Assessing the level of unbalanced electricity consumption by agricultural enterprises: case study of the Irkutsk State Agricultural University named after A.A. Yezhevsky

Abstract

The research goal is to analyze the unbalanced operating modes of low-voltage electrical networks caused by asymmetrically non-sinusoidal power consumption in administrative and office buildings. The educational institution chosen as the research target is the Irkutsk State Agricultural University named after A.A. Yezhevsky. There were the following research objectives: the substantiation of the scientific and methodological basis for assessing unbalanced regimes; development of a specialized balancing technique and proof of its effectiveness in minimizing unbalanced modes and their consequences in electrical networks. Based on real measurements in the operating internal electrical network of the educational institution, the calculation and analysis of the studied imbalance indices were performed in the absence of a developed balancing device (BU) in the network and when a simulation model of this device was introduced into the studied network. It was found that in the operating electrical network of the university, the unbalance indices characterizing the quality of electricity exceeded the established limits by almost 80% and the losses of active power and energy by almost 70% compared to the ideal (balanced) mode of operation of the network. It was determined that the integration of the simulation model of the balancing device into the studied network may reduce quality indices by 50% or more, and the index characterizing additional power losses - by almost 20%. The expected yearly economic effect from the implementation of the research findings may amount to more than 118 thousand rubles. The methods of symmetric components, numerical analysis and machine learning technology based on the authors’ software were used. The research findings may be of interest to scientists and post-graduate students engaged in research on the quality of electrical energy.