Power Plant Models for Operator Training Simulators

Models for power plants have been developed over several decades for use in long term dynamic simulation of large power systems. These models are derived from, but are significantly simpler than, models used for studying power plants. This is because in system studies, as opposed to power plant studies, only the trajectories of the output variables of many plants are of interest as opposed to the many variables internal to the plant. The first use of these models was in the simulation and study of automatic generation control. This was done by interconnecting the power plant models through a uniform frequency dynamic model of the power system. Later, the addition of the network model and models of other system components provided the capability to simulate all aspects of power system long term dynamics. The power system simulation required in an operator training simulator is very similar to that needed for long term dynamic studies with the added requirement that it must be run in real time. These available power plant models have been used in operator training simulators and the suitability for such application of these models has also been shown. The fast solution requirement of the operator training simulator, however, has often led to the use of simple low order models whose accuracy, though suspect, has never been reported. In this paper, an attempt is made to provide models of varying complexity.