Electronic Load Controller based on Modified Firefly Algorithm to Reduce Frequency Fluctuation of Generator in Micro Hydro Power Plants

Abstract

An overpowering condition generated by the PLMTH generator simulator will cause frequency instability which can result in some damage to electronic goods. So, it is necessary to design an optimal control system. One of the control systems used is the Electronic Load Controller (ELC) which can adjust the excess power to consumer loads and ballast loads. Development of an ELC that uses an electrical switch in the form of a Triac. This component will be controlled by a microcontroller with input data in the form of voltage, current, and frequency values. In the processing of microcontroller data, algorithms can be applied to obtain more optimal ELC performance. One of them is using the Modified Firefly Algorithm (MFA). With this method, a PID tuning approach is taken so that it will get PID parameters on the Electronic Load Controller (ELC) system. In this MFA tuning process, up to 100 iterations are repeated to achieve optimal or near-optimal PID parameters. The results of this study were to measure the performance of the MFA ELC which was tested with a PLTMH generator simulator. Based on the test results, shows that the performance of the MFA ELC can reduce frequency fluctuations so that the frequency value is more stable within the standard limits set by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia of 50.1Hz – 51.5 Hz. In addition, the generated voltage also becomes more stable, namely in the range of 222.2 – 223.6 Volts. These results when compared with testing the generator without using the MFA ELC are very different, because the frequency values produced are in the interval 46.7 – 51.5 Hz and the voltage values are in the interval 214.2 – 244.5 Volts. Thus, the performance of the MFA ELC is sufficient to help reduce frequency instability in the PLTMH generator simulator.