PID controllers design for a power plant using Bacteria Foraging Algorithm

This paper provides the design for two PID controllers, one for the terminal voltage and the other for the electric power. Both controllers are designed to control a sample power system that comprises a synchronous generator connected to a large network via a step-up transformer and a transmission line. The generator is equipped with two decoupled control-loops, namely, the speed/power (governor) and voltage (exciter) controllers. The gains setting of both PIDs are found using Bacteria Forging Algorithm (BFA). PID is considered because of its robustness, simple structure and easy implementation. It is also preferred in plants of higher order that cannot be reduced to lower ones. To show the effectiveness of the design, divers tests, namely, step/tracking in the control variables, and variation in plant parameters, are applied. From the simulation, the results are very encouraging to pursue further this trend.