The ATP Package: Capabilities and Applications

Alternative Transients Program (ATP) is used to denote a package that consists of three tools: the graphical user interface ATPDraw, the simulation tool TPBIG, and postprocessor for graphical output. This chapter summarizes ATP capabilities, provides an overview of its applications and presents some examples that illustrate the type of studies that can be carried out with this package. The capabilities implemented in ATP can be used to perform a large number of transient's studies in power systems. ATP capabilities can also be used to expand the fields of applications. The chapter presents case studies to show how the ATP can be used to allocate a capacitor bank for optimum reduction of power losses in a distribution system, detect resonance between parallel overhead transmission lines when shunt reactors are installed for compensating reactive power, and select surge arrester rated voltage when protecting a substation transformer against lightning overvoltages.