radial distribution system network reconfiguration for reduction in real power loss and improvement in voltage profile, and reliability

Distribution systems play a crucial role in delivering power to customers and bridging the gap between bulk power transmission and end-users. increasing energy demand due to factors like industrial development and population growth necessitates efficient distribution system management. a low x/r ratio in distribution networks leads to higher real power losses, lower voltage profiles, and reduced system reliability. selecting optimal combinations of sectionalizing and tie switches for network reconfiguration is a complex and time-consuming task. this article introduces the modified load flow (mlf) method, which combines the backward/forward sweep method with an effective approach for selecting sectionalizing and tie switches to minimize real power loss. the mlf method offers advantages such as ease of implementation, requiring fewer control parameters, and scalability to large distribution systems. the proposed mlf method is compared with particle swarm optimization (pso) and other existing algorithms in literature such as the cuckoo search algorithm (csa), improved sine cosine algorithm (isca), and improved harmony search algorithm (ihsa). results obtained from mlf and pso to ieee-33, 69, and 118 bus radial distribution systems demonstrate significant reductions in real power loss, with mlf outperforming pso in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. voltage profiles at critical buses before and after network reconfiguration are examined, showing improvements in mlf better than the pso method. various reliability indices are evaluated to assess system performance before and after network reconfiguration, demonstrating improvements in system reliability. overall, the proposed modified load flow method offers a promising approach to address the challenges of real power losses and system reliability in radial distribution systems.