Methods of voltage control Control of voltage levels is accomplished by controlling the production, observation and flow of reactive power

r at all level in the system. Automatic voltage regulators (ACR) control field excitation to maintain a scheduled voltage level at the terminals of generators. Additional means are usually required to controlled voltage throughout the system. The devices used for this purpose may be classified as Sources or sinks of reactive power, such as shunt capacitor, shunt reactors, synchronous condensers and static var compensator (SVC). Line reactance compensators, such as series capacitor. Regulating transformer such as step changing transformer and boosters. Shunt capacitor compensation:Without compensation:
VS
AC

VR

Q2=supply to load
Q1=demand of the load

T.L
QS

QR

Figure 9.1 Net reactive power at the bus bar. Reactive power demand by load. Reactive power supply to load.

Voltage at receiving end Case 1:- If In this case Case 2:- If In this case Now to balance;

Shunt capacitor bank is connected, which supply

With shunt capacitor [

]:
Q2 QC

VR=VS Load P1

Q1

C.B

Figure 9.2

[ Where; Active power input to the load

Where; Power factor angle before compensation. Power factor angle after compensation. Reactive power supply by capacitor bank. Shunt reactor compensation:

VR Q2 QR Q1

QL

C.B

Lsh

Figure 9.3

This means the reactive power consumed by load is very less and hence there is over voltage at the receiving end. Now to keep a shunt reactor (Lsh) is connected in parallel to load which absorb or consume reactive power as

S2 S1

QL Q2 Q1

P1=P2

Figure 9.4 Therefore, [ Therefore,

[

]
]

We know

From equation 1 and 2, we get [ ]

[ Relation between Q,V and f :

Therefore

Series capacitor [Cse] coponsation:

AC

I VR LOAD cosR

VS

Figure 9.5 Without Cse [ With Cse | | [ ] ]

Voltage regulation is minimum with series capacitor composition but it is normally preferred for improving the transient stability.

 In case of fault condition it discharge the energy store in capacitor so that high voltage is developed which damage the insulation hence practically not preferred.

Tap changing transformer (OLTC):

HV/LV R JXL HV/LV

4
3 2 1
VS VR

4
3
V2

2 1

LOAD

Now

Therefore

V1

1:ts Sending end X-mer

tr:1 Receiving end x-mer

Figure 9.6 [ ]

By changing the transformer number of turns the voltage is controlled. The tapes are normally provided on high voltage side because current is minimum on H.V side. During tap changing arc is developed, arc intensity is lower if current is low.

Synchronous condensers: A synchronous condenser is a synchronous machine running without a prime mover or a mechanical load. By controlling the field excitation, it can be made to either generate or absorb reactive power. With a voltage regulator, it can automatically adjust reactive power output to maintain constant terminal voltage. It draws a small amount of active power from the power system to supply losses. Synchronous condensers have been used since the 1930s for voltage and reactive power control at both transmission and sub transmission levels. They are often connected to the tertiary winding of the transformers. They fall into category of active compensators. Because of their high purchase and operating costs, they have been largely suppressed by static var compensators. Synchronous condensers have several advantages over static compensators. Synchronous compensators contribute to system short circuit capacity. Their reactive power production is not affected by system voltage. During power swing (electromechanical oscillations) there is an exchange of kinetic energy between a synchronous condenser and the power system. During such power swings, a synchronous condenser can supply a large amount of shunt compensation, perhaps twice its continuous rating. It has about 10 to 20% overload capability for up to. 30 minutes. Unlike other forms of shunt compensation, it has an internal voltage source and is better able to cope with low system voltage conditions.

Static Var Compensators According to the IEEE terms and definition: A Shunt-connected static var generator or absorber whose output is adjusted to exchange capacitive or inductive current so as to maintain or control specific parameters of electrical power system (typically bus voltage) The term static is used to indicate that SVCs, unlike Synchronous compensators, have no rotating or moving components. Thus an SVC consists of static var generator (SVG) or absorber devices and a suitable control device. Types of SVC The following are the types of reactive power control elements which make up all or part of any static var system: Saturated reactor (SR) Thyristor-controlled reactor (TCR) Thyristor-switched capacitor (TSC) Thyristor-switched reactor (TSR) Thyristor-controlled transformer (TCT) Self- or line-commutated converter (SCC/LCC)

Static Var Systems are capable of controlling individual phase voltages of the busses to which they are connected. They can therefore be used for control of negative sequence as well as positive sequence deviations. However, we are interested here in the balanced fundamental frequency performance of power systems and therefore our analysis will consider only this aspect of SVS performance. Fundamental frequency performance of an SVC Characteristic of an ideal SVS: From the view point of power system operation, an SVS is equivalent to a shunt capacitor and a shunt inductor, both of which can be adjusted to control voltage and reactive power at its terminals (or a nearby bus) in a prescribed manner.

Figure (9.7) Idealized static var system Ideally, an SVS should hold constant voltage (assuming that this is the desired objective), possess unlimited var generation/absorption capability with no active and reactive power losses and provide instantaneous response. The performance of the SVS can be visualized on a graph of controlled ac bus voltage plotted against the SVS reactive current ( ). The V/I characteristics of an ideal SVS is shown in figure (5.8). It represents the steady-state and quasi steady-state characteristics of SVS.

Figure (9.8) V/I characteristic of ideal compensator Characteristics of a realistic SVS:

We consider an SVS composed of a controllable reactor and a fixes capacitor. The resulting characteristics are sufficiently general and are applicable to a wide range of practical SVS configurations. The Composite characteristic is derived by adding the individual characteristics of the components. The characteristics shown in figure () is representative of the characteristics of practical controllable reactors.

Figure (9.9) Composite characteristics of an SVS Power system characteristics The power system V/I characteristics may be determined by considering the Thevenin equivalent circuit as viewed from the bus whose voltage is to be regulated by the SVS. The Thevenin impedance in figure () is predominantly an inductive reactance. The corresponding voltage versus reactive current characteristics is shown in figure (). The voltage increases linearly with capacitive load current and decreases linearly with inductive load current. For each network condition, an equivalent circuit such as that in shown in figure () can be defined.

Figure (9.10) Power system voltage versus reactive current characteristic Composite SVS power system characteristics: The system characteristics may be expressed as

The SVS characteristic, with in the control range defined by the slope reactance by

, is given

For further outside the control range, the ratio is equal to the slopes of the two extreme segments of figure. These are determined by the rating of the inductor and capacitor. Three system characteristics are considered in the figure (), corresponding to three values of the source voltage. The middle characteristic represents nominal system conditions, and is assumed to intersect the SVS characteristics at point A where and .

Figure (9.11) Graphical solution of SVS operating point for given system conditions If the system voltage increases by (for example, due to a decreases in system load level), will increases to , without an SVS. With the SVS, however, the operating point moves to B; by absorbing inductive current , the SVS holds the voltage at . Similarly, if the source voltage decreases (due to increases in system load level), the SVS hold the voltage at , instead of at without the SVS. If the slope of the SVS characteristics were zero, the voltage would have been held at for both cases considered above. Thyristor-controlled reactor (TCR) According to IEEE definition A shunt connected, thyristor-controlled inductor, whose effective reactance is varied to provide a rapidly variable phase angle. A TCR is one of the most important building blocks of thyristor-based SVCs. Although it can be used alone, it is more often employed in conjunction with fixed or thyristor-switched capacitors to provide rapid, continuous control of reactive power over the entire selected lagging-to-leading range.

The Single-Phase TCR A basic single-phase TCR comprises an anti-parallelconnected pair of thyristor valves, T1 and T2, in series with a linear air-core reactor, as illustrated in Fig. (5.12). The anti-parallel connected thyristor pair acts like a bidirectional switch, with thyristor valveT1 conducting in positive half-cycles and thyristor valve T2 conducting in negative half-cycles of the supply voltage. The firing angle of the thyristors is measured from the zero crossing of the voltage appearing across its terminals. Principle of operation: The controllable range of the TCR firing angle, , extends from to . A firing angle of results in full thyristor conduction with a continuous sinusoidal current flow in the TCR. As the firing angle is varied from to close to the current flows in the form of discontinuous pulses symmetrically located in the positive and negative half-cycles, as displayed in Fig.(5.13). Once the thyristor valves are fired, the cessation of current occurs at its natural zero crossing, a process known as the line commutation. The current reduces to zero for a firing angle of . Thyristor firing at angles below introduces dc components in the current, disturbing the symmetrical operation of the two anti-parallel valve branches.

Figure (9.12) A TCR

Figure (9.13) Current and voltage for different Let the source voltage be expressed as

in a TCR

Where, the peak value of the applied voltage and the angular frequency of supply voltage. The TCR current is then given by the following differential equation:

Where, L is the inductance of the TCR. Integrating Eq. (9.3), we get Where, C is the constant. Alternatively,

For the boundary condition,

Where, the firing angle measured from positive going zero crossing of the applied voltage. Fourier analysis is used to derive the fundamental component of the TCR current , which, in general, is given as

Where The coefficient

because of the odd-wave symmetry, that is, ( is given by

. Also, no even ) .

harmonics are generated because of the half-wave symmetry, that is,

Solving, ( Equation (9.7) can also be rewritten as )

Where, ( )

The firing angle

is related to the conduction angle , as follows:

Substituting Eq. (9.10) in Eq. (9.7) gives the alternative expression of the fundamental component of the TCR current: ( or )

Where

The variation of per-unit value of with firing angle is depicted in Fig. (9.14). The perunit value of is obtained with respect to its maximum value as the base quantity.

Figure (9.14) Control Characteristics of the TCR susceptance,

The TCR thus acts like a variable susceptance. Variation of the firing angle changes the susceptance and, consequently, the fundamental-current component, which leads to a variation of reactive power absorbed by the reactor because the applied ac voltage is constant. However, as the firing angle is increased beyond , the current becomes non-sinusoidal, and harmonics are generated. If the two thyristors are fired symmetrically in the positive and negative half-cycles, then only odd-order harmonics are produced. Operating Characteristics of TCR (a) Operating Characteristics without Voltage Control The simplest SVC configuration consists of a TCR connected to the power system as shown in Fig.(). In the analysis of compensator performance, the fundamental frequency behavior is generally considered. In practice, harmonics are filtered and reduced to very low values. The approach shown in Fig () is convenient for the performance analysis because the whole TCR branch is replaced by an equivalent continuously variable reactor.

Figure (9.15) A simple SVC circuit using a TCR

For a general SVC, which can be considered as a black box with an unknown but purely reactive circuit inside, the overall compensator susceptance can be defined with the following equation:

In the simple case of a TCR, the compensator susceptance is

Usually, three kinds of characteristics are of interest while analyzing an SVC, as described in the paragraphs that follow. VoltageCurrent Characteristic or Operating Characteristic: This shows the SVC current as a function of the system voltage for different firing angles, as depicted in Fig. (9.16).This V-I characteristic is given in a very general sense. No control system is assumed to vary the firing angle, and any operating point within the two limits is possible depending on the system voltage and the setting of the firing angle (other currents and voltages may be shown, too). This characteristic clearly illustrates the limits of the operating range, and it may include the steady-state characteristics of the various possible controls.

Figure (9.16): VoltageCurrent Characteristic or Operating Characteristic SVC TCR Susceptance Characteristics: These illustrate the change of the total SVC susceptance when the TCR susceptance is varied, as shown in Fig. (9.17). The susceptance characteristic for this case is very simple because . Note that the TCR susceptance is negative, indicating that the TCR is an absorbing reactive component. These characteristics are of most interest to control-system analysis because the controls affect the TCR firing angle, whereas the total susceptance influences the power system.

Figure (9.17): SVC TCR Susceptance Characteristics (b) Operating Characteristic with Voltage Control The operating range of Fig () can be reduced to a single characteristic of operating points if the effect of the voltage control is incorporated. Let us assume that the compensator is equipped with the voltage control shown in Fig. ().The system voltage is measured, and the feedback system varies to maintain on the system. This control action is represented in the operating characteristic in Figure () by the horizontal branch marked as control range. This characteristic shows the hard-voltage control of the compensator, which stabilizes the system voltage exactly to the set point .

Figure (9.18): The operating characteristics of a TCR with voltage control: (a) an SVC control system and (b) the V/I characteristic. Two system characteristicssystem 1and system2are depicted in Fig. () that illustrate the decline in system node voltage when the node is loaded inductively and reactive power is absorbed. The corresponding operating points for the two system conditions are .

If the system voltage of system 2 raises, a new characteristicsystem 2 results. Operating point A then moves to the right and reaches the absorption limit of the compensator. Any further increase in system voltage cannot be compensated for by the control system, because the TCR reactor is already fully conducting. The operating point will, therefore, move upward on the characteristic, corresponding to the fully on reactor connected to the system ( ). The compensator then operates in the overload range, beyond which a current limit is imposed by the firing control to prevent damage to the Thyristor valve from an over current. At the left-hand side, the compensator will reach the production limit if the system voltage drops excessively; the operating point will then lie on the characteristic of the under voltage range. The Fixed-Capacitor-Thyristor-Controlled Reactor (FC-TCR): Configuration: The TCR provides continuously controllable reactive power only in the lagging power-factor range. To extend the dynamic controllable range to the leading power factor domain, a fixedcapacitor bank is connected in shunt with the TCR. The TCR MVA is rated larger than the fixed capacitor to compensate the capacitive MVA and provide net inductive-reactive power should a lagging power factor operation be desired. The fixed capacitor banks, usually connected in a star configuration, are split into more than three phase groups. Each capacitor contains a small tuning inductor that is connected in series and tunes the branch to act as a filter for a specific harmonic order. For instance, one capacitor group is connected to 5 th harmonic and another to 7th, whereas yet another is designed to act as a high pass filter. At fundamental frequency, the tuning reactors slightly reduce the net MVA rating of the fixed capacitors.

Figure (9.19) FC-TCR SVC

Operating Characteristics: Without the step-down transformer:

The fixed capacitor extends the operating control range of SVC to the leading side as compared to the characteristics of TCR with voltage control. The SVC current can be expressed as a function of system voltage and compensator susceptance as Where, and

Figure shows the operating characteristics and the susceptance characteristics of an FC-TCR without a coupling transformer and both also show that var production as well as var absorption is possible.

Figure (9.20) The operating characteristics of an FCTCR without a coupling transformer With the step-down transformer: An FC-TCR SVC is usually connected to the high voltage power system by means of a step down coupling transformer as shown in figure.

Figure (9.21) An FC-TCR with a step down transformer and its V-I characteristics The compensator susceptance is given by

Where, = susceptance of the transformer and the firing angles from to .

is variable from 0 to

, according to

From eq.( ) the susceptance limits can be calculated. Susceptance at the production (capacitive) limit, that is, with at , is expressed as

Susceptance at the absorption (inductive) limit, that is, with by

at

, is given

It must be noted that is a negative quantity. An analysis of equation ( ) shows that total susceptance of the static var compensator doesnt change linearly with . However, if and , which is usually the case, the nonlinearity is relatively small. This assumption implies that the reactance of the coupling transformer is greatly smaller than the reactance of either the fixed capacitor or TCR. Equation can then be approximated by a linear relation as follows: ( ) ( )

The susceptance limits based on the linearized equation are ( ( The voltage at the secondary of the transformer is ) )

The can be expressed as a function of the system voltage and the total compensator susceptance using equations ( ) and ( ) as follows

At the operating limits of the compensator, the following secondary voltages are found:

( (

) )

The susceptance characteristic is shown in figure. Both the exact characteristic from Eq. ( ) and the linearized characteristic from Eq. ( ) are displayed. The errors from linearization are clearly visible.

Figure (9.22) Susceptance characteristics of an FC-TCR SVC with a step down transformer

Losses: A drawback of the FCTCR SVC is the circulation of large currents in the FCTCR loop needed for cancellation of capacitive vars. This results in high steady-state losses, even when the SVC is not exchanging any reactive power with the power system, as shown in Figure. Typical losses in an FCTCR scheme vary from 0.5% to 0.7% of the MVA rating. However, these losses can be minimized by switching the fixed capacitors through mechanical breakers, ensuring that the capacitors are inserted in the compensator circuit only when leading vars are needed. Thus a smaller-sizeinterpolating TCR can be used, and consequently, the steadystate operating losses can be reduced. Those FCTCRs having a 300-MVA inductive rating have been already installed in the field.

Figure (9.23) Losses in an FC-TCR

The Thyristor-Switched Capacitor (TSC). A single-phase thyristor switched capacitor (TSC) is shown in Figure 5.13(a). It consists of a capacitor, a bidirectional thyristor valve, and a relatively small surge current limiting reactor. This reactor is needed primarily to limit the surge current in the thyristor valve under abnormal operating conditions (e.g., control malfunction causing capacitor switching at a "wrong time," when transient free switching conditions are not satisfied); it may also be used to avoid resonances with the ac system impedance at particular frequencies. Under steady-state conditions, when the thyristor valve is closed and the TSC branch is connected to a sinusoidal ac voltage source, v = V sin on, the current in the branch is given by

Where

Vc

VSW

VL

Figure 9.24. Basic thyristor-switched capacitor (a) and associated waveforms (b). The amplitude of the voltage across the capacitor is

The TSC branch can be disconnected ("switched out") at any current zero by prior removal of the gate drive to the thyristor valve. At the current zero crossing, the capacitor voltage is at its peak value, . The disconnected capacitor stays charged to this voltage and, consequently, the voltage across the non-conducting thyristor valve varies between zero and the peak-to-peak value of the applied ac voltage, as illustrated in Figure 5.13(b).If the voltage across the disconnected capacitor remained unchanged, the TSC bank could be

switched in again, without any transient, at the appropriate peak of the applied ac voltage, as illustrated for a positively and negatively charged capacitor in Figure 2(a) and (b), respectively. Normally, the capacitor bank is discharged after disconnection. Thus, the reconnection of the capacitor may have to be executed at some residual capacitor voltage between zero and Vn 2/(n 2 - 1). This can be accomplished with the minimum possible transient disturbance if the thyristor valve is turned on at those instants at which the capacitor residual voltage and the applied ac voltage are equal, that is, when the voltage across the thyristor valve is zero. Figure 5.15(a) and (b) illustrate the switching transients obtained with a fully and a partially discharged capacitor. These transients are caused by the nonzero dv /dt at the instant of switching, which, without the series reactor, would result in an instantaneous current of ic = Cdv/dt in the capacitor. (This current represents the instantaneous value of the steady- state capacitor current at the time of the switching.) The interaction between the capacitor and the current (and di/dt) limiting reactor, with the damping resistor, produces the oscillatory transients visible on the current and voltage waveforms. (Note that the switching transient is greater for the fully discharged than for the partially discharged capacitor because the dv/dt of the applied (sinusoidal) voltage has its maximum at the zero crossing point.)

Figure 9.25 Waveforms illustrating transient free switching by a thyristor switched capacitor

Figure 9.26 Waveforms illustrating transient with thyristor switched capacitor fully (a) or partially discharged (b) The conditions for "transient-free" switching of a capacitor are summarized in Figure 3. As seen, two simple rules cover all possible cases: (1) if the residual capacitor voltage is lower than the peak ac voltage (Vc < V), then the correct instant of switching is when the instantaneous ac voltage becomes equal to the capacitor voltage; and (2) if the residual capacitor voltage is equal to or higher than the peak ac voltage (VC V), then the correct switching is at the peak of the ac voltage at which the thyristor valve voltage is minimum. From the above, it follows that the maximum possible delay in switching in a capacitor bank is one full cycle of the applied ac voltage, that is, the interval from one positive (negative) peak to the next positive (negative) peak. It also follows that firing delay angle control is not applicable to capacitors; the capacitor switching must take place at that specific instant in each cycle at which the conditions for minimum transients are satisfied, that is, when the voltage across the thyristor valve is zero or minimum. For this reason, a TSC branch can provide only a step-like change in the reactive current it draws (maximum or zero). In other words, the TSC branch represents a single capacitive admittance which is either connected to, or disconnected from the ac system. The current in the TSC branch varies linearly with the applied voltage according to the admittance of the capacitor as illustrated by the V-I plot in Figure 5.17. The maximum applicable voltage and the corresponding current are limited by the ratings of the TSC components (capacitor and thyristor valve).

Figure 9.27 Conditions for transient-free switching for the thyrister-switched capacitor with different residual voltages. To approximate continuous current variation, several TSC branches in parallel (which would increase in a step-like manner the capacitive admittance) may be employed, or, as is explained later, the TSC branches have to be complemented with a TCR.

V VCmax VCmax = voltage limit

ICmax = current limit

BC= admittance of capacitor

BC

IC

ICmax

Figure 9.28 Operating V-I area of single TSC Operating Characteristics:

V ISVC

V
Controller Dead band DV

Vref

C1

C2

C3
Figure 9.29 TSC scheme

. . . Cn

The V/I characteristics of a TSC compensator is shown in Figure . We see that the voltage control provided is discontinuous or stepwise. It is determined by the rating and number of parallel connected units. In high voltage application, the number of shunt capacitor banks are limited because high cost of thyristors. The power system V/I characteristics, as system condition change, intersect the TSC V/I , where characteristics at discrete points. The bus voltage V is controlled within the range DV is the dead band. When the system is operating so that its characteristics is represented by line , then capacitor will be switched and operating point A prevails. If the system characteristics suddenly changes to S2, the bus voltage drops initially to a value represented by operating point B. The TSC control switches in bank C2 to change the operating point to C, bringing the voltage within the desired range. Thus the compensator current can change in discrete steps. The time taken for executing a command from the controller ranges one half cycle to one cycle.
Thyristor-Switched Capacitor, Thyristor-Controlled Reactor Type Var Generator. The thyristor-switched capacitor, thyristor-controlled reactor (TSC-TCR) type compensator was developed primarily for dynamic compensation of power transmission systems with the intention of minimizing standby losses and providing increased operating flexibility. A basic single-phase TSC-TCR arrangement is shown in Figure 5.22(a). For a given capacitive output range, it typically consists of n TSC branches and one TCR. The number of branches, n, is determined by practical considerations that include the operating voltage level, maximum var output, current rating of the thyristor valves, bus work and installation cost, etc. Of course, the inductive range also can be expanded to any maximum rating by employing additional TCR branches. The operation of the basic TSC-TCR var generator shown in Figure 5.22(a) can be described as follows:

Figure 9.30 Basic TSC-TCR type static var generator

The total capacitive output range is divided into n intervals. In the first interval, the output of the var range, where generator is controllable in the zero to is the total rating provided by all TSC branches. In this interval, one capacitor bank is switched in (by firing, for example, thyristor valve ,) and, simultaneously, the current in the TCR is set by the appropriate firing delay angle so that the sum of the var output of the TSC (negative) and that of the TCR (positive) equals the capacitive output required. , to , In the second, third, and nth intervals, the output is controllable in the to ,. . . , and to range by switching in the second, third, ..., and nth capacitor bank and using the TCR to absorb the surplus capacitive vars. By being able to switch the capacitor banks in and out within one cycle of the applied ac voltage, the maximum surplus capacitive var in the total output range can be restricted to that produced by one capacitor bank, and thus, theoretically, the TCR should have the same var rating as the TSC. However, to ensure that the switching conditions at the endpoints of the intervals are not indeterminate, the var rating of the TCR has to be somewhat larger in practice than that of one TSC in order to provide enough overlap (hysteresis) between the "switching in" and "switching out" var levels. In a way, this scheme could be considered as a special fixed capacitor, thyristor controlled reactor arrangement, in which the rating of the reactor is kept relatively small ( times the maximum capacitive output), and the rating of the capacitor is changed in discrete steps so as to keep the operation of the TCR within its normal control range.

Susceptance Characteristic The SVC susceptance in the TSCTCR scheme is as follows:

Where 1, 2. . . . is the number of TSC branches in operation and susceptance of n TSC branches. With a linear approximation, Eq. () reduces to

is the total

Figure 9.32 The Susuptance characteristics of the TSC-TCR SVC. Figure gives the total susceptance BSVC as a function of the susceptanceof the controlled reactor BTCR for the example data. These characteristics are of importance for control design, for the controls vary BTCR and the effect on the system is caused by .