Impacts of the representation of mutual coupling between feeders in distribution systems

The mutual coupling between parallel feeders affects the power flow solution for distribution systems. By analyzing these effects, the unbalanced operation of distribution systems is better understood and the analyses are useful for distribution planning. This paper presents analytical evaluations of the impacts of mutual coupling between feeders in multiphase power flow analysis. Detailed explanations are presented, and several tests are performed to prove the results. The impacts of the mutual coupling representation are tested in relation to the distance between feeders, current intensity, unbalanced load, feeder geometry, parallel section size, and other sensitivities. The impacts considering the presence of voltage regulators are also studied. Tests were performed on a modified IEEE 13 system, a modified IEEE 34 system, and a neutral-to-earth-voltage (NEV) test feeder.