LAB2 – ONE-LINE DIAGRAMS

EE461: POWER SYSTEMS

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

PURPOSE: The purpose of this lab is to introduce the one-line diagram, also known as
the Slider file in PSS/E. This lab will introduce the following aspects:

Introduction to a one-line diagram

Explanation of the Slider (*.SLD) file

Using the Slider file to create a one-line diagram

To properly perform this lab, start PSS/E and open the sample.sav file. Refer to Lab 1 on
how to do this.

Introduction to one-line diagrams

A one-line diagram is a simplified graphical representation of a three phase power

system, used extensively in power flow studies. In power engineering, one can make the
assumption that the three phases of a system are balanced and can therefore be examined
as a single phase. The assumption can be made because what happens on one of the three
balanced phases, theoretically, will happen to all three phases. This makes the evaluation
of the system much less complicated without losing any information. Per unit is also
used extensively in one-line diagrams to further simplify the process.

The main components of a one-line (or single line) diagram are; Buses, Branches, Loads,
Machines, 2 Winding Transformers, Switched Shunts, Reactor and Capacitor Banks.
An explanation of these components will now be given:

Buses

Buses are represented as a dot, circle or a thick line. The bus name (EAST500) and
number (202) are given, as well as the voltage measured on the line (510.5kV and 1.021V
in per unit). The final characteristic given is the angle (-26.1 degrees). The voltage is
indicated by the color of the bus. In this example, red indicates 500kV.

Branches

Branches are represented as a thin line. The real power P, as shown on the branch above,
flows from 478MW to -473MW and the reactive power Q, flows from 89.9MVA flow to
-229.4MVA. In other words, the power flows from the positive number to the negative
number, and the number on top is the real power while the number on the bottom is the
reactive power. The voltage is indicated by the color of the branch. In this example, red
indicates 500kV.

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

Loads

Loads are represented as a triangle with the ID number located inside the triangle. The
real power, PLOAD, is denoted by the number on top (250MW), and the reactive power,
QLOAD, is denoted by the number on bottom (100Mvar). The voltage is indicated by the
color of the load. In this example, black indicates 230kV.

Machines

Machines are represented as a circle with the ID number located inside the circle. The
real power, PGEN, is denoted by the number on top (321.0MW), and the reactive power,
QGEN, is denoted by the number on bottom (142.3RMvar). The “R” indicates this
machine is in voltage regulation mode, and it is controlling a specific bus to a voltage set
point which requires it to generate 142.3Mvar. The voltage is indicated by the color of
the machine. In this example, red indicates 500kV.

Two Winding Transformers

Two winding transformers are represented as two separate windings with a gap
separating them. The arrow pointing in at the connection reflects the primary side of the
transformer. In this example, the primary voltage (1.0000V in per unit), is given on the
primary side of the transformer and the secondary voltage (1.0000V in per unit), is given
on the secondary side of the transformer. The voltage is indicated by the color of the
transformer and is dictated by the primary side voltage. In this example, purple indicates
21.6kV.

Switched Shunts

or

Switched shunts are represented as either a capacitor or an inductor at the end of a line.
The “SW” shown on top (or on the left if the shunt is shown vertical) indicates that this
unit is a switched shunt compensator. If you see these symbols with a number in place of
the “SW”, that particular device is a permanently installed reactor or capacitor bank (see
below). The number on bottom (or on the right if the shunt is shown vertical) indicates
the initial reactive charge admittance, BINIT (253.8Mvar or -599.6Mvar). The voltage is
indicated by the color of the shunt. In this example, red indicates 500kV.

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

Reactor Bank

Reactor banks are represented as an inductor at the end of a line. The number on top (or
on the left if the reactor is shown vertical) indicates the real charge admittance, GSHUNT,
of the line (3.6MW). If you see a “SW” instead of a number, you are looking at a
switched shunt compensator (see above). The number on bottom (or on the right if the
reactor is shown vertical) indicates the reactive charge admittance, BSHUNT, of the line
(490.0Mvar). The voltage is indicated by the color of the reactor. In this example, red
indicates 500kV.

Capacitor Bank

Capacitor banks are represented as a capacitor at the end of a line. The number on top (or
on the left if the capacitor is shown vertical) indicates the real charge admittance, GSHUNT,
of the line (0.0MW). If you see a “SW” instead of a number, you are looking at a
switched shunt compensator (see above). The number on bottom (or on the right if the
capacitor is shown vertical) indicates the reactive charge admittance, BSHUNT, of the line
(-1080.0Mvar). The voltage is indicated by the color of the capacitor.

The Slider File

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

As described in the previous lab, the Slider (*.SLD) file is a file that contains the one-line
diagram. As can be see from the figure above, the one-line diagram can get pretty
complicated. To simplify matters, all the physical data related to each element shown in
the one-line diagram is linked to the data file (*.SAV). This way, a simple thin line
represents all of the data located in the branch tab. All of this data is interconnected and
linked so as to perform power flow analyses. Once a one-line diagram is created, it can
be saved as a Slider (*.SLD) file. The Slider file can be amended and updated as
necessary, as long as the amendments and updates correspond with the *.SAV file, since
the two files are intertwined.

Another advantage of the Slider file is that one can view the power flow and the
operating levels of a branch. This allows a Power Engineer to quickly see potential
trouble spots in a power system and correct them before problems occur. The process of
performing a power flow analysis is the main objective of these labs.

Using the Slider file to create a one-line diagram

As mentioned above, in order to properly perform this lab, PSS/E needs to be running
and the data file “sample.sav” opened. Refer back to Lab 1 if problems arise in doing
this.

Now go ahead and load a new file and get some buses drawn!
Load new slider (file  new  diagram)

I. First we need to load a file, and to accomplish this please do the following.
II. Open PSS/E (it is shown on the previous lab)
III. Go to file, and click new as shown:

IV. After clicking new you will see the following:

Select Diagram and click OK.

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

V. A new diagram will be opened. This is where the future drawing will be
constructed.

VI. The color code for analyzing the one-line diagram will need to be
programmed to distinguish the various voltage ratings for all the different
components that the system consists of. This is done by selecting
DiagramAnnotation).

This will display the Powerflow Data Annotation window. Select the
Diagram Range Checking tab shown below:

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

Check the “Use voltage level thresholds”. The voltage level thresholds with
their corresponding colors can now be set. Set all values and colors to match
the following window.

Click on the color bar to set the width and color

of the voltage level threshold. Click on the width
drop down outlined in red to select the line pixel
width. Click the color box outlined in red to
select the color of the line.

Click OK to return to the Power flow Data

Annotation window.

(Threshold voltages from left to right: 12.47, 34.5, 69, 115, 138, 230, 345)
(Colors from left to right: dark green, black, blue, bright green, yellow,
orange, red, purple)
(Widths from left to right: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4)
Note: all other values should be default

Click OK to close window and return to blank diagram.

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

VII. A bus can be imported from the data (*.sav) file into the diagram. To do this
select Auto Draw (located on the tool bar) as shown below:

Click on an open space in the blank diagram and the following window will
be displayed:

Next click select in the Select Bus window, or type the desired bus number,
which comes from the *.sav file. (in this case, bus number 102 comes from
the sample.sav file);

Click OK to return to the select bus window, which will show the bus selected.

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

Click OK.

Note: As previously mentioned the bus can also be manually typed in to

skip the bus selection window.

Note: If a bus number is not in the *.sav data file the following error
message will be displayed:

Click OK and enter bus number 102 from the data file.

Bus number 102 and all devices that are directly connected to it will now be
displayed as shown below:

Click cancel to close out of the Select Bus window.

Select the pointer from the tool bar to exit out of the auto draw function.

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

***If needed, the toggle bus symbol feature can be applied to display buses as dots,
circles, or lines. This is done by selecting a component by left clicking on it (the selected
component will have a black square on each corner), and then right click on the bus
symbol and selecting Toggle bus symbol.

Different bus symbols shown below;

Dot: Circle: Line:

***For all purposes of this lab the line bus symbol

will be used.

VIII. **IMPORTANT: The data file (*.sav) and slider (*.sld) diagram are
interconnected, therefore deleting a bound item from a diagram removes
it from the *.sav data file and will result in analysis corruption. This
means that if a change is made to either of the files the other will be
affected. To avoid possible corruption of the data file, the “bind items”
feature should be turned off. This is done by right clicking on a bus and
clicking on bind items as shown below:

IX. Once the bind items have been unselected, it is safe to grow a small section of
the data file into a one-line diagram. This is done by right clicking on a bus
and selecting Grow.

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

X. Try to grow out bus number 151. This will display all the elements connected
to bus number 151. The following will be produced:

Notice how PSS/E automatically places the buses and branches in no particular
layout. To allow for a legible display, manipulation to the above diagram is
required. After growing out a bus, all the elements associated with the grow
command will be selected. Click on a white space off the drawing to deselect the
grown items. Now it is possible to rearrange the drawing by selecting a bus and
dragging it to the desired location.

XI. Try to rearrange the one-line diagram so that no wires or ratings are
overlapping. In other words, make the diagram clean; meaning easy to read
and understand. Notice how much clearer the diagram below is.

***If needed, a knee can be used to bend and manipulate a transmission line.

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

To ‘bend’ a line, insert a knee point. This is done by selecting Knee Point from
the tool bar and then clicking on the line where the knee is desired. Multiple
knees on a line may be necessary in order to have more control of the design of
the layout. Once the knee is placed the line can be bent to any angle by grabbing
and dragging the point. An example of a line with two knees in it is shown
below:

XII. After a clean layout has been achieved the system is ready to be solved.
Solving a system allows PSS/E to make all the necessary calculations used in
a power flow analysis. This can be done by clicking on the solve icon on the
toolbar.

The following window will be displayed:

Configure the Loadflow solutions window to

match the one displayed. This could include
selecting the “Lock all” radial button under
Switched shunt adjustments and uncheck
“Adjust DC taps”.

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

Click on solve and PSS/E will solve the system and store the results in the
progress window.

XIII. After the system has been solved, the loading percentages can be displayed by
clicking the current loadings icon on the tool bar. The
following will be displayed:

XIV. Once the system has been solved, the Flow animation can be displayed by
clicking the animate flows icon on the tool bar. The
following will be displayed:

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 Lab 2 – One-Line Diagrams

Questions
The “sample.sav” data file must be open to perform this section of the lab.

First, build out a one-line diagram to include the follow ten buses:

101 NUC-A
102 NUC-B
151 NUCPLANT
152 MID500
153 MID230
201 HYDRO
202 EAST500
3004 WEST
3021 WDUM
3022 EDUM

Solve for the system. Display the current loading percentages and the power flow
animation.

Print out the one-line diagram and include it in the report.

Save the one-line diagram as “lab2.sld”, this will be needed for future labs.

Using the one-line diagram, and answer the following questions to include in the report.
Turn off the loading percentages and the power flow animation for clarity. Make sure
that the system has been solved.

1) Looking at Bus #152 (MID500), what is the PLOAD and QLOAD of the load
connected to this bus? _______________________________________________

2) Find the two generators in this system. Which buses are they connected to?
What is the PGEN and QGEN of the two generators?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3) How many switched shunts are in this system? ____________________________

How many reactor banks are in this system? ______________________________
How many capacitor banks are in this system? ____________________________

4) Looking at Bus #153 (MID230), what is the actual voltage of the bus and
what is the per unit voltage? __________________________________________

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