Hierarchical Management System for Tactical Power Grids

Intelligent Automation, Inc. (IAI), and Georgia Institute of Technology detail an intelligent hierarchical power management system that provides self-diagnostics, plug-an-play capability, and a set of practical, integrated software and hardware tools for efficient power system management with a minimum of required hardware. In the proposed system, power management is conducted at two levels, grid level and load center level, in a distributed fashion using a high fidelity system model. The grid level management is conducted at local nodes. Each node has its own model and intelligence to perform analysis and take local decisions. Each node is implemented on low-cost reconfigurable Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), is located close to, but does not require integration with, the (legacy) load. The “brain centers” perform the load center level power management using all the models of connected components of the system in real time and assemble the integrated model of the entire tactical grid. The proposed system will be scalable, highly reliable, and flexible with “plug and play” capabilities by virtue of its distributed nature, and capable of managing efficient utilization of energy sources and maximizing the reliability of the power supply.