Reclosers Modeling for Temporal Simulation of Distribution Networks in Simulink/ Matlab

Over the past few years, Brazils increasing dependence on electricity has caused a continuous growth in demand and, therefore, the need to guarantee long-term energy supply to costumers. Hence, studying the devices that are responsible ensuring this continuity is critical since the improper operation of this equipment can reduce the reliability of the electrical energy distribution system, therefore requiring detailed study that incorporates simulations, modeling, and analysis of response capacity in the face of real loads. Simulink/Matlab is one of the most widely used software programs in academia. However, it does not have readymade templates for protection system equipment such as relays, fuses, and reclosers. Herein, the aim is to model the digital recloser using the S-function block of Simulink/Matlab. The proposed model for the recloser follows the configurations required by Brazilian electricity distribution companies, i.e. four operations divided into fast and slow, the latter one being responsible for permanently opening the section of the system on fault. To validate the modeled device, the IEEE 34-bar system was used, in which several operational cases were considered. The results obtained show that the proposed digital recloser model performed successfully proved to be a promising proposal for protection studies of power distribution systems.