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Study of Load Curve and Load Duration Curve

Simulation-based analysis of daily electrical load variation, peak demand, base demand, average demand, energy consumption and load factor using square-wave load profiles.

Experiment Setup

1. Select Load Condition

Select a representative load condition. The load is assumed constant during each one-hour interval, producing a staircase or square-wave load curve.

Simulation Results

2. Calculated Electrical Parameters

Peak Load
0 kW
Base Load
0 kW
Average Load
0 kW
Daily Energy
0 kWh
Load Factor
0 %
Figure 1

Chronological Daily Load Curve

The square-wave representation shows the load remaining constant during each hourly interval. The shaded area represents the electrical energy corresponding to the daily load profile.

Load curve
Energy area
Peak-load reference
Base-load reference
Figure 2

Load Duration Curve

The hourly load values are rearranged from maximum to minimum. Each horizontal step represents the number of hours for which that load level is maintained.

Load duration curve
Figure 3

Electrical Power System Load Representation

Electrical Power Supply Chain Generating Station Generation P(t) Transmission Network V, I and P flow Consumer Load L(t) = simulated demand Measured / simulated load profile Example square-wave load variation with time
Theory

Mathematical Model

Total Daily Energy E = i = 1 24 P i Δ t
Average Load P avg = E T
Load Factor LF = P avg P max × 100 %
Load Duration Curve P LDC = sort ( P 1 , P 2 , , P 24 )
Peak Demand P max = max ( P 1 , , P 24 )

For this simulation, each step has a duration of 1 hour. Therefore, the area under the chronological load curve directly represents daily energy.

Live Calculation

3. Detailed Calculation

Simulation Data

4. 24-Hour Load Schedule

The table shows the chronological load and its position in the descending load-duration sequence.

Time Interval Load (kW) Energy (kWh) LDC Rank
Observation

5. Engineering Interpretation

Result

Result of Simulation

Run the simulation to obtain the final result.

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