A Technical Paper Presentation On Power Quality Improvement With Solid State Transfer Switches

. KUPPAM ENGINEERING COLLEGE, K.E.S NAGAR, KUPPAM-517425

Submitted by :

. Ph: +91 8688780435

G.AJAY KUMAR III E.E.E Mail : ajayrock95@gmail.com PH: 8688780435

P.SASI KANTH

Power quality issues are currently

III E.E.E

receiving a great deal of attention in the light of deregulation, liberalization and privatization of the electrical energy market.

K.E.S.Kuppam

Mail:shashikanth237@gmail.com PH: +91 9652361267

The overriding concern is that poor power supply quality may cause disruption to a consumer's process leading to a loss in revenues. An essential prerequisite to a profitable process-oriented industrial operation is therefore a safe, reliable and clean power supply.

ABSTRACT:
The solid state transfer switch (SSTS) is designed to replace the mechanical auto transfer equipment currently in use to switch major industrial and commercial facilities from one feeder to another - a process that typically takes 0.3 to several seconds. A SSTS can also provide large customers with a cost-effective alternative to an in-house uninterruptible power supply system. This paper presents a new SSTS concept based on bi-directional control thyristor (Bn) technology for the mitigation of voltage deviations (sags or swells), interruptions and other power supply system faults. A utility application of the solid state transfer switch is described and its performance discussed.

The solid state transfer switch (SSTS) is designed to replace the mechanical auto transfer equipment currently in use to switch major industrial and commercial facilities from one feeder to another - a process that typically takes 0.3 to several seconds. For sensitive electronic based electrical equipment this transfer time and momentary interruption result in voltage deviations which may be beyond the designed ridethrough capabilities of the equipment. A SSTS can also provide large customers with a cost-effective alternative to an in-house uninterruptible power supply system. The first section of the paper provides a functional description and typical circuit configurations of the SSTS. A comparison of the different power electronics technologies that are applicable for a SSTS 2

INTRODUCTION:

Power Quality Improvement with Solid State Transfer Switches

implementation is then presented. Finally, an application of a solid state transfer switch in a utility provided power quality solution is described and its performance is discussed.

FUNCTIONAL
SSTS

DESCRIPTION TYPICAL,

OF

AND

CIRCUIT

CONFIGURATIONS:
The SSTS as shown in Figure I is a high-speed, open transition switch which enables the transfer of electrical loads from one AC power source to another within a few millisecond.
Fig :Solid State

The basic ON-state and OFF-state properties of the thyristor are used to form an intelligent switch which can choose between two upstream power sources providing the better quality of supply available to the electrical load is downstream. based on The basic configuration anti-parallel

Transfer Switch System

The open-transition property of the SSTS means that the switch breaks contact with one source before it makes contact with the other source. The advantage of this transfer scheme over the closed-transition mechanical switch is that the electrical sources are never cross-connected unintentionally. The cross connection of independent AC sources, with the alternate source switching on to a faulted system is discouraged by electric utilities. The solid state transfer switch consists of two three phase ac thyristor switches. The thyristor, operating in its two modes, forms the key component of the SSTS. In the ON-state mode, low impedance forward conduction of current takes place. In the OFF stage mode, an open circuit with almost an infinite impedance occur in the thyristor.

thyristors group on the preferred and alternate sides of the switch. A thyristor allows conduction only in the forward direction. Figure 2 illustrate how the thyristors of transfer switch 1 can conduct either in the positive or the negative half cycle of the AC sinusoid and the supply path is indicated by the bold line.

Power Quality Improvement with Solid State Transfer Switches

even the most sensitive electrical OT electronic loads are not disrupted.
Fig. 2: Thyristors of SSTS Conducting in Positive & Negative Half cycles of the Preferred Source Fig. 3: Thyristors on the Alternate Supply are Turned ON on Sensing a Disturbance on the preferred source

The mechanical bypass equipment provides conventional transfer switch functionality when the SSTS is in a thermal overload condition or is out of service for testing or maintenance.

During normal operation, thyristors associated with the preferred source are in the ON-state normally closed (NC) position, while those associated with the alternate source are in the OFF-state normally open (NO) position. Current sensing circuits constantly monitor the states of the preferred and alternate sources and feed information to the monitoring high speed controller. Upon detecting the loss of the preferred source or voltage that is not within the preset range, the controller blocks the firing impulse signals to the gate-driven thyristors of transfer switch 1 and instructs the thyristors of transfer switch 2 to turn ON with a fail-safe interlocking mechanism. Power then flows via the path as indicated by the bold line in Figure 3. The transfer from the preferred to the alternate source occurs rapid enough, that

TYPICAL CONFIGURATIONS INSTALLATIONS: FOR

CIRCUIT SSTS

Circuit configurations of a SSTS installation are dependent on several factors such as the availability of an existing alternate source, the size of critical loads, the need to protect single or several separate critical loads, whether it will be a customer or utility provided solution and economical considerations. 4,5, and 6. The dual service circuit configuration shown in Figure 4 is the most widely implementation of the SSTS system. Under normal supply conditions, the critical load is supplied by the preferred source. When a disturbance or voltage sag on the preferred source occurs, due for example, to an upstream fault, the critical load is transferred to the alternate source in less than half a cycle. Three typical circuit configurations of SSTS are shown in Figures

Power Quality Improvement with Solid State Transfer Switches

For

the

bus

coupler

circuit

and 2 will then be supplied by SOURCE B. When a disturbance occurs on one downstream load feeder, for example feeder 3, the NC switches on the downstream side BUS B of load feeder 4 connected to source B opens. The upstream solid state NO switch on BUS A of load feeder 4 then closes within a few milliseconds, allowing the load on this feeder to be supplied by SOURCE A as shown by the dotted line in Figure 6.In this way, the healthy critical feeder connected to the same source as the faulted feeder will not

configuration shown in Figure 5, separate critical loads are served independently from the two separate sources A and B. The supply paths are indicated by the bold lines. When a disturbance occur on source A, the solid state switch for critical load feeder A opens, the bus coupler solid state switch closes and the entire load is then served by source B with minimal disturbance to the loads. Note that for this case, the switches on both the feeders must be dimensioned to carry the total current of both the loads.

be disconnected and hence there is an

Fig. 4: Dual service circuit configuration Fig. 5: Bus coupler circuit configuration

increase in the overall availability of energy for the plant even for faults on the downstream feeders. The fault is cleared within the duration associated with the

The third circuit configuration for the SSTS system as shown in Figure 6 is different from the previous two by additionally providing protection against disturbances and sags from a downstream load side fault. In the case of a disturbance on the source on BUS A, the NC switches connected on BUS A will open and the NO ones on BUS B will close. The load feeders 1

Power Quality Improvement with Solid State Transfer Switches

operation times of downstream relays and circuit breaker located on feeder 3.

over voltage or large out of phase conditions. These systems have large current carrying and short-circuit withstand capability. Since PCI' technology is a mature technology, the reliability and cost of SSTS systems based on

Fig. 6: Bus transfer circuit configuration

Besides these basic configurations, many other customized configurations are possible depending on specific project requirements.

this thyristor technology are well established. Bi-directional phase control thyristor technology. Two anti-parallel high power thyristors are integrated onto one single silicon wafer and are assembled into one housing. This new feature enables SSTS system based on BCT to meet higher demands concerning size, reliability and cost. Figure 7 shows on the left a PCT and right the BCT stack assemblies. For the stack itself, the BCT solution needs only 50 8 of the mechanical and electrical parts that are used in the PCT solution.
Fig. 7: Reduction of components in thyristor stacks due to the use of BCT instead of PCT technology

Control

Thyristor

(BCT) is a new development in high power

THYRISTOR TECHNOLOGIES FOR SSTS IMPLEMENTATION:

The thyristor technology most suitable for a particular SSTS application depends on the response time required, the load current, the short-circuit requirements and application voltage level. Thyristor technologies that are considered in this section are: 1. Conventional Phase Control Thyristors, 2. Bi-Directional Thyristor (BCT), 3. Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristor (IGCT). Phase Control Thyristors (ET) is the most common thyristor technology being applied to medium voltage SSTS systems. Systems based on the PCT will transfer within a quarter cycle for under voltage conditions and may take up to half a cycle for Control

Integrated

Gate

Commutated

Thyristors (IGCTs) are state of the art in gate turn-off (GTO) thyristor technology. They combine the low conduction losses associated with thyristors and the snubber less excellent turn-off capability of transistors. Thus for sensitive loads requiring demanding transfer time of under a quarter cycle, IGCT based

Power Quality Improvement with Solid State Transfer Switches

SSTS systems can achieve this performance target. IGCTs have current carrying capability of up to 2200 A, turn-off currents of up to 6 kA and a short-circuit withstand of up to 25kA. Cost of IGCT based SSTS systems are higher than systems based on the previous two technologies but this price premium is being rapidly eroded with increased applications and development. Figure 8 shows an IGCT unit capable of meeting the most demanding SSTS application.

junction from a 50 kV meshed network. When a fault in the 50 kV

systems occurs, an attempt to clear the fault by auto-reclosure is initiated using the breakers U1 and U 2 if the fault is within the reach of the distance relays. The momentary interruption due to the auto enclosure process causes voltage sag ' with the effect that process control equipment in the manufacturing facility fail resulting in production disruptions.
Fig. 9: A utility provided solid state transfer switch solution to mitigate momentary interruptions

Three solutions were considered, one with the construction of a second distribution
Fig 8: A 4.5 kV. 3kA IGCT unit

line, the another with the installation of a UPS for sensitive loads and finally a proposal for a solid state switch system. Of the three proposals, the SSTS system was deemed the most attractive from the economical point of view since there exists an independent 16 kV distribution line of sufficient capacity, in the vicinity of this manufacturing plant. This proposed SSTS solution shown in Figure 9 requires the installation of a new 1616 kV transformer TR2, a solid state switch on the secondary of the each of the transformers TRl and TR2. The transfer switch 1 is normally closed and the transfer switch 2 normally open. The transformer TR2 is connected to the 16 kV network even for normal operation but under no load

A SSTS UTILITY APPLICATION:

In this section a utility provided solid state transfer switch solution based on BCT technology is described. An industrial customer connected on the 6 kV level of the distribution system is supplied via a T

Power Quality Improvement with Solid State Transfer Switches

condition. If a disturbance in the 50 kV network requires the transfer of the critical load to the 16 kV supply, inrush currents and any circuit breaker switching times related to the transformer TR2 will be avoided. A consideration that needs to be taken into account is the no-load losses of the transformer TR2 during standby mode. Bypass circuit breakers similar to the SSTS configuration shown in Figure 4 are needed for maintenance and testing purposes. The activation of the SSTS system is through the detection of voltage sag on the 50 kV side of the network. The control system is made up of a signal sampling block synchronized by a phase locked loop (PLL), a fault detection algorithm and a transfer inhibit block. The SSTS also performs continuous diagnostics by monitoring thyristor status (open or shorted conditions) and calculated device temperature. If multiple thyristor failures or over temperature condition is detected within the SSTS any transfer command will be inhibited and the system will be safely placed into a bypass mode. The following requirements must be met: Transfer to the alternate source will take place when the 50 kV voltage level for any of the three phases fall below 80 5% the pre-fault level. Prevent transfer during load side (downstream) fault condition. The static switch is designed to

ride through a fault long enough to let downstream protection devices operate and to keep the SSTS as transparent to the system as possible with regards to system protection. Prevent transfer when the voltage of alternate source is outside programmed limits and keeping the load on the preferred source. Prevent transfer when both sources are out of phase more than the programmed limits. On detection of a fault, the firing signal to transfer switch 1 is blocked to turn it off and firing impulses sent to transfer switch 2 to activate it. A command is simultaneously given to open the circuit breaker Ls3. The power flows through solid state switch 2 from the 16 kV systems after a successful transfer. Simulation of the operation of this SSTS system was carried out using the Electromagnetic Transient Program. Figure 10 shows the preferred supply with three phase voltage sag at the 6 kV side of transformer TR1 and the load voltage during and after being transferred to the alternate source.

Power Quality Improvement with Solid State Transfer Switches

1.

Chan, K.; Kara, A.; Wirth E.,

"Innovative System Solutions for Power Quality Enhancement", ABB Review, 3/98 Schwartzenberg, J. W.; De Doncker, R. W., "15 kV Medium Voltage 2. Static Transfer Switch", IEEE, May/June 1995. Backlund, B. et. al., "BiControl Information, AG, Thyristor", ABB Switzerland, Directional Product January 1997. 3. Linder, S. et. al., "A New Range of Reverse Conducting GateCommutated Thyristors for HighVoltage
Fig. 10: (a) Preferred supply voltage during three phase fault, (b) Load voltage during and after transfer.

Semiconductors

Medium-Power of on the 7'

Applications". 4. Proceedings and Norway, European Electronics Trondheim, 1997. Conference Power

CONCLUSION:
The basic medium voltage solid state transfer switch configurations and technology have been presented and a specific SSTS utility application described, The new BCT and IGCT technologies described can be used to meet the complete range of requirements demanded by even the most stringent SSTS applications. These SSTS systems provide high units, due to reliability SSTS the due systems to well be proven more components and low part counts. Using BCT can economically constructed and implemented encapsulated anti-parallel thyristors.

Applications, September

REFERENCES:
Power Quality Improvement with Solid State Transfer Switches 9