Microprocessor Simulation of Synchronous Machine Dynamics in Real-Time

A major shortcoming of real-time analog power system simulators has been the lack of an inexpensive and flexible dynamic generator model. This paper describes such a model, implemented using digital hardware. Issues which are addressed in the design include model-to-network interfacing, stability, accuracy, and processor architecture. Simulation results of the resulting model generator are presented. Real-time power system simulation is typically carried out on a scale model of the power system known as a Transient Network Analyzer (TNA), which consists primarily of passive component models of power system elements such as transmission lines and transformers. Several dynamic generator models have been constructed for use with TNA's with varying degrees of success. [1,2] The primary shortcomings of these implementations have been high cost and lack of flexibility. This paper describes a new model generator implementation in which a microprocessor solves the discretized generator dynamic equations. Interface to the TNA is via analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters. A few of the advantages to this approach are: the parameter values are easy to change, the mathematical model itself is easily modified, and the hardware is inexpensive.