Discrete metaheuristic for coordination of directional overcurrent relays in meshed systems

This work proposes the use of a metaheuristic method for coordination of directional overcurrent relays in power systems. The proposed metaheuristic is the Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization. The coordination problem is modeled as a mixed integer nonlinear problem due to the available discrete settings in the relays. Owing to the difficulties in solving the model that can also result in the combinatorial explosion problem and in addition to the need for fast and efficient operation required by the new concept of smart grid systems, research on new methods for a very classical problem in power systems becomes necessary. The proposed method has been implemented in C++ programming language and showed good results when testing with Brazilian systems.