Testing and Enhancement of the Dynamic Performance of a Phasor Measurement Unit

Phasor measurement units (PMUs) provide the basis for synchrophasor measurements, which are good data sources for capturing power system dynamic behavior. The recently published IEEE Standard C37.118.1-2011 characterizes the dynamic performance of synchrophasor measurements with two performance class filters: P-class and M-class. Practical implementation of a PMU to meet all dynamic requirements is a challenging task. Performance of an actual PMU with the proposed reference performance class filters is presented with a brief overview of the PMU performance evaluation process and the sources of errors in the test environment. Based on the test results, some inadequacies in the reference M-class filter algorithm provided in the standard are revealed, and several minor inconsistencies in the error limits imposed by the standard are highlighted. Finally, some modifications to the M-class reference filter and suggestions to rectify the minor issues in the new standard are proposed.