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An electrical power network consisting of generators and transmission lines is treated as a continuum system. The application of the limit of zero generator spacing, with finite rotor inertia and transmission line impedance per unit length, yields a nonlinear partial differential equation in time and two spatial dimensions for the rotor phase angle. The equation is a nonlinear version of the standard second-order wave equation which exhibits an explicit expression for the finite wave phase velocity. The electromechanical wave propagation characteristics, equilibrium solutions, and linear stability are investigated and some potentially important results are presented. Numerical simulations of the usual discrete generator model, based upon the swing equation, are presented and demonstrate the electromechanical wave propagation as having interesting properties. Numerical solutions of the analogous continuum model are compared to the discrete model and are found to be in excellent agreement. A numerical estimate of the wave phase velocity for the U.S. power grid is consistent with observations of the transient wave phenomena during staged fault events. The continuum model enables an array of alternative analytic and simulation methods to be applied to the study of global power system characteristics, such as stability and transient dynamics.
Thorp et al. (Mon,) studied this question.