Harmonic Estimation in Radial Distribution Feeders Based on Particle Swarm Optimization

This paper presents a method based on the particle swarm optimization algorithm applied to estimate harmonic components in radial distribution feeders. It is important to mention that this method is not applied as harmonic state estimator, neither to estimate the total harmonic distortion at the substation. So, the proposed method can be employed to estimate the harmonic components in specific points of common coupling between the harmonic source and the feeder. In this sense, some case studies were prepared in order to validate the method. The point of common coupling where the harmonic source is located were obtained by means of expert knowledge. Nevertheless, the specialist/engineer should be induced to err the exact position of the harmonic source due to the presence of other harmonic sources with lower levels of distortion. Thus, the precision rate of this method was evaluated in accordance with the uncertainty that can be generated by the expert knowledge. These analysis are crucial to verify the performance of the proposed method, mainly, in the utility's point of view. Keywords—harmonic components, harmonic estimation, particle swarm optimization, power quality.