ZONE-BRANCH RELIABILITY METHODOLOGY APPLIED TO GOLD BOOK

STANDARD NETWORK
Don O. Koval, Liang Jiao

Robert G. Arno

Peyton S. Hale, Jr.

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T6G 2G4

Reliability Analysis Center (RAC)

201 Mill Street
Rome, NY 13440-6916
U.S.A.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Special Missions Office

Abstract - There is a need recognized in the power industry

to identify and utilize a standard tool or a set of tools to analyze
the reliability of industrial and commercial power systems.
Historically, the reliability results of different reliability
methodologies varied significantly and comparisons were
extremely difficult. The Reliability Analysis Technique Working
Group of Gold Book (i.e., IEEE Std. 493) developed a standard
network to enable comparison of analytical techniques. This
paper will identify the different analysis techniques currently
available. This paper is the second of a series of papers applying
the ZoneBranch methodology to the Gold Book standard
network configuration. Two case studies will be presented for
different network operating practices. Future papers applying
these different techniques to the same Gold Book standard
network configuration will be presented and the results
compared to determine accuracy of these analytical techniques.

I.

INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Power Reliability

Enhancement Program sponsored a survey effort to determine
the various reliability/availability (R/A) analysis software
tools available for utility, commercial and industrial electrical
and mechanical R/A analysis.
The research quickly
indicated that many users were utilizing a wide variety of
analysis tools and techniques with different results. Although
many users were using different analysis techniques, the only
recommended methodology presented in IEEE Std 493 "Gold
Book" since 1980 was the series and parallel reliability
methodology and the minimal cut-set method which
estimated the frequency and duration of load point
interruptions.
The different approaches identified [1] include:
Zone Branch
Reliability Block Diagram
Event Tree
Monte Carlo
Boolean Algebra
FMECA
Cut Set
These analytical approaches will be analyzed to determine the
accuracy of their results and how closely they can verify
operational anomalies.

Power Reliability Enhancement Program (PREP)

10115 Gridley Road

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-5859
U.S.A.

A reliable equipment data source is key to an accurate

analysis. Data sources such as the IEEE Gold Book and the
PREP database provide the user with the necessary data
parameters to evaluate the reliability of industrial and
commercial power system network configurations. These two
equipment reliability data sources are based on extensive
surveys over many years. An accurate understanding of
component reliability and maintenance actions will provide
the necessary availability numeric for your reliability
analysis approach.
II. IEEE GOLD BOOK NETWORK STANDARD
NETWORK
A standard network was required to enable comparisons
between different methodologies. After considerable
examination of actual industrial and commercial power
system network configurations the single line diagram of the
Gold Book standard network was defined and is shown in
Fig. 1. The equipment reliability data corresponding to each
labeled component of the network is defined in Table I.
There are many assumptions necessary to complete the
reliability analysis of a network by any methodology and
these assumptions must be defined in order for their results to
be meaningfully compared. The following assumptions are to
be used by any reliability methodology applied to the Gold
Book standard network:
Actual Cable lengths are indicated on the drawings,
modify failure rate accordingly. Example: Cable
Failure Rate per rated length X % of Actual Cable
Length indicated on the drawing.
M Denotes manual operation and is allocated 15
minutes for activation.
Required Generators, 2 out of 4
The UPS are redundant.
The PDU Transformers are redundant.
Terminations, while normal for all systems, are not
included on the drawings.
For this analysis
terminations or splices are not included in the
reliability calculations.
For Breaker Failure Modes assume 50% open and
50% shorted.

0-7803-7116-X/01/$10.00 (C) 2001 IEEE

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UTILITY

OUTPUT
A

OUTPUT
B2

OUTPUT
B1

OUTPUT
E1

OUTPUT
E2

OUTPUT
C
OUTPUT
D

Fig. 1 Single line diagram of IEEE Gold Book Standard Network

The IEEE Gold Book Standard Network shown in Fig. 1

is supplied by two independent 15 kV primary distribution
feeders. There are four diesel engine generators at the
facilty where two out of four generators are required to
meet the network load demands at all time The reliability
indices of the load points shown in Fig. 1 (i.e. OUTPUTS
A, B1, B2, C, D, E1 and E2) will be evaluated by the
Zone-Branch reliability analytical methodology. The
following reliability indices will be evaluated:
(1)

Frequency
of
load
( interruptions per year) .

point

(2)

Annual duration of load point interruptions (hours

per year)

(3)

Average duration of load point interruptions (hours

per interruption)

(4)

Reliability level of power supply to the load point.

One of the key reliability indices for industrial and

commercial customers is to have a knowledge of the
frequency and duration of load point interruptions within
their facility.

interruptions

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TABLE I
EQUIPMENT RELIABILITY DATA FOR GOLD BOOK STANDARD NETWORK CONFIGURATION
REF
#

ITEM DESCRIPTION

PREP
ITEM
#

INHERENT
RELIABILITY

MTTR
(hours)

FAILURE
RATE
failure/
year

Calculated
Reliability

Single Circuit Utility Supply, 1.78 failures/unit years,

A =0.999705, Gold Book p. 107

NA

0.999705

1.32

1.956

2
2A
3
4
5
6
6A
7
8
8A
9
9A
10
11
11A
12

Cable Arial, < 15kV, per mile

Cable Arial, < 15kV - 300 feet
Diesel Engine Generator, Packaged,Stand-by, 1500kW
Manual Disconnect Switch
Fuse, 15kV
Cable Below Ground in conduit, < 600V, per 1000 ft
Cable Below Ground in conduit, < 600V - 300 feet
Transformer, Liquid, Non Forced Air, 3000kVA
Ckt. Breaker, 600V, Drawout, Normally Open, > 600 Amp
Ckt. Breaker, 600V, Drawout, Normally Open, > 600 Amp
Ckt. Breaker, 600V, Drawout, Normally Closed,>600 Amp
Ckt. Breaker, 600V, Drawout, Normally Closed,>600 Amp
Switchgear, Bare Bus, 600V
Ckt. Breaker, 600V Drawout, Normally Closed, < 600 Amp
Ckt. Breaker, 600V Drawout, Normally Closed, < 600 Amp
Ckt. Breaker, 600V, Normally Closed, > 600 Amp,
Gold Book p. 40

32
32
98
187
117
47

0.99999022

1.82
1.82
18.28
1
4
11.22
11.22
5
2
2
0.5
0.5
7.29
6
6
9.6

0.047170
0.002680
0.123500
0.001740
0.101540
0.002010
0.000603
0.001110
0.005530
0.002765
0.001850
0.000925
0.009490
0.000210
0.000105
0.009600

12A

Ckt. Breaker, 600V, Normally Closed, > 600 Amp,

Gold Book p. 40

63

9.6

0.004800

0.999994740

13

Ckt. Breaker, 3 Phase Fixed, Normally Closed, < 600

Amp
Ckt. Breaker, 3 Phase Fixed, Normally Closed, < 600 Amp,
Gold Book p. 40

61

5.8
5.8

0.005200
0.002600

0.999998279

Ckt. Breaker, 3 Phase Fixed, Normally Open, > 600 Amp

Ckt. Breaker, 3 Phase Fixed, Normally Open, > 600 Amp
Cable, Above Ground, No Conduit, < 600V, per 1000 ft.
Cable, Above Ground, No Conduit, < 600V, per 1000 ft.
Cable, Above Ground, Trays, < 600V, per 1000 ft.,
Gold Book p.105

62
62
20
20

37.5
37.5
2.5
2.5
10.5

0.003430
0.001715
0.000120
0.000096
0.001410

10.5

0.002820

0.999996620

2.4
12.9

0.001700
0.000125

0.999999534
0.999815959

13A
14
14A
15
15A
16

208
68
68
69
69
191
67
67
63

0.99974231
0.9999998
0.99995363
0.99999743
0.99999937
0.99999874
0.99999989
0.9999921
0.99999986
0.99998948

0.99999656

61
0.99998532
0.99999997
0.99999831

Cable, Above Ground, Trays, < 600V, per 1000 ft.,

Gold Book p.105
22
26

Switchgear, Insulated Bus, < 600V

Bus Duct, Gold Book p.206, per Circuit foot

0.99999953
0.99999982

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0.999999443

0.999999228

0.999999369
0.999999947

0.999999928

0.999992658
0.999999973

III ZONE BRANCH MEHODOLOGY[2]

This paper will evaluates the frequency and duration of plant

outages at various output points (i.e. buses) in the IEEE Gold
Book standard network based on the zone-branch
methodology. The Zone Branch diagram of the network is
shown in Fig. 2.

shown in Table III. The switching time is assumed to be 15

minutes.
The load point reliability levels are primarily determined by
the frequency and duration of the utility supplies.

The failure rate (i,j) of any zone i, branch j is the sum of all
the equipment failure rates whose failure will result in only
the operation of the isolating device of zone i, branch j. It
can be shown that the total failure rate (i.e., T(i,j)) and the
annual downtime (i.e., r(i, j)) for any zone i, branch j is

RIA( z, k ) FZB(k )
r (i, j ) = s + RIA( z, k ) FZB(k ) R( z, k )

T (i, j ) = s +

S(1,1)

S(1,2)

S(2,1)

S(2,2)

S(3,1)

S(3,2)

OUTPUT B1

(1)

(2)

where
s - failure rate of utility supply or plant supply;

OUTPUT B2

S(4,1)

S(4,2)

S(4,3)

S(4,4)

S(4,5)

S(4,6)

S(5,1)

S(5,2)

S(5,3)

S(5,4)

S(5,5)

S(5,6)

OUTPUT E1

OUTPUT E2

rs -

restoration duration of utility supply;

z - zone-branch number;
k - total number of zone branches in system;
R(z,k) - repair or switching time of zone branch;
FZB(k) - failed zone-branch array that contains the failure
rate of each zone branch k;
RIA (z, k)- recognition and isolation array coefficients.

OUTPUT C

OUTPUT D

Fig. 2 Zone branch diagram of single line diagram Case 1

TABLE II
ZONE BRANCH FAILURE RATES CASE 1
ZONE
BRANCH
(1,1)
(1,2)
(2,1)
(2,2)
(3,1)
(3,2)
(4,1)
(4,2)
(4,3),
(4,4)
(4,5)
(4,6)
(5,1)
(5,2)
(5,3)
(5,4)
(5,5)
(5,6)

The total failure rate of any zone branch is dependent upon

the failure rates of all zone branches in the industrial power
system and the probability of the isolation devices detecting a
permanent fault within their respective zone branches. For
circuit breakers the probability of fails while opening., i.e.,
faling to detect and isolate a fault in its zone is assumed to be
0.05 for the zone-branch methodology.
A direct path of a zone branch consists of all the zone
branches (lower zone number) connected in series linking the
power source to that particular zone branch. Any zone
branch in the direct path to a particular zone branch requires
repair activities while those zone branches off the
herringbone configuration require only switching and
isolation duration activities. A detailed description of zonebranch methodology and its application can be found in [2]

FAILURE RATE
(failures per year)
1.930450
1.930450
0.129715
0.129715
0.012370
0.012370
0.002801
0.004670
0.005845
0.005845
0.004670
0.002825
0.002600
0.011550
0.022090
0.022090
0.011550
0.002600

The network switching procedures for Case Study 1 are based on

the following two assumptions:

IV CASE STUDY 1

The failure rate of each zone branch is calculated from the

equipment reliability data (Table I) and is listed in Table II.
Based on the zone branch failure rates the frequency and
duration and reliability of electric service at each output (i.e.,
load point) in the standard Gold Book network configuration
can be evaluated. The basic assumptions for case study 1 is
the industrial loads are assumed to be supplied by the two
utility distribution primary feeders only. The on-site diesel
generators and associated breakers are not included in this
case study. The reliability indices for Case Study 1 are

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(1) The two main transformers, all the tie breakers, and buses are
assumed to be fully redundant. Whenever there is a fault on
one utility supply, the other one can supply all the loads in
the system without overloading the main components in the
system.
(2) The loss of both normal utility sources, no other switching
methods are taken (i.e., the emergency generators are not

considered in this case study). The load points will

experience a down time necessary to recover one of the
utility supplies.

S(1,1)

TABLE III
RELIABILITY INDICES AT OUTPUT LOAD POINTS
SWITCHING TIME- 15 MINUTES CASE 1
r
OUTPUT
Annual
Average

LOAD
Down
Restoration
Reliability
(occurPOINT
Time
Duration
rences
(hours)
(hours)
per year)
B1
2.249103 0.631784
0.280905 0.999927884
B2
2.249104 0.632278
0.281125 0.999927827
C
2.254369 0.662490
0.293869 0.999924379
D
2.254393 0.662832
0.294018 0.999924340
E1
2.276792 0.727318
0.319448 0.999916980
E2
2.276793 0.727330
0.319454 0.999916978

S(1,1)
OUTPUT A

S(2,1)

S(2,2)

S(3,1)

S(3,2)
OUTPUT B2

OUTPUT B1

S(4,1)

S(4,2)

S(4,3)

S(4,4)

S(4,5)

S(4,6)

S(5,1)

S(5,2)

S(5,3)

S(5,4)

S(5,5)

S(5,6)

OUTPUT E1

OUTPUT E2

OUTPUT C

If the network switching time is changed from 15 minutes to

2 cycles, then the reliability indices are significantly altered
as shown in Table IV.

OUTPUT D

Fig. 3 Zone branch diagram of single line diagram Case 2

The zone-branch failure rates for case study 2 are shown in

Table V

TABLE IV
RELIABILITY INDICES AT OUTPUT LOAD POINTS
SWITCHING TIME 2 CYCLES
r
OUTPU
l
Annual
Average
T
(occurDown
Restoration
Reliability
LOAD
rences
Time
Duration
POINT
per year)
(hours)
(hours)
B1
2.249103
0.069182
0.030760 0.999992103
B2
2.249104
0.069182
0.030760 0.999992103
C
2.254369
0.100794
0.044711 0.999988494
D
2.254393
0.100842
0.044731 0.999988488
E1
2.276792
0.160502
0.070495 0.999981678
E2
2.276793
0.160502
0.070495 0.999981678

TABLE V
ZONE BRANCH FAILURE RATES CASE 2

In comparing Tables III and IV it is clear that as the

switching time decreases from 15 minutes to 2 cycles, the
load point reliability levels increase significantly. This
conclusion is particularly valid for this network configuration
as any utility supply failure is automatically transferred to the
other utility supply. If the network configuration and the
utility supplies were not fully redundant, then the load point
reliability indices would be significantly eroded.

ZONE
BRANCH

FAILURE RATE
(failures per year)

(1,1)
(1,2)
(2,1)
(2,2)
(3,1)
(3,2)
(4,1)
(4,2)
(4,3),
(4,4)
(4,5)
(4,6)
(5,1)
(5,2)
(5,3)
(5,4)
(5,5)
(5,6)

2.10645
0.00447
0.12972
0.00613
0.12370
0.01421
0.00280
0.00467
0.00585
0.00585
0.00467
0.00283
0.00260
0.01155
0.02209
0.02209
0.01155
0.00260

The reliability indices for Case Study 2 are shown in Table

VI. The switching time is assumed to be 15 minutes.

V CASE STUDY 2

One utility supply is supplying the left side loads of the

network and the diesel engine generators are supplying the
right side loads of the network. If one of the supplies fails,
then the alternate supply is switch in either manually (i.e., 15
minutes switching time or automatically i.e., 2 cycles). It is
also assumed that the loads supplied by the diesel engine
generators will not see an interruption until more than two
generators fail consecutively. Either the utility or the diesel
engine generators are assumed to be fully redundant,
therefore, load transferring is allowed between them when
one supply fails. The zone branch diagram for Case Study 2
is shown in Fig. 3

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TABLE VI
RELIABILITY INDICES AT OUTPUT LOAD POINTS
SWITCHING TIME - 15 MINUTES CASE 2
r

OUTPUT
Annual
Average
(occurLOAD
Down
Restoration
Reliability
rences
POINT
Time
Duration
per year)
(hours)
(hours)
A
0.00466
0.004818
1.033906
0.99999945
B1
2.24917
0.629101
0.279704
0.99992819
B2
C
D
E1
E2

0.02545
2.25444
0.03074
2.27682
0.05309

0.073173
0.660703
0.104832
0.724188
0.168257

2.875163
0.293067
3.410285
0.318070
3.169270

0.99999165
0.99992458
0.99998803
0.99991734
0.99998079

VII.

REFERENCES

VI. CONCLUSIONS

It is very difficult to compare reliability models unless the

network configuration, equipment reliability parameters,
network operating configurations, switching and network
reconfiguration procedures are standardized. This paper has
presented the basic single line diagram and equipment
reliability data for the IEEE Gold Book Standard Network
configuration. Future papers evaluating the load point
reliability indices by different reliability methodologies will
be presented by the Reliability Analysis Working Group of
the Gold Book. .
One of the primary advantages of the zone-branch
methodology is that it accounts for the isolation and
protection characteristics of network protective devices [4].
It also accounts for the complex network switching and
retoration procedures necessary to restore a faulted network
to a normal operating configuration.
Two case studies were presented in this paper to reveal the
frequency and duration of interruptions for selected load
points in the IEEE Gold Book standard network. Each case
study was a unique operating configuration for the network.
Case study 1 involved the supply of electricity to the network
by two independent 15 kV utility primary distribution
feeders.
The second case study involved feeding half of the network
from a single utility feeder and the other half by a group of
diesel engine generators. In this case study the frequency and
duration of load point interruptions was significantly lower
for the load points supplied by the local diesel engine
generators. This result is due to the fact that the built-in
redundancy and reliability of the diesel generator group was
significantly higher than the reliability of a single utility
primary distribution feeder.

[1] Peyton S. Hale, Jr., Robert G. Arno, Don O. Koval

Analysis Techniques for Electrical and Mechanical
Power Systems, 2001 IEEE Industry and Commercial
Power systems Technical Conference Record
01CH37226, pp. 61- 65.
[2] Koval, D.O., Zone-Branch Reliability Methodology for
Analyzing
Industrial
Power
Systems,
IEEE
Transactions on Industry Application, Vol. 36, No. 5, pp.
1212-*1219, September/October, 2000.
[3] IEEE Std. 493-1997, Design of Reliable Industrial and
Commercial Power Systems, Gold Book.
[4] Prost, John, PCIC 2000 -2 Reliability software and
Documentation, Reliability model spreadsheet software,
available from Equilon Enterprises, LLC and web:
www.ieee-pcic.org.
[5] Particle Reliability Engineering, Patrick D.T.OConnor,
Third Addition.
[6] Dickinson, W.H., Gannon, P.E., Heising, C.R., Patton,
A.D., and McWilliams, D.W., Fundamentals of
Reliability Techniques as Applied to Industrial Power
Systems, Conference Record 1971, IEEE Industrial
Commercial Power Systems Technical Conference,
71C18-IGA, p. 10-31.
[7] Singh, C. and Billinton, R., System Reliability Modeling
and Evaluation, Hutchinson Educational, London,
England, 1977.
[8] Reliability Toolkit: Commercial Practices Edition,
Reliability Analysis Center.

The paper also revealed the significant impact on reliability

indices when the switching time during network outages was
changed from 15 minutes to 2 cycles.
The load point reliability indices presented in this paper are
one set of reliability results that will be used in later papers
developed by the Gold Book Reliability Analysis Working
Group using different methodologies to evaluate the
reliability indices of the IEEE Gold Book standard network
configuration.

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