Title:  Reliability of Distribution Systems under Extreme Weather Conditions

Committee: 

Dr. Meliopoulos, Advisor      

Dr. Saeedifard, Chair

Dr. DesRoches

Abstract:

The objective of the proposed research is to minimize the effects of extreme weather on distribution system components thereby hardening the system and increasing it resiliency and reliability. Electric distribution systems are vulnerable to high wind speeds due to bad weather conditions such as hurricanes. In this research, the impact of hurricanes is studied as a function of vulnerability of utility poles against extreme wind loads.  This is especially important for networks serving critical loads such as hospitals and factories. Knowledge of the breakage points of the network provides a basis for predicting outages and planning the power restoration scheme. Outages are minimized by network reconfiguration algorithms where the network structure of distribution feeders is changed by manipulating the open/close status of switches. The proposed research will serve as a foundation for new knowledge base in vulnerability assessment of power networks. The result will be a safer, more reliable and better emergency prepared power system.