EFFECTS OF PULSED-POWER LOADS UPON AN ELECTRIC-POWER GRID

Certain proposed particle-accelerator and laser experiments, and other devices related to fusion research, require multi-megawatt, repetitive power pulses, often at low (subsynchronous) frequency. While some power-delivery technologies call for a certain degree of buffering of the utility demand using capacitive, inductive, or inertial energy storage, considerations have also been made for serving such loads directly from the line. In either case, such pulsed loads represent non-traditional applications from the utility's perspective which, in certain cases, can have significant design and operational implications. This paper outlines an approach to the analysis of the effects of such loads upon the electric power grid using existing analysis techniques. The impacts studied include bus-voltage flicker, transient and dynamic stability, and torsional excitation. The impact of a particular pulsed load is examined and illustrated for the power network serving the Los Alamos National Laboratory.