Interval arithmetic in power flow analysis

Abstract

Power flow analysis is the fundamental tool for the study of power systems. The data for this problem are subject to uncertainty. Interval arithmetic is used to solve the power flow problem. Interval arithmetic takes into consideration the uncertainty of the nodal information, and is able to provide strict bounds for the solutions to the problem: all possible solutions are included within the bounds given by interval arithmetic. Results are compared with those obtainable by Monte Carlo simulations and by the use of stochastic power flows. Object-oriented programming techniques makes it possible to use interval arithmetic with minimal modifications to existing software. However, to reduce the conservatism inherent in all interval arithmetic computations, an iterative method is used to obtain the hull of the solution set.<>