1
Treatment of Transformers and Voltage
Regulators in Branch Current State Estimation
for Distribution Networks
M. Houari, Student Member, IEEE, I. Kocar, Member, IEEE, F. Therrien, Student Member,
and J. S. Lacroix
Abstract-- The branch current state estimators available in
the existing literature consider the distribution networks as
composed of lines and cables. In this paper, a general technique is
demonstrated in order to handle other key distribution network
components such as transformers and voltage regulators. It is
also demonstrated how to consider the tap positions of
transformers and regulators as state variables in the estimation
process given that they are rarely telemetered.
The performance of iterative optimization algorithms
depends strongly on the initial solution. In this paper, the load
allocation algorithm is used in order to obtain an initial solution
and associate loads with pseudo-measurements. The latter step is
necessary in order to assure observability of the network. The
load allocation algorithm used in this study is a straightforward
tool based on ladder iterative algorithm.
Index Terms--Branch currents, distribution networks, State
Estimator (SE), tap position, Weighted Least Squares (WLS)
I. INTRODUCTION
T
he Distribution State Estimator (DSE) is an anticipated
feature to enhance planning studies and simulation of
electrical distribution networks under different operating
conditions and scenarios. The DSE tool can also be integrated
into real-time operations. It then becomes a part of the Energy
Management Systems (EMS) or Distribution Management
Systems (DMS).
When compared to the State Estimators (SE) developed
for transmission systems, the DSE is distinguished with
unbalanced measurements, low percentage of measurements
compared to state variables, relatively large number of nodes
with short line or cable sections and multi-phase results.
The load flow based DSE methods are considered
straightforward, practical and robust [1]-[4]. Some of them
could be integrated with relative ease in a backward-forward
sweep (ladder iterative) load flow engine. However, they have
important limitations, such as the inability to handle
measurements precisions. Therefore, they can provide invalid
solutions in cases where measurements are associated with
errors, e.g. a downstream current meter giving a larger
Mourad Houari and Ilhan Kocar are with the cole Polytechnique de
Montral, QC, Canada (mourad.houari@polymtl.ca, ilhan.kocar@polymtl.ca).
Francis Therrien is with the University of British Columbia. Jean-Sbastien
Lacroix is with Cooper Power Systems.
978-1-4799-1303-9/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE
metered value than its upstream counterpart. Integrating
voltage measurements is also complex in these methods.
However, the solution provided by these methods can be
utilized as the initial solution of DSE. In this work, a tool
called Load Allocation (LA) which is based on ladder
iterative algorithm is used in order to initialize the state
estimation. This tool includes only current and power flow
meters, without handling redundancy or any measurement
accuracy [5]-[6].
The system optimization DES methods are more
sophisticated [7]-[9]. Nonetheless, they have fewer
limitations: voltage measurements are handled naturally; the
imprecision of measurements is taken into account in the
solution process, which then allows identification of bad data.
It is also possible to take into account the measurement
redundancy.
The Branch Current State Estimator (BCSE) falls in the
category of system optimization methods and is a convenient
and efficient technique for distribution system state estimation
[7]. In this paper, the BCSE approach is extended in order to
include transformers and voltage regulators and the estimation
of their tap positions.
II. BACKGROUND
In order to model the problem of state estimation, it is
necessary to assume that measurements are independent and
each measurement has the same Gaussian probability density
function (pdf) [10].
The BCSE is based on the weighted least squares
approach (WLS). An estimate of the system can be given with
the solution of the following weighted least squares WLS
problem
minJ ( x ) = ( z - h ( x ) ) W -1 ( z - h ( x ) )
T
(1)
where J(x) is the objective function and x is the vector of
state variables, W is the covariance matrix, z is the
measurement vector and h(x) is a nonlinear function relating
the system state vector x to the measurement vector [10]. The
proposed method uses the branch currents and tap positions as
state variables.
Some equality constraints should also be added in order
to maintain lumped circuit laws. The SE modeling is thus an
optimization problem with equality constraints [11].
 2

Introducing the tap positions of transformers and voltage IV. METERS AND PSEUDO-MEASUREMENTS
regulators escalates the optimization problem. The basic idea of state estimation is to develop functions
In this study, the augmented matrix approach [10. P49],
(h(x)) that relate state variables (branch currents and tap
called the Hachtels matrix is solved iteratively in order to
solve (1) with constraints. positions) to measurements.
The physical measurements consist of current magnitude,
W H(x k ) 0 z - h( x k )
T k k voltage and PQ flow measurements. Since the number of
T k
H ( x ) 0 C (x ) x= 0 (2) measurements is limited in distribution systems, pseudo-
k
0
k
C(x ) 0 -c(x ) measurements are added to physical measurements in order to
make the network observable. PQ flow measurements and
where the superscript k stands for iteration count, H(xk) is the
pseudo-measurements are then converted into equivalent
Jacobian matrix evaluated at iteration k, c(x k ) is the
current measurements.
constraint function vector, C(x k ) is the constraint function
A) Pseudo-measurement: Loads
Jacobian matrix, and and are Lagrange multipliers.
A simple load allocation procedure is executed that
The algorithm in this study is based on the branch-
current-based DSE algorithm described in [7]. Neglecting at allocates current and power flow meters data to loads [6].
first the detection of bad data, topology estimation and This process provides an initial solution. Then loads are
discontinuity of tap positions, the proposed algorithm is treated as pseudo-measurements with large variance (error).
provided below: For a single phase load, 3 pseudo-measurements are
1. LA is performed by analyzing current/power flow utilized: reactive power, real power and their ratio which is
measurements and an initial solution is obtained. related to power factor. Note that, a three phase load is
2. Solve the WLS equation using (2).
composed of three single phase loads and it is possible to
3. Update the state variables (branch currents and taps) and
execute a forward sweep, to update the node voltages. decouple equations. Loads are converted into current
4. Check for convergence: if two successive updates of measurements which are calculated at each iteration step by
branch currents are less than a convergence tolerance then using the available voltage estimates. The load currents are
stop, otherwise return to the step 2. represented in rectangular form.
As already mentioned, the power factor is known with
III. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS more accuracy than P and Q, so the ratio R is introduced as a
It is important to state the assumptions and considerations pseudo-measurement.
used in the state estimation process: Q
When there is more than one load connected to the same R = (3)
P
node, it is possible to treat each load individually. The standard deviations corresponding to the real and
The shunt admittances of lines are neglected. imaginary parts of load currents (2IR and 2IX ) are obtained by
The algorithm is developed for radial or weakly meshed neglecting the influence of variation in voltage.
topologies. The following equations compute the equivalent current
Both primary and secondary currents of transformers (or load measured
voltage regulator) are considered as state variables. They V V
are related by a current matrix as used in backward- I R_Meas = R2 P + X2 Q (4)
V V
forward sweep load flow solvers. In other words
transformers are associated with constraints.
Loads are introduced as pseudo-measurements with low VX VR
I X_Meas = 2
P- 2
Q (5)
precision. V V
Although the loads represented with pseudo- Applying the variance property of a sum of two random
measurements are often characterized with a large variables:[12]
variation, the power factor of loads is usually available 2 2
V V
with more accuracy, so the ratio Q / P is considered as a I2R
= R P2 + X Q2 (6)
new pseudo-measurement. This increases the accuracy of V2 V2

the state estimator. 2 2
V V
The precision of measurements is given in percentage. I2X
= X P2 + R Q2 (7)
This needs to be converted to variance ( 2 ) in order to V 2 V2

create W. The precision equals 3 times the standard To express the measurement function h(x) in terms of
deviation. state variables, it is sufficient to use the nodal current
equations at each node connected to a load.
 3

m o transformers (with or without LTC) and voltage regulators.

=1
I R - I lR



Therefore, the voltage measurement depends on the branch
l=1 currents and taps. In this section, the treatment of

m o measurements in multi voltage-level networks is presented,



=1
I X - I lX



(8) which is not available in the existing literature.
l=1 The Fig.1 illustrates the path between the source and

VX I R_Load -VR I X_Load voltage meter. This is a realistic and general situation. In
V I
R R_Load +VX I X_Load Fig.1, zones are separated with voltage regulators. They could
be separated with transformers as well (with or without LTC).
The subscript R stands for the real part and X stands for
the imaginary part of the branch current. is the index of all
input branches (total of m) and is the index of all output
branches (total of o) once the forward sweep direction is taken
as reference.
The pseudo-measurements, i.e. loads, are populated in the
matrix H(x). For a given single phase load, the following
submatrix associated to each input/output current is obtained:
1 0 Fig. 1. Part of a distribution network showing the path connecting the
source to voltage meter
H load (x ) = 0 1
k
(9)
For a given single phase voltage measurement the
estimation function for the voltage magnitude is given as
where: follows:
(VX )2 I X + (VR )2 I R hv ( x ) = (VR )2 + (VX )2 (12)
= (10)
(VR I R +VX I X )2 In the Jacobian matrix H(x), the voltage measurement
2
- (V ) I X - (VX ) I R
2 function needs to be written in terms of state variables
= R (11) (currents of different branches). The voltage at the
(VR I R +VX I X )2 measurement point is equal to the voltage source minus the
I X and I R are the imaginary and real part of the load sum of voltage drops across the branches that connect the
respectively. = 1 for the output current and = +1 for the source to the measurement point [13]. Note that, the shunt
input current. admittances are neglected.
B) PQ flow measurements Each zone i contains ki lines and cables, so the three
Power flow measurements are converted into current phase voltages at the bus where the voltage meter is located is
measurements at each iteration step by using the updated given by:
voltage. p ki

As mentioned before, except voltage and current V = TVeqp +1 Vs - ( Zij TVeqi ) Iij (13)
=i 1 =j 1
measurements, all other measurements must be converted into
equivalent current measurements. This allows unifying and where Vs is the voltage at the source, p is the total number of
simplifying the Jacobian matrix H(x) elements. zones, and TVeq is the voltage transfer matrix defined for
The case where only the current amplitude is available each zone along the path between the measurement zone and
(the power factor is unknown) is called current magnitude source bus. It transfers the voltage quantities at a given zone to
the measurement zone by taking into account the
measurement. This was already treated in [7].
transformations introduced by transformers and voltage
C) Voltage measurements regulators. The transformation introduced by transformers and
Since branch currents are used as state variables the voltage regulators depends on the configuration and can be
represented with the matrix TVNVM which can also be used to
treatment of voltage measurements is not straightforward [9].
In this section, the integration of voltage magnitude relate the voltage transfer matrices of adjacent zones:
p
measurements in the proposed BCSE is explained. The voltage
can be expressed as the product of line-impedance matrix and
i
Veq i 1
= TVNVM i 1
Veq = TVi =2
i 1 1
NVM Veq (14)

currents [9]. However, voltage measurements can be located

1 0 0
in a zone where the nominal voltage level is different than the 1
with Veq = 0 1 0 . (15)
reference substation voltage. In other words, the path that joins
the source to the measurement device may contain 0 0 1
 4

The voltage measurement function depends both on V. CONSTRAINTS

branch currents and taps. Therefore, two partial derivatives Constraints are related to the basic circuit laws, i.e., KCL
need to be populated in the Jacobian matrix: and KVL. For example a fixed shunt capacitor or reactor
a) Partial derivative with respect to the branch currents delivers P and Q proportional to the voltage, so an equation
The zones are defined as shown Fig.1 from the bus where relating the injected P and Q to the voltage can be derived. For
a voltage meter is located to the source bus. Then, a transformers and voltage regulators, primary and secondary
voltage transfer matrix TVeq is computed using (14) for currents must satisfy the equations relating them.
each zone. This section details the constraints related to the
The impedance matrix should be modified at each transformers and voltage regulators in a loop designed
distribution network. The other constraints are given in [7].
segment. The impedance is multiplied by TVeq
A) Loop with transformers and voltage regulators
corresponding to the zone.
The Fig. 2 illustrates a radial network with a loop. The
Using modified impedances, the contribution to the
network is separated into zones with voltage regulators or
Jacobian matrix, for a given phase , is equal to transformers.
T
( ) (
-Z (a) R cos - Z ( a ) sin
X )
R ( ) X(
-Z ( a ) cos + Z ( a ) sin )

( ) (
-Z ( b ) cos - Z ( b ) sin
)
H current =
R X
(16)
R ( )
-Z b cos + Z b sin
( ) ( ) X( )

( )R
-Z c (
cos -)Z ( )X
c ( sin) Fig. 2. A general example with loop

( ) ( )
-Z ( c )R cos + Z ( c )X sin Fixed taps:
where Z is the modified line impedance and is the voltage Depending on the specific section of the loop a voltage
angle of phase at the voltage measurement location. transfer matrix for each zone i should be calculated. When the
b) Partial derivative with respect to taps modified equivalent impedance is computed for each zone, the
contribution to the Jacobian matrix C for a zone is written as:
In order to simplify the calculations, all terms of voltage
drop in (13) are neglected and the first term corresponding to R jaa -X jaa R jab -X jab R jac -X jac

the product of voltages is computed. R jba -X jba R jbb -X jbb R jbc -X jbc
So for each tap numbered q, the contribution to the Jacobian R -X jca R jcb -X jcb R jcc -X jcc
Czone = jca (21)
Matrix is computed as follows: X jaa R jaa X jab R jab X jac R jac
Compute the matrix d, the derivation of voltage matrix
with respect to tap: X jba R jba X jbb R jbb X jbc R jbc

q
TVNVM X jca R jca X jcb R jcb X jcc R jcc
d= (17)
Tap where: = 1 for a downstream path and = +1 for an

upstream path. R is the real part of the modified impedance
Compute the voltage transfer matrix without the element and X is the imaginary part of the modified impedance.
(transformer or voltage regulator) related to H For impedances located downstream or upstream, the
p+1 impedances are transferred to the new voltage base.
TVeq = TVNVMi (18) Regarding the dual path from the source to a location in
i=2(i k) the loop, the location appears as the n+1 region for the
Compute D: downstream loop and as the m+1 region for the upstream loop.
For each line j included in the ith (i=2:p) zone the
TVNVM q following equations are introduced in the Jacobian matrix:
D= TVeq Vs (19)
Tap i
TVeq i 1
= TVNVM i 1
TVeq

1 (22)
Finally the Jacobian matrix corresponding to the tap n +1 m +1
TVeq = TVeq_d - TVeq_u
becomes:
i
Re ( D ( 1,1) ) cos ( Va ) + Img ( D ( 1,1) ) sin ( Va ) Z mod = TVeq Zi (23)

H tap = Re ( D ( 2,1) ) cos ( Vb ) + Img ( D ( 2,1) ) sin ( Vb ) (20) Then (21) (with = 1 ) is applied for computing the
Jacobian matrix constraint ().
Re ( D ( 3,1) ) cos ( Vc ) + Img ( D ( 3,1) ) sin ( Vc )
 5

Variable taps:
In order to simplify the computation of the Jacobian
matrix, voltage drops across the branches are neglected, in
other words, only the first term in the loop is considered:
p

TVNVM_p
i
( TVeq_d
n +1 m +1
- TVeq_u ) Vs (24)
i =1
For each voltage regulator or transformer numbered as j
located on the path connecting the source to the beginning of
the loop, the derivative with respect to taps is:
j
TVNVM_p p
path
Vs =
Tap i=1, i j
i
TVNVM_p ( n +1
TVeq_d

m +1
- TVeq_u) Vs (25)
Fig. 3. Prototype network test
Finally the contribution to the Jacobian matrix C for the jth
transformer/voltage regulator located between the source and TABLE I
the loop is: Results of BCSE (the voltage base is 120V)
Case Tap position Std() Max

C(Vs ) =
path
( )
Re Vspath
(26) 1.86 (rounded to 2)
(V) (V) Error

( s )
Img V path

Variable
Taps
8.36 (rounded to 8)
5.91 (rounded to 6)
-0.119 1.03 2.3

For each voltage regulator or transformer located on the 2 (Initial)

downstream loop with the index j, the derivative with respect Fixed taps 6 (Initial) 0.8 1.81 5.1
to tap is: 4 (Initial)
j
TVNVM_d p
Vsd =
Tap i=1(i j)
i
TVNVM_p (
n +1
TVeq_d
)
Vs (27)
REFERENCES

[1] R. Hoffman. Practical State Estimation for Electric Distribution
Then, the contribution to the Jacobian matrix can be written Networks, Power Systems Conference and Exposition, Nov. 2006,
similar to (26). pp.510-517
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Research, Nov.1999, pp.191-200
is: [3] M. K. Celik, W.-H.E. Liu. A practical distribution state calculation
j
TVNVM_u p algorithm, Power Engineering Society Winter Meeting, Vol 1, Feb
Vsu =
Tap k=1(k j)
k
TVNVM_p (m +1
TVeq_d
)
Vs (28)
[4]
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I. Roytelman and S. M. Shahidehpour, State Estimation For Electric
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[8] Mesut E. Baran, State estimation for real-time monitoring of
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[9] J.--H. Teng, Using voltage measurements to improve the results of
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Table 1 for variable and fixed taps respectively. Tap positions
are estimated with minus or plus one precision with the
proposed technique.