On the Wave Propagation of Disturbances in Homogeneous Electromechanical Systems

In this paper, we make an attempt to describe the phenomenon of wave propagation when a disturbance is introduced in an electromechanical system having a lumped parameter representation. We initially discuss mechanical waves in homogeneous spring mass systems and then focus on electromechanical wave propagation in power systems. We primarily discuss ring and open end systems. Eigenvalue analysis of the system is done to find the behavior of the orthogonal modes as a function of time and space. We then derive an expression for velocity of propagation of the disturbance wave and the transport delay associated with it. Effects of system parameters, like generator inertia and transmission line resistance, are also discussed. Although the theory was developed considering homogeneous systems (identical values of inertia/mass, line parameters/spring constant, etc.), an implementation on a nonhomogeneous system is also presented in this paper. Numerical simulations were done and compared with the analytical results derived in this paper.