An integrated knowledge-base for an intelligent distribution control center

Advanced operation of distribution systems is currently performed using SCADA/DMS systems. These are adequate for normal operation, but in emergency situations the current tools are not effective. In these cases the operator must interpret a lot of information and take important decisions in short time intervals, applying his/her experience and heuristic knowledge about the system. For these situations, artificial intelligence, and in particular expert systems techniques provide an alternative for giving support to the operator in data interpretation and the decision processes. Current developments in this area are isolated systems that help the operator in an specific function, such as alarm processing or restoration. These function-specific knowledge-based systems have severe limitations, including the duplication of knowledge, incompatibility and potential conflicts. We propose an integrated knowledge-base (IKB) which will provide the {open_quotes}core{close_quotes} knowledge for the basic functions at the substation and feeder level: alarm processing, fault management, Volt/VAR control and load balancing. It will provide the common knowledge for the different functions, and the specific one will be easily integrated over this platform. The system is based on the object-oriented paradigm and it has three main components: (a) a hierarchical description of all the elements in a distribution system, (b) amore » graph which describes the network topology and (c) functional models for different type of elements. We expect that this development will provide the basis for a future intelligent distribution control center.« less