16th international conference on Sciences and Techniques of Automatic control STA'2015-PID3601-MES

& computer engineering - STA'2015, Monastir, Tunisia, December 21-23, 2015

Three-Phase Balancing in a LV Distribution

Smart-Grids Using Electrical Load Flow
Variation: “L.F.B.M.”
Karim MANSOURI, Mouna BEN HAMED, Lassaad SBITA and Mehdi DHAOUI,
SPEG/UR11ES82/ENIG
Photovoltaic, Wind and Geothermal Systems Research Unit
Gabes Tunisia
mansouri.speg.enig@gmail.com
Abstract— Usually, electrical design engineer must take care
about three-phase balancing before sending the final version of
the LV electric wiring. The conventional method used to verify
this task was just to divide all single-phase electrical-loads
between the three phases without focusing the consideration on
daily load-flow variation of the electrical-loads. For this, this
paper describes a necessary new method that must be used in
order to balance the three phases in 0.4 KV distribution smart-
grids and its implementation and simulation in a
Matlab/Simulink model.
Index Terms—Load-flow, three-phase balancing, smart-grids,
LV distribution, Simulink, simulation
Abbreviations:
LV: Low Voltage
L.F.B.M.: Load Flow Balancing Method
O.P.E.: Opened to Public Establishment
I.S.S.I.G.: Superior Institute of Industrial System’s of Gabes
I. INTRODUCTION
providing high sinusoidal voltage and current in the grid and
improve the power factor..
In addition to the mentioned constraints, a centralized
coordinated EV charging problem is adapted in this work to
evaluate the effects of the extra flexibility added by these
balancers [5].
All last researches done in this axe doesn’t take care about the
load flow variation during the time on phases balancing.
However, the information of electrical load behavior through
the time is necessary to perform the three-phase balancing
before doing smart-grid electrical installation.
The next part will explain an original method used to balance
three-phase in 0.4 kV smart-grids.
II. PROPOSED METHOD
We suppose that we have n single-phase electrical loads.
Usually, conventional method used to balance phases is based
on dividing all electrical loads between the three phases as
shown in Figure 1.

T O minimize electrical losses in a LV distribution network,

we should master electrical project studying before
starting execution and realization phases.
One of the main problems in a 0.4 KV smart-grid is electrical
phases balancing.
A lot of researches are realized on this axe but taking
consideration of daily electrical load-flow variation was not
seen.
On 2014, a probabilistic operational planning algorithm was
proposed for optimal phase balancing of a three phase
unbalanced distribution system [1]. Figure 1. Three-phase distribution networks
On the same year, using adding decaying self-feedback
continuous neural network (ADSCNN) was applied in order to We suppose that:
solve load phase balancing [2]. n
On 2014, using adding decaying self-feedback continuous
neural network (ADSCNN) was applied in order to solve load
P= ¦P
i =1
i
(1)

phase balancing [2]. P: the total active power [kW];

In [3] a proposed signal reforming technique succeeds in
balancing the grid voltage at the zero-crossing points, even
with multiple zero-crossings that caused by harmonics.
Authors in [4] check the grid model containing a non-linear
and unbalanced load shows the possibilities of STATCOM for
Pi: the active power of the electrical load i [kW];
Usually, we branch in every phase electrical loads that have an
active power approximately equal to P/3.

978-1-4673-9234-1/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE 427

16th international conference on Sciences and Techniques of Automatic control STA'2015-PID3601-MES
& computer engineering - STA'2015, Monastir, Tunisia, December 21-23, 2015

So, we have: So:

k m n k m n

¦P  ¦
i =1
i
i = k +1
Pi  ¦
i = m +1
Pi (2) k u ( t ) ⋅ ¦ Pi  k u ( t ) ⋅
i =1
¦
i = k +1
Pi  k u ( t ) ⋅ ¦
i = m +1
Pi (9)

k m n
Were: ¦ P ⋅k
i =1
i ui (t )  ¦
i = k +1
Pi .k ui ( t )  ¦
i = m +1
Pi .k ui ( t )
• k: number of electrical loads on phase N°1
k m n

• m: it indicates the limit of electrical loads on phase ¦ P (t ) = ¦ P (t ) = ¦ P (t )

i =1
i
i = k +1
i
i = m+1
i
N°2 number.
­k m n

• n: the electrical loads number °¦ Pi = ¦ Pi = ¦ Pi (10)

° i =1 i = k +1 i = m+1
⇔®
Really, every electrical load has its own variation although 24 k m n
°and
hours that is called load flow. °̄ ¦
i =1
kui (t ) = ¦ kui (t ) = ¦ kui (t )
i = k +1 i = m+1

For this, electrical load active power Pi is not constant in one

day and its related to a utilization factor kui(t). In conclusion, a LV distribution network can have a balanced
three-phase system if:
Pi (t ) = Pi .k ui (t ) (3) • The three phases have approximately the same
k ui (t ) = [α i1 (t ), α i 2 (t ),..., α i 24 (t ) ] (4) power.
• The load flow variation although 24 hours is the same
For j from 1 to 24, α ij ( t ) = 0, 1 in the three phases.
Here, kui (t) represent the position of a circuit breaker although
the time: To apply this new method, we must proceed like the
• If the breaker is opened at the t instant so Įij (t) = 0 following:
• If the breaker is closed at the t instant so Įij (t) = 1 ƒ Gathering together into groups all electrical loads
So, if we take care about the load-flow variation although 24
those have the same utilization factor kui(t)
hours, we will have:
ƒ Distribution all electrical loads between the three
k m n
phases group by group.
¦ P (t ) ≠ ¦
i =1
i
i = k +1
Pi ( t ) ≠ ¦
i = m +1
Pi ( t ) (5)
In order to visualize the effectiveness of this method, it will be
If we add equation (3) in equation (5) we will obtain: necessary to take a real example and apply this new phases
k k m m n n
balancing approach.
¦ P .¦ k
i =1
i
i =1
ui (t ) ≠ ¦
i = k +1
Pi . ¦ k ui ( t ) ≠
i = k +1
¦
i = m +1
Pi . ¦ k ui ( t )
i = m +1
(6) Table 1 describes the electrical loads characteristics that will
be used as an application sample.
Or TABLE I. SINGLE-PHASE ELECTRICAL LOADS CARACTERISTICS
k m n P V Load flow variation (utilization
N° Load
¦ Pi  ¦ Pi  ¦ Pi [kW] [V] kui factor)
i =1 i = k +1 i = m +1 Load 1 [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
1 1.4 230
(phase 1) 1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
So
Load 2 [0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
2 2.3 230
­ k k m m n n (phase 2) 1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
°¦ Pi .¦ kui (t )  ¦ Pi . ¦ kui (t )  ¦ Pi . ¦ kui (t ) 3
Load 3
2.1 230
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,
°° i =1 i =1 i = k +1 i = k +1 i = m +1 i = m +1
(7) (phase 3) 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
® If and only if Load 4 [0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
4 1.7 230
° k m n (phase 2) 1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
°¦ kui (t ) = ¦ kui (t ) = ¦ kui (t ) Load 5 [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
°̄ i =1 i = k +1 i = m +1 5
(phase 1)
3.2 230
1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Load 6 [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,
We suppose that: 6 1.5 230
(phase 3) 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
k m n
Load 7 [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
¦k
i =1
ui (t ) = ¦
i = k +1
k ui ( t ) = ¦
i = m +1
k ui ( t ) = k u ( t ) (8) 7
(phase 1)
2.5 230
1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Load 8 [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,
8 2.9 230
Or: (phase 3) 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
k m n Load 9 [0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,
9 3 230
¦
i =1
Pi  ¦
i = k +1
Pi  ¦
i = m +1
Pi (phase 2) 1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]

978-1-4673-9234-1/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE 428

16th international conference on Sciences and Techniques of Automatic control STA'2015-PID3601-MES
& computer engineering - STA'2015, Monastir, Tunisia, December 21-23, 2015

Applying the conventional method to this example will give variation during the time, we obtain the next electrical loads
the next electrical loads allocation (tab II): allocation and repartition (tab IV):

TABLE II. ELECTRICAL LOADS ALLOCATION TABLE IV. ELECTRICAL LOADS ALLOCATION
Phase N° Connection Phase N° Connection
Load N°1 Load N°1
1 Load N°2 1 Load N°8
Load N°5 Load N°9
Load N°3 Load N°4
2 Load N°4 2 Load N°5
Load N°9 Load N°6
Load N°6 Load N°2
3 Load N°7 3 Load N°3
Load N°8 Load N°7

Implementing these data into an excel file gives a power If we put this distribution in an excel file, we will see the
variation in the three phases during one day as follows (tab power variation in different phases as follows (tab V):
III):
TABLE V. POWER DISTRIBUTION AFTER BALANCING
TABLE III. POWER DISTRIBUTION BEFORE BALANCING t P1 P2 P3 t P1 P2 P3
t P1 P2 P3 t P1 P2 P3 [h] [KW] [KW] [KW] [h] [KW] [KW] [KW]
[h] [KW] [KW] [KW] [h] [KW] [KW] [KW] 0 0 0 0 12 7,3 6,4 6,9
0 0 0 0 12 6,9 6,8 6,9 1 0 0 0 13 7,3 6,4 6,9
1 0 0 0 13 6,9 6,8 6,9 2 0 0 0 14 7,3 6,4 6,9
2 0 0 0 14 6,9 6,8 6,9 3 0 0 0 15 4,4 4,9 4,8
3 0 0 0 15 6,9 4,7 2,5 4 3 1,7 2,3 16 4,4 4,9 4,8
4 2,3 4,7 0 16 6,9 4,7 2,5 5 3 1,7 2,3 17 0 0 0
5 2,3 4,7 0 17 0 0 0 6 3 1,7 2,3 18 0 0 0
6 2,3 4,7 0 18 0 0 0 7 3 1,7 2,3 19 0 0 0
7 2,3 4,7 0 19 0 0 0 8 4,4 4,9 4,8 20 0 0 0
8 6,9 4,7 2,5 20 0 0 0 9 4,4 4,9 4,8 21 0 0 0
9 6,9 4,7 2,5 21 0 0 0 10 7,3 6,4 6,9 22 0 0 0
10 6,9 6,8 6,9 22 0 0 0 11 7,3 6,4 6,9 23 0 0 0
11 6,9 6,8 6,9 23 0 0 0
The power graphical evolution in the three phases related to
The graphical evolution of electrical power in three phases is this table is presented on the next graph (fig 3):
presented in the next figure (fig 2).
8
P1
8
P1 P2
P2 6 P3
6 P3
P o w er [kW ]
P o w er [kW ]

4
4

2
2

0
0 5 10 15 20
0 Time [h]
0 5 10 15 20
Time [h] Figure 3. Three-phase power variation in 24 hours after balancing
Figure 2. Three-phase power variation in 24 hours before balancing
According to this curve, we see that the three phases are
Here, we remark that the three phases are balanced only almost balanced during the time which is not the case for the
between 10 am and 14 pm in spite of their equal power values. conventional method.
In order to obtain a balanced three-phase system throughout a The next paragraph will be reserved to the application of this
day, we have to justify the condition (Eqt 10). method into a real electrical load representative an O.P.E.
After applying the condition (Eqt 10) to our example so as to example.
balance the three phases with taking care about the load flow

978-1-4673-9234-1/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE 429

16th international conference on Sciences and Techniques of Automatic control
& computer engineering - STA'2015, Monastir, Tunisia, December 21-23, 2015
III. THREE-PHASE BALANCING OF I.S.S.I.G. ELECTRICAL
INSTALLATION
For the raison that the O.P.E. starts to be actually a big
electrical load, we have to think about renewable energy
integration on this kind of building.
As an O.P.E., the I.S.S.I.G. is an institute in Tunisia that
includes different electrical loads types.
With the aim of preparing the optimal renewable energy
source design, it’s necessary to identify electrical loads
characteristics and the load-flow variation of each one.
For this raison, the next paragraph is reserved to describe all
the tools used in order to simulate the total electrical loads
modeled on Matlab/Simulink.
A. Data an tools
All this work started by using the I.S.S.I.G. electrical wiring
and characteristics of different electrical loads.
As is known, in a smart-grid it have small, middle and big
electrical load in one and three-phase network kind.
Every electrical load has its own load-flow variation per day.
For this, this work was based on a lot of technical and
behavior load information’s which were taken from the
I.S.S.I.G. and energetic expertise magazines like ADEME.
Some researchers used electrical load-flow variation for
modeling and static simulating of electrical equipments
without focusing the importance on three-phase balancing of
the distribution network [6].
In order to balance the grid currents, other researchers used a
strategy to calculate positive and negative sequence current
references from the required average power injections and
power ripple objectives, and feeds these references to
synchronous frame closed loop current regulators [7].
The latest research shows that the UH-PLL could be used as a
prefilter to guarantee a cleaner balanced signal for the SRF-
PLL reported in [8], [9] and [10].
The next paragraph will show application of introduced
method for three-phase balancing on electrical load related to
I.S.S.I.G.
B. Modeling and simulating of I.S.S.I.G. electrical loads
To realize this part of work, we implement all the electrical
loads on Matlab/Simulink using different tools in order to
have in the region of reality model for the institute.
The next figure (fig 4) is an example of modeling method used
in Matlab/Simulink in order to model this O.P.E.
Figure 4. Modeling method used in Matlab/Simulink
978-1-4673-9234-1/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE 430
STA'2015-PID3601-MES
In this figure, every component present:
• 1: one-phase electrical load: it presents
characteristics of each I.S.S.I.G. electrical
component.
• 2: breaker: it replaces the real breaker used to
command and protect this electrical load.
• 3: timer: it’s used to define exactly the moment of
switching on/off off the breaker witch replace the
utilization factor kui.
• 4: 0.4 KV distribution smart-grids
All institute electrical loads are modeled like the same method
illustrated in the figure 4.
We have to note that it has one and three-phase electrical loads
in the studied O.P.E. which are resistive, capacitive and
inductive kind.
In our Matlab/Simulink model we don’t consider the starting
current related to the motor electrical load type for the reason
that modeling will be so complicate and will take a lot of time
in simulation.
Since the associated thesis to this work aimed to contribute the
dimensioning of connected to grid photovoltaic generator
designed to provide electricity to this O.P.E., all starting
current required will be offered from the grid or batteries.
After putting all I.S.S.I.G. electrical loads in the
Matlab/Simulink model, we will obtain a subsystem (three-
phase electrical load) that must be connected with a three-
phase source.
Figure 5. I.S.S.I.G. Subsystem and three-phase source Matlab/Simulink
model
In this figure, every component represent:
• 1: Three-phase source
• 2: RLC branch that represent the line model
• 3: I.S.S.I.G. subsystem
16th international conference on Sciences and Techniques of Automatic control STA'2015-PID3601-MES
& computer engineering - STA'2015, Monastir, Tunisia, December 21-23, 2015

After simulating this model in Matlab/Simulink, we obtain the The “L.F.B.M.” balancing method is used before electrical
next graph (fig 6). installation, to have a better balanced three-phase we must
think about a new algorithm that can be used in the smart-grid
500
I1 after electrical installation.
400
I2 This topic is a big research axe and a future perspective for
I3
innovation and smart-grid optimization.
C u rren t [A ]

300
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200
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[4] Beck, Y., & Berkovich, Y. (2014, December). Matlab-Simulink model
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100
0
0 5 10 15 20
Time [h]
Figure 7. Currents evolution during typical day after balancing
If we analyze this figure, we remark that network three phases
are approximately balanced and their behavior is near to the
reality.
The maximum current in this figure is about 416 A which is
less than the current in the conventional method by 28 A.
Modeling dynamic performance of electrical loads throughout
time makes easiest and more exact renewable energy
dimensioning as an electrical source.
For this, every model must be similar to the reality in order to
do the best technical study for industrial process.
IV. CONCLUSION
This work shows a new three-phase balancing method
“L.F.B.M.” that must be used before electrical installation.
In spite of its technical data requirement, it was approved
by simulation its performance in one of the important stage
that is technical study and electric wiring preparation.
Using a professional energetic expertise of an O.P.E.
before electrical installation is a primordial stage that must be
applied by electric studying office in order to minimize losses
and maintain stability in the smart-grids.
[8] Escobar, G., Ho, C. N. M., Pettersson, S., Lopez-Sanchez, M. J.,
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First A. Author (Karim MANSOURI) was born in Gabes-
Tunisia, in 1982. He received the electrical instrumentation
degree in engineering from the National School of Engineer of
Gabes Tunisia in 2008.
From 2008 to 2009, he was an electrical engineer with a LV
electrical company.
From 2009 to 2010, he occupied a design engineer within
Engineering Construction Management + Design Company.
On the period between 2011 and the end of 2013, he was the
technical service responsible of General Electric Service
Society.
At the end of 2013, he returns back to Photovoltaic, Wind and
Geothermal Systems Research Unit (ENIG) in order to
pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering.
In the same year, he started teaching electric security and
energy distribution course at ISSIG institute.

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