International Journal of Research Studies in Computer Science and Engineering (IJRSCSE) Volume. 1, Issue 3, July 2014, PP 50-56 ISSN 2349-4840 (Print) & ISSN 2349-4859 (Online) www.arcjournals.org ©ARC Page 50 Comparison of Simulation Tools ATP-EMTP and MATLAB- Simulink for Time Domain Power System Transient Studies Meenu Kanwar, Komal Arora, Sawan Kumar Sharma Abstract: Continuous development of appropriate software packages makes simulation of power engineering problems more and more effective. However, these analysis tools differ from each other considerably from the point of view of the applicability to a special problem. The authors compare two widespread environments: MATLAB-SIMULINK, which can be used to simulate a wide spectrum of dynamic systems, and ATP-EMTP, which is specific software to simulate power system transient problems. In the first part of the paper the components (function-blocks) that can be used to build a circuit, are listed. Then three examples are presented which demonstrate the capabilities and underline the advantages and drawbacks of both programs. Keywords: ATP-EMTP, MATLAB-Simulink, time domain simulation, educational use 1. INTRODUCTION There are numerous widespread commercial software tools used by power engineers for electrical circuit simulation purposes. It is, however, a challenging and time consuming task to get acquainted with all the details and specialities of such a program, that's why the majority of the users is not inclined to keep tabs on the evolution of similar products or does not even know them. This paper aims to compare the capabilities of two of such software packages: ATPEMTP/ ATPDRAW and MATLAB-SIMULINK. The first one is a universal program system for digital simulation of transient phenomena of electromagnetic as well as electromechanical nature, whereas SIMULINK was created to model general dynamic systems using MATLAB simulation engine.the controller designed for the original process is no longer able to achieve the expected system performance. 2. COMPARISON OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE TWO PROGRAMS Both programs are block-oriented simulators with a graphical user interface. In both cases there are two types of connections between the blocks: electrical and signal wires. Former ones link blocks like transformers, lines etc. while the latter ones connect the signal processing units. In ATP-EMTP these blocks can be TACS or MODELS objects. The following tables summarise the most important built-in elements (blocks) of the two program packages. Only objects supported by ATPDraw have been considered in the ATPEMTP column of the next tables. Sources driven by arbitrary signals can be realised in both programs. Difference is in the predefined, easy-to-parameterise blocks. In ATP pre-defined surge generators are available while in MATLAB harmonics and symmetrical components can be easily generated. Sources driven by arbitrary signals can be realised in both programs. Difference is in the predefined, easy-to-parameterise blocks. In ATP pre-defined surge generators are available while in MATLAB harmonics and symmetrical components can be easily generated.