Ferroresonance Analysis of a 500 kV

Gas-Insulated Substation
D. Shoup, Member, IEEE, J. Paserba, Fellow, IEEE, D. Sullivan, Member, IEEE
P. Bolin, Senior Member, IEEE, R. Whiteside, Senior Member, IEEE
AbstractThis analysis focuses on a 500 kV gas-insulated
substation (GIS) installation that has two types of double-break
circuit breakers, one type containing 1400 pF grading capacitors
and the other with 500 pF grading capacitors across each break.
The circuit breakers are connected to approximately 40 m of airinsulated buswork and 100 m of gas-insulated buswork, which
includes existing and new installations of gas-insulated bus.
Voltage transformers (VTs) applied at the gas-insulated bus
could cause ferroresonance conditions without a ferroresonance
damping device (referred to as a damping device herein)
connected to the 115 V secondary of the VT. This analysis
verifies that a damping device adequately mitigates
ferroresonance conditions. Specifically, the concern is for
voltages on the VT primary and secondary, where excessive
voltages could cause damage to equipment insulation and maloperation of relays without the damping device.
Index Termsferroresonance, voltage transformer, grading
capacitor, gas-insulated substation

I. INTRODUCTION
erroresonance is a well-documented phenomena [1-11]
where a resonance occurs between a saturable inductance
and a capacitance connected in series. In this analysis, the
concern is on voltages that occur because of the energy
coupled, through grading capacitors of circuit breakers, from
live gas-insulated bus to a de-energized section of bus where
VTs are connected.
An industry-standard tool for
electromagnetic transient modeling, the Electromagnetic
Transients Program (EMTP), was used to simulate various
circuit conditions susceptible to ferroresonance. Digital
programs such as EMTP can be used to simulate phenomena
over a wide-range of frequencies, and for this analysis EMTP
was used to simulate ferroresonance conditions in the multicycle to few seconds timeframe.

II. OBJECTIVES
The following are the specific objectives for the
ferroresonance analysis of the 500 kV GIS:
(1) Identify potential ferroresonance circuits associated
with the 500 kV GIS installation for cases with and
without the damping device.
(2) Determine voltages associated with the equipment for
the 500 kV GIS installation with and without a
damping device for potential ferroresonance circuits
(a) Assess if concerns exist for the operation of relays
(b) Assess if concerns exist for the thermal
degradation of equipment
III. EMTP MODEL
Figure 1 shows the one-line diagram of the GIS for the
limiting ferroresonance case. A total of 5 cases were
analyzed, where the amount of floating buswork, i.e.,
buswork capacitance, was varied and different numbers of
circuit breakers containing grading capacitors were in the
circuit. Figure 1 includes the gas-insulated buswork, airinsulated buswork, circuit breakers, grading capacitors, surge

arresters, VTs, transformer connections, and transmission line

connections to the 500 kV GIS under study. Figure 2 shows
the equivalent representation of Figure 1 modeled to examine
ferroresonance voltages initiated by the energy exchange
between the grading capacitance and VT.
The following is a listing of the key equipment modeled
for the ferroresonance analysis:

VT and saturation characteristics

Damping device composed of a resistor (R D) and
saturable reactor (LD)
Equivalent grading capacitance (C 1) across circuit
breaker contacts
Stray capacitance (C2) associated with gas-insulated
buswork, air-insulated buswork, and equipment
connected to the de-energized, or floating, buswork
Source voltage (V). The source voltage in EMTP was
set based on the maximum continuous operating
voltage (MCOV), calculated as follows:
500000 1.10

2/

3 449073 V

Table 1 lists VT data used for the EMTP model. Table 2 lists
thermal and voltage insulation ratings for the VT and
damping device. Thermal and voltage insulation ratings of
the VT and damping device were properly coordinated with
expected voltages and currents, verified by the analysis
described here. Figure 3 shows a comparison of the
saturation characteristics of the saturable reactor and VT.
Because of the low losses of the VT, ferroresonance
conditions could be sustained for long periods of time and
concerns could exist because of energy coupled into the
circuit through the grading capacitors. The purpose of the
damping device is to saturate before the VT, causing a
damping resistor to be inserted into the circuit, which
mitigates the ferroresonance conditions. Note that for the
cases with the damping device modeled, the damping resistor
was modeled as a lumped resistance of 0.47 .
Table 3 contains an example for the determination of the
C2 capacitance used in Figure 2 corresponding to phase A for
one of the five cases examined. As listed in Table 3, circuit
breaker, disconnect switches, bushings, bus supports and
posts, surge arresters, gas-insulated buswork, and air-

2
500 kV Transmission Line
500 kV Line
Termination
Surge
Arrester

Gas-to-Air
Bushing
CCVT

Bus energized
at MCOV

Floating bus with

VT in circuit

Floating bus
Equivalent total grading
capacitance = 700 pF

500 KV AIS

VT (3-phases)

500 KV GIS

Open Circuit
Breaker

Equivalent total
grading
capacitance
= 250 pF per CB
(CBs A, B, C, D,
and XXX)

500 KV BUS

900 pF
CB X

Effective capacitance of AIS

equipment including bushing
= 900 pF per phase

Open Circuit Breaker

(Both associated disconnect
switches are closed)

Bus energized
at MCOV

Equivalent total grading

capacitance = 700 pF

CB A

CB B

CB XXX

CB C

CB D

CB XXX

500 KV BUS
500 kV Transmission Line

500 KV AIS

CB Y

VT (3-phases)

500 KV GIS

Air-to-Oil
Bushing
Y

Wavetrap
(1- only )

Surge
Arrester

CCVT

Surge
Arrester

Gas-to-Air
Bushing

Gas-to-Air
Bushing

Surge
Arrester

Air-to-Oil
Bushing

500 kV Line
Termination

Figure 1. One-line diagram of the GIS for the limiting case for the ferroresonance analysis.
Circuit Values for Ferroresonance Case
(C1 and C2 were modified per case for different circuit connectivities)
V = 449073 V (MCOV, 550000* 2 / 3)
C1 = 1950 pF
C2 = 6332 pF (phase A), 6674 pF (phase B), 7173 pF (phase C)
R2 = 34420 ohms
L2 = 115 H
R1 = 0.01812 ohms
L1 = 0.06 mH
RC = 80 ohms (1.44 A rms or 2.04 A peak) (core resistance) (115 V-side)
RD = 0.47 ohms (variable)
Lm = 0.157 H (59.3 ohms) (magnetizing inductance) ( 115 V-side)
Flux steady-state = 0.43 V-s (peak) (115 V-side)
Current steady-state = 1.94 A rms or 2.74 A peak (EMTP input) (115 V-side)

C1

(CB grading capacitance)

Saturable Reactor
(115 V Saturation Characteristics)
(Estimated peak values)
Current (A)
Flux (V-s)
0.0300
0.0073
0.0856
0.0354
0.1696
0.0976
0.2187
0.1574
0.2909
0.2062
0.4442
0.3191
0.6407
0.3941
1.1451
0.4502
2.2600
0.4875
3.4068
0.5064
4.9634
0.5253
15.8462
0.5662
40.7614
0.5704
51.6993
0.5741
63.6927
0.5780

550 kV VT
(115 V Saturation Characteristics)
(Estimated peak values)
Current (A)
2.740
8.485
21.213
43.841
89.095
176.777
353.553
707.107

Flux (V-s)
0.430
0.566
0.750
0.849
0.933
1.004
1.061
1.103

VT (Voltage Transformer)
(Note 1)

VSOURC

VTLOOP

VSRCCB
CBSWIT

R2

VTHIGH

L2

Primary winding
resistance
and leakage
inductance

R1

VTNODE

N=2500
(287500/115)

L1

VTLOWS

Secondary winding
resistance and
leakage inductance

115 V rms

Ferroresonance
Damper
RD (Note 2)
(Damping
Resistance)

V
(Source voltage)

C2

(Effective
capacitance for
circuit connected
to VT)

Rated MAX. Volt.=

550000/3 =
317543 V
Vwind = 287500 V rms

VTBURD
I

LD (Note 3)

RC

(Saturable
Reactor)

(Equivalent
core-loss
resistance)

Figure 2. Equivalent representation of Figure 1 modeled to examine ferroresonance voltages and currents.

3
1.6

1.4

VT Saturation Characteristics
1.2

Flux
(V -s)
F lu x (V-s
)

insulated buswork was considered for the stray capacitance

connected in shunt on the high-side of the VT. The gasinsulated buswork had the largest impact on the magnitude of
C2.
The grading capacitors as shown in Figure 1 have a total
capacitance of 700 pF per circuit breaker pole on the lefthand side of Figure 1 and a total capacitance of 250 pF per
circuit breaker pole on the right-hand side of Figure 1.
Since ferroresonance is a non-linear phenomenon, it may
not be appropriate to speculate on the combinations of C 1
(grading capacitance) and C 2 (capacitance to ground) that
could trigger potential ferroresonance conditions of concern.
In this analysis, for the most part, greater concerns were
identified for higher ratios of C 1/C2 compared to lower ratios
of C1/C2. However, it is emphasized that because of the nonlinear characteristics of ferroresonance, lower C 1/C2 ratios
could potentially be of greater concern than higher C 1/C2
ratios.

0.8

0.6

0.2

Value
449073 V
115 V
287500 V
2500
0.01812 ohms
34420 ohms
0.06 mH
115000 mH
80 ohms
0.157 H (59.3 ohms)
0.43 V-s
1.94 A
1.44 A

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Curre nt (A)

Figure 3. Comparison of saturation characteristics for the

saturable reactor and VT.
Table 3
Example for the Determination of C2

Model Designation
V
Winding 1
Winding 2
R1
R2
L1
L2
RC
LM
-

Table 2
VT and Damping Device Ratings
VT thermal kVA rating
Damping resistor rated continuous power
Damping resistor rated maximum voltage (1 min)
Damping resistor insulation class
Damping resistor rated continuous current

Current (A)

Table 1
VT Data Used for the EMTP Model
Parameter
Rated MCOV
Rated low-side winding rms
Rated high-side winding rms
Winding ratio (Winding 2 / Winding 1)
Low-side winding resistance
High-side winding resistance
Low-side leakage inductance
High-side leakage inductance
Core loss (resistance) (low-side)
Magnetizing inductance (low-side)
Flux steady-state (low-side, peak)
Current steady-state (magnetizing, low-side, rms)
Current steady-state (resistive, low-side, rms)

VT Saturable Reactor
Saturation Characteristics

0.4

3 kVA
200 W
161 V
600 V
26 A

IV. OVERALL SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Table 4 lists a summary of simulation results for the
analysis, organized by increasing amount of total grading
capacitance for each case examined. Table 4 indicates
sustained ferroresonance oscillations were observed without
the damping device for total equivalent grading capacitances
of 500 pF, 1200 pF, and 1950 pF, but not for 250 pF and 700
pF, implying that increasing C1/C2 ratios are not in
themselves indicative of ferroresonance concerns. C 2, shown
in Table 3 to be primarily composed of gas-insulated buswork,
did not vary significantly from case to case and changes in
the value of C2 on the order of a few hundred pFs had a
negligible impact on the results. Note that changes in C 2 for
this analysis are caused by the amount of equipment in
service for each circuit configuration associated with varying
the number of circuit breaker bays connected to the bus and
phase layout.

Equipment of Floating Section

Circuit breaker/disconnect switches/bushings
Bus supports/posts
Surge arresters
Gas-insulated buswork (phase A)
Air-insulated buswork (phase A)
Total Capacitance to Ground
for Floating Section (C2) (phase A)

Capacitance
(each, pF)
(per phase)

Quantity

Total Capacitance
Value (pF)
(per phase)

75 to 250
75 to 120
100
54.2 pF / m
11.75 pF / m

4
3
1
92.1
37.5

570
230
100
4992
440

6332

Figures 3 and 4 show an example of voltages on the

floating bus section at the high-side of the VT for conditions
with no damping device and with the damping device in the
circuit, respectively, for Case 4 listed in Table 4.
The following summarizes the findings of the analysis
based on the results listed in Table 4:
(1) Ferroresonance was observed for all cases examined
without the damping device. With the damping device,
ferroresonance conditions were suppressed.
(2) With the damping device, there is no cause for concern
for equipment insulation or operation of relays. The
following was observed without the damping device:
(a) Concern for degradation of equipment insulation
because of sustained low-frequency voltages.
(b) Concern for relay operation based on relative
magnitudes of voltages compared to relay set
points.
(c) Note that operating concerns may also exist
because of relatively higher voltages on floating
buswork expected to be de-energized compared to
conditions with the damping device.
V. REFERENCES
[1]
[2]

[3]
[4]

IEEE WG 15.08.09, Modeling and Analysis of System Transients Using

Digital Programs, IEEE PES Special Publication TP-133-0, 1998.
Slow Transients Task Force of IEEE WG on Modeling and Analysis of
System Transients Using Digital Programs, Modeling and Analysis
Guidelines for Slow Transients- Part III: The Study of Ferroresonance,
IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 255-265, Jan. 2000.
Andrei, R.G., Halley, B.R., Voltage Transformer Ferroresonance From an
Energy Standpoint, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 4, no. 3, pp.
1773-1778, July 1989.
Price, E.D., Voltage Transformer Ferroresonance in Transmission
Substations, 30 th Annual Conference for Protective Relay Engineers,
Texas A&M University, April 1977.

4
Ferracci, P., Ferroresonance, Cahier Technique Schneider no 190, ECT90,
March 1998.
[6] Janssens, N., Even, A., Denoel, H., Monfils, P.A., Determination of the
Risk of Ferroresonance in High Voltage Networks. Experimental
Verification on a 245 kV Voltage Transformer, Sixth International
Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, New Orleans, LA, USA, Aug.
28-Sept. 1, 1989.
[7] Jacobson, D.A.N., Swatek, D., Mazur, R., Mitigating Potential
Ferroresonance in a 230 kV Converter Station, IEEE T&D Conference,
Los Angeles, Sept. 1996.
[8] Graovac, M., Iravani, R., Wang, X., McTaggart, R.D., Fast
Ferroresonance Suppression of Coupling Capacitor Voltage Transformers,
IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 158-163, Jan. 2003.
[9] Janssens, N., Craenenbroeck, Th.V., Dommelen, D.V., Meulebroeke, F.V.
De, Direct Calculation of the Stability Domains of Three-Phase
Ferroresonance in Isolated Neutral Networks with Grounded-Neutral
Voltage Transformers, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 11, no. 3, pp.
1546-1553, July 1996.
[10] Walling, R.A., Barker, K.D., Compton, T.M., Zimmerman, L.E.,
Ferroresonant Overvoltages in Grounded Wye-Wye Padmount
Transformers with Low-Loss Silicon-Steel Cores, IEEE Trans. on Power
Delivery, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 1647-1660, July 1993.
[11] Swift, G.W., An Analytical Approach to Ferroresonance, IEEE Trans. on
PAS, vol. PAS-88, no. 1, pp. 42-46, Jan. 1969.
[5]

VI. BIOGRAPHIES

Robicons Research and Development Department in Pittsburgh, PA, where he

worked during the summers as an engineering assistant, beginning in 1998. In
2000, he earned a MS in Electric Power Engineering from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Prior to this, he earned his BSEE from Gannon
University in Erie, PA in 1999.
John J. Paserba earned his BSEE (87) from Gannon University, Erie, PA,
and his ME (88) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. Mr. Paserba
joined Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. in 1998 after working for over 10
years at General Electric. He is currently the Vice-Chair for the IEEE PES Power
System Dynamic Performance Committee.
Daniel J. Sullivan joined MEPPI in April of 2002. He earned a BSEET
degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1995, and is in the processing of
earning an MSEE degree from the University of Pittsburgh. At MEPPI, Mr.
Sullivan performs engineering studies associated with FACTS applications and
EMTP studies associated with GIS equipment installations. He is a licensed
Professional Engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.
Phil Bolin graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a
Masters Degree ('68) and Bachelors Degree ('66). He currently is the General
Manager of the Substations Division with Mitsubishi Electric Power Products,
Inc, in Warrendale, PA. Prior to joining MEPPI, he was with ABB,
Westinghouse Electric, High Voltage Power Corporation, and Ion Physics
Corporation.
Ray Whiteside earned his BSEE from the University of Pittsburgh in
Pittsburgh, PA. Mr. Whiteside joined MEPPI in 2001 after working for
Westinghouse and ABB as a transmission and distribution engineer and is a
licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.

Donald J. Shoup joined Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. (MEPPI),

Warrendale, PA in July 2000. Prior to joining MEPPI, Mr. Shoup was with

Table 4
Simulation Results for the Ferroresonance Analysis
With Ferroresonance Damper(1)

No Ferroresonance Damper

(1)
(2)

Case No.
(for ref.)

C1
(equivalent
total grading
capacitance)
(pF)

Equivalent Total Grading

Capacitance in pF and Number
of Circuit Breakers In Circuit
Listed in Parenthesis
(break-down of C1)

GIS
Connectivity

Resulting Voltage
on Floating Section
(500 kV-side)
(kV rms)

Frequency
(Hz)

Resulting 60 Hz Voltage
on Floating Section
(500 kV-side)
(kV rms)

Resulting Voltage
on VT Secondary
(115 V-side)
(V rms)

Case 2

250

250 (1)

1 bay in-circuit

45(1)

20.5

8.2

Case 2a

500

250 (2)

2 bays in-circuit

135(2)

12

32

12.8

Case 1

700

700 (1)

Only new
CB/bus in-circuit

70.7(1)

40

16.0

Case 3

1200

700 (1)
250 (2)

2 bays and new

CB/bus in-circuit

276.5(2)

20

60

24.0

Case 4

1950

700 (1)
250 (5)

5 bays and new

CB/bus in-circuit

313(2)

20

82.7

33.1

Decaying voltage oscillations where simulated voltages were recorded at a time of approximately 2 seconds after breaker opening.
Sustained, undamped or very lightly damped voltage oscillations.
3ND_PK3B>VTLOWS(Type 1)

1.5

3D_PK3B>VTLOWS(Type 1)

1.5

3ND_PK3B>VTLOWS(Type 1)

1.5

Zoom of First 300 ms

1.0

1.0

1.0

V
o
lta
g
e(Vp
u
)

0.5

0.5

0.0

0.5

-0.5

-1.0

-1.5

0.0

50

100

150
Time (ms)

200

Electrotek Concepts

250

300
TOP, The Output Processor

Volt a ge (V pu)

V
o
lta
g
e(Vp
u
)

Frequency =20 Hz

0.0

-0.5

-0.5

-1.0

-1.0

-1.5

-1.5
0

Electrotek Concepts

500

1000

1500
Time (ms)

2000

2500

3000
TOP, The Output Processor

Figure 3. Example of ferroresonance voltage on floating

bus section at high-side of voltage transformer for case with
no damping device (P.U. Base = 550 x 2 / 3 = 449073 V).

0
Electrotek Concepts

500

1000

1500
Time (ms)

2000

2500

3000
TOP, The Output Processor

Figure 4. Example of voltage on floating bus section at

high-side of voltage transformer for case with damping
device (P.U. Base = 550 x 2 / 3 = 449073 V).