A novel algorithm for determining the exact location of switched capacitor banks in distribution systems

In this paper a novel algorithm is proposed in order to determine the exact location of switched capacitor banks in distribution systems. The method consists of two steps. In the first step, the direction of switched capacitor bank is determined by evaluating power factor changes before and after the switching instant. In the second step, a method based on linear circuit theory is used to estimate the exact distance of switched capacitor bank from monitoring location using existing capacitor switching transient data. The method is valid for both wye and delta configured capacitor banks. The proof of the method is given and then the efficacy of the proposed algorithm is validated using the IEEE 13-bus distribution system.