Switching Device-Cognizant Sequential Distribution System Restoration

This paper presents an optimization framework for sequential reconfiguration\nusing an assortment of switching devices and repair process in distribution\nsystem restoration. Compared to existing studies, this paper considers types,\ncapabilities and operational limits of different switching devices, making it\napplicable in practice. We develop a novel multi-phase method to find the\noptimal sequential operation of various switching devices and repair faulted\nareas. We consider circuit breakers, reclosers, sectionalizers, load breaker\nswitches, and fuses. The switching operation problem is decomposed into two\nmixed-integer linear programming (MILP) subproblems. The first subproblem\ndetermines the optimal network topology and estimates the number of steps to\nreach that topology, while the second subproblem generates a sequence of\nswitching operations to coordinate the switches. For repairing the faults, we\ndesign an MILP model that dispatches repair crews to clear faults and replace\nmelted fuses. After clearing a fault, we update the topology of the network by\ngenerating a new sequence of switching operations, and the process continues\nuntil all faults are cleared. To improve the computational efficiency, a\nnetwork reduction algorithm is developed to group line sections, such that only\nswitchable sections are present in the reduced network. The proposed method is\nvalidated on the IEEE 123-bus and 8500-bus systems.\n