Overview of Distribution Grid Synchronous Measurement and Applications
This presentation will focus on current research in wide-area monitoring and condition assessment of electric power grids. The development of the distribution-level wide-area frequency monitoring network, FNET/GridEye, and its related situational awareness tools will be discussed. Data collected by FNET/GridEye will be used to demonstrate electromechanical wave propagation in the power grid. The potential role of synchronized measurements as part of grid intelligence and visibility for secure grid operation will be discussed. Additionally, this presentation will explore applications for forensic authentication of digital evidence and critical power supply monitoring.
Dr. Yilu Liu holds joint positions at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her team developed the wide-area frequency monitoring network (FNET) at Virginia Tech, which is now operated at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Lab as FNET/GridEye. FNET is a world-wide GPS-synchronized power grid dynamic frequency and voltage phase angle monitoring network that uses single phase Frequency Disturbance Recorders (FDRs) to capture phasor values at the 120-V distribution level. The data are then streamed via the Internet to servers at UTK and ORNL. The system covers 5 North American power grid interconnections and selected countries worldwide.
Dr. Liu and her students are the inventors of U.S. Patent 7,519,454, which uses frequency time delay of arrival to determine the location of power system disturbances such as generator trips and load shedding/pumped storage disconnections. This system provides real-time alerts to industry consortium members, utilities, DOE, NERC, and FERC.
Dr. Liu is the Deputy Director of the Center for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT), a National Science Foundation/Department of Energy Engineering Research Center led by the University of Tennessee. Created by an $18 million funding award in 2011, the Center focuses on the development of wide-area control strategies to accommodate renewable energy sources, new energy storage technologies, and responsive loads.
The seminar series is presented by the Trustworthy Cyber Infrastructure for the Power Grid (TCIPG) Project, an $18 million multi-university research effort whose partner institutions include the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Arizona State University, Dartmouth, and Washington State University. The TCIPG Project, a successor to the earlier NSF-funded TCIP Center, was founded in 2009 with support from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It is housed in the Information Trust Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.