Ant-lion inspired algorithm based optimal design of electric distribution networks

Ant-lion inspired algorithm (ALIA) has been recently explored to develop a novel algorithm for distributed optimization problems. In this paper, the ALIA-based design of distributed generation systems (DGS) is proposed for radial distribution systems to mitigate voltage instability and reduce system power losses. IEEE 33-bus test system is considered to accomplish this study. ALIA is utilized to search for optimal size and location of DGS by minimizing a candidate multi-objective function. The performance of the proposed approach has been compared to the system optimized by the classical particle swarm optimization (PSO) to prove the superior efficiency of the ALIA-based design. The unique advantage of the proposed approach implies in achieving the following tasks; load flow solution with forward/backward sweep method, voltage stability index calculation, optimizing DGS' size, location, and power factor. Simulation results emphasis on minimizing the system losses and improving the voltage profile using ALIA-based design compared to conventional PSO-based design.