Performance Evaluation of Multiagent Systems for Navy Shipboard Power System Restoration

A multiagent-based feeder automation system is developed for the service restoration of power systems in a navy ship after fault contingencies. In the system, power-electronic-building-block agents of the multiagent system (MAS) are used to derive the proper restoration plan after the faulted location is identified and isolated. To assure that the restoration plan complies with operation regulation, heuristic rules based on standard operation procedures of the shipboard power system (SPS) are included in the best first search of the MAS. Two control schemes for SPS restoration are investigated, and their performances are evaluated and compared using a discrete event simulation technique with respect to restoration time. For fault contingency when the capacity reserves of supporting feeders are not enough to cover the fault restoration, the load shedding strategy is derived for the MAS to restore service power to as many key loads as possible. A navy SPS with 72 feeders is selected for computer simulation to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. The study concludes that, to cover feeder automation functions, a MAS with distributed processing capability provides better reliability performance than the centralized control.