Abstract:

It is known that in order to solve complex problems that are faced by students in all types of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers, some specialized software is needed. Such of those are Matlab or Wolfram Mathematica, this software is intended to solve mathematical problems by using numerical methods or symbolic methods, respectively. These software programs are highly valuable among engineers, as they are capable of solving complex problems in a fast way. Nevertheless, as our problems grow in complexity, some specialized programs are required to solve our problems. Some of those programs are for example Ansys (used in mechanical engineering) or ‘DIgSILENT PowerFactory’ (used by electrical engineers), these software tools are capable of solving complex and highly specialized problems.

Even though this specialized software are capable of solving most of the problems faced by students, sometimes they lack all the capabilities demanded by students as to solve all the problems they encounter during their academic journey. In order to overcome these limitations various of these software developers have implemented different Application Programming Interfaces (API) that enable students to develop their own scripts which can be run in these specialized software to solve their very specific problem. Such a program that implements one of these API’s is the previously mentioned ‘DIgSILENT PowerFactory’. This software is both used by Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and Distribution System Operators (DSOs), as well as students. As students work with this program, they sometimes face the need of solving a problem which if it is solved by using the default tools that this software provides, it can be quite a complicated task.

Nevertheless, by the use of ‘DIgSILENT PowerFactory’ API (which works by running the Python programming language) we can create our own scripts which can compile in this software, hence using all the power of ‘DIgSILENT PowerFactory’ to solve our own specific problems.

In this paper we will detail how the use of the Python programming language coupled with ‘DIgSILENT PowerFactory’ can be used by Electrical Engineering students to solve specific problems which are related to power flow in power systems problems. The problem that will be solved by this procedure will be determining the optimal placement of a capacitor bank in a power system. Capacitor banks are commonly used to inject reactive power in the grid and hence improve the voltage magnitude in the buses of a power system. Although the placement of capacitor banks is a common procedure, the determination of their location can be quite difficult and hence the procedure that is shown in this paper and that has been teached to students, can help them deal with this problem.

Hence learning how to use Python to solve practical engineering problems can be quite an advantage to students, as it provides new tools that can be used by them to solve all kind of problems that can be faced during both their academic and career journey.

Keywords:

STEM, DIgSILENT PowerFactory, Python, electrical engineering, capacitor bank, power grid.