Network reconfiguration in distribution systems to reduce harmonic distortion using Particle Swarm Optimization

A novel application of the meta-heuristic "Particle Swarm Optimization" is implemented in this work to solve the problem of reconfiguration of power distribution systems in the presence of non-linear loads with the objective of minimizing the total harmonic distortion. The proposed methodology is based on the behavior of a flock of birds when flying in search of food. In order to guarantee the convergence when the distribution power network is radial and large, a heuristic rule is deployed to improve the methodology efficiency. The developed algorithm was applied to the IEEE 33-bus radial system. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method to find the optimal topology of the distribution system to reduce harmonic distortion.