A Chemical Reaction Optimization Algorithm for Phasor Measurement Unit Placement

Abstract

Optimal Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) Placement (OPP) aims to reduce equipment costs while maintaining electrical systems' observability. PMU´s synchronized phasor data provide electrical systems' information with high quality and frequency enabling the implementation of faster than real-time state estimators. We applied Chemical Reaction Optimization (CRO) method at OPP problem, testing it successfully at IEEE power system databases (14, 30, 57 and 118 bars) through two distinct models. The relationships between CRO parameters and the occurrence of elementary reactions was exploited, achieving better results through specific reactions. Due to problems similarity and larger scales, the software was adapted to Beasley OR-Library Set Covering (SC) problems. In the process to achieve GAPs smaller than 10% for some files, we tried out dedicated local searches, disturbance recurrence limits and stop condition changes. However, we suggest continuing to evaluate CRO method adherence to SC problem using different data structures to decrease computational times.