Multi-domain Modeling of a Steam Power Plant with Power Grid

This work documents the development and testing of a multi-domain Rankine cycle-based balance of plant and power grid model developed using the Modelica language. Steady-state and transient behavior of the coupled systems is analyzed. Results indicate that simplified models of either steam turbines or generators used in traditional single-domain simulations do not sufficiently capture all dominant system dynamics. Initiation of power transients in the power plant clearly impacted grid operating current, and faults in the power grid were shown to cause variations in torque experienced by the shaft of the steam turbine. Therefore, multi-domain models such as this are necessary for analysis in the power generation industries in order to capture the interconnected behavior of complex energy systems.