SURVIVING VOLTAGE TRANSIENTS

Dealing with Power Factor Correction Capacitor Switching and AC

Drives
Overview

There are two significant concerns regarding the existence of power factor correction
capacitors being located on the input of an AC Drive. One concern is the additional current
loading that may exist in the capacitor. The other concern occurs when capacitor switching is
used to adjust any variations in the power factor of the motor load.

Power Factor Correction Capacitor Current

It has been stated that power factor correction capacitors and AC drives are not good
partners. The reason for this is that the current flowing through power factor capacitors,
when connected directly to the ac motor, is reactive and is controlled by the reactive nature
of the motor. The capacitors are sized for kVAR or the rated power factor of the motor.

When capacitors are connected on the input of the AC drive, the power factor of the motor is
buffered or hidden from the ac line by the AC drive. Since capacitor current is no longer
controlled by the ac motor, the capacitor become a voltage source for the ac drive and its
load current becomes real not reactive. This results in a higher current demand on the
capacitor then would be experienced when the motor and capacitor were connected directly.

In some cases, where capacitors exist within an electrical distance of 250 ft or less to the
input of the AC drive, some additional heating of the capacitor can be expected. The degree
of heating will depend upon how much inductance exists between the capacitor and the AC
drive input. Inductance values exceeding 50 microhenries will aid in reducing the peak
current through the capacitor and reduce some of the heating.

The best solution is to move the capacitors beyond the 250 ft distance or as close to the
transformer source as possible. Adding additional reactance between the capacitors and AC
drive will also reduce capacitors heating. Since the input power factor of PWM AC drive is
near unity, the use of capacitors with AC drive controlled motors is not required. In cases
where fixed speed motors and AC drive controlled motors exist on the same distribution
system, care should be taken to insure sufficient electrical distance between any capacitors
and the input of the AC drive.
Power Factor Correction Capacitor Switching

All AC drive including PWM AC drive have an overvoltage withstand capability. Because the
power components within the AC drive have a voltage limit, that limit must be controlled to
insure reliability of the product. If no action were taken as the input voltage increases, even
for a moment, stress would occur within the product causing premature failure. All PWM AC
drive have this voltage limit. Any AC drive manufacturer that states their product is immune
from overvoltage conditions or does not interrupt operation when an over voltage transient
occurs is either uninformed or a fool and likely both.

For a typical 460 volt, AC drive, the voltage limit is approximately 800 volts DC. This voltage
is obtained by rectifying the ac line. The nominal rectified ac line is 650 VDC. For a 10% high
line, the value would increase to 712 VDC for a no load motor condition. The voltage limit of
800 VDC represents a 123 % increase in the input nominal ac line. By design, the AC drive will
monitor the instantaneous rectified or dc internal voltage and terminate drive operation any
time the dc voltage exceeds the limit. This insures drive reliability by removing stress from
power switching components like transistors and IGBTs.

All switching components have a safe operating area. The safe operating area is defined by
voltage, current and time, too much voltage or current for more than a few microseconds. To
operating outside the safe operating area results in shorter component life. Failure will occur
if any power switching component is operated outside the area. Failure may be instantaneous
or may take hours to occur. AC drive designs that do not interrupt operation when limits have
been exceeded will always result in premature failure. If the operation is not interrupted
when limits have been exceeded, then component stress will result.

When power factor capacitors are switched, voltage transients will occur. The larger the
amount of capacitance, the greater the transient. These voltage transients act just like a
voltage source. They will push current through the rectifier of an AC drive and cause the
internal DC bus voltage to increase. Usually, under full load operation of the ac motor, the
extra �energy� contained within the voltage transient will be absorbed by the motor load.
If the motor load is less than the rating of the AC drive, this �energy� will be absorbed by
the filter capacitor within the AC drive. If sufficient �energy � is contained within the
voltage transient, the DC bus will reach the over voltage limit causing the AC drive to
interrupt operation. To minimize the interruption of AC drive operation when AC drives are
used in conjunction with switching of power factor correction capacitors, additional
hardware is required.

With AC drives larger than 5 HP, it is normal practice to include within the AC drive a series
reactor to slow down the current pushed into the AC drive by the voltage transient. In AC
drives 5 HP or smaller, the use of an internal series reactor is not the practice. Market
pressures insist on smaller and more efficient packages. It is general practice to add external
ac line reactors when voltage transient conditions are expected. One method is to use the
same wire used to feed power to the input of small HP AC drives and create an air core
reactor by winding the feed wire into a coil, with a diameter of the width of a hand, about 75
turns and tie wrap the coils. This is done in each input phase. In many installations, these
�handmade coils� will provide sufficient inductance to slow the current and limit over
voltage shutdowns.

Because there is no single method to predict the amount of �energy� stored within the
voltage transient, the amount of inductance required will depend on 1) the amount of
capacitance being switched, 2) the motor load, and 3) the nominal supply voltage.

Summary

All AC drives have an over voltage limit. Reliable designs interrupt operation when voltage
transients are greater than the over voltage limit. Installations should minimize the
occurrence of voltage transients and add inductance between the voltage transient and the
input of the AC drive. The impact of power factor capacitors can be reduced by reducing the
amount of capacitance being switched at any given time. Switching capacitors in multiple
groups rather than one group will reduce the amplitude of the voltage transient. If the
�energy� contained within the voltage transient is larger than can be absorbed by a line
reactor, than the addition of a input transformer between the capacitor and AC drive will be
required.