Introduction to Power System

Simulator for Engineering thru Laboratory

Tutorials

Final Report
Spring Semester-2013
-Full ReportBy

Khamal Abdulaal
Meshari AlShahrani
Prepared to partially fulfill the requirements for
ECE402: Senior Design II
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523

Project Advisor: Dr. George Collins

Industry Advisor: Mr. Joe Liberatore

Approved By: _ Dr. George Collins_

Abstract
Lets imagine if we would go back on time to the 17th century, when yet electricity was
not discovered and known as it is today! How much capability in our current life we would be
missing there? Would all the advance technologies that our life has become depended on apply
without having Electricity! Think about how much losses an electricity outage in hospitals,
schools companies or even houses can cause! Simply, loosing electricity for even seconds is
completely not affordable. To prevent that from happening many power engineers like us study
every day all kind of ways to eliminate any possibility of having a power outage in any given
time and by advanced technology process has been impressively made.
Our team has been studying and working on a program called PSSE Power System
Simulator for Engineering. A program that studies test power systems to help the engineers find
all the possible errors before they occur and prevent them from happening. During Fall semester
we aimed to have a full understanding of the PSSE basics and earn the necessary skills to start
our study of power systems using PSSE. this program takes about a year to be learned.
However, with the help of Mr. Joe Liberatore we were able to familiarize ourselves with the
program and earn the basic skills. The save file, slider file, creating the contingency, monitor and
subsystem files, and finally finding possible outages, providing solutions and test them, these
were the main objects in our study of the program.
During the second semester, we continued working on the PSSE program only this time
was with different case. We were also supposed to create new lab manuals for the laboratory
class of power system. We have created 5 laboratories to teach a student the very basic
knowledge of using PSSE. the first lab covered the *.sav (save) file, then the second lab
covered *.sld (slider) file, the third lab was about auto creation of the *.sub, *.mon, and *.con
files while lab4 was the manual creation these three files and lastly lab5 which shows the student
on how to spot a possible outage, provide solutions, test and analyze the results afterwards to
assure the best results are found.

Tables of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 2
Tables of Contents .............................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 4
Summary of Fall semester .................................................................................................. 4
Spring Work ........................................................................................................................ 5

Lab1 ....................................................................................................................... 6

Lab2 ..................................................................................................................... 11

Lab3 ..................................................................................................................... 16

Lab4 ..................................................................................................................... 21

Lab5 ..................................................................................................................... 27

Ethics Concerns ................................................................................................... 32

Conclusion and continuation project ................................................................................ 33

Appendix A: Abbreviations .............................................................................................. 33
Appendix B: Budget ......................................................................................................... 34
Appendix C: Timeline....................................................................................................... 35
Acknowledgment .............................................................................................................. 37

Introduction
In modern lifestyle everything people do is very dependent on electricity, almost every
equipment or machine work with electricity or were made by a machine that used electricity. It is
the source of power to almost everything such as light, cars, different kinds of coolers and airconditioners, computers and big factories that national economy depends on. In other words,
electricity has become one of the lifes basic necessities. Imagine getting home from work and
finding your house with electricity shut down, in most cases you would not be able to cook, take
a shower or watch television, perhaps you will try to be productive going very primitive trying to
use candles and firewood. The purpose of picturing just few hours with no electricity is to give
our audience a chance to realize that life now days is very dependable on electricity. Therefore,
our project in this senior design course is very significant to the community since the main goal
of our work is to become power engineers, who know and experienced in solving power outages
issue by being able to predict the problem and suggest solutions a head of time to have no such
existence of power outage.
To fulfill our purpose, us as a team members have chosen to work on PSSE power
system simulator for engineering program which helps building a design or case of a power
plant to test it and study its outputs. This program serves the purpose of testing the power flow of
a system and the load of power in every element. Our team has been working on a sample case
that was provided by the program supplier throughout five stages, with every stage we were
asked to build a lab manual for students of the power system class. Stage one is to learn about the
save file of the sample case, this file contains all data for every element of the case. Stage two is
to learn about the slider file which is a binary file of the exact data sample file. Stage three and
four is about building the subsystem, monitor and contingency files, first automatically then
manually. Stage five which made all of our work comes together is about predicting possible
outages and overloads, apply solutions and test them to see if the behavior of the system has
improved. Creating the lab manuals for every stage included giving specific instructions and
exercises to students with little section of a quiz or homework to test their understanding of the
lab material with solution manual and some instructions to be directed to the TA of the class.

Summary of Fall semester

For fall semester, our goal was to get familiar with PSSE software and master the basic
tools to propose studies using the program to upgrades power system courses laboratory. These
laboratories introduce the fundamental of power flow analysis using PSSE software to CSU
Power Systems Courses. Under the supervision of Dr. Collins, we proposed to learn and earn the
skills needed to use Siemens software Power System Simulation for Engineering which called

(PSSE). This program is used to conduct power flow analysis in such way is that we could
design and run simulation on bulk electric system models. This program is available in the
electrical and computer engineering labs. This study will help to achieve our goal and that is
reaching to a better understanding in how power plant works.
Mr. Liberatore suggested that we worked on the lab manuals for Dr. Collins class Power
Systems. We completed working the labs until lab 5 which did not work as its supposed to be
due to the structure of the lab built on old version of PSSE that is different of what the CSU
computers lab have (version 32.0.3) . As we went through the labs, we gained a better
understanding of the software Therefore we decided to create a new series of Laboratories that is
current and well explained with lab questions to test the understanding of the students.

Spring Work
In this section, we want to show the reader a portion of the five laboratories created in
this semester with lab questions. The labs contain several questions and submissions to the TA or
the instructor for the grade of the lab. Moreover, we create files for each lab that includes the
answers and correct submissions of the lab questions that will be given to the TA, Dr. Collins,
and Joe. Labs structure are the same in every lab of this series which will start by the purpose of
the lab that explained the main goals that the student should knew and practiced by the end of
each lab. Then, we refer to previous labs for any file that needed be used to complete the lab and
ask the student to create a separate file for some of the labs. Each lab display step by step to
every tasks and provided by a picture. Every new phrase, step, method, icons .etc. has an
explanation of the use and how to be used. Finally, the student will end up with question that
contributes to the concepts of the lab. This structure allows the student to get an easy way to
follow and practice the PSSE features. The reader can go to review the whole lab by pressing
Ctrl+Click on the title of the lab and it will take you directly to see the complete version thru our
senior design website http://www.engr.colostate.edu/ece-sr-design/AY12/bonanza/index.shtml .

 Lab1
INTRODUCTION TO SAVE CASE (*.sav) FILES
The purpose of ECE Power labs is to introduce students to fundamentals of power flow
analysis utilizing PSSE. Electrical engineers use PSSE to analyze, design and run
simulation on bulk electric system models. PSSE has a large library of analysis tools and
optional modules, including, but not limited to:

Power Flow

Optimal Power Flow

Balanced or Unbalanced Fault Analysis

Dynamic Simulation

Extended Term Dynamic Simulation

Open Access and Pricing

Transfer Limit Analysis

Network Reduction

These labs will introduce the user to the application and develop the basics of power flow
analysis.
Introduction to PSSE
The lab manuals that will be considered throughout the duration of this course will be
primarily focused on power flow, rather than dynamic simulations. PSSE uses a graphical user
interface that is comprised of all the functionality of state analysis; including load flow, fault
analysis, optimal power flow, equivalency, and switching studies. A common line interface is
also available and students are encouraged to explore this method. It will not be covered in these
labs.
PSSE provides the user with a wide range of assisting programs for installation, data
input, output, manipulation and preparation. More importantly, PSSE allows the user of having
a control over the applications of these computational tools.
Power Flow
In the Electric Utility Industry, power flow analysis is used for real time system analysis
as well as planning studies. The user should be able to analyze the performance of power
systems in both normal operating conditions and under fault (short-circuit) condition. The study
in normal steady-state operation is called a power-flow study (load-flow study) and it targets on
determining the voltages, currents, and real and reactive power flows in a system under a given
load conditions. The purpose of power flow studies is to plan ahead and prepare for system
normal minus one (N-1) contingencies.

The PSSE interface supports a variety of interactive facilities including:

Introduction, modification and deletion of network data using a spreadsheet
Creation of networks and one-line diagrams
Steady-state analysis (load flow, fault analysis, optimal power flow, etc.)
Presentation of steady-state analysis results.
I.

Create a folder
1- Create a folder in your drive. Name it PSSE Labs.
2- Go to C: Drive and navigate: C:\Program Files (x86)\PTI\PSSE32\EXAMPLE
3- Copy the following and paste it in PSSE Labs folder:
a. Sample.sav
b. Sample.sld
c. exercise1.sld
How to access PSSE

II.

There are two ways to access PSSE:

1a.
b.
c.
d.

On campus Computers:
Log onto Eng. Account computer.
Click on Start icon.
Type in the search box, PSS then select PSSE 32
The window below appears:

2-

Off Campus:

a. Go to ENS webpage http://www.engr.colostate.edu/ens/

b.
c.
d.
e.

Choose Virtual Lab icon

Then, follow the instructions in virtual lab page.
Once its opened, click on Start and Type PSS in the search box.
The program will launch and the window below will appear.

** Formulas needed to answer Lab1 questions:

( )

( )

( )
( )
( )

** RealPower = ActivePower

PSSE Lab # 1 Questions:

Open the sample.sav data file to answer the following questions.
1) Go to the Bus tab. Find bus #3008.
a) What is the name of this bus and its rated voltage? ___________________
b) Based on the code number, what type of bus is this? __________________
2) Now go to the Branch tab. Find the branch that connects bus #201 to bus #207.
a) What are the names of the buses that are connected and the rated voltage of the
branch? ______________________________________
b) What is the rated resistance and reactance of this branch (both in [per unit])?
______________________________________
____________________________________________________________
3) Now go to the Load tab. Find load connected to bus #214 (LOADER, 230kV).
a) What are the active (MW) and reactive (MVAR) components of this load?
________________________________________
b) Based on the results from above, what is the real power and power factor of this load?
________________________________________
4) Now go to the Machine tab. Find generator connected to bus #402 (COGEN-2, 500kV).
a) What are the maximum and minimum active power ratings of this generator (in MW)?
________________________________________
b) What are the maximum and minimum reactive power ratings of this generator (in
MVAR)?
________________________________________
5) Now go to the 2 Winding XFMR tab. Find the transformer connected to bus #204 and bus
#205.
a) What are the MVA ratings of this transformer?
Rate A=_________________ Rate B=_________________ Rate C=_________________
b) Is this transformer in service? ________________________
c) What is the High side Voltage? _______kV, What is the Low side Voltage? ______kV
6) Now go to the Switched Shunt tab. Find shunt compensator connected to bus #154
(DOWNTN 230.000, 230KV).
a) How many steps are there to the shunt compensator and what is each of their values (in
MVAR)?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
b) What type of shunt compensator is this (capacitive, inductive, or mixed)?
________________________________________
7) While you are in the Switched Shunt tab, Complete the missing Mvar values using the table
below for BUS 3021?

BLK#
1
2
3
4

Steps
2

Compensation/Steps#
200
100

Total in Mvar

100
Subtotal

Binit (Mvar)
Totals

10

 Lab2
INTRODUCTION TO SLIDER BINARY (*.sld) FILES
Purpose of the lab:
This lab is to introduce the one-line diagram, also known as the Slider files in PSSE . This lab
will introduce the following aspects:
Introduction to a one-line diagram and its elements.
Explanation of the Slider (*.SLD) file
Using the Slider file to create a one-line diagram
To properly perform this lab, start PSSE and open the sample.sav file as we have done in
LAB1.
Introduction to One-Line Diagrams
A one-line diagram is a simplified graphical representation of a three phase power
system, used extensively in the electrical utility industry. In power engineering, if we assume
that the three phases of a system are balanced, the 3 phase system can be represent with a single
line (I.E. one line diagram) which simplifies schematics. This makes the evaluation of the system
much less complicated without losing any information. Per unit voltage used extensively in oneline diagrams to further simplify the process.
The main components of a one-line (or single line) diagram are; Buses, Branches, Loads,
Machines, 2 Winding Transformers, Switched Shunts, Reactor and Capacitor Banks. An
explanation of these components will be given later in this lab.
Buses:

Buses are represented as a dot, circle or a thick line. The bus name (EAST500) and
number (202) are given, as well as the voltage measured on the line (510.5kV and 1.021V in per
unit). The final characteristic given is the angle (-26.1 degrees). The voltage is indicated by the
color of the bus. In this example, red indicates 500kV. Associating KV levels with *color is a
user configurable option.
Branches:

Branches are represented as a line connecting busses. The real power P, as shown in the
above image of a branch, flows from 431.5MW to -429.8MW and the reactive power Q, flows
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from 158.7MVA flow to -238.8MVA. Notice when selecting the animation icon, MW and MVar
are shown as green and yellow arrows respectively.
In other words, the flows are from the positive number to the negative number shown
below, and the number on top is the real power while the number on the bottom is the reactive
power. The voltage is indicated by the color of the branch. In this example, red indicates 500kV.
III.

The loading percentages

Go to third toolbar. Click on Current Loadings icon

The following will be displayed:

IV.

Animation
Go to third toolbar. Click on Animate Flows icon

The following will be displayed:

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V.

Grow and Un-Bind in real application *.sld file

Open exercise 1.sld from your PSSE folder; its hiding some elements that need to be grown.

13

Search for BUS 102 by zooming in and right click on the bus. un-select Bind items

Grow N Levels: right click and select Grow N levels. Choose the level that displays new
element to the grid. Once there are no elements added to the grid, and then you are done.
Zoom, Rearrange, and Deliver with Lab Questions.
You should have exactly the sample.sld file shown below:

14

PSSE Lab # 2 Questions:

The sample.sav and sample.sld must be open to perform this section of the lab.
First, build out a one-line diagram to include the following ten buses (and no others!):
101 NUC-A
102 NUC-B
151 NUCPLANT
152 MID500
153 MID230
201 HYDRO
202 EAST500
3004 WEST
3021 WDUM
3022 EDUM
This is best done by typing 101 into the auto draw function, then right clicking the 151 bus;
select grow. From here, right click the 152 bus and select grow. This should prevent you from
ending up with extraneous buses. Solve for the system. Display the current loading percentages
and the power flow animation. Print out the one-line diagram and include it in the report. Save
the one-line diagram as lab2.sld, this will be needed for future labs.
Using the one-line diagram, and answer the following questions to include in the report. Turn off
the loading percentages and the power flow animation for clarity. Make sure that the system has
been solved.
1) Looking at Bus #152 (MID500), what is the PLOAD and QLOAD of the load connected to this
bus? _______________________________________________
2) Find the two generators within this sub-system. Which buses are they connected to?
What are the PGEN and QGEN of the two generators?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3) How many reactive devices are in this system? ________________________________
How many capacitors are in this system? ______________________________
How many inductors are in this system?
How many switched reactive devices (switch shunts) are in this system? __________________
How many of the switched shunts are represented as a) inductors b) capacitors?
4) Looking at Bus #153 (MID230), what is the actual voltage of the bus and What is the per unit
voltage? __________________________________________

15

 Lab3
AUTO CREATION OF *.CON, *.MON, AND *.SUB FILES
Purpose of the lab:
This lab is designed to represent a guide for the user to build the *.sub, *.mon and *.con
files automatically according to sample.sav and sample.sld given files for this course. This lab
will also explain how the three files are utilized by the AC Contingency Calculation (ACCC)
feature of PSSE to perform a power flow study on a particular zone.
Power Flow (PF) analysis is possibly the single most utilized tool in the power industry.
PF analysis allows us to simulate unplanned (or forced) as well as planned outages. A power
flow solution is often the starting point for many other types of power system analysis. In
addition, power flow analysis is at the heart of contingency analysis and the implementation of
real-time monitoring systems. The creation of contingency (*.com), monitor and subsystem files
will allow us to perform PF analysis.
Important definition for better comprehension to this lab:

*.sub (subsystem) file:

The subsystem file informs the power flow analysis to only look at a prescribed section, or zone,
of the overall network.

*.mon (monitor) file:

The monitor file tells the power flow simulator which branches to be supervised during the (N-1)
contingencies

*.con (contingency) file:

The contingency file is programmed to remove equipment, from service; this is referred to as a
contingency. When the system is fully operational, it has no outages, therefore it is referred to as
system intact or (N-0). When a single line is taken out of service, the case is then referred to as
an (N-1). When two elements are taken out of the service, it referred to as (N-2) The easiest way
to program how to do this is to see a portion of the code used in the *.con file and understand
what everything does.

ACCC:

The contingency, monitor, and subsystem files are utilized by the AC Contingency Calculation
(ACCC) features of PSSE to perform a power flow study on a prescribed zone. The ACCC
produces an analysis of the power system.

DFAX (distribution factors file):

It is a measure of the impact of injections and network changes on the grid applied over the
initial or base case power flow. DFAX represents a measure of the effect of each zones load on
the transmission constraint that requires the mitigating upgrade, as determined by power flow
analysis. The source used for the DFAX calculation is the aggregate of all generation external to
the study area.

16

Sample.sav file: (described in lab 1)

The saved case file (*.sav) is a binary image of the load flow working case. To conserve disk
space and minimize the time required for storage and retrieval, saved cases (*.sav) are
compressed in the sense that unoccupied parts of the data structure are not stored when the
system model is smaller than the capacity limits of the program.

Sample.sld file: (described in lab 2)

*.sld Slider file (Single Line Diagram) This file allows for performing network analysis studies
on the grid. Sliders are visual displays of the grid. It includes buses, branches, lines, loads,
generators, transformers etc... All components should be color coded based on voltage flow. The
slider file can also show the operational ratings (power flowing across the component relative to
the capacity) of the listed components. This network can be divided on several zones and areas
based on the need of the user.

Areas:

Graphically, an Area typically represents an entire region, perhaps a state (Colorado) or small
country (Bahrain). Areas can be utilized to represent a regional electric market, ie, the majority
of load within an area is served with the majority of generation in that same area. Load can be
served with generation from another area. This is typically accomplished thru metering and
schedules but is outside the scope of this lab. The only reason for a detailed explanation is to
present this concept and Bulk Electric System (BES) structural philosophy currently practiced in
the real world to familiarize the future power engineer.

Zones:

Typically, Areas (above) are represented as a collection of Zones. An Area could contain one or
more Zones. The reasoning behind this is to allow Areas to have many subsets (Zones) such that
detailed analysis and criteria can be applied to a particular Zone. For instance, one town may
have a stricter pos-contingent per-unit voltage level. By breaking areas into zones, you will have
the flexibility to apply different scenarios to avoid any outages or blackout when overloads occur
and could be fixed fast and easy because you know which zones are affected.
area1.sub file: The area1.sub file has subsystem we called out (specified) as central and it
contains all buses in area1 as defined in the sample.sav database.
area1.mon file: The area1.mon utilizes the subsystem we indicated as central. As such, we
are now able to implement a wide variety of monitoring functions on this subsystem. The first
line sets a per unit voltage range for the subsystem. Next, the line gives +/- deviation from the
prescribed values in first line. Then, the line comments inform which branches to monitor in the
subsystem named central. Finally, the line tells that the monitor file is tied to central
subsystem.
area1.con file: The area1.con is another file that is dependent on the subsystem. This file is
utilized to simulate contingencies in power flow analysis for system-in-tact-minus-1 simulations,
also known as N-1 simulations. The contingency operation will work in all of the elements in the

17

specified area or zone. For instance, it plans to remove any single branch between two buses,
double branches between two buses, or any single/double branch from one area/zone to another.
AC Contingency Calculation (ACCC):
The three files area1.sub, area1.mon, and area1.con are utilized to by the AC Contingency
Calculation (ACCC) feature of PSSE to perform a PF study on a particular area or zone. After
creating area1 files, now its time to solve the system.
NOW after you have the appropriate files for this operation. The report contains three majors
Section described below.
1- Monitored Branch
* It shows all the branched double or single with its number and base voltage in kV that
has been monitored by the contingency assigned to it. It also shows the machine identifier
ID.
* Under the contingency, the name of this contingency BASE CASE
* Next column states the rating for the first power rating; entered in MVA
* Under Flow indicates the amount of the power flow through this branch.
* % shows the loads percentage which above 100% loads called overload.

2- Monitored voltage report

This section will sort the buses according to the subsystem name in this case
CENTRAL

V-CONT: is the post contingency voltage. It indicates the voltage element under the
specified network label. Ex: Single 5
V-INIT: it shows the initial voltage for this bus in deviation.
V-MAX: indicates the maximum voltage deviation in the CENTRAL subsystem.
(above V-initial)
V-MIN: indicates the minimum voltage deviation in the CENTRAL subsystem.
(below V-initial)

18

3- Contingency Legends
Sorts all the contingencies according to the network label and shows the action/event of
this contingency. It runs contingency in every branch in all possible network choice and
evaluates the overloads with each event.

These label networks can be explored in the sample.sld file by double-click on the bus
number as shown below:

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PSSE Lab # 3 Questions:

The sample.sav data file must be open to perform this section of the lab.

Using the area1 contingency file, the area1 monitor file and the area1 subsystem file that
have been provided, create an area1.dfx DFAX and an area1.acc AC contingency file. Solve
the system with the loaded AREA1 files and run the ACCC report as shown above. View the
report generated by PSSE and print out the report, this print out will need to be included in the
lab report. It will also be helpful in answering the following questions.
1) Which branches suffer from overloads during the BASE CASE contingency and what is their
percentage of overload?
BRANCH
Percentage overload

2) Looking at the SINGLE 9 contingency, which branches suffer from overloads that did not
suffer from overloads during the BASE CASE, and what is their percentage of overload?
BRANCH
Percentage overload

3) Of the branches suffering from overloads during the BASE CASE, which one(s) got worse
during this contingency (SINGLE 9), and by how much?
BRANCH
Percentage overload increase

4) Did any of these branches actually see a reduction in overload, if so, which ones and by how
much were they reduced? ______________
5) Which of the contingencies created the highest number of overloaded branches? ___________
6) Find the SINGLE 7 contingency.
a) What is the rating of the branch between bus #153 and #154 (in MW) and what is the actual power
flow (in MW) on this branch? ______________
b) What is the rating of the branch between bus #152 and #3021 (in MW) and what is the actual
power flow (in MW) on this branch? _______________________________
7) Using the lab manual, run the ACCC for area2 and named the subsystem EAST . Printout the
report and submit it with Lab #3 Questions.

20

 Lab4
MANUAL CREATION OF *.CON, *.MON, AND *.SUB FILES
Purpose of the lab:
This lab guides the user to create the *.con, *.mon, and *.sub files manually based on the
completion of lab 3 and using these files sample.sav and sample.sld. Also, giving the user a
deeper understanding of how to create and modify the three files which are necessary to perform
the ACCC analysis for PF. Objectives of the lab:
Create & Modify subsystem file (*.sub)
Create & Modify monitor file (*.mon)
Create & Modify contingency file (*.con)
Apply ACCC using the files above.
ACCC report.
A Text file *.txt is necessary to get familiar with Text files to do this lab. A text file (or
plain text file) is a file which contains only ordinary textual characters with essentially no
formatting. Text files are commonly used throughout PSSE because soft code contains
commands often needed to complete tasks. PSSE utilizes specifically named .txt files to
perform ACCC analysis. These files are named *.sub, *.mon and *.com (subsystem, monitor and
contingency files respectively)
Recap of some important definitions:

ACCC
The contingency, monitor, and subsystem files are utilized by the AC Contingency Calculation
(ACCC) feature of PSSE to perform a power flow study on a prescribed zone. The ACCC
produces power flow analysis of a system.

DFAX (distribution factors file):

It is a measure of the impact of injections and network changes on the grid applied over the
initial or base case power flow. DFAX represents a measure of the effect of each zones load on
the transmission constraint that requires the mitigating upgrade, as determined by power flow
analysis. The source used for the DFAX calculation is the aggregate of all generation external to
the study area.
Contingency file (*.con):
1. Go to Sample.sav. Click on

tab.

21

2. Use the above branches as reference of central area to create commands for area1a.con.
3. Now open the Notepad program. Save As and Name it area1a.con in the file name
blank in Lab4 folder.
4. Type (Do NOT copy the italic words)
COM
COM CONTINGENCY description file entry modified by CSU user
COM
TRACE starts the program
5. The next line names (N-1) contingency where specified and named the contingency for
the following line. The following describes which lines will be opened (tripped). In the
end of area1a.con command you should end up with Two ENDS; one for last
contingency plan and the other for the whole area1a.con. an example below shown this
step:
CONTINGENCY NUC_MID_1
OPEN LINE FROM BUS 151 TO BUS 152
CKT 1
END ends MUC_MID_1 contingency
END ends area1.com
REMARKS:
NUC_MID_1 name of the contingency for NUCPLNT and MID500 branch and with ID 1
CKT1 refers to the first NUCPLNT and MID500 branch in this area.
CKT2 refers to the second NUCPLNT and MID500 branch in this area.

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In order to finish the contingency file area1a.con, the student must complete the remaining:
Copy the first two contingency plans as explained and shown above.
Fill ???? with Contingency name, ??? with Bus number in FROM_TO line, and ?
with ID # in the three contingencies followed.
Write the remains 5 contingencies emulating the syntax structure of the given examples.
Complete the necessary #s describes DOWNTN and CATDOG branch. Finish with Two
ENDS.
6. By the end you will have 11 total contingencies. Save and close area1a.con.
AC Contingency Calculation (ACCC):
The three files area1a.sub, area1a.mon, and area1a.con are utilized to by the AC
Contingency Calculation (ACCC) feature of PSSE to perform a PF study on a particular area
or zone. After creating area1a files, now its time to solve
below to run ACCC:

the system. Follow the steps

1- ACCC icon located on the Fourth Toolbar

Or there is always another long way to run the ACCC contingency solution:
a- Go to Toolbar and click on Power Flow menu
b- Scroll down to Solution.
c- Under Solution click on AC contingency solution (ACCC)

23

d- Click on DFAX:
Distribution factor data file
to create area1a.dfx.
A Distribution Factor Data File (DFAX) needs to be created by loading the provided area1a.sub,
area1a.mon and area1a.sub files. Click on the DFAX button, and the Build Distribution
Factor Data File window will be displayed:

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Use the navigation icon

to choose the files area1a.sub, area1a.mon, and area1a.con from
Lab4 folder respectively as shown below. Type area1a in the Distribution factor data output
file.

Click OK. Now you have created area1a.dfx file.

** If you make changes to your *.sub, *.mon, or *.con files, you MUST re-build the DFAX
file. It is not necessary to give it a new name, simply overwrite the existing file.
e- Contingency solution output file
: type in the file name area1a
Leave Load throwover data file empty.
Click on Solve. Dont close the Window yet!
f- Click on reports the window in the next page will open and make sure you have the correct file
name for *.acc file you created above.

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g- Hit GO to run area1a report. Close.

2- Go over the report and check all the files created in this lab are in there.

PSSE Lab # 4 Questions:

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Printout area1a.sub file.

printout area1a.mon file
Complete and Printout area1a.con file.
Printout area1a report.
Using the lab manual, run ACCC for area2a and named the subsystem EAST_2a.
printout the following:
a) east2a.sub file.
b) east2a.mon file.
c) east2a.con file.
d) east2a report.

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 Lab5
MULTIPLE AC CONTINGENCY CALCULATION REPROT
Purpose of the lab:
This lab was designed to show the student how to adjust one-line diagram file (sample.sld) and
then solve to reach better power flow with no overloads. The student is supposed to add another
line (Branch) between bus 153 and bus 154. Then, solve the system and do the necessary
adjustment to fix the overload in the system. This lab will explain how the Multiple AC
Contingency calculation report feature of PSSE creates a single report with multiple ACCCs
into one file.
Add Line to Sample.sav:
A. From the far left of the sample.sav table click on the row which shows the branch from bus
#153 to bus #154 as shown.

B. Right click and select copy

C. Right click on the empty bottom row of the table and select paste

D. The new branch created between BUS#153 to BUS#154.

E.

Code has to be changed to 3 according to how many branches between the two buses.
Arrow Up will sort automatically below the original one.

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Add Branch to sample.sld:

1. Go to the sample.sld and find bus number 153
2. Click on Bus#153
3. Once the bus selected use right click on the bus to open the list below.

4. Scroll down to Grow N levels make sure that the number of level on the next box
will be one and hit OK.

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5. An image of the adjusted slider file is provided below; it shows that the added line is
kind of hidden behind another element Zoom in.
6. Rearrange the branch to be visible.

F.

Changing the position of

the line

The added line appears

here

The added line is hidden!!

Run Multiple ACCC reports:

The PSSE Multiple AC Contingency reports feature can be used to perform. The
multiple allows running ACCC reports contingencies within one run and compares up to nine
contingency runs(Multiple *.acc) . This is a very powerful tool when side by side study
comparisons are needed. Computational procedures in a contingency analysis shown in the
diagram below:
a- Go to Toolbar and click on Power Flow menu
b- Scroll down to Reports.
c- Under Reports click on Multiple AC Contingency run report

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This window will appear:

d- Go to Contingency solution output box and click

e- Navigate to your LAB4 folder and choose area1a.acc
f- Navigate to your LAB5 folder and choose area1c.acc

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g- Hit Go.
The Multiple ACCC reports display in the report window that contains 15 pages. Go to page 9
and check the changes on the Added line. The load drops between bus#153 to Bus#154 by 28.4%

PSSE Lab # 5 Questions:

1) Print out the Multiple ACCC report area1c.acc?
2) After the impact of the contingency and loads, explain how it affects area1?
3) Add transformer between Bus#152 and Bus#153, follow the same method of adding line in
this lab and name the contingency output solution area1T.acc. Show the ACCC report
area1T.acc?
4) Compare the three contingency report area1a.acc, area1c.acc, and area1T.acc?

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 Ethics Concerns
In our project Introduction to Power System Simulator we are studying how to solve a
given power system. Then, we are learning how to build these a power network based on the
requirements of a project. Lastly, we get to learn to overcome an outage in the system.
meanwhile we are approaching our goal we are supposed to make a lab manual for the students
of power systems. There are many ethical issues that can be associated with our work in this
project such as solutions given to any outage should be tested as a long term solution and under
all expected circumstances, how fast the solutions are provided and the copy right of the case
must always be respected and protected.
Copy right is a common issue in most fields and throughout this project we have been
facing it in two forms. First, with the case we are using, since every case has a copyright of its
designer, so as a user there should be some sort of permission by the designer or their company.
In fact, our team had actually changed the name of the project as well as the case to avoid falling
in the issue of using name and case without a legit permission by the company. Instead our
adviser provided us with a sample case. Second, writing the lab manuals for the power system
class should fallow the writing copy right rules and relegations. We basically, have to site
sources of all used information, if we use any quotes we definitely have to quote it and finally
after writing these lab manuals I believe we will earn their copy rights as well.
Another really significant ethical issue with building a power system network is
considering all circumstances and any possibility of outage and provides the system with auto
solutions. In other words, the system must be tested in all possible outages to determine how
much load is flowing before and after an outage in an element of the network and how is this
effecting the other elements. After these tests adjustments should be provided to each case as a
backup plan (solutions) to bring the balance back to the network and makes it work properly.
One of the challenges in any power plant is providing their power service continually even in
case of an outage and in case of an expected system failure a fast solution and getting the service
back as soon as possible.

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Conclusion and continuation project

Introduction to PSSE thru Laboratory Tutorials is a path to learn the power flow
analysis and how to manage overloads. The project started by learning PSSE software through
old version labs in the old version of the software and through reading the manuals and exploring
some website for more deep details. This project is designed to guide the CSU Engineering
students rather than ECE student to the power filed and built a basic solid background in PSSE.
The labs are well explained and easy to follow the instruction to complete each lab. There are
five laboratories with designed lab Questions to test the info giving in the lab. Lab Questions are
practical to test practically what the student learns from following the labs instruction.
The project may continue in the future by creating slider file from blank page to the ends.
This part will contain adding the necessary input such as Buses, Branches, Loads amounts, 2winding transformers, 3-winding transformers, capacitors, inductors, bus base voltage, and more;
that matches the data in the save case file. This can expand the grow element features and show
how to manage the growth. In the other hand, create fake scenarios to analyze and evaluate the
power flow overloads through different objectives of loads, current, voltage, generation loads
in different elements of slider file in a specific area of the system.

Appendix A: Abbreviations
PSSE: Power System Simulator for Engineering
PF: Power Flow
*.sav: Save Case File
*.sld: Slider Binary File
*.sub: Subsystem File
*.mon: Monitor File
*.con: Contingency File
*.acc: AC Contingency Calculation Report
N-0: System Intact (all elements are operating in a specified contingency)
N-1: System Normal Minus One (One element has taken out in a specified contingency)
N-2: Two elements have taken out in a specified contingency
MVA: Megavolt ampere
MVar: Mega Volt Ampere Reactive
MW: Megawatt
kV: Kilo Voltage
Binit: Initial Switched Shunt Admittance, MVar at 1.0 per Unit Volts
BLK#: Admittance Increment of Block # in MVAR at 1.0 per Unit Volts.
BES: Bulk Electric System
ACCC: AC Contingency Calculation
TA: Teaching Assistant
ENS: Engineering Network Services

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Appendix B: Budget
Our project budget is very limited because we will be researching and creating lab
manual using PSSE program which is provided on the lab computers by Colorado State
University. We did not take any donation or funds although we were able to file a reimbursement
request to ECE Department to get $50. This program is what we basically need. The necessary
expenses are $56.87 for the preparation of E Day supplies for:

One White Foam Board, $19.99

One Poster Holder, $8.29
Money for printing, $25.00
Thumbtacks, $3.59

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Appendix C: Timeline
STATUS: D= DONE
UP= UNDER PROGRESS
PP= POSTPONED
The teams plan for spring semester is going to be in different chapters as follows:

Chapter one: Introduction to *.sav using PSSE.

Objectives to accomplish:
1. Show student how to open PSSE and load the *.sav file. D
2. Describe the *.sav file what is it, what does it contain? And explanation of the tabs
the important ones. D
3. Add table and questions about switch shunts. D
4. Solve the Questions. D
5. Make copy of the answers. D
** Website Update. D
Above Checked 12/31/13 D

Chapter two: intro. To *.sld

1. Describe how to grow an element. D
2. Explain the bind items features. D
3. Add element description from the slider file. D
4. Add how to solve the system. D
5. Add how to display loadings percentage. D
6. Add how to display flows direction using Animation. D
7. Add Questions to the lab. D
8. Solve the Questions. D
9. Make copy of the answers. D
Above Checked 2/3/13 D

Chapter three Feb 3rd

1. Finished edits labs 1 and 2. D
2. Upload lab 1. D
3. Continue with lab 3: introduction and additional progress. D
Above Checked 2/5/13 D

Chapter four: Due March. Auto creation of contingency files

1. Show how to Create the contingency files *.sav, *.mon, and *.sub using Config icon. D
2. Write up lab3 first draft. D
3. Add Questions on lab3. D
4. Solve lab3 Questions. D
5. Final draft of lab3. D
Above Checked 3/10/13 D

Chapter five: Due April 1st Create the contingency files manually
1. Recap of some important definitions D
2. Show how to write subsystem file. D
3. Show how to write monitor file. D
4. Show how to write contingency file. D
5. Add ACCC methods. D
6. Create Lab4 Questions. D

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7. Solve Lab4 questions. UP

8. Upload to the website. D
Above Checked 3/28/13 UP

Chapter six: Due before April 19th Multiple ACCC reports

1. Add data line to the save case file. D
2. Add line to the slider file. D
3. Run ACCC for new case. D
4. Run multiple ACCC for area1a.acc and area1c.acc D
5. Create Lab5 Questions D
6. Solve Lab5 Question. UP
Above Checked 5/3/13 UP

Chapter seven: Due May 5th

1. Final report. D
2. Upload lab5 to website. D
3. Recommendation for project continuation. D
Above Checked 5/4/13 D

Chapter eight: Due May 10th

1. Upload the final report to the website. UP
2. Submit the design notebook. UP
3. Upload Recommendation for project continuation. UP

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Acknowledgment
We Khamal Abdulaal and Meshari Alshahrani would love to take the opportunity to
Thank Dr. George Collins for giving us such a wonderful chance and a very beneficial
experience working with a power engineer like Joe Liberatore who has trained us and made us
one step closer to take a real power world as a power engineer. He professor Collins has been a
perfect teacher for us in lectures, group meetings, and even quick chats in the engineering
building hallways by providing us by some advices from his long work career experience.
Secondly, appreciation to Joe Liberatore for working with us and putting all the time that
he did and needed for us to complete this project. We have learned a lot from him and got some
good experience. We would like to thank also the manager of ECE Labs Mr. John Seim for his
cooperation regarding installing the PSSE software in the ECE C105 lab. Mr. Fathalla Eldali, who
being around when we needed him planning and answering questions regarding power in general
especially in the fall semester. Also, thanks to him for his contributions regarding using the PSSE
program.
Finally, much appreciation toward all the effort of the head of senior design Olivera
Notaros has done. She has been a great influence in our project by always making sure that plan
is up to date and bringing us some real work experts who are in the field of engineering to give
presentations of their work experience. Also, we would like to thank the staff of the electrical
engineering department at Colorado state university for all of their effort they put every day to
help students like us graduate.

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