Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
University of Alberta
$183,034.00
Next generation electromagnetic transient simulation tool for large-scale power systems with detailed equipment models
FY 2020-21
Summary
Electrical power systems are the largest man-made geographically distributed nonlinear structures that are
composed of a variety of equipment such as generators, transformers, transmission lines, customer loads,
spanning thousands of kilometers. Electromagnetic transient simulation (EMT) tools are used analyze and
solve major operational and control problems in power systems. EMT simulation of large-scale power systems
consumes so much computational power that parallel programming techniques are urgently needed in this area.
Currently available EMT simulation tools were designed to run on single-core CPUs, and therefore, cannot
take advantage of the multi-core CPUs and many-core graphics processors (GPUs) to manage computational
load. Massive-thread computing is one of the key developments that can increase the EMT computational
capabilities substantially when the processing unit has enough hardware cores. The aim of this project is to
develop a host of innovations towards implementing a parallel massive-thread EMT simulator for large-scale
power systems on the GPU and multi-core CPU hardware architectures. The main features of this work is to
design and build massive-thread models for various power system and power electronic components, finite
element and finite difference time domain models, efficient numerical algorithms, advanced data analysis and
visualization, and validation of the simulator.
The project results are expected to prove the feasibility of a functional parallel massive-thread EMT simulator
that can achieve computational speed-up in large-scale system simulation while using very detailed system
component models. The main beneficiary of this project will be Manitoba HVDC Research Centre (MHRC)
which can integrate the developed innovations into their flagship EMT simulation tool PSCAD/EMTDC. The
experienced team of highly qualified engineers trained in this project will contribute to the ongoing
advancement of the EMT simulation technology and may prove to be valuable future employees for MHRC.
Program
Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Recipient
Location
Alberta, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
515592-2017
Name nom
Dinavahi, Venkata
Department département
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Organization id
9
Institution établissement
University of Alberta
Province en
Alberta
Province fr
Alberta
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2020
Competition year année de concours
2017
Award amount
183034
Program id
CRDPJ
Program name en
Collaborative Research and Development Grants
Program name fr
Subventions de recherche et développement coopérative
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
304
Area of application group en
Energy resources
Area of application group fr
Ressources d'énergie
Area of application en
Electrical energy
Area of application fr
Énergie électrique
Research subject code
2501
Research subject group en
Electrical and electronic engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie électrique et électronique
Research subject en
Power systems
Research subject fr
Réseaux électriques
Installment
inst:3 - 4
Partie
2
Nb partie
4
Application title
Next generation electromagnetic transient simulation tool for large-scale power systems with detailed equipment models
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
Electrical power systems are the largest man-made geographically distributed nonlinear structures that are
composed of a variety of equipment such as generators, transformers, transmission lines, customer loads,
spanning thousands of kilometers. Electromagnetic transient simulation (EMT) tools are used analyze and
solve major operational and control problems in power systems. EMT simulation of large-scale power systems
consumes so much computational power that parallel programming techniques are urgently needed in this area.
Currently available EMT simulation tools were designed to run on single-core CPUs, and therefore, cannot
take advantage of the multi-core CPUs and many-core graphics processors (GPUs) to manage computational
load. Massive-thread computing is one of the key developments that can increase the EMT computational
capabilities substantially when the processing unit has enough hardware cores. The aim of this project is to
develop a host of innovations towards implementing a parallel massive-thread EMT simulator for large-scale
power systems on the GPU and multi-core CPU hardware architectures. The main features of this work is to
design and build massive-thread models for various power system and power electronic components, finite
element and finite difference time domain models, efficient numerical algorithms, advanced data analysis and
visualization, and validation of the simulator.
The project results are expected to prove the feasibility of a functional parallel massive-thread EMT simulator
that can achieve computational speed-up in large-scale system simulation while using very detailed system
component models. The main beneficiary of this project will be Manitoba HVDC Research Centre (MHRC)
which can integrate the developed innovations into their flagship EMT simulation tool PSCAD/EMTDC. The
experienced team of highly qualified engineers trained in this project will contribute to the ongoing
advancement of the EMT simulation technology and may prove to be valuable future employees for MHRC.
