Close Accord on Particle Swarm Optimization Variants for Solving Non-Linear Optimal Reactive Power Dispatch Problem

This paper employs a comparative study between three recent versions of particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to find the optimal scheduling of reactive power resources. Scheduling of reactive power resources is formulated as non-linear complex optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) problem. The main objective function of ORPD is to minimize the transmission power losses (Ploss). For this target, three modified versions, which present three variations applied on velocity equation of PSO algorithm, are considered. To achieve fair comparative study, the competitive versions are checked through 13 studied cases on IEEE 14-, 30-, 57- and 118-bus test systems. The effectiveness of these variations is proven for the non-linear complex optimization ORPD problem with different decision variables according to the system size. The obtained results confirm that these variations on PSO algorithm can make a noticeable reduction of Ploss at acceptable level in terms of power system operation view point.