Matlab/Simulink for Power Engineers

As an Electrical Power Engineering student, one must have a sound knowledge of Simulation softwares and development environments. For rapid prototyping and testing, simulations play a vital role. Different tasks require various tools to complete the job efficiently and economically. So, a EE graduate must be familiar with modern tools usage for problem solving.

Here’s presented the most widely used software for in research & academia Matlab. It is well-tested softwares for Electrical Engineering.

Matlab/Simulink^®

Matlab^® stands for Matrix Laboratory. It was launched by Mathworks Inc. as simple matrix solver back in 1984. Over the years, it has evolved into a complete & most sought-after industry standard software for performing simulations of all sort. It is a general-purpose numerical computations software used for performing symbolic and numerical calculations. It is equipped with various toolboxes that can be helpful for specific tasks.

Simulink is sister software of Matlab; both are shipped together. Simulink provides GUI (Graphical User Interface) based modeling environment, in which you can drag & drop elements from various libraries to build a model. The model can be analyzed using different tools.

Simscape Physical Modeling Toolbox

For power engineers, important toolbox in Simulink is SimScape. SimScape toolbox contains physical modeling toolboxes that can be used for Mechatronics, Robotics, System Design & Simulation, Mathematical Modeling, Control System and Power Systems.

To model & simulate electrical power systems, Simscape Power Systems (formerly SimPowerSystems) provided various libraries and analysis tools for modeling & simulation of power systems. Various sub-libraries included in Simscape Power Systems are three-phase machines, electric drives, FACTS (Flexible AC Transmission Systems) models, Renewable Energy Systems, MicroGrid simulators, Power Electronics models, Power supplies and various active & passive components.

Analyses using Simscape Power Systems

Different analyses can be performed on the models that are build using Simulink Simscape Power Systems library. Calculation of THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) load flow analysis, Harmonic analysis, and other key electrical power systems analyses can be performed with just a few clicks. The results can be displayed on Scopes through graphs, Displays using numbers or can be exported to Matlab for further computations.

Simscape Power Systems helps you develop control systems and test system-level performance. You can parameterize your models using MATLAB^® variables and expressions, and design control systems for your electrical power system in Simulink^®. You can integrate mechanical, hydraulic, thermal, and other physical systems into your model using components from the Simscape™ family of products. To deploy models to other simulation environments, including hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) systems, SimScape Power Systems supports C-code generation.

Parting Summary

In a nutshell, Matlab/Simulink is a must-learn software for all electrical engineers. Every EE graduate must have a knowledge of Matlab/Simulink libraries and analyses. A lot can be accomplished using Matlab/Simulink. With the advent of Real Time Simulations, research is entering into a more advanced paradigm of real time prototyping and testing. So, to stand firm in a constantly evolving industry, one must be well aware of such simulation platforms that are considered as industry standards.

For any queries or suggestions, feel free to comment below.