AN EXPERT SYSTEM APPROACH FOR POWER-SYSTEM DIAGNOSIS

Power System Control Centers are continuously receiving information about the state of the Power System what allows them to perform efficiently their functions when the Power System is in a normal state. However, in case of an emergency, the quantity of arriving alarms is so great that Control Centers operators are not able to rapidly make the diagnosis of the fault. Decisions must be taken in real time, under great stress and often during the absence of the most skilled operators. In this paper we present an Expert System that performs an intelligent processing of the alarm lists at Portuguese Control Centers. This system is a good support decision tool to assist operators in Power Systems diagnosis and restoration. It uses an original approach to deal with temporal reasoning and real-time constraints and incorporates explanation facilities enabling its use as a tutor for novice operators.