Evaluation of Harmonic Effect on Capacity and Location of Optimal Capacitors in Distribution Network Using HBB-BC Algorithm

In this paper, the locating and determining the optimal capacity of capacitor banks were studied in the 15-Bus standard distribution network and considering the harmonic effect. The aim was to find the location and capacity of capacitor banks with a loss reduction approach and improve the voltage profile of the network. Constraints such as capacity of capacitor banks, voltage limitation and harmonic distortion limitation were considered in the optimization. Due to the nonlinear nature of the issue of the capacity location in the distribution network, non-linear methods were used. For this purpose, a Hybrid Big Bang-Big Crunch (HBB-BC) algorithm has been used. In simulations, firstly, using the power loss indicator on the slacks, the locations of the banks was determined to estimate the proper capacity of the banks by HBB-BC algorithm. Studies were repeated in two scenarios. In the first scenario, it was assumed that there was no harmonic in the network, and in the second scenario, studies were conducted in the presence of harmonic loads. The results indicated that considering the harmonics in the problem of capacity location will have a great effect on the characteristics of the network and should be considered in studies.