Smart-grid adaptive power management method and system with power factor optimization and total harmonic distortion reduction
First Claim
1. An intelligent load management unit controller (ILMUC) for facilitating power factor correction (PFC) in an electrical power system having a plurality of other ILMUCs, said ILMUC comprising:
- one or more switches configured to switch current from a system power supply to a load in an electrical power system, said one or more switches configurable to being switched in accordance with a plurality of different switching configurations and under a plurality of different system load conditions; and
a controller configured to determine and report a current waveform pattern descriptive of the waveform of current flowing through the ILMUC'"'"'s load over a single or multiple alternating current (AC) cycles to a central power management server, which determines, by comparing the reported current waveform pattern to current waveform patterns determined and reported by one or more ILMUCs of said plurality of other ILMUCs in the electrical power system associated with other loads, an optimum switching configuration for the one or more switches to adapt to, said optimum switching configuration comprising a switching configuration that maximizes a power factor of said electrical power system.
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Abstract
A method and system of power factor optimization and total harmonic distortion are provided under the premise of efficient power management and distribution on an electrical grid. The method and system include a novel optimization technique based on a novel current profiling methodology enabling real-time power management with power factor correction as a function of the optimization. The optimization can be performed under dynamic current constraints. When deployed on an electrical grid, the method and system can provide a new technique for power management targeting an efficiency of the electrical grid. The method and system can thus provide for reduced costs of energy production and reduced carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
34 Citations
22 Claims
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1. An intelligent load management unit controller (ILMUC) for facilitating power factor correction (PFC) in an electrical power system having a plurality of other ILMUCs, said ILMUC comprising:
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one or more switches configured to switch current from a system power supply to a load in an electrical power system, said one or more switches configurable to being switched in accordance with a plurality of different switching configurations and under a plurality of different system load conditions; and a controller configured to determine and report a current waveform pattern descriptive of the waveform of current flowing through the ILMUC'"'"'s load over a single or multiple alternating current (AC) cycles to a central power management server, which determines, by comparing the reported current waveform pattern to current waveform patterns determined and reported by one or more ILMUCs of said plurality of other ILMUCs in the electrical power system associated with other loads, an optimum switching configuration for the one or more switches to adapt to, said optimum switching configuration comprising a switching configuration that maximizes a power factor of said electrical power system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of facilitating power factor correction (PFC) in an electrical power system containing a plurality of intelligent load management unit controllers (ILMUCs), comprising:
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associating an intelligent load management unit controller (ILMUC) with a load in the electrical power system; determining a current waveform pattern descriptive of a waveform of current flowing through said load over a single or multiple alternating current (AC) cycles using said ILMUC; transmitting the determined current waveform pattern to a central power management server; directing said ILMUC to adapt to an optimum switching configuration that is determined by the central power management server based on said determined current waveform pattern and current waveform patterns determined and transmitted to the central power management server from other ILMUCs of said plurality of ILMUCs in the electrical power system, said optimum switching configuration comprising a switching configuration that maximizes a power factor of the electrical power system; and configuring one or more switches in said ILMUC to switch current to its load in accordance with said optimum switching configuration. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of implementing an optimum switching configuration in an electrical power system, comprising:
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associating a plurality of intelligent load management unit controllers (ILMUCs) with a plurality of loads in an electrical power system; determining a plurality of current waveform patterns descriptive of a plurality of waveforms of currents flowing through said plurality of loads over a single or multiple alternating current (AC) cycles using said plurality of ILMUCs; communicating from said plurality of ILMUCs the plurality of determined current waveform patterns to a power management server; and receiving commands from said power management server at one or more of said plurality of ILMUCs to implement an optimum switching configuration, said optimum switching determined based on the determined current waveform patterns communicated to said power management server and comprising a switching configuration, which when implemented, maximizes a power factor of the electrical power system. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A method of performing power factor correction in an electrical power system, comprising:
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receiving and recording a plurality of current waveform patterns descriptive of a plurality of waveforms of currents flowing through a plurality of associated loads over a single or multiple alternating current (AC) cycles; comparing combinations of current waveform patterns from the recorded plurality of current waveform patterns to determine one or more load combinations that will each satisfy an upper bound current constraint; calculating combination of loads that will satisfy the upper bound current constraint and yield a highest power factor in the electrical power system; and switching power from a system power source to loads of the load combination that was determined will yield the highest power factor. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification