Binary Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm for Optimal Allocation of Power Quality Monitors in Unbalanced Distribution System

This paper deals with optimal detection of number and best locations of power quality monitors (PQMs) in an unbalanced distribution network based on the monitor reach area concept. The proposed model uses binary string, representing the installation mode of PQMs (Yes or No) in each bus of the network. In this paper, the binary version of shuffled frog-leaping algorithm (BSFLA), because of having the ability to improve the search capability with a fast convergence rate, is utilized for the optimization process. The overall cost function is formulated to optimize the two indices, which are the monitor overlapping index and sag severity index. The only optimization constraint in this problem is that the number of monitors that can detect voltage sags due to a fault at a specific bus must not be zero. In this study, DIGSILENT software is utilized for fault analysis while the optimization problem is handled by the BSFLA. To verify the proposed algorithm, the IEEE 34 Bus unbalanced distribution network is considered as a case study and results are compared to similar investigations so as to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.