Improvement of Load Frequency Control with Dragonfly Algorithm in Single Shaft Combined Cycle Power Plant

Load Frequency Control (LFC) maintains power system frequency stability by minimizing deviations due to load changes. Gas turbine (GT)-based power plants are favoured for their fast response, easy installation, and efficiency. A simplified mathematical model is used for LFC of a Rowen model gas cycle power plant with a 265 MW single shaft Heavy Duty Gas Turbine (HDGT). Heuristic algorithms such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (PSO) and Simulated Annealing Algorithm (SA) are used to perform the analysis with these known and widely used control methods. In addition, the same studies were also performed using the Dragonfly Algorithm (DA). These analyses offer a scientific foundation for the efficient application of LFC in gas cycle power plants. In the study, performance criteria which express the error in frequency changes were comparatively analyzed. According to the obtained results, it is observed that the proposed PID controller with the DA tuning provides better solutions in terms of overshoot and settling time of the system frequency compared to other commonly used algorithms. Thus, it is observed that the frequency oscillations are damped in a shorter period when the DA method is used, and the DA is proposed as an alternative and reliable solution method for frequency control in gas cycle power plants.