Improvement of backward/forward sweep power flow method by using modified breadth‐first search strategy

This study presents an improvement of three phase backward/forward sweep (BFS) power flow calculation algorithm for radial distribution systems. BFS power flow method is an iterative method that is usually used for power flow calculations in distribution networks due to its convergence and easy applicability. The improvement of commonly used BFS method is based on using breadth‐first search method for creation of modified incidence matrix. Such incidence matrix ensures minimum number of searching for connections between nodes. The result is much faster algorithm without accuracy loss. The calculation duration is especially important for real time calculations in active management of distribution system. Reduction of calculation duration by the proposed method is especially expressed in power flow calculations of unbalanced radial networks such as low voltage networks. The proposed method is tested on several unbalanced distribution networks and compared with commonly used BFS method. Results show that the proposed algorithm is accurate and more efficient than compared method.