Phase balancing using simulated annealing

Deregulation eliminates the boundary of the territory of the monopoly power industry. Competition forces utilities to improve power quality as well as to reduce investment and operation costs. Feeder imbalance describes a situation in which the voltages of a three-phase voltage source are not identical in magnitude, or the phase differences between them are not 120 electrical degrees, or both. It affects motors and other devices that depend upon a well-balanced three-phase voltage source. Phase balancing is to make the voltages balanced at each load point of the feeder. Phase swapping is a direct approach for phase balancing with the minimum cost. Phase balancing can enhance utilities´ competitive capability by improving reliability, quality, and reducing costs. Therefore, phase balancing optimization is nowadays receiving more attention in the power industry, especially in today´s deregulating environments. The nonlinear effects, such as, voltage drops and energy losses, make the problem difficult to solve. This paper introduces simulated annealing as an effective method to solve a power distribution phase balancing problem with its nonlinear effects