Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2005) 106114

A new power flow method for radial distribution systems including

voltage dependent load models
Ulas Eminoglu, M. Hakan Hocaoglu
Gebze Institute of Technology, Department of Electronics Engineering, Kocaeli 41400, Turkey
Received 27 August 2004; accepted 1 May 2005

Abstract
This paper presents a simple and efficient method to solve the power flow problem in radial distribution systems. The proposed method takes
into account voltage dependency of static loads, and line charging capacitance. The method is based on the forward and backward voltage
updating by using polynomial voltage equation for each branch and backward ladder equation (Kirchoffs Laws). Convergence ability and
reliability of the method is compared with the Ratio-Flow method, which is based on classical forwardbackward ladder method, for different
loading conditions, R/X ratios and different source voltage levels, under the wide range of exponents of loads. Results demonstrate that the
proposed power flow algorithm has a robust convergence ability when compared with the improved version of the classical forward-backward
ladder method, i.e., Ratio-Flow.
2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Radial distribution systems; Polynomial equation; Power flow; Voltage dependent loads

1. Introduction
In the last few decades, efficient and reliable load
flow solution techniques, such as: Gauss-Seidel; NewtonRaphson; and Fast decoupled load flow [13], have been
developed and widely used for power system operation,
control and planning. However, it has repeatedly been shown
that these methods may become inefficient in the analysis of
distribution systems with high R/X ratios or special network
structures [46]. Accordingly, there are a number of reported
studies in the literature [717] specially designed for solution of power flow problem in radial distribution networks.
Methods developed for the solution of ill-conditioned radial
distribution systems may be divided into two categories.
The first type of methods is based on the forwardbackward
sweep process for solution of ladder networks. On the other
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 262 653 84 97/10 74;
fax: +90 262 653 84 90.
E-mail addresses: u.eminoglu@gyte.edu.tr (U. Eminoglu),
hocaoglu@gyte.edu.tr (M.H. Hocaoglu).

0378-7796/$ see front matter 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.epsr.2005.05.008

hand, the second group of methods is utilised by proper

modification of existing methods such as, Newton-Raphson.
Shirmohammadi et al. [7] have presented a compensationbased power flow method for radial distribution networks
and/or for weakly meshed structure using a multi-port compensation technique and basic formulations of Kirchhoffs
Laws. The radial part is solved by a straightforward two-step
procedure in which the branch currents are first computed
(backward sweep) and then bus voltages are updated (forward sweep). In the improved version [8], branch power flow
is used instead of branch complex current for weakly meshed
transmission and distribution systems by Luo and Semlyen.
In [9], Baran and Wu propose a methodology for solving
radial power flow for analysing optimal capacitor sizing
problem. In this method, for each branch of the network three
non-linear equations are written in terms of branch power
flows and bus voltages. The number of equations is subsequently reduced using terminal conditions associated with
the main feeder and its laterals, and Newton-Raphson method
is applied to this reduced set. Computational efficiency is
improved by making some simplifications in the jacobian.

U. Eminoglu, M.H. Hocaoglu / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2005) 106114

Consequently, numerical properties and convergence rate of

this algorithm have been studied using the iterative solution
of three fundamental equations representing real power, reactive power and voltage magnitude by Chiang in [10].Renato
Cespedes [11] makes use of well-known bi-quadratic equation, which relates the voltage magnitude at the receiving
end to the voltage at the sending end and branch power flow
for every branch. In this study, only voltage magnitudes are
computed, bus phase angles do not appear in his formulation,
which was also used by Das et al. [12]. Jasmon and Lee [13],
have proposed a load flow technique for every branch, which
leads to a pair of quadratic equations relating power flows
at both ends with the voltage magnitude at the sending end
for the voltage stability analysis of radial networks. Haque
[14] have formulated power flow problem of distribution
systems in terms of three sets of recursive equations and
analysed power flow results for various voltage dependent
load models. The effects of various load models on the convergence pattern of the method are also studied. The effect
of voltage-dependency of load on the results of power flow
solution are also analysed by Mok et al. [15]. Authors have
shown a new approach for power flow analysis of distribution
systems, which is based on Kirchoffs Laws and demonstrated the effect of different load models on the convergence
ability of their method. In ref. [16] authors have proposed
Ratio-Flow method, which is based on forwardbackward
ladder equation for complex distribution system by using
voltage ratio for convergence control. This method was
applied with the standard Newton-Raphson method for
complex distribution systems, which have multiple sources
or relatively strong connected loops with extended long
radial feeders including laterals, to solve power flow
problem. Ranjan and Das [17] have proposed a new method
to solve radial distribution networks. They have used simple
algebraic recursive expression of voltage magnitude and the
proposed algorithm uses the basic principle of the circuit
theory.
The aim of this paper is to propose a new power flow
method for radial distribution networks with improved convergence characteristics. It is based on polynomial equation
on the forward process and backward ladder equation for
each branch of radial distribution system. In the proposed
method, line shunt capacitance and exponents of static load
are included in power flow solution. The proposed method
is tested on two ill-conditioned radial systems for different
voltage-dependent load models, and then it is compared with
the results of Ratio-Flow method [16] and evaluated against
a commercial grade power flow program PFLOW [18].
A series of tests are under taken to evaluate the proposed
method for different loading conditions, different R/X ratios
and different voltage levels, under wide range of exponents
of loads in radial distribution systems. Results show that the
proposed method has fast and reliable convergence ability
when compared with Ratio-Flow method, which is known
with its faster convergence characteristics amongst various
sweep methods [16].

107

2. Power ow formulation for radial distribution

systems
In conventional load flow studies, it is presumed that active
and reactive power demands are specified constant values,
regardless of the amplitude of voltages in the same bus.
In actual power systems operation, different categories and
types of loads such as residential, industrial and commercial
loads might be present. The nature of these types of loads
is such that their active and reactive powers are dependent
on the voltage and frequency of the system. Moreover, load
characteristics have significant effects on load flow solutions
and convergence ability [14]. Common static load models for
active and reactive power are expressed in a polynomial or an
exponential form. The characteristic of the exponential load
models can be given as:

np
V
P = P0
(1)
V0

nq
V
Q = Q0
(2)
V0
where np and nq stand for load exponents, P0 and Q0 stand
for the values of the active and reactive powers at the nominal
voltages. V and V0 stand for load bus voltage and load nominal
voltage, respectively. Special values of the load exponents
can cause specific load types such as: 0, constant power; 1,
constant current; 2, constant impedance. The polynomial load
model is a static load model that represents the powervoltage
relationship as a polynomial equation of voltage magnitude.
It is usually referred as ZIP model, as it is made up of three
different exponential load models: constant impedance (Z),
constant current (I) and constant power (P) static load models.
Common values for exponents of static loads are given in
Table 1 [1921]. For practical application, the evaluation of
coefficients np and nq requires use of parameter estimation
techniques.
The structure of many distribution systems is like a tree
with several laterals and sublaterals. Load voltage for branch
of any distribution system, given in Fig. 1, can be calculated
Table 1
Common values for the exponents for different static load models
Load component

np

nq

Battery charge
Fluorescent lamps
Constant impedance
Fluorescent lighting
Air conditioner
Constant current
Resistance space heater
Pumps, funs other motors
Incandescent lamps
Compact fluorescent lamps
Small industrial motors
Large industrial motors
Constant power

2.59
2.07
2
1
0.5
1
2
0.08
1.54
1
0.1
0.05
0

4.06
3.21
2
3
2.5
1
0
1.6
0
0.35
0.6
0.5
0

U. Eminoglu, M.H. Hocaoglu / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2005) 106114

108

Fig. 2. The per-phase equivalent circuit of one feeder without sub-branch.

Fig. 1. The -circuit model of a branch.

using the polynomial equation of the branch relates the

voltage magnitude at the receiving end to the voltage at the
sending end and transferred active and reactive power.
In Fig. 1, transmitted real and reactive power can be
derived in terms of the ABCD parameters of lossy line model
using following notation by assuming r = 0:
P=

|Vr ||Vs |
|A||Vr | 2
cos(Z A )
cos(Z s )
|Z|
|Z|

(3)

|Vr ||Vs |
|A||Vr | 2
sin(Z s )
sin(Z A )
|Z|
|Z|

= zy

(5)

A = cosh()

(6)

Q=

(4)

where Vs and Vr stand for voltages at bus s and bus r; z and

y are the line series impedance and shunt admittance. Z , s
and A stand for phase angles of the line series impedance,
voltage of bus (s) and A parameter of line given in Eq. (6),
respectively. Eqs. (3) and (4) can be rewritten as:
cos(Z s ) =

P|Z|
|A||Vr |
cos(Z A )
+
|Vs ||Vr |
|Vs |

(7)

sin(Z s ) =

Q|Z|
|A||Vr |
sin(Z A )
+
|Vs ||Vr |
|Vs |

(8)

using trigonometric identity,

cos2 (Z s ) + sin2 (Z s ) = 1

(9)

and substituting Eqs. (1), (2), (7) and (8) in to Eq. (9), the
polynomial equation of the load voltage obtained as:
|A|2 Vr4 + 2|A|Vr2 |Z|(P0 Vrnp cos(Z A )
+Q0 Vrnq sin(Z A )) Vs2 Vr2
+(P02 Vr2np + Q20 Vr2nq )|Z|2 = 0

(10)

Eq. (10) has a straightforward solution and depends on phase

angle, voltage dependency of static load and line parameters.
In the proposed algorithm, Vr is numerically obtained by
using a Matlab routine, based on least square optimization
techniques, for different static load models. It is noted that
from solutions for Vr only the highest positive real root of
this equation is used in the algorithm. The forward process of
the algorithm is based on this polynomial equation for each
branch of the system. For any feeder without sub-branch

(lateral), as given in Fig. 2, the backward ladder formula can

be written as:
 n

n
n1



Vs = Vn + It Zk
(11)
Ik
Zi
k=1

k=1

i=k+1

where n is the number of nodes in the feeder; Vs and Vn stand

for the sending end, receiving end voltages, respectively;
Zk and Zi are the impedance of the kth and ith section of
the feeder; Lk is the load at node k; Ik is the load current
at node k; It is the total current sent from the sending end
node.
This formula is used to calculate bus voltages in the backward process of the proposed method.

3. Proposed solution method

Consider the simple network in Fig. 2, one feeder without
any sub-branch, the proposed method can be summarized for
the same exponents of all load as in the following algorithm.
Step 1: Initialize the iteration counter, i.e., i = 1 and the bus
voltages of the feeder, i.e., V1 = V2 = V3 = . . . = Vn = Vs and
Vs is generally chosen as 1 pu in distribution systems.
Step 2: Perform the forward process using Eq. (10) to
obtain bus voltages Vk starting from bus (0). For each load
bus, use total load power summing all load power of networks fed through the bus and use obtained bus voltage as
a sending end voltage of the next branch of the feeder.
Step 3: Calculate new active and reactive power of loads
using Eqs. (1) and (2), and then calculate loads current
profile.


Sk
Ik =
(12)
Vk
Step 4: Perform the backward process using Eq. (11) to
obtain new bus voltages Vknew and new sending end voltage
Vsnew starting from bus (n) at the end of feeder.
Step 5: Calculate the ratio of the new sending end voltage
and adjust the Vknew as:
Vs

Adjust

Vk

Vsnew
Vs
=

Vknew
Vs r

(13)
(14)

Ratio-Flow method

3
3
3
2
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
2
4
4
3
4
Load type Constant power

Small industrial motors

Pumps, funs other motors

Constant current

Air conditioner

Constant impedance

Fluorescent lamps

Battery charge

Node

Proposed R.-F. M. PFLOW Proposed R.-F. M.

Proposed R.-F. M.

Proposed R.-F. M. Proposed R.-F. M. Proposed R.-F. M.

Proposed R.-F. M. Proposed R.-F. M.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

1.0000
0.9888
0.9790
0.9655
0.9539
0.9429
0.9354
0.9315
0.9268
0.9246
0.9237
0.9235

1.0000
0.9891
0.9796
0.9665
0.9552
0.9446
0.9373
0.9335
0.9290
0.9268
0.9260
0.9257

1.0000
0.9894
0.9802
0.9676
0.9567
0.9465
0.9396
0.9359
0.9317
0.9296
0.9288
0.9286

1.0000
0.9902
0.9816
0.9699
0.9598
0.9503
0.9440
0.9407
0.9369
0.9350
0.9343
0.9341

1.0000
0.9888
0.9790
0.9655
0.9539
0.9429
0.9354
0.9314
0.9268
0.9246
0.9237
0.9235

1.0000
0.9887
0.9789
0.9654
0.9538
0.9429
0.9354
0.9314
0.9268
0.9246
0.9237
0.9234

1.0000
0.9889
0.9793
0.9660
0.9546
0.9438
0.9364
0.9325
0.9280
0.9258
0.9249
0.9247

1.0000
0.9890
0.9793
0.9660
0.9546
0.9438
0.9365
0.9326
0.9280
0.9258
0.9250
0.9247

1.0000
0.9891
0.9796
0.9666
0.9553
0.9446
0.9374
0.9336
0.9291
0.9269
0.9261
0.9259

1.0000
0.9894
0.9802
0.9676
0.9567
0.9465
0.9396
0.9360
0.9317
0.9297
0.9289
0.9287

1.0000
0.9894
0.9802
0.9675
0.9566
0.9463
0.9393
0.9357
0.9313
0.9293
0.9285
0.9282

1.0000
0.9895
0.9803
0.9676
0.9567
0.9464
0.9395
0.9358
0.9315
0.9294
0.9286
0.9284

1.0000
0.9900
0.9812
0.9693
0.9591
0.9494
0.9430
0.9397
0.9357
0.9338
0.9331
0.9329

1.0000
0.9900
0.9812
0.9694
0.9591
0.9495
0.9431
0.9397
0.9358
0.9339
0.9332
0.9330

1.0000
0.9902
0.9816
0.9699
0.9599
0.9505
0.9442
0.9409
0.9370
0.9352
0.9344
0.9342

1.0000
0.9904
0.9821
0.9707
0.9610
0.9518
0.9457
0.9425
0.9388
0.9370
0.9363
0.9361

1.0000
0.9904
0.9821
0.9708
0.9611
0.9519
0.9459
0.9427
0.9390
0.9372
0.9365
0.9363

U. Eminoglu, M.H. Hocaoglu / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2005) 106114

Proposed method

104 105 106

3
3
3
2
3
3
2
3

Fig. 3. Flow chart of the proposed load flow technique.

Load model

104 105 106

4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

Table 2
Number of iteration required to solution of the power flow problem

Tolerance

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
2
2
2
3
3

Constant power
Small industrial motors
Pumps, funs other motors
Constant current
Air conditioner
Constant impedance
Fluorescent lamps
Battery charge

Table 3
Results of power flow solution by two methods for different static load types (pu)

109

U. Eminoglu, M.H. Hocaoglu / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2005) 106114

110

Step 6: Return to Step 2 until the convergence tolerance,

as given in Eq. (15), is reached.
j+1

||Vk

| |Vk ||

(15)

Step 7: Repeat Steps 35 again to obtain new phase angles

of bus voltages and all parameters of system.
It is noted that the algorithm does not require initial bus
voltages in case of constant power load models and after
the first iteration, the forward process have to be performed
by starting from bus (1) to obtain different bus voltages on
the feeder in Step 2. This algorithm can be applied to the
whole system, which has sub-branches (lateral) by adding lateral sub-iterations. For the lateral sub-iterations, lateral node
voltages are used as lateral convergence target. In adjusting of lateral node voltages, for calculating the ratio Vs r ,
lateral sending end voltage on the feeder is used instead of
feeder sending end voltage Vs in Eq. (13). When the lateral reaches convergence tolerance, lateral total current and
power are calculated and added its sending end on the feeder.
The obtained total current and power of lateral are used for
the backward and forward processes, respectively. Then the
above algorithm is continued until voltages along the feeder
reach the convergence tolerance. The algorithm of the method
for whole system, which has laterals, is given in the form of
a flow chart in Fig. 3.

Table 4
Number of iteration required to solution of the power flow problem
Load model

Proposed method

Ratio-Flow method

Constant power
Small industrial motors
Pumps, funs other motors
Constant current
Air conditioner
Constant impedance
Fluorescent lamps
Battery charge

3
3
3
3
2
3
3
3

4
4
4
3
4
4
4
5

proposed method. The algorithm has been coded in Matlab and results compared with Ratio-Flow method [16]. To
demonstrate the accuracy, calculated voltages for constant
power load model are evaluated against a standard power
flow program PFLOW [18], which is actually designed for
transmission systems, and also used in distribution studies
[23]. An 11 kV distribution system having 30 buses (including the source bus) is used to observe the reliability of the
method with different static load models. The system has a
main feeder and three laterals. Single line diagram of the
system is given in Fig. 4. The data for the system is obtained
from Ref. [22] and given in Appendix A. Initial voltage magnitude at all buses is considered to be the same as the source
bus. A tolerance of 104 on voltage magnitude is used for
the studies.
4.1. Case study 1

4. Application to radial distribution networks

Two test systems (distribution networks with and without laterals) are used to test the convergence ability of the

In this study, the convergence characteristic and reliability analysis of the proposed method is performed for seven
typical exponential load models in a 12-bus radial system.

Fig. 4. Single-phase circuit of a 30-bus distribution system.

Table 5
Results of power flow solution with two methods for different static load types (pu)
Load type Constant power

Small industrial motors

Pumps, funs other motors

Constant current

Air conditioner

Constant impedance

Fluorescent lamps

Battery charge

Proposed R.-F. M. PFLOW Proposed R.-F. M.

Proposed R.-F. M.

Proposed R.-F. M. Proposed R.-F. M. Proposed R.-F. M.

Proposed R.-F. M. Proposed R.-F. M.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

1.000
0.9885
0.9785
0.9647
0.9528
0.9416
0.9341
0.9301
0.9255
0.9232
0.9224
0.9221
0.9780
0.9775
0.9773
0.9773
0.9325
0.9250
0.9166
0.9099
0.9040
0.8973
0.8918
0.8867
0.8842
0.8832
0.8829
0.9333
0.9328
0.9325

1.000
0.9890
0.9793
0.9660
0.9545
0.9436
0.9364
0.9325
0.9280
0.9259
0.9250
0.9248
0.9788
0.9783
0.9782
0.9782
0.9350
0.9279
0.9199
0.9135
0.9080
0.9016
0.8964
0.8915
0.8891
0.8882
0.8879
0.9356
0.9351
0.9349

1.000
0.9894
0.9802
0.9676
0.9568
0.9466
0.9397
0.9360
0.9318
0.9297
0.9289
0.9287
0.9797
0.9792
0.9791
0.9791
0.9385
0.9317
0.9243
0.9184
0.9132
0.9074
0.9026
0.8981
0.8959
0.8951
0.8948
0.9390
0.9385
0.9382

1.000
0.9904
0.9820
0.9706
0.9608
0.9516
0.9452
0.9419
0.9380
0.9362
0.9355
0.9352
0.9815
0.9810
0.9809
0.9809
0.9444
0.9384
0.9319
0.9267
0.9222
0.9171
0.9129
0.9090
0.9071
0.9064
0.9061
0.9446
0.9441
0.9439

1.000
0.9885
0.9784
0.9645
0.9525
0.9412
0.9337
0.9297
0.9250
0.9228
0.9219
0.9217
0.9778
0.9774
0.9772
0.9772
0.9321
0.9245
0.9162
0.9095
0.9036
0.8969
0.8914
0.8862
0.8837
0.8828
0.8825
0.9329
0.9324
0.9321

1.000
0.9884
0.9784
0.9645
0.9525
0.9412
0.9337
0.9297
0.9251
0.9228
0.9220
0.9217
0.9778
0.9773
0.9772
0.9772
0.9321
0.9246
0.9162
0.9095
0.9037
0.8970
0.8915
0.8863
0.8838
0.8829
0.8826
0.9329
0.9324
0.9321

1.000
0.9888
0.9789
0.9654
0.9537
0.9427
0.9354
0.9315
0.9269
0.9247
0.9239
0.9236
0.9784
0.9779
0.9778
0.9778
0.9339
0.9266
0.9185
0.9119
0.9063
0.8998
0.8944
0.8894
0.8870
0.8861
0.8858
0.9346
0.9341
0.9339

1.000
0.9887
0.9789
0.9653
0.9537
0.9426
0.9352
0.9313
0.9268
0.9246
0.9238
0.9235
0.9784
0.9779
0.9778
0.9777
0.9338
0.9264
0.9183
0.9118
0.9061
0.8996
0.8943
0.8893
0.8868
0.8859
0.8856
0.9345
0.9340
0.9337

1.000
0.9890
0.9794
0.9661
0.9546
0.9438
0.9366
0.9327
0.9282
0.9261
0.9252
0.9250
0.9789
0.9784
0.9782
0.9782
0.9352
0.9280
0.9201
0.9137
0.9082
0.9018
0.8966
0.8916
0.8893
0.8884
0.8881
0.9358
0.9353
0.9351

1.000
0.9894
0.9802
0.9676
0.9567
0.9465
0.9396
0.9360
0.9317
0.9297
0.9289
0.9287
0.9797
0.9792
0.9791
0.9791
0.9384
0.9317
0.9243
0.9183
0.9132
0.9073
0.9025
0.8980
0.8958
0.8950
0.8947
0.9389
0.9384
0.9382

1.000
0.9894
0.9802
0.9674
0.9564
0.9460
0.9390
0.9354
0.9310
0.9290
0.9282
0.9279
0.9796
0.9792
0.9790
0.9790
0.9379
0.9311
0.9236
0.9176
0.9123
0.9063
0.9014
0.8968
0.8946
0.8937
0.8935
0.9383
0.9378
0.9376

1.000
0.9895
0.9803
0.9676
0.9567
0.9464
0.9394
0.9357
0.9314
0.9293
0.9285
0.9283
0.9798
0.9793
0.9791
0.9791
0.9382
0.9314
0.9239
0.9179
0.9126
0.9067
0.9017
0.8971
0.8949
0.8940
0.8938
0.9387
0.9382
0.9379

1.000
0.9902
0.9816
0.9699
0.9599
0.9505
0.9441
0.9407
0.9368
0.9349
0.9342
0.9339
0.9811
0.9806
0.9805
0.9805
0.9432
0.9370
0.9304
0.9250
0.9204
0.9151
0.9108
0.9068
0.9049
0.9041
0.9039
0.9434
0.9430
0.9428

1.000
0.9902
0.9816
0.9700
0.9600
0.9506
0.9442
0.9408
0.9369
0.9350
0.9342
0.9340
0.9811
0.9806
0.9805
0.9805
0.9432
0.9371
0.9304
0.9250
0.9204
0.9152
0.9109
0.9069
0.9049
0.9042
0.9040
0.9435
0.9431
0.9428

1.000
0.9904
0.9821
0.9707
0.9610
0.9518
0.9455
0.9422
0.9383
0.9365
0.9358
0.9355
0.9816
0.9811
0.9810
0.9810
0.9446
0.9387
0.9322
0.9269
0.9224
0.9173
0.9131
0.9092
0.9073
0.9066
0.9064
0.9448
0.9444
0.9442

1.000
0.9907
0.9827
0.9717
0.9623
0.9534
0.9473
0.9441
0.9403
0.9386
0.9379
0.9377
0.9822
0.9817
0.9816
0.9816
0.9465
0.9409
0.9346
0.9297
0.9254
0.9205
0.9166
0.9128
0.9111
0.9104
0.9102
0.9467
0.9462
0.9460

1.000
0.9908
0.9827
0.9718
0.9624
0.9537
0.9476
0.9444
0.9407
0.9389
0.9382
0.9380
0.9822
0.9818
0.9816
0.9816
0.9468
0.9411
0.9349
0.9300
0.9257
0.9208
0.9168
0.9131
0.9113
0.9107
0.9105
0.9469
0.9465
0.9463

U. Eminoglu, M.H. Hocaoglu / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2005) 106114

Node

111

112

U. Eminoglu, M.H. Hocaoglu / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2005) 106114

The system is composed from 30-bus system omitting laterals and total power of each laterals are added to its sending
end on the feeder. Tables 2 and 3 show the results of power
flow solution and number of iterations by using three methods. From Table 2, it is clear that, for different load models,
the proposed method has fast convergence speed when compared with the Ratio-Flow method for the tolerance values
from 104 to 106 on voltage magnitudes. From the power
flow solution provided in Table 3, it can be concluded that
the proposed method is robust and reliable for the problem in
distribution systems. Both methods are converged in almost
the same voltage magnitudes. Absolute difference between
voltage magnitudes obtained using both methods is in the

range of maximum 0.0002 pu, which occurs for the higher

number of load exponents. The same observation could be
made for the phase angles.
4.2. Case study 2
In this study, the proposed algorithm, given in Fig. 3, is
tested on the 30-bus radial system with laterals to analyse
performance of the method for different voltage-dependent
load models. The single line diagram of the distribution system and its data are given in Fig. 4 and in Appendix A,
respectively. The convergence speed of the proposed method
is compared with Ratio-Flow method and evaluated against

Fig. 5. Variation of the number of iteration for different parameters of the system for the proposed method (), Ratio-Flow (
) [(a) different tolerance values;
(b) different source voltage levels; (c) different loading conditions; (d) different R/X ratio].

U. Eminoglu, M.H. Hocaoglu / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2005) 106114

PFLOW results for constant power load model for a tolerance

of 104 on voltage magnitude. The effect of different characteristics of loads on the performance of methods and systems
voltage profile are analysed with seven types of the common
static loads given in Table 1. From Table 4, it can be said
that the proposed method has faster convergence ability than
Ratio-Flow method for different types of loads. Moreover,
from Table 5, different load models cause different voltage
profiles and the most voltage-dependent load model provides
the highest voltage magnitudes as expected. However, in this
case the convergence gets difficult and the required number of iteration increases in Ratio-Flow method because the
load values are adjusted in each iteration according to newly
calculated voltage magnitudes. Again, the results obtained
using both methods are in close agreement. Maximum difference between results for all types of loads is in the range
of 0.0004 pu.
The convergence characteristic of methods is also analysed for various system parameters and loading conditions
for different value of exponents of loads. The value of
np and nq are selected as equal and varied from 0 to 5.
The number of iterations required to solve the power flow
problem for various voltage levels, loading conditions,
R/X ratios and tolerance values in the 30-bus distribution
system are given in Fig. 5. Results show that, the proposed
method has an obvious advantage on the convergence speed
over Ratio-Flow method under different system conditions.
Convergence tolerance for both methods are varied from
102 to 105 and results depicted in Fig. 5a. For all
tolerance values, the proposed algorithm needs less number
of iteration than Ratio-Flow method. It is also evident from
Fig. 5a that the proposed algorithm is less sensitive to the
tolerances.
Sending end source voltage (Vs ) are varied from 0.9
to 1.1 pu by keeping tolerances at 104 , and results are
depicted in Fig. 5b. For different source voltage levels, the
proposed method has fast convergence speed under wide
range of load exponents as shown in the figure. In addition
to that, required iteration number for the proposed method
is not affected by the magnitude of the source voltage. On
the other hand, convergence speed of Ratio-Flow method
is more sensitive to load exponents when source voltage is
increased.
Different loading conditions are considered by multiplying each nodes power by a load factor () as S = S
and results depicted in Fig. 5c. From the figure, for heavy
loading conditions of the system, maximum number of
iteration for the proposed method is only equal to four. On
the other hand, Ratio-Flow converges in the ninth iteration
for the same load. Moreover, the proposed method is not
sensitive to the loading levels. On the contrary, convergence
speed of Ratio-Flow method is heavily under influence of
load exponents when systems loads are increased. Finally,
branch impedances R/X ratios are varied multiplying each
branch resistance by a coefficient (k) as Z = k R + jX
and results depicted in Fig. 5d. Likewise, it is shown

113

that convergence speed of the proposed method is less

effected with the increase of R/X ratios of the system when
compared with the Ratio-Flow method. It is known that the
Ratio-Flow method is based on current summation, thus,
when loads are modelled as a constant current (np = nq = 1),
the required iteration is in the minimum level as shown
in Fig. 5.
The number of iteration needed to perform power flow
study is given in Fig. 5 for wide range of load exponents. It
can be observed that the proposed method converged very
quickly and less sensitive to load exponents and parameters
of the system. It takes four iterations for the maximum load
exponents when the system is heavily loaded, R/X ratio and
source voltage level are increased for the proposed method.
On the other hand, the Ratio-Flow method needs 10 iterations
to solve power flow study at the same system as can be seen
in Fig. 5.

5. Conclusions
In this paper, a new power flow technique, which is simple,
efficient and has fast convergence ability, has been proposed
for the power flow analysis in ill-conditioned radial distribution networks. The method is based on the forward and
backward voltage updating by using polynomial equation for
each branch and backward ladder formula. The advantages of
the proposed method are that, it has fast convergence ability
and gives an ability to use of the line shunt capacitance and
exponents of static loads in solution of power flow problems.
Although a comprehensive comparison on the computation
time is not under taken, the initial results suggest that
computation time of the proposed algorithm is somehow
slower than Ratio-Flow method. This partly due to the
usage of a general built in Matlab routine for the solution of
Eq. (10).
The new technique has been applied to 12-bus distribution system (without laterals) and 30-bus distribution
system (with three laterals). The power flow problem
has been successfully solved for two distribution systems
with different static load types and obtained results by two
methods have been compared. They have also been evaluated
under different loading conditions, different R/X ratios and
different voltage levels, under wide range of load exponents
in radial distribution systems. Results show that the proposed
method is robust, simple and has fast convergence ability.
Moreover, it needs less number of iteration than RatioFlow method and less sensitive to the distribution system
parameters.
The study will continue to improve the algorithm by
implementing an optimized numerical solver for Eq. (10).
Further parametrical analysis, specifically aimed to determine the computational burden, complexity and overall
speed of the proposed algorithm, will be under taken as a
future work. In the second phase of the study, the algorithm
will be extended for power flow solution of balanced and

U. Eminoglu, M.H. Hocaoglu / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2005) 106114

114

unbalanced three-phase distribution systems including local

generation.
Appendix A. Data for the 30-bus distribution system

Feeder section

12
23
34
45
56
67
78
89
910
1011
1112
313
1314
1415
1516
617
1718
1819
1920
2021
2122
2223
2324
2425
2526
2627
728
2829
2930

R + jX (pu)

Load
P (pu)

Q (pu)

0.0042
0
0.0042
0.0042
0
0
0.0042
0.0042
0.0041
0.0042
0.0025
0.0011
0.0011
0.0011
0.0002
0.0044
0.0044
0.0044
0.0044
0.0044
0.0044
0.0044
0.0044
0.0044
0.0044
0.0026
0.0017
0.0017
0.0017

0.0026
0
0.0026
0.0026
0
0
0.0026
0.0026
0.0025
0.0026
0.0015
0.0007
0.0007
0.0007
0.0001
0.0027
0.0027
0.0027
0.0027
0.0027
0.0027
0.0027
0.0027
0.0027
0.0027
0.0016
0.0011
0.0011
0.0011

0.0967 + 0.0397i
0.0886 + 0.0364i
0.1359 + 0.0377i
0.1236 + 0.0343i
0.1236 + 0.0343i
0.2598 + 0.0446i
0.1732 + 0.0298i
0.2598 + 0.0446i
0.1732 + 0.0298i
0.1083 + 0.0186i
0.0866 + 0.0149i
0.1299 + 0.0223i
0.1732 + 0.0298i
0.0866 + 0.0149i
0.0433 + 0.0074i
0.1483 + 0.0412i
0.1359 + 0.0377i
0.1718 + 0.0391i
0.1562 + 0.0355i
0.1562 + 0.0355i
0.2165 + 0.0372i
0.2165 + 0.0372i
0.2598 + 0.0446i
0.1732 + 0.0298i
0.1083 + 0.0186i
0.0866 + 0.0149i
0.1299 + 0.0223i
0.1299 + 0.0223i
0.1299 + 0.0223i

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