A Dynamic and Heuristic Phase BalancingMethod for LV Feeders

Due to the single-phase loads and their stochastic behavior, the current in the distribution feeders is not balanced. In addition, thesingle-phase loads are located in different positions along the LV feeders. So the amount of the unbalanced load and its locationaffect the feeder losses. An unbalanced load causes the feeder losses and the voltage drop. Because of time-varying behavior of thesingle-phase loads, phase balancing is a dynamic and combinatorial problem. In this research, a heuristic and dynamic solution forthe phase balancing of the LV feeders is proposed. In this method, it is supposed that the loads’ tie could be connected to all phasesthrough a three-phase switch. The aim of the proposed method is to make the feeder conditions as balanced as possible. The amountand the location of single-phase loads are considered in the proposed phase balancing method. Since the proposed method needsno communication interface or no remote controller, it is inexpensive, simple, practical, and robust. Applying this method providesa distributed and dynamic phase balancing control. In addition, the feasibility of reducing the used switches is investigated. Theability of the proposed method in the phase balancing of the LV feeders is approved by carrying out some simulations