector of branch (i-j)
absorbed by the shunt capacitor at bus i is expressed by:
The coefficient vector of branch (i-j) is defined by:
¬ª Is º¼ = ª¬ Is º¼
(h ) (h )
i
(5)
ª Ahij( h ) º
ª¬ A ij( h ) º¼ = « ( h ) » (15)
As
Note that the harmonic current vector of shunt capacitors ¬« ij ¼»
involves only one element and that is the harmonic current
absorbed by the shunt capacitor at bus i. The harmonic current Where:
vector of shunt capacitors would be of (nc × 1) dimension in ª¬ Ahij( h ) º¼ : The coefficient vector of branch (i-j) due to the
the case of nc shunt capacitors being installed in RDS. The hth harmonic current flows of the nonlinear and
harmonic currents flowing through the branches are given by: linear loads through branch (i-j).
ª¬ As ij( h ) º¼ : The coefficient vector of branch (i-j) due to the
ª Ih ( h ) º (6)
ª¬ I ( h ) º¼ = « ( h ) »
¬« Is ¼» harmonic currents absorbed by the shunt
capacitors.
The backward current sweep is employed to calculate the
harmonic currents flowing through the branches as shown The coefficient vector due to the system harmonic current
below: flows through the branch (1-2) is defined by:
¬ªA12 ¼º = ¬ªAh12 As12 ¼º =[1 " 1 1 1 " 1 1]
T T
(h) (h) (h)
(16)
B n( h−1,) n = Ihn( h ) (7)
# Note that all the harmonic currents flow through the
B i(,hi +) 1 = Ihi(+h1) + ... + Ihn( h ) (8) branch (1-2) towards the supply source (bus 1). Thus, the
corresponding elements in the coefficient vector of branch
B (h )
i −1,i
= Ih i
(h )
+ Ih (h )
i +1
+ ... + Ih (h )
n
+ Is i
(h )
(9) (1-2) take the value of 1. Similarly, the coefficient vectors
B (h )
i −2,i −1
= Ih + Ih + Ih +... + Ih + Is
(h )
i −1 i
(h ) (h )
i +1
(h )
n i
(h )
(10) of the other branches can be obtained as follows:
#
ª¬Ai(,hi+)1º¼=ª¬Ahi(,hi+)1 Asi(,hi+)1º¼ =[0 " 0 0 1 " 0 0]
T
B12(h) = Ih2(h) +...+Ihi(−h1) +Ihi(h) +Ihi(+h1).+..+Ihn(h) +Isi(h)
T
(11) (17)
ª¬Ai(−h1),i º¼=ª¬Ahi(−h1),i Asi(−h1),i º¼ =[0 " 0 1 1 " 0 1]
T T

Equations (7-11) may be written in a matrix form. (18)

#
ª Ih2( h ) º ª¬An(−h1,)n º¼=ª¬Ahn(−h1,)n Asn(h−1,)n º¼ =[ 0 " 0 0 0 " 1 0]
T T
ª B 12( h ) º ª1 ! 1 1 1 ! 1 1º « »
(19)
« » « #
« # » «# ! ! ! ! ! ! # »» « ( h ) »
« Ihi −1 »
« B i −2,i −1 » « 0
(h )
! 1 1 1 ! 1 1» « (h ) » (12) From (19), the only harmonic current flow in branch (n-1,
« (h ) » « » « Ihi »
« B i −1,i » = « 0 ! 0 1 1 ! 1 1» « (h ) »
Ihi +1
n) is the harmonic current contributed by the load at bus n.
« B ( h ) » «0 »
! 0 0 1 ! 1 0 « » Thus, the corresponding element in the coefficient vector
« i ,i +1 » « »« # »
« # » «# ! ! ! ! ! ! # » « (h ) » is equal to 1, while the remaining elements in the
« B ( h ) » «0 Ih
! 0 0 0 ! 1 0»¼ « n( h ) »
¬ n −1,n ¼ ¬ «¬ Is i ¼»
coefficient vector take the value of zero since the
harmonic currents associated with these elements in the
coefficient vector do not flow through the branch n-1, n.
Equation (12) can be expressed in a compact form as follows: The harmonic voltage drop along branch (1-2) can be
calculated in terms of the harmonic branch impedance and
ª¬ B ( h ) º¼ = ª¬ A ( h ) º¼ ª¬ I ( h ) º¼ (13) the harmonic branch current as follows:

Where: ΔV 12( h ) = Z 12( h ) B 12( h ) (20)

Equation (20) can be expressed in terms of the system V i (+h1) = Z12(h ) Ih2( h ) + ... + Z12(h ) Ihi(−h1) + ( Z12(h ) + ... + Z i(−h1,)i ) Ihi(h ) +
harmonic currents as follows:
(Z (h )
12
+ ... + Z i(−h1,)i + Z i(,hi +)1 ) Ihi(+h1) + ... (29)
+( Z ) Ih
T
ΔV (h )
12
=Z (h )
12
ª¬ A (h )
12
º¼ ª¬ I (h )
º¼ (h )
+ ... + Z (h )
+Z (h ) (h)
12 i −1,i i ,i +1 n

=Z (h)
12 ( Ih (h)
2 +...+Ih +Ih +Ih +...+Ih +Is
(h)
i −1 i
(h) (h)
i +1
(h)
n
(h)
i ) (21)
#
In a similar manner, the voltage drops of other branches for
the hth harmonic order are obtained as follows: V n(h ) = Z12(h ) Ih2(h ) +... + Z12(h ) Ihi(−h1) + ( Z12(h ) +... + Z i(−h1,)i ) Ihi(h ) +
T
ΔV i (−h1,)i = Z i(−h1,)i ª¬ A i(−h1,)i º¼ ª¬ I ( h ) º¼
(Z (h )
12 +... + Z i(−h1,)i + Z i(,hi +)1 ) Ihi(+h1) +... + (30)

=Z i(−h1,)i ( Ihi( h ) + Ihi(+h1) + ... + Ihn( h ) + Is i( h ) )

(22)
(Z (h )
12 +... + Z (h )
i −1,i +Z (h )
i ,i +1 ... + Z (h )
n−1,n ) Ih
(h )
n

T
Equation (26-30) may be expressed in a compact form.
ΔV i (,ih+)1 = Z i(,hi +) 1 ª¬ A i(,hi +) 1 º¼ ª¬ I ( h ) º¼
=Z i(,hi +) 1 ( Ihi(+h1) + ... + Ihn( h ) ) ª¬V º¼ = ª¬ HA ( h ) º¼ ª¬ I ( h ) º¼
(h )
(23) (31)

Where:
#
ª¬V ( h ) º¼ : the harmonic bus voltages vector.
T
ΔV i (,ih+)1 = Z i(,hi +) 1 ª¬ A i(,hi +) 1 º¼ ª¬ I ( h ) º¼
T
ª¬V (h )
º¼ = ª¬V 2( h ) ! V i −( h1 ) V i ( h ) V i (+h1 ) ! V n( h ) º¼
=Z i(,hi +) 1 ( Ihi(+h1) + ... + Ihn( h ) ) (24)

The forward voltage sweep is utilized to obtain the harmonic ª¬ HA ( h ) º¼ : the relationship matrix between the harmonic
bus voltages with respect to harmonic bus current injections as bus voltages and system harmonic currents.
follows:
The harmonic bus voltages of the shunt capacitors are
V 2( h ) =V 1 ( h ) − ΔV 12( h ) (25) determined by:

Where: ª¬V s ( h ) º¼ = ª¬ HA s ( h ) º¼ ª¬ I ( h ) º¼ (32)

V 1( h ) : the slack bus voltage for the hth harmonic order.
Where:
The slack bus voltage for the hth harmonic order takes the ª¬ HA s( h ) º¼ : the row vectors of the matrix ª¬ HA ( h ) º¼
value of zero as the supply source is assumed to supply a pure
sinusoidal voltage waveform. In other words, the nonlinear associated with the buses at which shunt
loads are considered the only harmonic sources in RDS. Thus, capacitors are installed.

V 2( h ) = Z 12( h ) Ih2( h ) + ... + Z 12( h ) Ihi −1 + Z 12( h ) Ihi( h ) + Z 12( h ) Ihi(+h1) + ... Note that the dimension of the matrix ª¬ HA s( h ) º¼ is 1× n
(26) for RDS with a single phase shunt capacitor. However, if
+ Z 12( h ) Ihn( h ) + Z 12( h ) Is i( h )
an n-bus radial distribution system (n-Bus-RDS) is
compensated through nc shunt capacitors, then the
#
matrix ª¬ HA s( h ) º¼ will be of nc × ( (n − 1) + nc ) dimension.
V i (−h1 ) = Z 12( h ) Ih2( h ) + ... + ( Z 12( h ) + ... + Z i(−h2,) i −1 ) Ihi(−h1) + The harmonic voltage of the shunt capacitor at bus i can
be expressed in terms of the harmonic impedance of the
(Z (h )
12
+ ... + Z i(−h2,) i −1 ) Ihi( h ) + ( Z 12( h ) + ... + Z i(−h2,) i −1 ) Ihi(+h1) + (27) shunt capacitor as follows:
... + ( Z (h )
12
+ ... + Z i(−h2,) i −1 ) Ih n( h ) + ( Z 12( h ) + ... + Z i(−h2,) i −1 ) Is i( h )
V s i( h ) = −Is i( h ) × Zs i( h ) (33)

Vi (h )
=Z (h )
Ih (h )
+ ... + Z (h )
Ih (h )
i −1
+ (Z (h )
+ ... + Z (h )
i −1,i ) Ih (h )
+
12 2 12 12 i
Where:
(Z (h )
12
+ ... + Z i(−h1,)i ) Ihi(+h1) + ... + ( Z 12( h ) + ... + Z i(−h1,)i ) Ih (h )
n
+ (28) Is i( h ) : the harmonic current of the shunt capacitor at bus
(Z (h )
12
+ ... + Z i(−h1,)i ) Is i( h ) (h )
i.
Zs i : the harmonic impedance of the shunt capacitor at
bus i.
Substituting (33) into (32), we obtain: ª Ih2( h ) º
« »
ª Ih ( h ) º « # »
− Is i( h ) × Zs i( h ) = ª¬ HA s( h ) º¼ « ( h ) » (34) « Ihi(−h1) »
«¬ Is »¼ −1 « »
Is i( h ) = ¬ª HLF ( h ) ¼º × ¬ª HA sh( h ) ¼º « Ihi( h ) » (39)
« Ih ( h ) »
Where: « i +1 »
Ih ( h ) : the harmonic current vector of the nonlinear and « # »
« Ih ( h ) »
linear loads. ¬ n ¼
(h )
Is : the harmonic current vector of the shunt
capacitors. Where:

The RDS at hand is composed of (n − 1) nonlinear and linear

(
ª¬ HLF ( h ) º¼ = ª¬ HA ss( h ) º¼ + Zs i( h )
.
)
loads as well as a single phase shunt capacitor at bus i. If nc shunt capacitors are installed in RDS, ª¬ HLF ( h ) º¼ will
Consequently, be a square matrix of (nc × nc ) dimension.

−Isi(h ) × Zsi(h ) = ªIh2( h ) º

(35) « »
« # »
T
ª¬HAs(h ) º¼ ª¬Ih2(h ) " Ihi(−h1) Ihi(h ) Ihi(+h1) " Ihn(h ) Isi(h ) º¼
«Ihi −1 »
(h )

−1 « »
ª¬ Is ( h ) º¼ nc×1 = ª¬HLF ( h ) º¼ nc ×nc × ª¬ HAsh º¼ nc × n −1 × «Ihi( h ) » (40)
(h )

The elements of (n − 1) columns in the vector ª¬ HA s( h ) º¼ ( )

«Ih ( h ) »
are associated with the harmonic currents of the nonlinear and « i +1 »
linear loads, while the last element in ª¬ HA s( h ) º¼ is related to the « # »
«Ih ( h ) »
harmonic current of the shunt capacitor at bus i. Therefore, ¬ n ¼( n −1)
ª¬ HA s( h ) º¼ can be written in the form of:
Where:
ª¬ Is ( h ) º¼ nc ×1 : the harmonic current vector of the shunt
ª¬ HA s( h ) º¼ = ª¬ HA sh( h ) HA ss( h ) º¼ (36)
capacitors.
T
ª¬ Is ( h ) º¼ = ª¬ Is 1( h ) Is 2( h ) ! Is i( h ) ! Is nc( h ) º¼
Substituting (36) into (35) yields to: nc ×1

ª Ih2( h ) º
« » It can be observed from (40) that for an n-radial
« # » distribution system (n-Bus-RDS) with nc shunt capacitors,
« Ihi(−h1) » the calculation of the harmonic currents vector of the
« »
− Is i × Zs i = ¬ª HA sh ¼º « Ihi( h ) » + ¬ª HA ss( h ) ¼º × Is i( h )
(h ) (h ) (h )
(37) shunt capacitors requires building the matrix ª¬ HLF ( h ) º¼
« Ih ( h ) »
« i +1 » of ( nc × nc ) dimension and finding the inverse of it. The
« # »
« Ih ( h ) » RDS with three single phase capacitors, for example,
¬ n ¼ would have a matrix ª¬ HLF ( h ) º¼ of ( 3 × 3) dimension.
ª Ih2( h ) º
« » Once the harmonic currents absorbed by the shunt
« # » capacitors are obtained, the harmonic branch currents and
« Ihi(−h1) » bus voltages can be calculated using (13) and (31)
« »
( »HA (h )
ss ¼º + Zs i
(h )
) = ¬ª HA sh º¼ « Ihi( h ) »
(h )
(38) respectively. The harmonic bus voltages are iteratively
« Ih ( h ) » computed until a pre specified tolerance is reached.
« i +1 »
« # »
« Ih ( h ) » V i ( h ),k +1 −V i ( h ),k ≤ ε (41)
¬ n ¼
Where:
Note that solving (38) in terms of the shunt capacitor current
V i ( h ),k +1 : the harmonic voltage of bus i for the iteration
Is i( h ) for the hth harmonic order requires finding the inverse
k +1 .
( )
of ¬ª HA ss( h ) ¼º + Zs i( h ) . That is;
V i ( h ),k : the harmonic voltage of bus i for the iteration k .
k : the iteration index.
ε : the pre specified tolerance.
 The total real power loss formula for the hth harmonic order Step 5) Calculate the harmonic currents of the shunt
is defined by: capacitors.
Step 6) Compute the harmonic bus voltage vector for
nb nb hmax 2
the kth iteration.
Ploss ( h ) = ¦i =1
Ploss i( h ) = ¦¦
i =1 h =h0
B ( h )i ⋅ R ( h )i (42) Step 7) Repeat steps (4-5) until a stopping criterion is
met.
Step 8) Repeat steps (1-7) until the maximum harmonic
Where: order of interest ( hmax ) is considered.
h : the harmonic order.
Step 9) Calculate the rms values of the harmonic bus
h0 : the smallest harmonic order of interest.
voltages.
hmax : the highest harmonic order of interest. Step 10) Measure the total harmonic distortion
B i( h ) : the magnitude of the ith branch current for the THD (%) of each bus.
hth harmonic order.
R (h )
: the ith branch resistance for the hth harmonic The flow chart of the HPF algorithm is depicted in Fig. 7
i

order.

The total harmonic real power loss can be described in

terms of the system harmonic current vector as follows:
h = h0

T 2
Ploss ( h ) = ª¬ R ( h ) º¼ ⋅ ª¬ A ( h ) º¼ ⋅ ª¬ I ( h ) º¼ (43)
(h )
ªHA º & ª A ij( h ) º
¬ ¼ ¬ ¼

Once the harmonic bus voltages are calculated for all

harmonic frequencies, the root mean square (rms) values of
(h )
ªH LF º
the bus voltages can be computed by: ¬ ¼

hmax

¦V
2 2
V rms = V i (1) +
i i
(h )
, i = 1, 2,..., n (44)
h = h0
h = h0 + Δh

Where: k = k +1
V i (1) : the magnitude of bus voltage at the fundamental
frequency.
h0 , hmax : the minimum and the maximum harmonic orders
of interest.

The total harmonic distortion level of bus i is defined by: hmax

hmax

¦V
2
(h )
i
h = h0
THD i (%) = 2
(45) THD i ( % )
V i (1)

B) Harmonic Power Flow Algorithm Implementation Fig. 7 A flow chart of the harmonic power flow algorithm
The harmonic power flow algorithm (HPF) is described by
the following steps: V. TEST SYSTEM AND RESULTS
Distrorted-13-Bus Radial Distribution System
Step 1) Set the harmonic order to the smallest value of For the distorted voltgae-13-Bus-RDS shown in Fig. 8,
interest ( h = h0 ). harmonic-producing loads, namely fluorescent lighting,
Step 2) Build the coefficient vector of each branch. adjustable speed drives (ASD), and non-specific sources
such as PCs, TVs, and etc, were considered. The typical
Step 3) Form the relationship matrix ª¬ HA ( h ) º¼ between the
harmonic spectrum of these nonlinear loads is provided in
harmonic bus voltages and system harmonic [6]. All loads were treated as constant PQ spot loads for
currents. harmonic studies. Load composition in terms of harmonic
Step 4) For nc shunt capacitors, build the ª¬ HLF ( h ) º¼ matrix sources is given in [6]. The nonlinear component of the
load was represented by model B shown in Fig. 4. Model
for all harmonic frequencies of interest.
(c) in Fig. 3 was used to replace the leakage impedance of
the transformer between bus 3 and bus 4 for harmonic studies. VI. CONCLUSION
This paper was dedicated to the modeling of system
S/S
Bus 1 components and power flow solution for harmonics
analysis. The overhead lines and cables were represented
B 12( hc) B 12( hb) B 12( ha)
by their equivalent PI circuits. The shunt capacitors were
modeled by their harmonic shunt capacitances. Three
Bus 10 Bus 9 Bus 2 different models of transformers for harmonics studies
Bus 4
(h)
B 910 c
B 29( hc) B 23( ha) Bus 3 B 34( ha) were reported in this paper. For the linear components of
B 23( hb) B 34( hb)
B (h)
910b B (h)
29 b the loads, four different models were discussed. As for the
B 23( hc) B 34( hc)
nonlinear loads, they were modeled by harmonic current
Ih10( hb) Ih9(bh ) sources. The development and implementation of a
B 25( hc) B 25( hb) B 25( ha)

Bus 13
backward/forward sweep based algorithm for harmonics
Bus 11 Bus 5
(h)
B 1113 c
(h)
B 511c
S B 56( ha) Bus 6
B 67( ha)
Bus 7 studies were covered in detail. The harmonic power flow
B (h)
511a B 56( hb) B 67( hb)
program was tested on a distorted-13-bus RDS.
B 56( hc) B 67( hc)
Ih13( hc)
(h)
VII. REVERENCES
B 1112 a
B 58( hc) B 58( hb) B 58( ha)
[1] IEEE Std 519-1992, "IEEE recommended practice and
Bus 12
requirements for harmonics control in electrical power systems,"
(h) (h) (h)
Ih12( ha)
Ih 5c
Ih 5b Ih 5a Ih7(ch ) Ih (h)
7b
Ih (h)
7a [2] Arrillaga, J., Bradley, D. A. and Bodger, P. S., Power System
Bus 8 Harmonics, 1st ed. Wiley, 1985.
[3] Pesonen, M. A., "Harmonics, characteristic parameters, methods of
study, estimates of existing values in the network," Electra, vol.77,
Fig. 8 A distorted 13-bus radial distribution system pp. 35–56, 1981.
[4] Task Force on Harmonics Modeling and Simulation, "Modeling
Harmonic Power Flow Solution and simulation of the propagation of harmonics in electric power
The HPF algorithm is executed on the distorted-13 -bus networks part I: Concepts, models, and simulation techniques,"
IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol.11, no.1, pp. 452-460,
RDS system to calculate the harmonic bus voltages and the 1996.
total harmonic distortions (THD) as shown in Table I. From [5] Teng, J. and Chang, C., "Backward/Forward sweep-based
the last column in Table I, the maximum total harmonic harmonic analysis method for distribution systems," IEEE
Transactions on Power Delivery, vol.22, no.3, pp. 1665-1672,
distortion level is 4.8590 at bus 13,which is less than the 2007.
maximum allowable distortion level recommended by the [6] Task Force on Harmonics Modeling and Simulation, "Modeling
IEEE standard 519-1992 (THD max = 5% ). and simulation of the propagation of harmonics in electric power
networks part II: Sample systems and examples," IEEE
Transactions on Power Delivery, vol.11, no.1, pp. 466-474

TABLE I
THE HPF SOLUTION FOR A DISTORTED 13-BUS-RDS BEFORE CAPACITOR INSTALLATION

Bus φ V (3)
V (5)
V (7)
V (9)
V (11)
V (13)
V (15)
V rms THD(%)
a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
a 0.0123 0.0086 0.0089 0.0043 0.0058 0.0077 0.0091 0.9676 2.3076
2 b 0.0118 0.0118 0.0066 0.0034 0.0040 0.0058 0.0073 0.9815 2.1319
c 0.0099 0.0083 0.0083 0.0062 0.0064 0.0080 0.0105 0.9507 2.3329
a 0.0123 0.0086 0.0091 0.0043 0.0057 0.0077 0.0092 0.9647 2.3202
3 b 0.0118 0.0118 0.0068 0.0033 0.0040 0.0058 0.0073 0.9795 2.1410
c 0.0099 0.0083 0.0084 0.0061 0.0064 0.0080 0.0105 0.9480 2.3384
a 0.0123 0.0086 0.0096 0.0043 0.0056 0.0077 0.0093 0.9414 2.4064
4 b 0.0118 0.0120 0.0074 0.0033 0.0040 0.0059 0.0074 0.9604 2.2155
c 0.0099 0.0081 0.0089 0.0061 0.0065 0.0080 0.0105 0.9291 2.4003
a 0.0228 0.0152 0.0171 0.0083 0.0110 0.0147 0.0176 0.9509 4.4214
5 b 0.0198 0.0195 0.0123 0.0062 0.0070 0.0104 0.0134 0.9852 3.6674
c 0.0186 0.0153 0.0160 0.0120 0.0123 0.0154 0.0202 0.9009 4.6921
6 a 0.0228 0.0152 0.0171 0.0083 0.0110 0.0147 0.0176 0.9509 4.4214
 Bus φ V (3)
V (5)
V (7)
V (9)
V (11)
V (13)
V (15)
V rms THD(%)
b 0.0198 0.0195 0.0123 0.0062 0.0070 0.0104 0.0134 0.9852 3.6674
c 0.0186 0.0153 0.0160 0.0120 0.0123 0.0154 0.0202 0.9009 4.6921
a 0.0228 0.0155 0.0173 0.0085 0.0111 0.0149 0.0178 0.9436 4.4940
7 b 0.0197 0.0195 0.0123 0.0062 0.0070 0.0104 0.0134 0.9863 3.6541
c 0.0182 0.0155 0.0161 0.0121 0.0124 0.0155 0.0204 0.8974 4.7189
a 0.0228 0.0152 0.0171 0.0083 0.0110 0.0147 0.0176 0.9509 4.4214
8 b 0.0198 0.0195 0.0123 0.0062 0.0070 0.0104 0.0134 0.9852 3.6674
c 0.0186 0.0153 0.0160 0.0120 0.0123 0.0154 0.0202 0.9009 4.6921
b 0.0133 0.0135 0.0067 0.0035 0.0044 0.0063 0.0076 0.9702 2.3847
9
c 0.0104 0.0088 0.0084 0.0062 0.0065 0.0081 0.0106 0.9542 2.3787
b 0.0129 0.0131 0.0067 0.0035 0.0043 0.0062 0.0075 0.9663 2.3351
10
c 0.0103 0.0087 0.0084 0.0062 0.0065 0.0081 0.0105 0.9581 2.3551
a 0.0231 0.0156 0.0178 0.0081 0.0112 0.0150 0.0178 0.9495 4.5042
11
c 0.0189 0.0155 0.0163 0.0122 0.0125 0.0157 0.0206 0.8981 4.7835
12 a 0.0229 0.0162 0.0182 0.0079 0.0113 0.0152 0.0179 0.9442 4.5718
13 c 0.0192 0.0155 0.0165 0.0124 0.0127 0.0160 0.0209 0.8954 4.8590

A. A. Eajal (S’00) He received the B.S. degree
from the University of Sirte, Sirte, Libya, in
2001, in electrical engineering. He has a
M.A.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from
Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada in
2008. He is currently a staff member at Sirte
University, Sirte, Libya.
His research interests involve applications of
artificial intelligence optimization techniques in
power system planning and operation.
M. E. El-Hawary is Professor of Electrical and
Computer Engineering at Dalhousie University
since 1981. He has a Bachelors degree in
Electrical Engineering, Distinction from the
University of Alexandria, Egypt, 1965, and a Ph.
D. from University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1972,
where he was a Killam Memorial Fellow. He
served on faculty, and was a chair of the
Electrical Engineering Department at Memorial University of
Newfoundland for eight years. He was Associate Professor of Electrical
Engineering at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro for two years
and was Instructor at the University of Alexandria. He pioneered many
computational and artificial intelligence solutions to problems in
economic/environmental operation of power systems. He has written
ten textbooks and monographs, and 120+ refereed Journal articles. He
has consulted and taught for over 30 years, is a Fellow of the IEEE, the
Engineering Institute of Canada, (EIC), and the Canadian Academy of
Engineering (CAE).