Abstract:
The current standard for synchrophasors, i.e. IEC/IEEE 60255-118-1:2018, specifies error limits to evaluate electrical performances of phasor measurement units (PMUs). However, the standard specifies neither test plans nor error calculation methods; leading to ambiguities in PMU testing as different test procedures and calculations may produce different test results for a given PMU. Therefore, the IEEE standards association conformity assessment program (IEEE-ICAP) published the test suite specification (TSS) to remove ambiguities in PMU testing. However, testing of a PMU according to the test plans prescribed in the IEEE-ICAP TSS is a challenge due to the number of measurements and calculations needed.
This paper introduces an automation tool for testing steady-state and dynamic electrical performances of PMUs according to the test plans prescribed in the latest TSS. The proposed testing tool is implemented as an integrated application in a digital real-time simulator (DRTS). The tool has the capability to generate numerous test signals from the DRTS, communicate with the PMU under test, capture synchrophasor measurements, calculate error quantities, and produce a summary report with a pass/fail assessment for a given PMU configuration. The presented PMU testing tool is applied to validate performances of a benchmark PMU model and physical PMUs from numerous vendors. This paper presents the features of the tool, test methodology used for testing PMUs and some interesting test results observed.
D. R. Gurusinghe, S. Kariyawasam and D. Ouellette, Presented at PAC World Global Conference 2021, Virtual Event, August 2021
KEYWORDS: Phasor measurement unit (PMU), PMU testing, synchrophasor standard, C37.118, total vector error, digital real-time digital simulator.
