Online monitoring of generator damping using dissipation energy flow computed from ambient data.

Online monitoring of generator damping assists in identifying wrong parameters or detrimental changes in generator control systems that may reduce damping ratios of power system oscillation modes. An approach for generator damping estimation using ambient data during normal operation of power systems is proposed. The ambient phasor measurement data at generator terminal is collected and filtered, and then the dissipation energy flow (DEF) into the generator is computed. The rate of change of the DEF represents the rate of transient energy dissipation of the generator and is used to estimate the generator damping. Test results show the validity and possible applications of the approach. A more comprehensive online monitoring system of small-signal stability can be constructed using the approach together with system mode estimation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]