2009 Third International Conference on Power Systems, Kharagpur, INDIA December 27-29
PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER: 108
Determination of the Weakest Branch in a Radial
Distribution Network using Local Voltage Stability
Indicator at the Proximity of the Voltage Collapse
Point
Sumit Banerjee
Electrical Engineering Department
Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College
Durgapur, India
sumit_9999@rediffmail.com
Abstract— This paper presents a unique method to determine the
weakest branch or the overstressed branch in a distribution
network. This radial feature of the network has been fully
exploited to establish the concept of local voltage stability
indicator in terms of reactive power. The effectiveness of the
proposed method has been successfully tested in 12 bus radial
distribution system and the results are found to be in very good
agreement.
Keywords- Local voltage stability indicator; radial
distribution system; voltage collapse; weakest branch.
I. INTRODUCTION
V OLTAGE stability [1] may be explained as the ability of a
power system to maintain voltage at all the nodes of the
system so that with the increase of load, load power will
increase and both the power and voltage are controllable. The
problem of voltage stability [1] has been defined as inability of
the power system to provide the reactive power [2] or non-
uniform consumption of reactive power by the system itself.
Therefore, voltage stability is a major concern in planning and
assessment of security of large power systems in contingency
situation, specially in developing countries because of non-
uniform growth of load demand and lacuna in the reactive
power management side [3]. The loads generally play a key
role in voltage stability analysis and therefore the voltage
stability is known as load stability. Literature survey shows
that a major work has been done on the voltage stability
analysis of transmission systems, but so far the researchers
have paid very little attention on the voltage stability analysis
for a radial distribution network [4-10] in power system.
A radial distribution system consists of root node, main line,
lateral line, sub lateral line and minor line with some uniform
and non-uniform tapings. Radial distribution system having a
high resistance to reactance ratio, which causes a high power
loss whereas the transmission system having a high reactance
to resistance ratio. So, the conventional load flow methods like
Newton Raphson and fast decoupled method cannot be
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, INDIA
978-1-4244-4331-4/09/$25.00 ©2009 IEEE
C K Chanda, S C Konar
Electrical Engineering Department
Bengal Engineering and Science University,Shibpur
Howrah, India
ckc_math@yahoo.com,konar.sukumar@hotmail.com
effectively used for the load flow analysis of radial
distribution systems.
All the 11 KV rural distribution feeders are radial in nature
and longitudinal in behavior due to vastness of our country
like India. The voltages at the distant end of many such radial
feeders are very low which demands high voltage regulation.
The current article develops a novel and simple voltage
stability indicator (VSI) [11-12] to identify the weakest branch
of a radial distribution system. This VSI can be either referred
to a node or a line but in this paper it refers to a distribution
line. The effectiveness of the proposed VSI is then tested on
12 node radial distribution feeder [6].
II. BASIC THEORY
A distribution networks consists of N number of nodes.
Normally, a number of branches are series connected to form a
radial feeder in low voltage distribution system. Let any
branch line is bjj where i and (i+1) are respectively two nodes
of the branch and node i is sending end node [sending end
voltage V (i )∠δ (i ) ] and node (i+1) is receiving end node
[voltage, V (i + 1)∠δ (i + 1) ]. Therefore, power flow
direction is from node i to node (i+1). The load flow from
node (i+1) is { P (i + 1) + jQ (i + 1) }. The impedance of the
branch bjj is R (i ) + jX (i ) . If line shunt admittances are
neglected, the current flowing through the line is given by,
V (i ) ∠δ (i ) − V (i + 1) ∠δ (i + 1)
I (i ) = (1)
R(i ) + jX (i )
The complex power is written as
S (i + 1) = P(i + 1) + jQ(i + 1) = V (i + 1)I * (i )
1
2009 Third International Conference on Power Systems, Kharagpur, INDIA December 27-29
PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER: 108

P(i + 1) − jQ(i + 1) P(i + 1) − jQ (i + 1) 4Q (i + 1)

or, I (i ) = = (2) { }
R 2 (i ) + X 2 (i ) ≤ 1 (9)
V * (i + 1) V (i + 1) ∠ − δ (i + 1) V (i ) X (i )
2

Here 4Q (i + 1) R 2 (i ) + X 2 (i ) is termed as Local Voltage

{ }
From (1) and (2) V (i ) X (i )
2

P(i + 1) − jQ (i + 1) V (i ) ∠δ (i ) − V (i + 1) ∠δ (i + 1) (3) Stability Indicator (VSI) and to maintain stability, the

=
V (i + 1) ∠ − δ (i + 1) R(i ) + jX (i ) condition is VSI ≤ 1. If the value of VSI exceeds unity, then
the corresponding distribution line is very much unstable. So
[R(i )P(i + 1) + X (i )Q(i + 1)] + j[X (i )P(i + 1) − R(i )Q(i + 1)] = (4) for safer operation of the system, the Local Voltage Stability
Indicator (VSI) should be less than unity.
V (i ) V (i + 1) [cos(δ (i ) − δ (i + 1)) + j sin (δ (i ) − δ (i + 1))] − V (i + 1)
2

Hence,VSI= 4Q (i + 1) {R 2 (i ) + X 2 (i )} (10)
Equating real and imaginary part of (4), we get
V (i ) X (i )
2
[R(i )P(i + 1) + X (i )Q(i + 1)] = (5)
V (i ) V (i + 1) cos (δ (i ) − δ (i + 1)) − V (i + 1)
2
In radial distribution system the power flow problem can be
and solved by distflow technique. The active and reactive power
[X (i )P(i + 1) − R(i )Q(i + 1)] = (6) flow through the branch near bus i is P (i ) and
V (i ) V (i + 1) sin (δ (i ) − δ (i + 1)) Q (i ) respectively and the active and reactive power flow
through the branch near bus (i+1) is P (i + 1 ) and
From (5) and (6), we get Q (i + 1 ) respectively.
Hence we can write
V (i ) V (i + 1) cos(δ (i ) − δ (i + 1)) − V (i + 1) =
2
P (i ) = P (i + 1 ) +
⎡ V (i ) V (i + 1) sin (δ (i ) − δ (i + 1)) + R(i )Q(i + 1) ⎤ (11)
P 2 (i + 1 ) + Q 2 (i + 1 )
R(i )⎢ ⎥ R (i )
⎣ X (i ) ⎦ V (i + 1 )
2

+ X (i )Q(i + 1)
Q (i ) = Q (i + 1 ) +
⎡ ⎧ R (i ) ⎫ (12)
⎢⎨
⎤
⎬ sin (δ (i ) − δ (i + 1))⎥ P 2
(i + 1 ) + Q 2 (i + 1 ) X (i )
V (i + 1) + V (i ) V (i + 1) ⎢ ⎩ X (i )⎭
2
⎥ V 2 (i + 1 )
⎢⎣ − cos (δ (i ) − δ (i + 1)) ⎥⎦
(7)
⎡ R (i ) ⎤
Here, ( P (i + 1 ) + jQ (i + 1 )) is the sum of complex load
2
+ Q (i + 1)⎢ + X (i )⎥ = 0
⎣ X (i ) ⎦
at bus (i+1) and all the complex power flow through the
downstream branches of bus (i+1).
The equation (7) is quadratic in nature and to have real roots,
the discriminate must be greater than or equal to zero. Now, the voltage magnitude at bus (i+1) is given by
From (7), we get
2
2 ⎡ ⎧ R (i ) ⎫ ⎤
V (i ) ⎢ ⎨ ⎬ sin (δ (i ) − δ (i + 1)) − cos (δ (i ) − δ (i + 1))⎥ V (i + 1 ) = V 2 (i ) − 2 ( P (i )R (i ) +
2
Q (i ) X (i )) +
⎣⎩ X (i ) ⎭ ⎦ (13)
(8) ( P 2 (i ) + Q 2 (i ))( R 2 (i ) + X 2 (i ))
⎡ R 2 (i ) ⎤
− 4Q (i + 1)⎢ + X (i )⎥ ≥ 0 V 2 (i )
⎣ X (i ) ⎦

The power flow solution of a radial distribution feeder

Generally in radial distribution system, the voltage angle is
involves recursive use of (11) to (13) in reverse and forward
negligibly small. So, [δ (i ) − δ (i + 1)] ≅ 0 .Hence, direction. Now beginning at the last branch and finishing at
2
⎡ ⎧ R (i ) ⎫ ⎤ the first branch of the feeder, we determine the complex power
⎢⎨ ⎬ sin (δ (i ) − δ (i + 1)) − cos (δ (i ) − δ (i + 1))⎥ ≅ 1 . Therefore, flow through each branch of the feeder in the reverse direction
⎣⎩ X (i ) ⎭ ⎦
using (11) to (13). Then we determine the voltage magnitude
of all the buses in forward direction using (13).
from (8)
⎡ R 2 (i ) ⎤
V (i ) − 4Q (i + 1)⎢ + X (i )⎥ ≥ 0
2

⎣ X (i ) ⎦

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2009 Third International Conference on Power Systems, Kharagpur, INDIA December 27-29
PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER: 108

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

TABLE III VOLTAGE STABILITY INDICATOR FOR ALL THE BRANCHES OF THE
With the help of MATLAB programme, the effectiveness of MAIN FEEDER.
the proposed VSI is tested on 11 KV radial distribution Branch No Voltage stability indicator
systems consisting of 12 buses. The single line diagram of the b1 0.0419
12-bus system is shown in Fig. 1 and its data is given in [6].
b2 0.0390

.. . . . . . . . . .
b3 0.0635
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 b4 0.0808
b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7 b8 b9 b10 b11 b5 0.0250
k j i h g f e d c b a b6 0.0216
SS b7 0.0981
b8 0.0897
Figure 1 Single line diagram of a main feeder.
b9 0.0304
We have determined active and reactive power at different b10 0.0096
node points of the main feeder (node points a to k) from (11) b11 0.0026
and (12) respectively (see Table 1) and the voltage magnitude
of all nodes through (13) (see Table 2). Then we have
determined the VSI of all branches of the feeder through (10) 100% load
(see Table 3). From Fig. 2, the investigation reveals that the
value of the VSI to be maximum in the branch b7 (connected
between buses 7 and 8). Thus branch b7 can be considered as 0.12
the weakest branch or heavily loaded branch of the system. Voltage stability indicator
0.1
TABLE I POWER AT DIFFERENT NODE POINTS (A TO K) OF THE FEEDER.
0.08
Node point Power at different node points of the main
feeder
Active power in Reactive power in 0.06
KW KVAR
a 55.0051 45.0014 0.04

b 90.0760 75.0214 0.02

c 130.4439 115.1255
0
d 177.0168 160.5707
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
e 234.2942 216.1991
Branch num ber
f 255.2003 231.5762
g 286.3485 262.0542 Figure 2 Voltage stability indicator of all branches of the main feeder.
h 345.5690 318.8136
i 389.5496 350.4723
Now we increase the active and reactive load of all the nodes
to 120%, 150% and 200%. Then we have determined the
j 452.2963 411.6183 voltage stability indicator (see Table 4) for all branches of the
k 455.71 413.04 main feeder for all the above cases. Here also branch b7 can
be considered as the weakest branch or heavily loaded branch
TABLE II VOLTAGE MAGNITUDE OF ALL NODES OF THE MAIN FEEDER of the system (see Fig. 3) for all cases.
Node no. Voltage magnitude
1 1.0000 TABLE IV VOLTAGE STABILITY INDICATOR FOR ALL BRANCHES OF THE MAIN
FEEDER FOR 120%,150% AND 200% OF INCREASED LOAD OF ALL THE NODES
2 0.99433
3 0.98903 Branch No Voltage stability indicator
4 0.98057 120% load 150% load 200% load
5 0.96982 b1 0.0504 0.0634 0.0852
6 0.96653
b2 0.0471 0.0594 0.0803
7 0.96374
8 0.95530 b3 0.0768 0.0970 0.1319
9 0.94727 b4 0.0980 0.1244 0.1703
10 0.94446
11 0.94356 b5 0.0305 0.0390 0.0541
12 0.94335 b6 0.0263 0.0337 0.0469

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2009 Third International Conference on Power Systems, Kharagpur, INDIA December 27-29
PAPER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER: 108

b7 0.1197 0.1536 0.2143 weakest bus of the 12 bus radial distribution system. Hence,
b8 0.1099 0.1418 0.1999 once the voltage stability indicator is achieved, the operating
b9 0.0374 0.0486 0.0692 personnel can have a sufficient knowledge regarding the
b10 0.0118 0.0154 0.0220
overstressed or weakest branch of the power network.
b11 0.0032 0.0042 0.0060
V. PROPOSED WORK
As an extension of the work, we can increase the load
120% load 150% load 200% load
multiplier factor until the system finally collapse and at that
point the operating personal can decide the critical juncture of
Voltage stability indicator

0.25 the distribution network.

0.2

0.15 REFERENCES
0.1 [1] H. K. Clark, “ New challenges: Voltage stability ” IEEE Power Engg
Rev, April 1990, pp. 33-37.
0.05 [2] T. Van Cutsem: “ A method to compute reactive power margins with
respect to voltage collapse”, IEEE Trans. on Power Systems, No. 1, 1991.
0 [3] Ph.D thesis of Dr. C.K. Chanda on “Global voltage stability indicator
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 index” in 2003,BESU.
[4] R. Ranjan, B. Venkatesh, D. Das, “Voltage stability analysis of radial
Branch num ber distribution networks”, Electric Power Components and Systems,Vol.
31, pp. 501-511, 2003.
[5] M. Chakravorty, D. Das, “ Voltage stability analysis of radial distribution
Figure 3 Voltage stability indicator of all branches of the main feeder at
networks”, Electric Power and Energy Systems,Vol. 23, pp. 129-135,
120%, 150% and 200% of increased load of all the nodes.
2001.
[6] Das, D., Nagi, H. S., and Kothari, D. P., “ Novel method for solving radial
Therefore branch b7 has the smallest value and it remains distribution networks”, IEE Proc. C, 1994, (4), pp. 291-298.
smallest for all the load levels. Figure 4 shows the voltage [7] J.F. Chen, W. M. Wang, “ Steady state stability criteria and uniqueness of
stability indicator (VSI) at various load levels of the weakest load flow solutions for radial distribution systems”, Electric Power and
Energy Systems,Vol. 28, pp. 81-87, 1993.
branch of the system (branch b7). [8] D. Das, D.P. Kothari, A. Kalam, “ Simple and efficient method for load
solution of radial distribution networks”, Electric Power and Energy
Systems,Vol. 17, pp. 335-346, 1995.
[9] Goswami, S. K., and Basu, S. K., “ Direct solution of distribution
systems”, IEE Proc. C, 1991, 138, (1), pp. 78-88.
[10] F. Gubina and B. Strmcnik, “A simple approach to voltage stability
assessment in radial network”, IEEE Trans. on PS, Vol. 12, No. 3, 1997,
pp. 1121-1128.
[11]C.K. Chanda, A. Chakraborti,S.Dey, “Development of global voltage
security indicator(VSI) and role of SVC on it in longitudinal power
supply(LPS) system”, ELSEVIER(Electrical Power System Research
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[12] K. Vu, M.M. Begovic, D. Novosel and M.M. Saha, “Use of local
measurements to estimate voltage-stability margin”,IEEE Trans. on PS,
Vol. 14, No. 3,1999, pp. 1029-1035.

Figure 4 Variation of VSI of the weakest branch.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
From the above simulation result, it is observed that branch b7
(see Tables 3 and 4) has shown the lowest value, which is far
away from unity (Fig.4) and this bus can be identified as a

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