Application of Enhanced Integer Coded Particle Swarm Optimization for Distribution System Feeder Reconfiguration

This paper proposes an effective approach based on the particle swarm optimization with integer coded to determine the switch operation schemes for feeder reconfiguration. The proposed approach, enhanced integer coded particle swarm optimization (EICPSO), is able to improve the search efficiency for feeder reconfiguration problems by considering the historical local optimal solutions when generating new particles. The local optimal solutions found during the evolution process are used when new particle are generated. Three different distribution systems are used in this paper to verify and validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Simulation results show that the proposed method can find the solutions for feeder reconfiguration problems faster than other approaches such as discrete particle swarm optimization, modified binary particle swarm optimization, and genetic algorithm.