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Amanda Bortoloci
Departamento de Engenharia Elétrica, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Ilha Solteira, SP
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Leonardo H. Macedo
Departamento de Engenharia Elétrica, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Ilha Solteira, SP
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Rubén Romero
Departamento de Engenharia Elétrica, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Ilha Solteira, SP
Keywords:
Merlin-Back heuristic, optimization of electrical energy distribution systems, power flow for radial systems, power flow for weakly meshed systems, reconfiguration of distribution systems
Abstract
This work presents a modified version of the Merlin-Back constructive heuristic algorithm applied to the distribution system reconfiguration problem. The Merlin-Back algo- rithm is well known for its simplicity in understanding and computational implementation. This algorithm finds good-quality solutions in very short computational times. However, as the complexity of the reconfiguration problem increases, the Merlin-Back algorithm does not find the optimal solutions. In this work, the Merlin-Back heuristic is analyzed in detail, identifying its quality and defects. In this way, it was possible to introduce a modification in this heuristic to increase the potential to find excellent quality solutions. The tests show that the modified algorithm finds the optimal solutions of three electrical systems widely used in the literature for distribution system reconfiguration.
