Capacitor Bank Failure Detection in Distribution Systems Using State Estimation

Distribution system state estimation (DSSE) methods have been developed for real-time monitoring of distribution systems. Some common topology changes, like disconnection of capacitor banks due to internal failures, are not monitored or known and creates an incorrect system model for DSSE. Capacitor banks degrade over time and can experience internal failures that cause them to become disconnected. This impacts the performance of DSSE and creates incorrect estimation results. Bad data detection methods can be used for detection of such topology errors, however are limited in identification. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a search method for the identification of capacitor bank failures in a system once detection occurs. Test results on a sample IEEE distribution feeder have been provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the search method.