Power System Reliability

Q. What is power system reliability?(1st + 2nd + 3rd )

Ans:

Power system reliability: Power system reliability is the ability of power system
components to deliver electricity to all points of consumption, in the quantity and with
the quality demanded by the consumers. Reliability is closely related to statistics and
probability.

Or, Power system reliability is defined as the probability that an electrical device will
perform. Reliability evaluation uses set theory, probability theory, combination theory
to achieve intended objective. It plays a key role in the cost effectiveness of a system.

Q. What is the importance of power system reliability?

Ans:

Importance of power system reliability:

1. Security studies,
2. SCADA operation,
3. Optimal load dispatch,
4. Spinning reserve,
5. Improve efficiency,
6. Improve system maintainability.

Q. What is reliability engineering in the aspect of power system?

Ans:

Reliability engineering in power system emphasis on dependability in the life

cycle of an electrical product or component to function under stated condition for a
specified period. Reliability is the probability of success of maintain ability.

Q. What is loss of load probability(LOLP)?(2nd )

Ans:

LOLP: LOLP means Loss of Load Probability. A measure of the reliability that a
system demand will exceed capacity during a given period often expressed as the
estimated number of days over a long time, frequently in years or the life of the system.
Loss of load power signifies the loss of power of a load.

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Q. Evaluate the expression of success and failure of n components series system. / If
there are n components in series in a network, show that the probability of success is
=∏ and unreliability =1-∏ (1st + 2nd + 3rd )

Ans:

A B

The components in a system are said to be in series from reliability point of view, if all
the components are engaged for system success or only one needs to fail for system
failure.

Consider A & B are independent components connected in series.

Let, Reliability of A

Reliability of B

Unreliability of A

Unreliability of B

Since success & failure are exclusive or complementary,

The requirement for system success is that when both A & B must working,

If there are n components working in series,

Which is the product rule of series component in reliability.

Now, if is unreliability or failure,

[ ]

{ } [ ]

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 ∏

Q. Evaluate the expression of success and failure of n components parallel system. /

Evaluate the dependent parallel system reliability and unreliability for two
components system.(3rd )

Ans: A

The components in a system are said to be in parallel from reliability point of view if &
only if at least one of the total components function properly.

Let, Probability of success of A

Probability of success of B

Probability of failure of A

Probability of failure of B

According to the convention of parallel system,

For n component in parallel system,

If is the unreliability of the parallel system,

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For n component system,

Q. Evaluate the reliability of the following series – parallel system as shown in fig.
below(2nd )
1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

Ans:

Given system may be reduced as ,

9
11
10

If are the reliability of 1,2,3,4 respectively then the convention of series

system reliability permits,

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Q. Define hazard rate.(1st ) Derive the expression of reliability of n components in
series using hazard rate. / Prove that exponential distribution is the summation of
failure rate.(1st + 2nd + 3rd )

Ans:

Hazard rate: In term of failure, Hazard rate is a measure of the rate at which
failure occurs in a given time.

Proof:
R1 R2

Let, are two systems.

For the two component systems (since in series),

Reliability, ……………..(1) [for time independent]

Now the probability of serving for a period t eqn(1) becomes,

[ ∫ ] [ ∫ ]

Here, 1 and 2 are hazard rate.

For n component system the hazard rates are .

∏ [ ∫ ]

The exponential distribution is,

[ ]

For n component system,

∏ [ ]

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 [ ∑ ]

When all components are operating for system success then effective failure or hazard
rate,

Exponential distribution is simply the summation of failure rates.

Q. What is event tree? Discuss its significance.(1st + 2nd + 3rd )

Ans:

Event tree: An event tree is a pictorial view of all the events that occur in a
system. It is tree because the pictorial representation fans out like branch of a tree as
increased number of events are considered. The events can be considered as success
and failure of the various components and are not operate chronologically.

Significance of event tree:

Event tree analysis provides an inductive approach to reliability assessment

as they are constructed using forward logic. It uses visual logic tree structure known as
an event tree as stated above. The objective of the event tree analysis is to determine
wheather the initiating event will develop through a series mishap or if the event is
sufficiently controlled by the safety systems and produces implemented in the system
design. An event tree analysis can result in many different possible outcomes from a
single initiating event and it provides probability of each outcome.

Figure: Event Tree concept

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Q. Describe perfect switching.(1st + 2nd )

Ans:

Figure: A typical standby redundancy

A perfect switching is that which does not fail from to stand by position . It is assumed
that B does not fail from normal to standby position , then it can only fail. Given that A
has already failed i.e B is operating. Therefore the failure the failure of the system is
given by the failure of A and failure of , given A has failed. The probability of system
failure is given by,
̅

If A and B are independent then,

Q. Discuss Poison process.

Ans:

Poison Process: It is a continuous parameter discrete state space that is good

model for many practical situations. Here, interest is to count number of events N(t)
occurring in the time interval(0,t). The events may be for e.g

1. The number of incoming telephone calls.

2. CB operation in a power system
3. The number of job arrival in a power system company
4. The number of failed equipment in a power system which initially fault tree.

Q. Explain Stochastic process.(2nd )

Ans:

Stochastic process: Stochastic process is a family of random variable | |

defined in a given probability space, indexed by the parameters t where t T. T is
an index set.

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Q. What is fault tree? Develop a fault tree for first hierarchical level and second
hierarchical level./ Show with a neat sketch the development of a fault tree.(1st , 2nd
,3rd )

Ans:

Fault tree: Fault tree is a graphical technique that uses Boolean technique to
identify the chain of events leading to a specify fault or failure. It use a logic that is
essentially the reverse of the event tree . Fault tree analysis is one of the most widely
used method system in reliability analysis. The main purpose of fault the tree analysis
is to identify potential causes of system failures before the failure actually occurs.

Figure: Development of fault tree.

Q. Discuss briefly about SAIDI, CAIDI, SAIFI, CAIFI, CIII, MAIFI.(2nd +3rd )

Ans:

SAIDI: SAIDI stands for System Average Interruption Duration Index. To

calculate SAIDI each interruption during time period is multiplied by the duration of
the interruption to find the customer minutes of interruption. The customer minutes of
all are summed to determine the total customer minutes to find the SAIDI value. The
customer minutes are divided by the total customer members.

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 ∑

Here, Restoration time

Total no. of customer interruption

Total no. of customers served.

CAIDI: CAIDI stands for Customer Average Interruption During Index. Once an
outage occurs the average time to restore service is formed from the customer average
interruption during time index.

CAIDI is calculated similar to SAIDI except that denominator is the number of

customer interruption versus the total number of utility customer.

Here, Restoration time

Total no. of customer interruption

SAIFI: SAIFI stands for System Average Interruption Frequency Index. It is the
average number of times that a system customer experiences an outages during the
year. Mathematically,
∑

Here, Total no. of customer interruption

Total no. of customers served.

SAIFI can also be found as,

CAIFI: CAIFI stands for Customer Average Interruption Frequency Index.

Mathematically,
∑
∑

Here, Total no. of customer interruption

No. of interruption.
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 CIII: CIII stands for Customer Interruption per Interruption Index.
∑
∑

Here, Total no. of customer interruption

No. of interruption.

MAIFI: MAIFI stands for Momentary Average Interruption Frequency Index.

Mathematically,

Here, Total no. of customer interruption

Total customer served.

No. of interruption device in operation

Q. Describe Markov process or chain. / Discuss Markov process in the field of power
system engineering.(3rd )

Ans:

Markov Process chain: If we assume that the state space I is discrete that is
finite or countably infinite then the random or Markov process is known as Markov
chain. If we further assume that the discrete parameter state space T is also discrete
than we have discrete parameter Markov chain. Since T is discrete one writes,

[ ]

Let, random variables be at time steps 0,1,2,3,…n and if xn = j,

Then steps of the system at time step n is j.

initial step.

Then Markov property is defined as,

The equation shows the present state.

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Let, denotes random variables xn then and the conditional
equation is,

Q. Definition : 1) Redundancy 2) Partially Redundant System 3) Reliability index (1st

+ 2nd )

Ans:

Redundancy: In engineering, redundancy is the duplication of critical

components or functions of a system with the intension of increasing reliability of the
system, usually in the case of a backup or fail safe. One way to increase the reliability
of a power system is to use redundancy.

Partially Redundant System: Partially redundant system is also known as

majority vote system or m out of n system. Series redundant system requires all
components to be in success but parallel redundant system requires at least one
component to be in success or operative. The application of probability distribution to
partially redundant system is explained by taking n identical components of each state
of the system and can be found by binomial distribution expression [ ] .
But for exponential distribution of redundant system one may write,

Total partial redundant = [ ]

[ ( )]

Which is binomial expression.

Reliability Index: Reliability index is defined as,

If total service hours are 24 hours and interrupted hours are 1 hour then,

From the reliability index info we can realize that how well the system runs.

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Q. Discuss the statistical reasoning behind reliability block formula for non
repairable system .

Ans:

Statistical resonancings:

(1) All the n system components lives(x) are exponentially distributed.

{ } ( )

Where, T= Mission time and Hazard rate

(2) Every component

Failure Rate (FR) is constant,

(3) All n system components are identical hence failure rate are equal.

(4) All components and their lives are statistically independent,

{ }

{ } { } { }

(5) Denoting system mission time T, any component reliability

( )

One knows reliability is the probability of a component or system of surviving in its

mission time T.

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Q. Show that in geometric distribution the mean is E(x)= 1/P, where the system
symbols have their usual meaning.

Ans:

Geometric Distribution: We know the probability,

The mean or average is computed by,

[ ]

[ ]

For example, in a communication system channels, if it transmit message correctly on

each trial with probability p then average no. of trials required for a successful
transmission is 1/p. (Showed)

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Q. Define: FMEA, Adequacy, Security,

Ans:

FMEA: Failure Mode and Effect Analysis(FMEA) is a step by step approach for
identifying all possible failure in a design a manufacturing or assembly process or a
product or service.

FMEA components are classified as-

1. Forced Outage
2. Schedule Outage
3. Overload outage

Adequacy: The ability of the system to aggregate electric power and energy
requirement of the consumers at all times.

Security: The ability of the system to withstand sudden disturbance.

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 MATH:
1. A simple electronic circuit consists of 6 transistors having a failure rate 10-6 f/hr,
4 diodes each having a failure rate 0.5×10-6 f/hr, 3 capacitors having a failure rate
0.2×10-6 f/hr, 10 resistors each 5×10-6 f/hr, 2 switches 2×10-6 f/hr. The connectors
and wiring are 100% reliable. Evaluate the equivalent failure rate of the system
and probability of the system surviving 10000hr if all components operate for
system success.(1st )

Solution:

[ ]

[ ]

(Ans)

2. A control system consists of three separate subsystems all components of which

have reliability that are exponentially distributed. The subsystems are (a) a single
component having a failure rate 1×10-6 f/hr. (b) two identical components having
a failure rate 8×10-6 f/hr and for which one component must operate for system
success. c) three components having failure rate 5×10-6 f/hr for which two
components must operate for success. If all subsystems must successful for
satisfactory system operation, evaluate the reliability or probability of surviving for
a period of 5000 hours.

Solution:

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a)

b)

c) Reliability of c,

[ ] [ ]
[ ]

[
]
[
] [
]

(Ans)

Now the probability of surviving for 5000hr

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3. Associated with fault trees let reliability of the offset power(R1)be 0.933. Reliability
of the onsite power be(R2)0.925. Reliability of the dc power be 0.995.Find
Q(ac),R(electric power),Q(electric power).(3rd )

Solution:

4. What is the SAIDI for the 28th of the month where 5 outages were recorded. The
table below shows each outages, duration of outages, customer hours. The utility
has a total of 50000 customers. Also find CAIDI,SAIFI,CAIFI,CIII.(2nd + 3rd )

Date Time Customer Duration(min) Customer

(hour)
28th 09:53 10 90 15
28th 11:02 1000 20 333.33
28th 13:15 2 175 5.83
28th 20:48 1 120 2.00
28th 22:35 1 38 0.63
Ʃ 1014 443 356.8

Solution:
From table first outages at 9:53 in the morning and 10 customers were out of service
for 90 minute (= 1.5 hrs)
Customer hour = 10×1.5=15
Similarly, for 20 minute, customer hour = 1000×(1/3) = 333.33
Customer hour in minute = (356.80×60) = 21408

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a)

The SAIDI says that the average customer were out service for .428 min on 28th of
the month.

b)

A customer who experienced an outage on 28th was out of service for21.1 minutes.

c)
∑

It tells the customer of this utility that had a 0.02 reliability of expressing a power
outage.

d)
∑
∑

The 0.005 say the customer was interrupted 0.005 times

e)
∑
∑

It tells that 203 customer were interrupted. (Ans)

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5. A simple circuit contains the following components having hazard rates and
reliability as shown:

SI Components No. of Hazard/failure Reliability/success

No. components rate(f/hr)
1. Resistor 6 1×10-6
2. Diodes 4 0.5×10-6
3. Capacitor 3 0.2×10-6
4. Connector - - 100%
5. Color code 10 5×10-6
resistor
6. Switch 2 2×10-6

Evaluate the equivalent failure rate of the system for 100hours and 10000hours if
all components operate together for system success.(2nd + 3rd )

Solution:

Unreliability for 100 hours, = 1-0.99=0.01

Unreliability for 10000 hours = 1-.53 = .47 (Ans)

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6. Compare the reliability of two components system each having a failure rate
0.02f/hr after a time of 10 hours, if they are a) parallel redundant b) standby with
100% reliable sensing and change over devices. Also compute the MTTF of the two
system.(1st + 3rd )

Solution:
a) Parallel System:

b) Standby system:

As

7. A system consists of 2 components one of which acts for system success. If the
failure rates are 0.05 and 0.02 respectively and average outages time are 20 hours
and 25 hours. Evaluate the system failure rate, average repair time, unavailability.

Solution:
Here, repair rate = r
Hazard or unsuccess rate
For two components parallel system failure rate,

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 Average repair time,

(Ans)

8. Consider a computer system composed of 5 identical terminals in series. Let the

system reliability for unit mission time (T=1) be R(1)=0.999.Calculate each
component reliability, unreliability and failure rate.

Solution:
Here, [ ]

Component Unreliability,

(Ans)

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9. A parallel system composed of n=2 identical components each with FR λ =0.01
and mission time T=10hours only one of which need for system success. Find the
total system reliability, MTTF, failure rate as a function of T and unreliability.

Solution:
We know, { }
{ } [ ]

[ ][ ]
[ ]

Now the failure rate for the two component system as a function of time(T)

(Ans)

10. A two component series containing identical components each having a

reliability 0.99. Evaluate the unreliability of the system. (2nd + 3rd )

Solution:

Unreliability,

(Ans)
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