Load Flow Calculation Methods Page 1 of 6

Load Flow Calculation Methods

ETAP provides four load flow calculation methods: Adaptive Newton-Raphson, Newton-Raphson, Fast-
Decoupled, and Accelerated Gauss-Seidel. They possess different convergent characteristics, and sometimes
one is more favorable in terms of achieving the best performance. You can select any one of them depending on
your system configuration, generation, loading condition, and the initial bus voltages.

Newton-Raphson Method
The Newton-Raphson method formulates and solves iteratively the following load flow equation:

where P and Q are specified bus real and reactive power mismatch vectors between specified value and
calculated value, respectively; DV and Dd represents bus voltage magnitude and angle vectors in an incremental
form; and J1 through J4 are called Jacobian matrices.

The Newton-Raphson method possesses a unique quadratic convergence characteristic. It usually has a very fast
convergence speed compared to other load flow calculation methods. It also has the advantage that the
convergence criteria are specified to ensure convergence for bus real power and reactive power mismatches. This
criterion gives you direct control of the accuracy you want to specify for the load flow solution. The
convergence criteria for the Newton-Raphson method are typically set to 0.001 MW and Mvar.

The Newton-Raphson method is highly dependent on the bus voltage initial values. A careful selection of bus
voltage initial values is strongly recommended. Before running load flow using the Newton-Raphson method,
ETAP makes a few Gauss-Seidel iterations to establish a set of sound initial values for the bus voltages.

The Newton-Raphson method is recommended for use with any system as a first choice.

Adaptive Newton-Raphson Method

This improved Newton-Raphson Method introduces a set of smaller steps for iterations where a potential
divergence condition is encountered. The smaller increments may help to reach a load flow solution for some
systems where the regular Newton-Raphson method might fail to reach one.

The Newton-Raphson method is based on the Taylor series approximation. For simplicity and incremental steps
a linear interpolation/extrapolation of the additional time step increments is performed to improve the solution.

The incremental steps are controlled by adjusting the value of ak to find a possible solution for the following
solution step.

The test results prove that the adaptive load flow method can improve the convergence for distribution and
transmission systems with significant series capacitance effects (i.e. negative series reactance). It is also
considered to possibly improve convergence for systems with very small impedance values, but that is not
guaranteed.

One side effect of using this method is reduced calculation speed because of the incremental steps in the solution.

Fast-Decoupled Method
The Fast-Decoupled method is derived from the Newton-Raphson method. It takes the fact that a small change in
the magnitude of bus voltage does not vary the real power at the bus appreciably, and likewise, for a small
change in the phase angle of the bus voltage, the reactive power does not change appreciably. Thus the load
flow equation from the Newton-Raphson method can be simplified into two separate decoupled sets of load
flow equations, which can be solved iteratively:

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The Fast-Decoupled method reduces computer memory storage by approximately half, compared to the Newton-
Raphson method. It also solves the load flow equations using significantly less computer time than that required
by the Newton-Raphson method, since the Jacobian matrices are constant.

As with the Newton-Raphson method, convergence criteria of the Fast-Decoupled method is based on real power
and reactive power mismatches, which are typically set to 0.001 in the order of MW and Mvar.

Although for a fixed number of iterations it is not as accurate as the Newton-Raphson method, the savings in
computer time and the more favorable convergence criteria makes for a very good overall performance.

In general, the Fast-Decoupled method can be used as an alternative to the Newton-Raphson method, and it
should definitely be given a try if the Newton-Raphson method has failed when dealing with long radial systems
or systems that have long transmission lines or cables.

Accelerated Gauss-Seidel Method

From the system nodal voltage equation

the Accelerated Gauss-Seidel method derives the following load flow equation and solves it iteratively:

where P and Q are specified bus real and reactive power vectors, V is the bus voltage vector, and Y is the
BUS
* * T
system admittance matrix. Y and V are the conjugates of Y and V respectively. V is the transpose
BUS BUS
of V.

The Accelerated Gauss-Seidel method has relatively lower requirements of the bus initial voltage values
compared to the Newton-Raphson method and the Fast-Decoupled method. Instead of using bus real power and
reactive power mismatch as convergence criteria, the Accelerated Gauss-Seidel method checks bus voltage
magnitude tolerance between two consecutive iterations to control the solution precision. The typical value for
bus voltage magnitude precision is set to 0.000001 pu.

The Accelerated Gauss-Seidel method has a slower convergence speed. When you apply appropriate acceleration
factors, a significant increase in the rate of convergence can be obtained. The range for the acceleration factor is
between 1.2 and 1.7, and is typically set to 1.45.

Load Flow Convergence

As in any iterative solution method, the convergence of the load flow solution is affected by a number of factors
specific to power systems.

Negative Impedance
Negative reactance should be avoided. As an example, the traditional method of modeling three-winding
transformers by a Y equivalent model, using one impedance and two two-winding transformers, sometimes
results in a negative impedance value for one of the impedance branches. In this case, the negative impedance
should be combined with other series circuit elements so that the result is a positive impedance value. Load flow
calculations may not converge if a large value of negative impedance is used. ETAP can now model three-
winding transformers directly with no need for the user to do any conversions.

Negative Reactance
Series transmission line capacitance can create overall negative reactance on the branch element. In versions of
ETAP, (11.1.1 and below), it is likely that larger negative reactance values may cause divergence. ETAP 12.0.0
and higher includes a new method called Adaptive load flow.

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Zero or Very Small Impedance

A zero or very small impedance value of any branch is not allowed, since this will result in infinity or a huge
number in the system admittance matrix. You should represent this type of impedance by a tie circuit breaker to
solve the problem.

Widely Different Branch Impedance Values

Widely different branch impedance values on the same per unit base may result in a slow convergence. To avoid
this situation, various techniques, such as combining series branches with low impedance values, ignoring short
length transmission lines and/or cables, or modeling a small impedance branch with tie circuit breakers, can be
employed.

Long Radial System Configurations

Long radial system configurations usually take a longer time to converge than loop configurations. In general,
the Fast-Decoupled method works faster than the Newton-Raphson or the Accelerated Gauss-Seidel method for
radial system.

Bad Bus Voltage Initial Values

Solution convergence speed and computing time are functions of the initial voltages for load-type buses. The
closer the initial voltages are to their final profile, the faster the solution converges. The solution may not
converge if the initial voltages are too far from the final profile, thus it is recommended that the Update Bus
Voltage option be used to obtain a set of sound initial bus voltages.

Modeling of Loads
Constant Power Load
Constant power loads include induction motors, synchronous motors, conventional and unbalanced lumped loads
with % motor load, UPS’s, and chargers. The power output remains constant for all changes in input voltage.
Below are the respective I-V and P-V curves for a constant power load:

Constant Impedance Load

Constant impedance loads include static loads, capacitors, harmonic filters, MOV’s, and conventional and
unbalanced lumped loads with % static load. The input power increases proportionally to the square of the input
voltage. Below are the respective I-V and P-V curves for a constant impedance load:

Constant Current Loads

Constant current loads include unbalanced lumped loads with % constant current load. The current remains
constant for all changes in voltage. Below are the respective I-V and P-V curves for a constant current load:

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Generic Load
Generic loads include lumped loads using either the exponential, polynomial, or comprehensive model.

A generic load model expresses the characteristics of the load at any instant of time as algebraic functions of the
bus voltage magnitude and frequency at that instant. Refer to Section 8.12 for more information.

Modeling of AC-DC Converters

In a Load Flow Study, chargers are represented as constant kVA loads connected to their AC input bus. An
inverter is represented as an AC source without considering the internal impedances, which can have several
operating modes as a generator can have.

Modeling of HV DC’s
In a load flow study, the HV DC link is represented as a branch, which consists of a Rectifier, a DC line, and an
Inverter. Both the Inverter and the Rectifier of the HV DC link require a connection either directly to a swing bus
or to a system containing a swing bus.

Modeling of SVC’s
In a load flow study, the SVC is represented as a variable static load. The SVC regulates voltage at its terminal
by controlling the amount of reactive power injected into or absorbed from the power system. When running
load flow on a system containing an SVC, load flow will first determine the system voltages without the SVC.
If the initial voltage of the bus connected to SVC is lower than the reference voltage, the SVC will inject reactive
power. And if the initial voltage of the bus connected to SVC is higher than the reference voltage, the SVC will
absorb reactive power. Refer to section 11 for more information.

Modeling of UPS
In a Load Flow Study, the UPS is represented as a constant load at its input side and a swing source at its output
side (where the output side is energized).

When the UPS is selected as a load based on its loading category in its loading page, the system that is connected
to the UPS output side will be de-energized if there is not any other swing sources in the system and the UPS is
modeled as a pure constant load.

When the UPS is selected as a load based on its connected load, the UPS output bus will be modeled as a swing
bus with the UPS rated output voltage as its regulating voltage for its output bus. Then the calculated UPS output
bus loading will be treated/shared as the UPS output side loading.

If multiple UPS selected as connected loads share the same output bus, the calculated UPS output bus loading
will be shared among all the UPS by their maximum rated currents. The UPS output side loading will be
reflected onto the UPS input bus by considering its efficiency and the operating input power factor selection in
its loading page. For example, if the UPS share of its output bus loading is P + j*Q, then the UPS loading will be
reflected onto its input bus based on the operating input PF selection as a load:

1. P/EFF + j*P/EFF*sqrt(1-PF*PF)/PF where EFF is the UPS efficiency and PF is the rated or user-defined
power factor.
2. P/EFF + j*Q when connected load power factor is selected.

Modeling of VFD

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In a Load Flow Study, the VFD is modeled the same way as the UPS except for:

 The VFD is modeled as a load based on its connected load.

 The VFD output swing bus voltage is specified by the VFD loading category.
 The VFD output side loading will be reflected onto its input side and shared equally by its input branches
if the VFD is connected to multiple input branches. Otherwise, the VFD output side loading will be
reflected onto its input bus.

Different Factors Considered in Load Calculation

ETAP provides you with great flexibility in modeling load variations through different load factors, such as
demand factor, load percent, service factor, and application factor, etc. Depending on your specifications, these
factors are used differently in calculating loads under several circumstances:

 Load Editor – Calculation of load for loading categories and voltage drop

 Input for Studies – Calculation of load specification for load flow and initial load for motor starting and
transient stability studies

 Studies Results – Calculation of load displayed in one-line diagram from load flow, motor starting, and
transient stability studies

 Bus Editor – Sum of load connected to a bus

The following two tables describe how these factors are used in these cases:

Factors Used for Motor Load Calculation

Load Editor Input to Studies Results from Studies Bus
Editor

Load Loss Vd Load Loss Load Loss Vd

Bus Nominal kV x x x x x x x x
Bus Operating V x x x x x
Demand Factor x x x x x x x x x
Loading % x x x x x x x x x
Service Factor *
App. Factor *
Load Quantity x x x x x x x
Bus Diversity Factor * * * * *
Global Diversity Factor * * * * *

Factors Used for Static Load Calculation

Load Editor Input to Results from Bus

Studies Studies Editor
Load Loss Vd Load Loss Load Loss Vd
Bus Nominal kV x x x x x x x x x
Bus Operating V x x x x
Demand Factor x x x x x x x x x
Loading % x x x x x x x x x
App. Factor *
Load Quantity x x x x x x x
Bus Diversity Factor * * * * *

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Global Diversity Factor * * * * *

* Indicates the factor is used in calculation if specified by the user in the related load editor or study case.

Notes:

 Motor load includes induction motor and generator, synchronous motor, and motor load portion of lumped
load.

 Static load includes static load, capacitor, MOV, and static load portion of conventional and unbalanced
lumped loads.

Comparison of System Element Models

Dynamic Static
Element Load Flow Transient Stability Motor Acceleration Motor Starting
Generators Infinite Bus Dynamically Constant Voltage Constant Voltage
Modeled Behind Xd’ Behind Xd’
Exciter/Governors Not Dynamically Not Modeled Not Modeled
Applicable Modeled
Utility Ties Infinite Bus Constant Voltage Constant Voltage Constant Voltage
Behind X” Behind X” Behind X”

Operating Motors Constant kVA Modeled Constant kVA Constant kVA

Dynamically or
Constant kVA

Starting Motors Not Single1, Single2, Single1, Single2, Locked-Rotor Z and

Applicable DBL1, & DBL2 DBL1, DBL2, & Power Factor
Models TSC Models

Starters Not Modeled Modeled Modeled

Applicable

Load Flow Analysis

Toolbar
Study Case Editor
- Info Page
- Loading Page
- Adjustment Page
- Alert Page
Display Options
Load Flow Calculation Methods
- 1-Phase/Panel System Load Flow Calculation
- Load Flow Required Data
Load Flow Output Reports
- Crystal Report
Alert View
Load Flow Result Analyzer
- Report and Result Selection
- General Information
- Bus Results
- Branch Results
- Loads
- Sources
Load Analyzer
- Editor
- Reports

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