Parallel Electromagnetic Transient Simulation of Large-Scale Power Systems on Massive-threading Hardware

• Author / Creator

  Zhou, Zhiyin

• Electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation is widely utilized in power system planning and design. Respecting the detail and complexity of the components models, the electromagnetic
  transient program (EMTP) demands significant computational power. Increasing with the scale of the system, this requirement has become so prominent that parallel
  programming techniques are urgently needed in large-scale power system EMT simulation. Improving upon the multithreading parallelism, massive-threading computing is
  one of the key developments that can increase the EMT computational capabilities substantially when the processing unit has enough hardware cores. Compared to the traditional
  central processing unit (CPU), the graphic processing unit (GPU) has many more cores with distributed memory which can offer higher data throughput.

  This thesis describes the conception of the massive-threading parallel EMTP based on GPU for large-scale power systems using compute unified device architecture (CUDA). It
  defines a new fundamental program framework, relevant basic data structures and efficient data interfaces of the massive-threading parallel EMT simulator. The thesis proposes
  a series of massive-threading parallel modules for component models including unified linear passive elements module (ULPEM), universal line module (ULM) and universal
  machine module (UMM); and numerical methods, including Newton-Raphson iteration module (NRIM) and forward-backward substitution with LU factorization module (FBSLUM),
  used in the EMTP. Without the need for a trade-off between the system scale and the complexity of the component models, all parallel modules proposed above are detailed,
  universal and unified. In order to fully release the computing power of modern computer system, both data and instructions are based on 64-bit architecture, which guarantee
  the precision as well as extensibility of the program.

  The developed MT-EMTP program has been tested on various large-scale power systems of up to 2458 three-phase buses with detailed component modeling. The simulation
  results and execution times are compared with a mainstream commercial software, EMTPRV r, to show the improvement in performance with equivalent accuracy.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Parallel programming
  • CUDA
  • EMTP
  • GPU
  • Electromagnetic transients
  • Massive-thread
  • Power system simulation

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3069B

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.