Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5(6): 461-474, 2011

ISSN 1991-8178

Optimal Capacitor Placement in a Distribution Network with Nonlinear Loads Using

Harmony Search Algorithm
1
Reza Sirjani, 1Azah Mohamed and 1Hussain Shareef
1
Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
Bangi, 43600, Selangor, Malaysia.

Abstract: Shunt capacitors are widely used in distribution systems to reduce power losses, improve
voltage profile and increase system capacity. The benefits of compensation depend greatly on the
placement and size of the added capacitors. Most of the capacitor placement techniques assume that
all loads are linear and ignore the effect of harmonics. The objective of the capacitor placement
problem, in the presence of nonlinear loads, is to determine the optimal size and location of installed
capacitors for various loading conditions. In this process, it maximizes the total saving by energy loss
reduction through proper installation of shunt capacitors. In this paper, a relatively new meta-heuristic
method called the Harmony Search (HS) algorithm is applied.. The performance of the proposed HS
algorithm is validated on the 33-bus radial distribution system considering linear and non linear loads.
The capacitor placement results using HS algorithm are also compared with those using genetic
algorithm.

Key words: Distribution System, Capacitor Placement, Nonlinear Loads, Harmonics, Harmony Search
Algorithm, Sweep Load Flow

INTRODUCTION

Electric distribution systems are becoming large and complex leading to higher system losses and poor
voltage regulation. Studies indicate that almost 13% of the total power generated is consumed as I2R losses
at the distribution level (Ng et al., 2000). Therefore, to reduce power losses, shunt capacitors are installed in
power distribution networks to compensate reactive power. Shunt capacitors in distribution networks are used
not only for power loss reduction but also for other purposes such as voltage profile improvement and
maximize transmitted power in cables and transformers. However, installation of shunt capacitors in distribution
networks requires finding the appropriate location and size of these capacitors. Thus, optimal capacitor
placement plays an important role in maximizing the saving in loss reduction through proper installation and
sizing.
Many methods have been developed to solve the capacitor placement problem in distribution systems. Most
of the methods developed in the past assume that all system loads are linear and neglect harmonic sources in
the system. However, neglecting the harmonic sources may generate solutions that lead to resonance condition.
In distribution systems, harmonics are generated by the widespread use of nonlinear loads such as electronic
devices, battery charges and fluorescent lights. Measurements in typical distribution systems show that there
is a significant amount of harmonic distortion in voltage and current waveforms. In some occasions, these
distortions may be amplified due to resonance conditions created by installed capacitors and system inductance..
Hence, in solving the optimal capacitor problem, it is important to consider the harmonic loads in the
distribution system.
Many techniques have been reported in the literature to solve the optimal capacitor placement problem in
distribution systems. These techniques may be classified as analytical, numerical programming, heuristic and
artificial intelligence based techniques (Ng et al., 2000). Among them, dynamic programming technique is
employed by Duran (1968) to solve the capacitor placement problem by maximizing the saving from the power
loss reduction through the proper installation of shunt capacitors and minimizing shunt capacitor costs. Baran
and Wu (1989) have determined the optimal location, type and size of shunt capacitors by considering two
separate solutions: one to optimize the capacitor location and the other to solve the capacitor size. The
objective is to minimize energy loss and real power loss while taking the capacitor cost into account.

Corresponding Author: Reza Sirjani, Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
and Built Environment, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
E-mail: Sirjani@eng.ukm.my
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Recently, the heuristic based techniques have been widely applied in solving the optimal capacitor
placement problem (Huang, 2000; Das, 2002; Masoum et al., 2004; Annaluru et al., 2004; Parakash and
Sydulu, 2007; Al-Hajri et al., 2007; Roa and Narasimham., 2008). For instance, the immune based optimization
technique is used for selecting proper locations and ratings of capacitor banks (Huang, 2000). Similarly, the
application of fuzzy logic to the problem can be found in (Masoum et al., 2004). In which the constraints are
fuzzified and the alpha cuts are used to direct the search process to ensure that the objective function is
improved at each iteration process (Masoum et al., 2004). Other heuristic based techniques include the
application of the ant colony algorithm to solve the capacitor placement and sizing problem (Annaluru et al.,
2004). In the implementation of ant colony optimization, capacitors should have discrete values rather than the
continuous values which are usually more accurate. One of the disadvantages of the ant colony algorithm is
the low speed of convergence because all paths must be reviewed by the ants. The particle swarm optimization
(PSO) is also used in combination with the loss sensitivity indices to minimize real power losses and improve
voltage profiles (Parakash and Sydulu, 2007). Genetic algorithm has been applied to find the optimum locations
and sizes of fixed and switched capacitors at various load levels (Abou-Ghazala, 2003). The genetic algorithm
is considered as one of the first meta-heuristic techniques used for solving optimal capacitor placement
problem but it has some drawbacks such as divergence and local optima problems.
A discrete PSO algorithm is applied to optimally determine the location and size of a fixed single- phase
capacitor in a balanced radial distribution system (Al-Hajri et al., 2007). For this case, the problem is
formulated as a nonlinear integer optimization problem with both capacitor location and size having discrete
values. Moreover, the Newton-Raphson power flow method is used to calculate the cost function. Recently,
the plant growth simulation algorithm is applied to solve the optimal capacitor placement problem in a radial
distribution system (Roa and Narasimham, 2008). The above-mentioned methods assume that all loads are
linear and ignore the presence of harmonic sources when solving the capacitor placement problems. However,
it is important to incorporate nonlinear load models to guarantee an optimal solution and to avoid harmonic
amplification and resonance (Baghzouz, 1991). To in cooperate effect of harmonics, a binary PSO has been
applied (Khalil et al., 2007). The objective function is to maximize the net savings resulting from peak power
and energy losses, while taking capacitor cost into account. The successful application of PSO algorithm
demonstrates that the PSO can easily handle optimization problems (Xin-mei et al., 2004). However, there are
some disadvantages in using PSO such as difficulty in finding the optimal design parameters and proper
selection of initial conditions and parameter for accurate solution.
This paper presents a new optimization technique using harmony search algorithm to find optimal locations
and size of shunt capacitors in the presence of nonlinear loads. The harmony search algorithm is a meta-
heuristic search method that is practiced by musicians when improvising their instrument pitches to find better
harmony (Geem et al., 2001). It has several advantages in which it does not require initial settings for the
decision variables and it can handle both discrete and continuous variables. The initial work presented in this
paper can be found in (Sirjani et al., 2010). In it, the harmony search algorithm is used together with the
backward/forward sweep power flow method (Teng, 2000) and radial harmonic power flow (Teng and Chang,
2007) to determine the optimal placement and sizing of capacitors in a radial distribution network with
nonlinear loads. In this work, the optimal capacitor placement problem is formulated in such a way that the
obtained optimal solution does not result in severe resonant conditions at harmonic frequencies. The proposed
algorithm is implemented on the 33-bus test system and it is compared with the method using genetic
algorithm.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Problem Formulation:
Capacitors are used to provide reactive power compensation in distribution networks to reduce power
losses and to maintain a voltage profile within acceptable limits. The ultimate goal for optimal capacitor
placement problem in radial distribution system is to investigate the best location and size of shunt capacitors
to maximize loss reduction and to minimize the total cost. In the presence of nonlinear loads, more harmonics
are being injected into distribution systems. The addition of shunt capacitors may lead to high distortion levels
causing damage to the electric equipment. As a result, shunt capacitors should be optimally located and rated,
taking the presence of harmonics into account (Ejal, 2008).
The problem is formulated to determine the optimal shunt capacitor size and location in a radial
distribution system by maximizing the net savings resulting from peak power and total energy loss reduction
while taking into account the capacitor cost. To solve the optimal capacitor placement and sizing problem, the

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following objective function, F is considered.

F = Maximize {Total Net Saving} (1)

The total net saving is expressed as,

Total Net Saving  K p (P )loss ,1   K e (E )loss ,l  K c (2)

l 1

where Ploss,1 and Eloss,l are the saving made on power and energy respectively due to capacitor placements
at l-th level. KP and Ke are the equivalent annual cost per unit of power loss in $/(kW-year) and energy loss
in $/(kWh-year), respectively and Kc is the annual capacitor installations cost.

The total real power loss is defined by,

Ploss  Ploss ( Fund .)  Ploss ( harmonics ) (3)

in which;

n Ri .  P2,i  Q2,i 
Ploss ( Fund .)
 (4)
i 1 Vi 2
H
Ploss ( harmonics )
 P
h  h0
loss
(h)
(5)

where Ploss(Fund.) and Ploss(h) are the total power loss of fundamental and harmonic components, respectively.
Ri is the resistance of branch i; PΣ,i and QΣ,i are the total real and reactive powers at bus i, respectively and
Vi is the voltage at bus i , h0 and H are the lower and upper limits of the harmonic order, respectively.

The energy losses at each load level is computed by,

Eloss ,l  Tl Ploss ,l (6)

where Ploss,l is power loss and Tl is the load duration at the l-th level.

The net saving is maximized by subjecting to constraints that include limits on voltage, voltage total
harmonic distortion (THD) and number of installed capacitors, which are given as;

Vmin  Vil  Vmax (7)

THDil (%)  THDmax (%) (8)

where Vil is the voltage at ith bus and l-th level and THDil(%) is the total harmonic distortion at the l-th
level which computed by using,

100 H
THDil (%) 
Vil1
V
h  h0
h 2
il (9)

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h is the harmonic order and Vil1 is the fundamental rms voltage at l-th level.

The capacitor size is given by,

Qcj  150  j (kVar) (10)

in which j=0,1,….,15.

The selection of capacitor size is limited to standard sizes of Qc Î {150, 300, 450, 600,…, 2100,
2250}kVar.

1.1. Backward/forward Sweep Power Flow:

To solve the optimal capacitor placement and sizing problem for a typical radial distribution network
shown in Figure 1, a simpler power flow method known as the backward/forward sweep power flow is used
for computing the power loss (Teng, 2000). In this power flow method, the relationship between the bus
current injections and the branch currents is represented by the matrix [BIBC] which is given as,

[B]= [BIBC] [I] (11)

where [I] is the bus current injection vector and [B] is the branch current vector.
The relationship between the branch currents, [B] and bus voltages, [V] is represented by the matrix
[BCBV]. The matrices [BIBC] and [BCBV] are then multiplied to obtain the relationship between the voltage
deviation, [V] and the bus current injections [I], which is represented by the matrix [DLF] and is given by,

[ V]= [BCBV] [B] = [BCBV] [BIBC] [I] = [DLF] [I] (12)

[DLF] is also known as the voltage drop to bus current injection matrix.

Fig. 1: Simple radial distribution network.

The backward/forward sweep power flow method at the k iteration considers the following equations:

Pi  jQi *
I ik  ( ) (13)
Vi k
 V k 1    DLF   I k  (14)

where k is the iteration count.

1.2. Harmonic Power Flow:

To solve the capacitor placement problem in a power system with nonlinear loads, it is necessary to
perform harmonic power flow calculations at different harmonic orders such that harmonic losses, harmonic
voltages and bus voltage THD can be obtained. A simple harmonic power flow that uses backward and
forward sweep method to calculate harmonic branch currents and harmonic nodal voltages has been developed

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(Teng and Chang, 2007). This method has several advantages over other harmonic power flow methods in
which it considers radial topology of a distribution system, fast computational time, full three phase
representation of system components and can be applied to large scale distribution systems (Ejal, 2008).

The steps involved in the harmonic power flow algorithm are described as follows (Ejal, 2008):
1. Set the harmonic order to the smallest value of interest (h=h0).
2. Build the coefficient vector of each branch.
3. Form the relationship matrix between the harmonic bus voltages and system harmonic currents.
4. For nc shunt capacitors, build the matrix for all harmonic frequencies of interest.
5. Calculate the harmonic currents of shunt capacitors.
6. Compute the harmonic bus voltage vector at the kth iteration.
7. Repeat steps (iv) and (v) until a stopping criterion is met.
8. Repeat steps (i) to (vii) until the maximum harmonic order of interest (H) is considered.
9. Calculate the rms values of the harmonic bus voltages.
10. Measure the voltage THD (%) at each bus.
Generally, nonlinear loads in distribution systems are considered as ideal harmonic current sources that
generate harmonic currents and inject them into the systems. Assuming that the load at node i is separated into
wi non-linear loads and (1!wi) linear loads, then injected harmonic current at this node during load level, l can
be computed by (Xin-mei et al.,2004):

Pi.l  jQ,i ,l
I ih,l  wi (15)
(Vi1,l ) * h
where Pi,l and Qi,l represent load active and reactive powers, respectively and (V1i,l) is the complex
conjugate of the fundamental voltage and h is the harmonic order.

1.3. Load Variation Model:

It is assumed that in a year, there are seven periods to accommodate load variations due to season, the
week (weekday and weekend), and the daily load level (peak and off-peak load periods). The load curve is
thus assumed as in Table I.

Table 1: Load curve

p Load (%) Tp(hours)
1 40 2000
2 50 2000
3 60 2000
4 70 1000
5 80 1000
6 90 700
7 100 60

2. Harmony Search Algorithm:

Recently, a meta-heuristic optimization algorithm inspired by playing music has been developed and it is
called as the harmony search (HS) algorithm. It is based on meta-heuristic which combine rules and
randomness to imitate natural phenomena. HS algorithm is inspired by the operation of orchestra music to find
the best harmony between components which are involved in the operation process, for optimal solution. As
musical instruments can be played with some discrete musical notes based on player experience or based on
random processes in improvisation, optimization design variables can be considered certain discrete values
based on computational intelligence and random processes (Lee and Geem, 2005). Music players improve their
experience based on aesthetics standards while design variables in computer memory can be improved based
on objective function.
The performance of music seeks a best state or excellent harmony determined by aesthetic estimation, as
the optimization process seeks a best state determined by objective function evaluations. Evaluation of the
objective function is performed by comparing the values produced by the decision variables, which correspond
to harmony. As the optimization process looks for finding a global solution that is determined by the objective
function, musical performances follow to find pleasing harmony which is determined by the aesthetic standard.
Figure 2 shows a comparison of information between musical improvisation and engineering optimization. In

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music improvisation, each musician plays within possible pitches to make a harmony vector. If all the pitches
create good harmony, the musician saved them in memory and increases good or better harmony for next time.
Similarly, in the field of engineering optimization, at first each decision variable value is selected within the
possible range and formed a solution vector. If all decision variable values lead to a good solution, each
variable that has been experienced is saved in memory, and it increases the possibility of good or better
solutions for next time.
Among the advantages of the HS algorithm are that it can consider discontinuous functions as well as
continuous functions because it does not require differential gradients; it does not require initial value setting
for the variables; it is free from divergence and may escape local optima (Lee and Geem, 2005).

Fig. 2: Comparison between music improvisation and engineering optimization.

In the HS algorithm, it looks for Vector or the path of X which can reduce the computational function
cost or shorten the path. The computational procedures of the HS algorithm which are implemented in steps
are described as follows (Lee and Geem, 2005).

Step 1: Initialization of the optimization problem.

Step 2: Initialization of the harmony memory (HM).
Step 3: Improvisation a New Harmony from the HM set.
Step 4: Updating HM.
Step 5: Checking Stopping Criteria. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the end criterion is satisfied.

Step 1: Initialization of the Optimization Problem:

Consider an optimization problem which is described as,
Minimize F(x) subject to xiÎXi , I=1,2,3,…..N.
where, F(x) : objective function
x : set of each design variable (xi)
Xi: set of the possible range of values for each design variable (Lxi <Xi <Uxi).
N: number of design variables

Here, the HS algorithm parameters are also specified in which the parameters are the harmony memory
size (HMS) or the number of solution vectors in the harmony memory; harmony memory considering rate
(HMCR); pitch adjusting rate (PAR); number of decision variables (N); number of improvisations (NI) and
the stopping criterion.

Step 2: Initialization of the Harmony Memory:

The harmony memory (HM) matrix, shown in (16), is filled with as many randomly generated solution
vectors as HMS and sorted by the values of the objective function, f (x).

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 x11 x12 ... x1N 1 x1N   f ( x (1) )

 2 
x22 ... xN2 1 xN2   f (x )
(2)
 x1
 . . . . .  . .
 
HM   . . . . .  . . (16)
 . . . . .  . .
 HMS 1 
x2HMS 1   f (x
HMS 1 HMS 1 ( HMS 1)
 x1 ... xN 1 xN )
 x HMS x2HMS ... xNHMS HMS 
xN   f ( x HMS )
)
 1 1

Step 3: Improvisation a New Harmony from the HM set:

A new harmony vector, x = (x1 , x2 ,...,xn ), is generated based on three rules, namely, random selection,
memory consideration and pitch adjustment. These rules are described as follows:

Random Selection:
When HS determines the value, xi for the new harmony, x = (x1 , x2 ,...xn ), it randomly picks any value
from the total value range with a probability of (1-HMCR). Random selection is also used for previous
memory initialization.

Memory Consideration:
When HS determines the value xi , it randomly picks any value xij from the HM with a probability of
HMCR since j= {1, 2,…, HMS}.

 x 'i   xi1 , xi2 ,..., xiHMS  with probablity HMCR 

x 'i    (17)
 x 'i  X i with probablity (1  HMCR) 

Pitch Adjustment:
Every component of the new harmony vector x = (x1 , x2 ,...xn ), is examined to determine whether it
should be pitch-adjusted. After the value xi is randomly picked from HM in the above memory consideration
process, it can be further adjusted into neighboring values by adding certain amount to the value, with
probability of PAR. This operation uses the PAR parameter, which is the rate of pitch adjustment as follows:

Yes with probablity PAR 

x 'i    (18)
 No with probablity (1  PAR) 
The value of (1-PAR) sets the rate of doing nothing. If the pitch adjustment decision for xi is yes, xi is
replaced as follows:

x 'i  x 'i  bw (19)

where bw is the arbitrary distance bandwidth for a continuous design variable.

In this step, pitch adjustment or random selection is applied to each variable of the new harmony vector.

Step 4: Updating HM:

If the new harmony vector x = (x1 , x2 ,...xn ) is better than the worst harmony in the HM, from the
viewpoint of the objective function value, the new harmony is entered in the HM and the existing worst
harmony is omitted from the HM (Kazemi et al., 2009).

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Step 5: Checking stopping criterion:

If the stopping criterion which is based on the maximum number of improvisations is satisfied,
computation is terminated. Otherwise, Steps 3 and 4 are repeated.

2.1. Harmony Search Algorithm for Discrete Variables:

The original HS algorithm consists of three operations for considering the randomness as follows (Zong,
2008):

 xi (k )  {xi (1), xi (2),..., xi ( Ki ) with probablity (1  HMCR) 

 
 
xiNew   xi (k )   xi1 , xi2 ,..., xiHMS  with probablity HMCR  (20)
 
 xi (k  m) with probablity PAR 
The value of design variable i (i = 1,2,. . .,n) can be randomly selected from the set of all candidate
discrete values {xi(1),xi(2), . . .,xi(Ki)} with a probability of PRandom=1-HMCR (random selection). The value of

design variables can be selected from the set of good values  x , x ,..., x  stored in computer memory
1
i
2
i i
HMS

with a probability of PMemory = HMCR; or it can be slightly adjusted by moving to neighboring values xi(k ±
m) once xi(k) is selected from the set of stored good values, with a probability of PPitch = PAR.
Here, the HS algorithm has memory storage where a group of discrete design vectors is stored as many
as HMS as possible. The objective function value is also stored next to each design vector (Zong, 2008).

3. Application of HS Algorithm in Solving the Optimal Capacitor Placement Problem:

In the proposed optimal capacitor placement method, the discrete form of HS algorithm is applied as an
optimization technique to determine the optimal location of the capacitors at the buses in each load level and
the backward/forward sweep power flow is applied for computing the power loss and THD. The objective
function of the optimization problem takes into account the savings due to the reduction of power loss, energy
loss and capacitor installation costs at l-level. Thus, the optimal capacitor set {Qc1,…. ,Qci,…., QcN} leads to a
maximum power loss reduction and cost saving.
The procedures for implementing the proposed optimal capacitor placement method at l-level are described
as follows:
1. Input system parameters such as network and harmonics data.
2. Build the BIBC and BCBV matrices and compute the DLF matrix.
3. Randomly add the capacitors for reactive power compensation at the buses. Calculate the total power loss,
energy loss and net saving using (3), (6) and (2), respectively. Each capacitor set is considered as the
harmony vectors. Initialize the arrays of HM as in (16), randomly. The number of columns in the HM is
equal to number of buses in the test system. In this case, the optimal parameters of the test system
example are assumed such that the Lxi and Uxi which are the minimum and maximum kVar values are
0 kVar and 2250 kVar, respectively. Thus, the harmony memory size (HMS) is assumed 10.
4. Improvise a new harmony using the three rules of random selection, memory consideration and pitch
adjustment. In this step, the optimal parameters are assumed as HMCR = 90% and PAR = 40%.
5. Run the backward/forward sweep power flow to calculate the bus current injections and bus voltages using
(11) and (12).
6. Calculate the fundamental power loss using the backward/forward sweep power flow method.
7. Calculate harmonic power loss, injection currents and THD by using harmonic power flow for all harmonic
orders.
8. Check if THDil  THDmax , if yes continue, otherwise, go to step (iv)
9. Calculate power and energy loss and total capacitor cost saving.
10. Check if the capacitor set (new harmony) gives more cost saving than the worst harmony in the HM. If
yes, the worst harmony is replaced with the new harmony in the HM. Otherwise, go to step (iv).
11. Determine the optimal capacitor set (best harmony) which gives maximum power loss reduction and
maximum cost saving.
Figure 3 describes the procedures involved in solving the optimal capacitor placement problem at l-level
loads using the HS algorithm and the backward/forward sweep power flow method in terms of a flowchart.

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Fig. 3: The HS solution procedure for solving the capacitor placement problem at l- level loads.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The HS algorithm for solving the capacitor placement problem is applied on the 33 bus radial distribution
systems shown in Figure 4. The load and feeder data for the system are as given in the Appendix. The test

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system is a hypothetical 12.7 kV system with 4 feeders and 32 buses (Abou-Ghazala, 2003) and (Taher and
Hosseini, 2008). The total substation loads are 5084.26 kW and 2547.32 kVar. The system is not well
compensated in which the total loss is about 8% of the total load. The load duration curve is considered as
given in Table I. All harmonic sources are assumed to be in phase and their data are given in the Appendix.
This test system contains two harmonic sources. One is a twelve-pulse HVDC terminal at bus 16 and the other
is a SVC at bus 24 (Taher and Hosseini, 2008).The details of the sizes and costs of the capacitors are
tabulated as shown in Table II.

Fig. 4: One line diagram of the 33-bus test system.

This test system demonstrates the effect of harmonics on the optimal capacitor placement by considering
two cases, i) Case I - harmonic effects are ignored and ii) Case II - harmonic effects are considered. The limits
of parameters, Vmin, Vmax and voltage THDmax are set to 0.9 pu, 1.1 pu and 5 %, respectively.

Table 2: Yearly costs of fixed capacitors.

Capacitor Size (kVar) 150 300 450 600 750
Capacitor Cost($/kVar) 0.5 0.35 0.253 0.22 0.276
Capacitor Size (kVar) 900 1050 1200 1350 1500
Capacitor Cost($/kVar) 0.183 0.228 0.17 0.207 0.2
Capacitor Size (kVar) 1650 1800 1950 2100 2250
Capacitor Cost($/kVar) 0.19 0.187 0.21 0.176 0.197

Results of the HS algorithm (HSA) in terms of capacitor sizes, capacitor locations, power loss and total
costs are compared with the results of using the genetic algorithm (GA) (Abou-Ghazala, 2003). Table III shows
a comparison of the optimal capacitor placement results on the 33 bus system at different load levels for the
case without harmonic effects. In this case, since the effect of harmonics is neglected, there is no harmonic
power loss and THD limitation.
The result of Table 3 shows that when capacitors are added, the power loss is reduced to about 8% of
the total load compared to the power loss before capacitor placement.
Table IV shows the results of optimal capacitor location and size using HS algorithm and GA by
considering harmonic effects. In this case, power losses in all harmonic orders are already added to the
fundamental power loss.
The results in Tables 3 and 4 show that more capacitors are added in the system when using the HS
algorithm compared to GA.
In GA optimization, the capacitor sizes are fixed at 300 kVar whereas in the HS algorithm the capacitor
sizes vary with the load levels in the range of 150-2250 kVar. The results also show that for both cases, the
HS algorithm gives better performance than GA in which the power and energy loss is greatly reduced. The
total capacitor costs are found to be greater in the HS algorithm compared to GA. But in terms of net saving,
the HS algorithm performs better than GA because the loss reduction saving is much greater than the total
capacitor cost.
In terms of voltage THD, the values of maximum voltage THD values at different load levels are shown
in Table V. From the results, it is shown that the voltage THD values are reduced after capacitor placement
and that the voltage THD values are greater that its limiting value of 5% for the case without harmonic
sources. For the case with harmonic sources, the voltage THD values are less than its limiting value of 5%.

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Table 3: Comparison of the HSA and GA results in optimal capacitor location and size at different load levels and without harmonic
effect.
Load Level
kVar ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
at Bus 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
----------------- ----------------- ------------------ ------------------ ------------------ --------------- ---------------------
GA HSA GA HSA GA HSA GA HSA GA HSA GA HSA GA HSA
QC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
QC 1 150 450 300 750 0 300 0 450 0 300 0 600 0 300
QC 2 0 300 300 150 0 300 0 300 0 150 0 0 0 0
QC 3 0 150 0 300 300 450 0 150 150 150 0 300 300 150
QC 4 0 0 300 150 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 150 0 0
QC 5 0 150 300 150 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 150
QC 6 0 900 300 1050 0 1050 750 900 0 900 0 2100 0 450
QC 7 300 0 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 300
QC 8 0 0 0 150 0 300 0 0 0 300 0 150 0 150
QC 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 0
QC 10 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 300 0 450 0 0
QC 11 0 0 0 450 150 450 0 150 0 150 300 0 0 0
QC 12 0 150 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 150
QC 13 450 300 0 150 0 150 0 300 0 150 0 0 0 150
QC 14 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150
QC 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150 750 450 600 150 0 150
QC 16 0 300 0 150 0 300 0 150 0 150 0 0 0 0
QC 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0
QC 18 0 0 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 0 0 150
QC 19 0 0 0 450 0 450 0 0 0 0 0 300 0 150
QC 20 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
QC 21 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 0
QC 22 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 0 0 150 0 300
QC 23 300 450 0 450 150 300 600 300 0 300 0 150 600 0
QC 24 0 300 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 0 0 150 0 0
QC 25 0 150 0 450 0 300 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0
QC 26 0 300 0 450 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 300 0 150
QC 27 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 150 300 0 0 0 0 150
QC 28 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 0 0 150 0 300 0 300
QC 29 300 900 750 600 0 750 150 750 0 450 0 450 0 750
QC 30 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150 300 300 0
QC 31 0 600 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 450 0 450
QC 32 0 0 0 300 0 300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Loss (%) 4.22 2.47 4.31 2.25 4.26 2.5 4.37 2.45 4.25 2.43 4.29 2.47 4.28 2..33
Loss 2659.3 3836 2361 3358.2 2798.4 4433 2582.1 4037.8 3317.6 4704.8 3130 4805.6 836.3 1908.1
Reduction
Saving ($)
Total 503.9 1889.1 627 2452.7 255 1943 414 1850.6 519 1562.4 312 1968.2 342 1679.7
Capacitor
Cost ($/y)

Comparison of results in terms of total net savings for the cases with and without harmonic effects is
shown in Table VI. The results showed that the net saving improvements using the HS algorithm are greater
than using GA for both cases of with and without harmonic effect.
The main disadvantages of genetic algorithm are convergence and local optima and these drawbacks may
lead to some differences in the results of using GA and HS. For example, the GA results shown in Tables III
and IV indicate that at certain load levels limited capacitor banks are installed.
On the other hand, the proposed HS algorithm investigates all the feasible locations and sizes of capacitors
and finds the best capacitor set among these various choices to minimize the loss reduction. This results in
greater loss reduction and therefore increases in the total net saving.
The HS algorithm always gives converged solutions and escapes local optima and the results show that
it is more accurate in solving the capacitor placement problem.

Conclusion:
The application of HS algorithm as a new meta-heuristic optimization method for determining the optimal
location and sizing of shunt capacitors in a distribution network in the presence of nonlinear loads has been
presented.
In the implementation of the optimal capacitor placement, the backward/forward sweep power flow is used

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and developed to obtain faster power flow solutions.

The proposed HS algorithm has been validated on the 33 bus radial distribution system with harmonic
loads. The test results for the seven load levels showed that the HS algorithm gives greater power loss
reduction and net saving improvement compared to the GA.

Table 4: Comparison of the HSA and GA results in optimal capacitor location and size at different load levels and with harmonic effect.
Load Level
kVar --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
at Bus 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ------------------ ---------------- ------------------
GA HSA GA HSA GA HSA GA HSA GA HSA GA HSA GA HSA
QC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
QC 1 0 450 300 0 0 600 0 450 0 300 0 450 600 150
QC 2 150 450 300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150
QC 3 0 300 0 0 300 300 0 300 0 150 0 0 0 150
QC 4 0 0 0 150 300 0 0 300 0 0 0 150 0 0
QC 5 0 150 300 0 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 2100
QC 6 0 1050 300 150 0 1350 300 2100 600 1050 150 1950 0 0
QC 7 300 150 0 300 750 300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
QC 8 0 150 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 0
QC 9 0 150 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 150
QC 10 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 300 0 150 0 0 0 300
QC 11 0 150 0 450 0 150 0 300 0 0 0 150 0 0
QC 12 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150
QC 13 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 150 300 300 0 300 0 0
QC 14 0 0 0 150 0 150 0 0 0 300 0 0 0 0
QC 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 150 0 300 450 150
QC 16 0 150 0 300 0 150 0 300 0 0 0 150 0 300
QC 17 0 0 0 0 0 300 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0
QC 18 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 750 300 0 150
QC 19 0 0 150 300 0 300 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 0
QC 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
QC 21 0 0 0 300 0 0 0 0 0 300 0 150 0 300
QC 22 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 0
QC 23 300 150 0 300 0 150 0 150 0 450 0 150 0 300
QC 24 0 150 0 150 0 150 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 0
QC 25 150 450 0 150 150 450 150 0 0 150 0 0 0 150
QC 26 0 0 0 150 0 0 0 0 150 450 0 150 0 150
QC 27 0 0 0 300 0 150 0 0 0 300 0 0 0 0
QC 28 0 300 600 150 0 0 0 300 0 150 300 0 150 750
QC 29 300 0 0 150 0 450 150 600 0 450 0 450 0 150
QC 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150
QC 31 0 300 0 300 0 450 0 150 0 450 0 300 0 150
QC 32 0 150 0 0 0 300 0 300 0 300 0 150 0 600
Loss (%) 4.6 2.95 4.3 2.92 4.5 2.83 4.55 2.91 4.57 2.87 4.43 2.80 4.44 2.97
Loss
Reduction
Saving ($) 2522.3 3413.3 2515.1 3074.6 2492.4 3813.5 2376.7 3565.5 3112.1 4470.0 3108.2 4656.5 1226.0 2196.8
Total
Capacitor
Cost ($/y) 465 1796 627 1598.8 492 2103 255 1725.5 312 1699.8 387 2034.2 320.9 1896.6

Table 5: Maximum THD (%) among all buses in various load levels.
Load Level
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maximum THD (%) 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Before Capacitor Placement 7.955 10.098 12.309 14.595 16.960 19.410 21.949
After Capacitor Placement
Without Harmonic Consideration 4.735 5.913 7.174 7.652 9.558 10.97 12.195
With Harmonic Consideration 4.621 4.943 4.862 4.935 4.879 4.953 4.98

Table 6: Comparison of results in terms total net savings obtained from HSA and GA.
Without Harmonics Effect With Harmonics Effect
------------------------------------------ -----------------------------------------
Optimization Methods GA HSA GA HSA
Total Net Saving ($) 11729.77 13736.7 10698.7 12336.3
Net Saving Improvement Using HS Algorithm + 14.61 % 0.1327

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Appendix:

Table A. I: Load and line data of the 33 bus system.

Line From To R(Ω) X(Ω) P(kW) Q(kvar)
1 0 1 0.0922 0.047 100 60
2 1 2 0.493 0.2511 90 40
3 2 3 0.366 0.1864 120 80
4 3 4 0.3811 0.1941 60 30
5 4 5 0.819 0.707 60 20
6 5 6 0.1872 0.6188 200 100
7 6 7 0.7114 0.2351 200 100
8 7 8 1.03 0.74 60 20
9 8 9 1.044 0.74 60 20
10 9 10 0.1966 0.065 45 30
11 10 11 0.3744 0.1238 60 35
12 11 12 1.468 1.155 60 35
13 12 13 0.5416 0.7129 120 80
14 13 14 0.591 0.526 60 10
15 14 15 0.7463 0.545 60 20
16 15 16 1.289 1.721 60 20
17 16 17 0.732 0.574 90 40
18 1 18 0.164 0.1565 90 40
19 18 19 1.5042 1.3554 90 40
20 19 20 0.4095 0.4784 90 40
21 20 21 0.7089 0.9373 90 40
22 2 22 0.4512 0.3083 90 50
23 22 23 0.898 0.7091 420 200
24 23 24 0.896 0.7011 420 200
25 5 25 0.203 0.1034 60 25
26 25 26 0.2842 0.1447 60 25
27 26 27 1.059 0.9337 60 20
28 27 28 0.8042 0.7006 120 70
29 28 29 0.5075 0.2585 200 600
30 29 30 0.9744 0.963 150 70
31 30 31 0.3105 0.3619 210 100
32 31 32 0.341 0.532 60 40

Table A. II: Harmonics Data.

Harmonic Order 1 5 7 11 13 17 19
w 1 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.004 0.003 0.001

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