Smoothing Reactor & Reactive power Control

off
HVDC System

By
B
y
Prof. Bhim Singh
Department of Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Hauz Khas, New Delhi
Delhi--110016, India
bsingh@ee.iitd.ac.in,,
bsingh@ee.iitd.ac.in

(+91)
+91)--11
11--2659
2659--1045

Smoothing Reactor
z

Smoothing reactor is connected before the DC filter and in

series with the converters

It smoothingg the DC current

IT also serves as a buffer between the converters and the DC

line
li

The Size of the reactor depends on various requirements

including the reduction of ripple in the current

Functions of Smoothing Reactor

z

They reduce the incidence of commutation failure in inverters

causedd by
b dips
di in
i the
h AC voltage
l
at the
h converter bus
b

They prevent consequent commutation failure in inverters by

reducing the rate of rise of direct current in the bridge when the
direct voltage of another series connected bridge collapses

They smooth the ripple in the direct current in order to prevent

the current becoming discontinuous at light loads

They decrease harmonics voltages and currents in the DC Line

Functions of Smoothing Reactor

z

They limit the crest current in the rectifier due to a short circuit
on the
h DC line
li

They limit the current in the valves during the converter by pass
pair operation, due to the discharge of shunt capacitance of the
DC line

The last three functions are not relevant for Back-Back HVDC
system

Inductor value for DC transmission lines - 0.27 H to 1.5 H

Inductor value for Back-to-Back system - 12 mH to 200 mH

Smoothing Reactor
z

Sizing of the reactor is done not only from the above

consideration

Also from the point of view of minimizing the effect of low order
harmonics resonance in the AC/DC system

It is necessaryy to avoid the series resonance of the DC system

y
at
fundamental frequency and also at the second harmonics

The inductor value must remain constant with variations in the

direct current

The smoothing reactor also helps to limit the fault current in the
DC line

Smoothing Reactor
z

It is also necessary to have to small reactor of the order of 5 to 10

mH on the line,
line to protect the converter station from the
consequences of lightning strokes to the line

The advantage of having the reactor at the ground side is that it

allows the converter ground faults to be cleared by converter
control

The insulation level of the reactor also is reduced for this location
of the reactor

Location of Smoothing Reactor

Equivalent Circuit for

calculating Ripple

Peak current as a function of Smoothing Reactor

Effect of Reactor on dc line current

Reactive
R ti Power
P
Control
C t l

Reactive Power Control

z

The converters in HVDC are line commutated, which implies

that the current initiation in the valve can only be delayed with
reference
f
t the
to
th zero crossing
i off the
th converter
t bus
b AC voltage
lt

This results in LAGGING power factor operation of the

converters

Requiring reactive power source connected at the convrter bus

for better voltage control

Reactive Power Control

z

The reactive power source that are used vary from switched
capacitors
p
to static VAR systems
y

The operation with weak AC system can be problematic due to

voltage instability and dynamic overvoltage

The ease of control of firing angles make it possible to operate

the converter as a static VAR compensator in addition to power
conversion

Variation of Qd with Pd

Control strategies
z

The region
g
of operation
p
of a converter bridge
g is bounded byy the
limits on the current and firing angle

The region is bounded by

z

Minimum characteristics

Mi i
Minimum
characteristics
h
i i

Constant rated DC current

Operating Region of Bridge om Pd-Qd

plane
l

Rectified and Inverter diagrams

Alternate Reactive power control

characteristics
h
i i
z

There is need to modifyy the reactive ppower characteristics of the

converter station either by
Choice of the reactive power sources
Adjusting the converter control characteristics

The alternate control strategies are

1. Constant Reactive power characteristics
1
2. Constant Leading power factor characteristics

Alternate Reactive power control

characteristics
h
i i

Variation Vd, Id with Pd &

For
constant
Reactive power

Variation Vd, Id with Pd &

For Leading
power factor

constant

Sources of Reactive Power

z

AC system
y

AC filters

Shunt Capacitors

Synchronous Condensers

Static VAR systems

Reactive Power Sources at Bus

Q Supplied by the AC System

1-Ph Thyristors controlled Reactor

Current Control in TCR

Lower order Harmonics Vs Conduction angle

Variation Fundamental & THD

Control System for TCR

FC (fixed capacitor) - TCR

Steady state characteristics of SVS

Thyristors Switched Capacitor

Loss Comparison of FC
FC--TCR & TSC/TCR