A real time power system simulation laboratory environment

A laboratory environment for research, teaching and demonstration of power system behavior developed at Arizona State University is described. The main driver is a real-time digital simulation of a large power system. A full-graphic human interface made up of several levels of one-line diagrams, tables and other displays permits the observation of the power system behavior in real time; it also makes it possible to affect its behavior by introducing supervisory control actions. These programs operate on a database, which can be changed to represent different power systems. The simulation and the database are run on a VAX 11-785 mainframe computer, while the human interface is run on an Apollo DN570 workstation with a 19-inch full-graphic color display. The two computers are linked via a high-speed Ethernet data link. The program-to-program communication was specifically developed for this application. The total environment created is that of a power system control center. It can be used to demonstrate and teach power system behavior as well as to experiment with all facets of the energy management system