Substation Configuration Description Language Research Articles

Virtual Digital Substation Test System and Interoperability Assessments

Interoperability testing and analysis tools provide a means for achieving and assuring the integrity of multivendor intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) data exchanges. However, the testing and analysis are very time consuming and error prone, and these problems worsen when a substation becomes large and complex during the engineering process, commission, replacement, maintenance, and extension. To address this challenge, this paper presents a virtual digital substation test system (VDSTS) with interoperability analysis tools for assessing and identifying the engineering challenges for the multiple-vendors digital substation. This VDSTS consists of three parts: (i) A virtual digital substation modelling for generating real-time digital substation primary plant operation and fault conditions, (ii) a standard IEC 61850-based substation protection, automation, and control (PAC) system architecture with multivendor IEDs and bay solutions, and (iii) multivendor Substation Configuration description Language (SCL) tools and in-house built data visualisation tool. The study focuses on the interoperability testing of sampled values (SV), generic object-oriented substation events (GOOSE), and manufacturing message specification (MMS) communication services, as defined in IEC 61850. The main issues identified are compatibility issues of SCL tools, protocol implementation issues, different information models, and application limitations. The outcomes will help utilities to reduce the risks associated with the general rollout of digital substations.

Design for Communication Network of Internet in On-line Monitoring System for Power Transmission and Transformation Equipment

The Internet of things (iot) for power transmission and transformation equipment is a systematic process that extends from smart grid to intelligent grid, which can guarantee the safe operation of power grid. However, due to various types of power transmission and transformation equipment and complex information composition, the Internet of things will be a network with high relevance and promiscuity in the physical and information space. The Internet of things of power transmission and transformation equipment is based on information model and communication network. It is necessary to deeply discuss the Internet of things of power transmission and transformation equipment based on intelligent detection and life cycle management. In this paper, IEC61850, an advanced Internet of things technology, is used for online monitoring system of power transmission and transformation equipment, and hierarchical structure is used for equipment transportation state. This system has good reliability and flexible extensibility, and can realize the free distribution of functions and the knowledge of system expansion. Moreover, it can use substation configuration description language.

IEC 61850 SCL Validation Using UML Model in Modern Digital Substation

The IEC 61850 standard stipulates the Substation Configuration Description Language (SCL) file as a means to define the substation equipment, IED function and also the communication mechanism for the substation area network. The SCL is an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) based file which helps to describe the configuration of the substation Intelligent Electronic Devices (IED) including their associated functions. The SCL file is also configured to contain all IED capabilities including data model which is structured into objects for easy descriptive modeling. The effective functioning of this SCL file relies on appropriate validation techniques which check the data model for errors due to non-conformity to the IEC 61850 standard. In this research, we extend the conventional SCL validation algorithm to develop a more advanced validator which can validate the standard data model using the Unified Modeling Language (UML). By using the Rule-based SCL validation tool, we implement validation test cases for a more comprehensive understanding of the various validation functionalities. It can be observed from the algorithm and the various implemented test cases that the proposed validation tool can improve SCL information validation and also help automation engineers to comprehend the IEC 61850 substation system architecture.

Integration of IEC 61850 SCL and OPC UA to improve interoperability in Smart Grid environment

Integration of the several heterogeneous and geographically dispersed actors in Smart Grid environment is currently hampered by the usage of non-interoperable and proprietary automation solutions. Standards-compliant integration is an indispensable requirement for successful Smart Grid automation. The international standard IEC 61850 has been recognised as one of the fundamental components for reference Smart Grid architectures. Nevertheless, certain parts of the IEC 61850 definitions seem inadequate to compete with the accelerated Smart Grid evolution. For this reason, current literature presents solutions able to surpass the main limitations of the standard, improving harmonisation in Smart Grid; among them, there is integration of IEC 61850 data model with OPC UA information model. According to the current literature, integration of IEC 61850 with OPC UA does not involve the IEC 61850 engineering process, based on a particular language called Substation Configuration description Language (SCL). The paper will present a common Smart Grid scenario where interoperability could be improved extending the idea of the integration between IEC 61850 and OPC UA also to the SCL-based engineering capabilities of the IEC 61850 standard. The paper will present a proposal of mapping between IEC 61850 SCL and OPC UA, describing the relevant algorithm, its implementation and performance evaluation.

An Improvement of IED Configuration Tool and Modeling for Transformer Condition Monitoring IED

This paper analyzes the object-oriented modeling technology of IEC 61850 standard and the modeling steps of condition monitoring intelligent electronic devices (IED). Aiming at the problem of the existing configuration tools poor scalability for the IEC 61850 standard, a new design method of the IED configuration tool is brought up. Information model of transformer condition monitoring IED is established including logical device (LD), logical node (LN), data object (DO), data attribute (DA), dataset and report control block with the method mentioned above, and described with substation configuration description language.

IEC 61850-Based Information Model and Configuration Description of Communication Network in Substation Automation

Due to the lack of standard information model and description, the configuration of the communication network is still out of the unified and standard engineering process of substation automation, which may result in incorrect configuration and long engineering time. The IEC 61850-based comprehensive information model of the communication network and its description in substation configuration description language (SCL) files are proposed for standard, correct, and convenient configuration of the communication network. The information model is established by means of information extraction with function decomposition, and mapping of the management information base (MIB). The detailed configuration description is achieved by extending the existing SCL communication model in IEC 61850-6. The case study of a typical 220-kV substation demonstrates the validation and availability of the proposed information model and configuration description method, which comply with the current edition of IEC 61850 only requiring minor revisions. Moreover, the proposed information model has the potential to be utilized in online network monitoring and management instead of MIB.

An Improvement of IED Configuration Tool and Modeling for Transformer Condition Monitoring IED

This paper analyzes the object-oriented modeling technology of IEC 61850 standard and the modeling steps of condition monitoring intelligent electronic devices (IED). Aiming at the problem of the existing configuration tools poor scalability for the IEC 61850 standard, a new design method of the IED configuration tool is brought up. Information model of transformer condition monitoring IED is established including logical device (LD), logical node (LN), data object (DO), data attribute (DA), dataset and report control block with the method mentioned above, and described with substation configuration description language.

Research on Electrical Power System with Information Modeling and SCL Description of IED for Transformer Condition Monitoring Based on IEC61850

A transformer is a critical device in an electrical power system substation. Monitoring its condition, including insulation material statuses, is imperative. This article discusses the information modeling techniques of IEC61850 and modeling steps of condition-monitoring IED, analyzes the reporting service, focuses on the characteristics of transformer condition monitoring, rationally develops and makes use of logical nodes and data in the IEC61850 standard, conducts modeling for the actual intelligent electronic device (IED) of transformer condition monitoring and describes the model with substation configuration description language (SCL). The configuration file of this model has passed the test done with standard syntax (Schema mode).

NXD-Based SCL File Management and Dynamic Implementation in IEDs

In IEC61850 substation automation systems (SASs), substation configuration description language (SCL) is suggested to assure seamless information exchange among various intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) from different manufacturers in the form of unambiguous and standardized XML. In the paper, native XML database (NXD) is proposed to store and manage SCL files since NXD takes advantage over XML enabled database (XED) in maintaining information integrity that is the most important factor of SCL file management. And the detailed process of SCL file dynamic implementation in IEDs is demonstrated. According to information with different communication real-time requirements, configuration information from SCL files will be extracted in advance or only when the information is used. Finally, a testbed built by open source software Libxml2 under Linux system verifies the effectiveness of SCL file information extraction using Xpath.