Tools and heuristics for operation of network applications

A number of tools and heuristic based programs are needed to provide consistently good results from the on-line network analysis functions such as the state estimator, external model, and dispatcher power flow. This paper identifies a set of tools and data that is necessary for the real-time operation of these functions. The paper also gives the details on how these tools and heuristics have been implemented at Salt River Project. The true real-time operation of the on-line power flow function requires the ability to make on-line changes to the system model as they happen in the field. Enough information must be predicted or obtained from the external systems to provide an accurate solution at each execution. This task requires constant monitoring of the results for both accuracy and to pinpoint modeling or data inconsistencies. At the Salt River Project several software tools have been developed to modify the database on-line and also to monitor and log several items to flag any problems with the results. This has also helped in identifying the cause of poor results and then has lead to the development of simple heuristic logic to provide consistently good results. This paper is a collection of simple tools and heuristic logic that are extremely helpful in proper operation of the on-line network analysis functions