CIGRE-201 2019 CIGRE Canada Conference

Montréal, Québec, September 16-19, 2019

Mitigation of inrush and outrush currents in capacitor bank switching using dry
type air core reactors

M. Goulkhah D. Caverly M. Sharp

Trench Ltd, Canada Trench Ltd, Canada Trench Ltd, Canada

SUMMARY

Shunt capacitor banks are extensively used in power systems for power factor correction, voltage
control, power loss reduction, and power transmission capability improvement. Air core dry type
reactors are often connected in series with capacitor banks in order to limit harmonic currents within
the capacitors, and protect capacitor bank circuit breakers from high magnitude and rate of rise of the
transient currents found in back to back switching. Outrush reactors are also used to protect nearby
circuit breakers from the outrush current from capacitor banks if the nearby breaker closes into a fault.
Air core reactors in applications for shunt capacitor banks are often referred to as “capacitor reactor”,
“inrush/outrush reactor”, “transient limiting inductor (TLI)”, “damping reactor”, or “detuning
reactors’.
This paper provides guidance in the proper selection and sizing of inrush and outrush current limiting
reactors. The analytical calculations are compared with electromagnetic transient simulation results for
validation.

KEYWORDS

Air core dry type reactors, Shunt capacitor banks, Inrush current, Outrush current, Circuit breaker,
Capacitor reactors, Inrush current limiting reactors, Outrush current limiting reactors, Transient
limiting inductors, Damping reactor, Detuning reactor, Back to back switching.

monty.goulkhah@trench-group.com
 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Applications of shunt capacitor banks

Shunt connected capacitor banks are widely used in transmission and distribution systems for power
factor correction, voltage control, increasing the voltage stability, improving the power quality,
reducing the losses, and increasing the power transmission capability of the lines.

1.2. Technical challenges

1.2.1 Harmonic current absorption

A shunt capacitor connected to a grid provides a low impedance path for higher frequency harmonic
currents and thus draws harmonic currents with relatively high magnitudes which may cause
vibrations and dielectric and mechanical stresses to the capacitor [1]. Addition of a series inductance
increases the circuit’s impedance at higher frequencies and thus avoids absorption of these currents.

1.2.2 Resonance with system

Harmonic resonance occurs when the resonance frequency of the capacitor bank and the network’s
equivalent reactance at the connection point matches the frequency of an existing harmonic in the
system. The harmonic resonance can result in frequent tripping of capacitor banks and damage to
substation equipment [2]. A cost effective and highly efficient solution is to “detune” the capacitor
bank by deployment of a small series inductance to the capacitor bank.

1.2.3 Back to back switching inrush current

Capacitor banks are often connected to the bus through

circuit breakers not only for protection purposes but also for
frequent switching of the banks to control the bus voltage.
When a bank is switched on, the other banks that are already
energized will inject a current with high magnitude and
frequency known as “inrush current” (see Figure 1). High
di/dt of inrush current significantly increases the probability
of prestrikes in closing contacts of the circuit breaker [3, 4]. Figure 1. Back to back switching inrush
current through circuit breaker.
The resulting prestrikes can severely damage the breaker
contacts over time. The high di/dt value can also affect the instrumentation and control circuits, e.g.
current transformers. Inrush reactors are added to reduce di/dt and peak of the inrush current.

1.2.4 Outrush current

Outrush current can be defined as a high frequency, high

magnitude transient current generated by an energized
capacitor bank when a breaker in the neighborhood of the
bank closes on to a fault (see Figure 2). An example of this
situation is a reclosing breaker near a capacitor bank, with
an unsuccessful reclosing attempt [5]. Outrush reactors are Figure 2. Outrush current flowing
used to limit the outrush current. through a nearby circuit breaker, closing
on to a fault.
1.2.5 Mitigation method

Dry type air-core reactors are widely used as a reliable, cost effective, and maintenance free solution
to overcome the above technical issues in the application of shunt capacitor banks. This paper refers to
relevant standards and derives the formulae to calculate the required inductances. It also provides the
1
formulae to determine the current ratings of these reactors including continuous, thermal short circuit,
and mechanical peak currents. The accuracy of the formulae is verified by modeling the switching of
three shunt capacitor banks using the transient simulation program of PSCAD.

Figure 3. Examples of shunt capacitor discharge reactor installations.

2. SWITCHING DEVICE REQUIREMENTS BASED ON STANDARDS

Important note: IEC and IEEE committees are developing standards and guides which are constantly
updated. It is important to acquire the most recent relevant guidelines. Furthermore, due to continuous
technical advances in circuit breakers and circuit switchers, it is important to obtain the equipment
manufacturer advice on the transient current capabilities of the switching device. Generally, there are
three parameters mentioned in IEC [6] and IEEE [7] standards for circuit breakers current making.
These are magnitude (I), frequency (f), and their product (I×f: rate of rise of the transient current).

2.1 IEC 62271-100 [6]

This standard has the same requirement for all voltage class breakers: Inrush making current (I) ≤ 20
kA peak, and frequency of inrush current (f) ≤ 4.25 kHz [6]. IEC [6] does not specify any I×f
requirement. These requirements apply to both general purpose (C0) and definite purpose (C1/C2)
circuit breakers. IEC allows 130% tolerance on frequency of the inrush current for C1/C2 breakers.

2.2 IEEE C37.06 [7]

This standard has different requirements for C0 and C1/C2 breakers. In the case of C0 breakers, the
requirement is I×f < 2×107 and peak current smaller than the lesser of 50 kA or 1.41 times the rated
short circuit current. These values are not applicable for back to back switching (refer to section 7.4,
note (1) of [7]). For C1/C2 breakers, Table I applies. According to note (3) of section 7.4 in [7], the
maximum frequency only applies at maximum peak current. In other words, the frequency limit can be
safely violated providing the I×f requirement is met.

Table I. IEEE C37.06-2009 [7] C1/C2 switching device preferred ratings for capacitor inrush making current
Voltage class(kV) f (kHz) I (kA) I×f
15.5, 25.8, 38 4.2 20 8.4×107
48.3 6.8 20 13.6×107
72.5 3.4 25 8.5×107
123, 145 4.3 16 6.88×107
170, 245 4.3 20 8.6×107
362, 550, 800 4.3 25 10.75×107

3. SINGLE CAPACITOR BANK SWITCHING

3.2 Inrush current

The maximum current magnitude (Ipeak) and the frequency (f) of the inrush current through the circuit
breaker when closing the contacts can be simply found from (1) and (2) respectively.

2
 2 𝐶
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = √3 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 × √𝐿 (1)
𝑠𝑦𝑠
1
𝑓 = 2𝜋 (2)
√𝐿𝑠𝑦𝑠 𝐶
In most cases, the system impedance is large enough to limit “I”,
“f”, and “I×f” below the standard limits. Please note that the bus
and capacitor bank inductances are much smaller than that of the
system and therefore are ignored in the above calculations.
Figure 4. Switching a capacitor bank.
3.3 Outrush current
Lsys
The outrush current generated by the energized capacitor passes
through a nearby circuit breaker closing on to a fault. This VLL
current has magnitude and frequency as calculated below:
2 𝐶
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = √3 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 × √𝐿 (3) C
𝑐𝑎𝑝+𝑏𝑢𝑠
1
𝑓 = 2𝜋 (4)
√𝐿𝑐𝑎𝑝+𝑏𝑢𝑠 𝐶

Both magnitude and frequency of the outrush current mainly Figure 5. Outrush current from a
single capacitor bank.
depend on the stray inductances of the bus and the capacitor
bank. This collective inductance is typically very low and thus
the outrush current has high magnitude and frequency. To limit Lsys
the outrush current, a reactor is added to the bank as shown in
VLL
Figure 6. With the addition of the outrush reactor and ignoring
the small bus and capacitance stray inductances, “I”, “f”, and
“I×f” values can be calculated as below: Lout
2 𝐶
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = √3 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 × √𝐿 (5)
𝑜𝑢𝑡
C
1 2 1
𝑓= (6); 𝐼×𝑓 = √ × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 × (7)
2𝜋√𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐶 3 2𝜋𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡
Figure 6. Outrush current from a
The required outrush inductance to limit above parameters single capacitor bank with reactor.
below the standard limits is calculated in (11):
𝑉
 “I×f” requirement: 𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 6 𝜋𝐿𝐿𝐼×𝑓 (8)
√
,where “I×f” is found from section 2.2 for IEEE.
2
2 𝑉𝐿𝐿
 “I” requirement: 𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝐶 ( ) (9)
3 𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘
,where Ipeak is found from section 2.2 for IEEE or section 2.1 for IEC.
1
 “f” requirement: 𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 4𝜋2 𝑓2 𝐶 (10)
,where f is found from section 2.1 for IEC.
Required Lout=MAX {(8), (9)} for IEEE and Max {(9), (10)} for IEC (11)

3.4 Outrush reactor current ratings

The equipment specification provided to the manufacturer should include the outrush peak current and
frequency, the thermal short circuit current and duration, and the continuous current rating, in addition
to other technical parameters such as inductance, BIL, etc.

3.4.1 Continuous current rating

The rated capacitor bank current can be easily calculated as (12). This current is then multiplied by a
Factor determined by the standard to include harmonic distortion (FhI), capacitance tolerances (Ft), and
the system overvoltage (Fv), for both grounded and ungrounded bank configurations.
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 𝐼𝑐𝑎𝑝 = 2𝜋𝑓𝑠𝑦𝑠 𝐶𝑉𝑐𝑎𝑝,𝐿−𝑁 (12) 𝐼𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝐼𝑐𝑎𝑝 × 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 (13)
; where 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝐹𝑡 × 𝐹ℎ𝐼 × 𝐹𝑣

Table II. IEEE C57.16-2011 [8] defined factors for continuous current rating of shunt capacitor reactors.
Grounded bank Ungrounded bank
Ft 1.1 1.1
FhI 1.18 1.075
Fv 1.05 1.05
Factor 1.36 1.24

3.4.2 Short time current rating

Figure 7 shows two possible locations of a fault involving the

outrush reactor. In case of Fault 1, the only current passing
through the reactor is the high frequency discharge current
from the capacitor bank. The peak and frequency of this
current can be calculated from (5) and (6) respectively.
In case of Fault 2, the reactor will be in the path of the short
circuit from the system. The DC component, and thus the
peak current, of this short circuit current is maximum when
the fault occurs near voltage zero crossing instant.
The reactor should be rated for thermal short circuit as in (14), Figure 7. Fault scenarios affecting the
and the mechanical peak current of the maximum current of outrush reactor of a capacitor bank.
the two fault scenarios explained above as in (15).
𝑉𝐿𝐿
Short circuit thermal rating: 𝐼𝑆𝐶,𝑟𝑚𝑠 = √3×2𝜋𝑓 (14)
𝑠𝑦𝑠 (𝐿𝑠𝑦𝑠 +𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 )

2 𝐶
Mechanical peak current rating: 𝐼𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡,𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = max {√3 × √𝐿 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 , 2√2𝐼𝑆𝐶,𝑟𝑚𝑠 } (15)
𝑜𝑢𝑡

4. MULTIPLE CAPACITOR BANKS SWITCHING

As described in the introduction section, back to back switching of multiple capacitor banks will
generate a discharge current with high magnitude and frequency. Inrush reactors are added in series
with each bank to limit this inrush current. An outrush reactor is connected between the capacitor
banks bus and the main bus to limit the outrush current during a close-on-to-fault event.

4.1 Back to back switching inrush current

Assume “n+1” identical capacitor banks, where “n” banks

are already energized and the “n+1”th bank is to be switched
on, as shown in Figure 8.
When the bank “n+1” is connected at peak of the voltage, the
magnitude and frequency of the inrush current from “n”
banks can be found from (16) and (17), respectively.

2 𝑛 𝐶
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = √3 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 × 𝑛+1 × √𝐿 (16)
𝑐𝑎𝑝 Figure 8. Back to back switching of
1 capacitor banks
𝑓= 2𝜋√𝐿𝑐𝑎𝑝 𝐶
(17)
, where Lcap is the internal stray inductance of each capacitor bank. Typically, both magnitude and
frequency of the inrush current caused by back to back switching are very high compared to
permissible values in the standards. Figure 9 shows the addition of an inrush reactor to each capacitor

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bank to limit the inrush current magnitude and frequency (and therefore I×f). With the addition of the
inrush reactors, the inrush current magnitude, frequency, and “I×f” can be rewritten as in (18-20).
2 𝑛 𝐶 1
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = √3 × 𝑛+1 × √𝐿 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 (18) 𝑓= (19)
𝑖𝑛 2𝜋√𝐿𝑖𝑛 𝐶
2 𝑛 1
𝐼 × 𝑓 = √3 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 × 𝑛+1 × 2𝜋𝐿 (20)
𝑖𝑛
The required inrush inductance for each standard criterion can be
calculated as follows.
𝑛 𝑉𝐿𝐿
 I×f requirement: 𝐿𝑖𝑛 = 𝑛+1 × (21)
√6𝜋𝐼×𝑓
,where I×f can be found from Table I for IEEE.
2
2 𝑉𝐿𝐿 𝑛 2
 Ipeak requirement: 𝐿𝑖𝑛 = 𝐶 ( ) ( ) (22)
3 𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑛+1
,where Ipeak can be found from Table I for IEEE or section
2.1 for IEC.
1 Figure 9. Application of inrush
 f requirement: 𝐿𝑖𝑛 = 4𝜋2 𝑓2 𝐶 (23) reactors to multiple capacitor banks.
,where f can be found from section 2.1 for IEC.

Required Lin=MAX {(21), (22)} for IEEE and MAX {(22, 23)} for IEC (24)

4.2 Outrush current

Figure 10 shows a nearby breaker closing on to a fault, where

inrush reactors are connected in series with each capacitor bank.
Typically, the outrush current generated by multiple capacitor
banks have high magnitude and frequency:
2 𝐶
𝐼𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = √3 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 × (𝑛 + 1) × √𝐿 (25)
𝑖𝑛
1
𝑓= (26)
2𝜋√𝐿𝑖𝑛 𝐶
An outrush reactor is added between the capacitor banks and the Figure 10. Outrush current in
multiple capacitor banks.
bus to limit the outrush current as shown in Figure 11. Below
equations can be derived:
2 𝐶
𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ = √3 × (𝑛 + 1) × √(𝑛+1)𝐿 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 (27)
𝑜𝑢𝑡 +𝐿𝑖𝑛
1
𝑓= (28)
2𝜋√(𝐿𝑖𝑛 +(𝑛+1)𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 )𝐶
2 𝑛+1
𝐼 × 𝑓 = √ × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 × (29)
3 2𝜋(𝐿𝑖𝑛 +(𝑛+1)𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 )

The required outrush inductance can be calculated from below

equations.
𝑉 𝐿𝑖𝑛
 I×f requirement: 𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 6 𝜋𝐿𝐿𝐼.𝑓 − 𝑛+1 (30)
√
,where I×f can be found from section 2.2, IEEE-C0 breakers.
2
2 𝑉𝐿𝐿 𝐿
 Ipeak requirement: 𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 3 𝐶(𝑛 + 1) (𝐼 𝑖𝑛
) − 𝑛+1 (31)
𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘
,where Ipeak can be found from section 2.1 (IEC) or 2.2
(IEEE) for C0 breakers. Figure 11. Addition of outrush
1 𝐿𝑖𝑛 reactor to multiple capacitor banks
 f requirement: 𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 = (𝑛+1)4𝜋2 𝑓2 𝐶 − 𝑛+1 (32)
,where f can be found from section 2.1 for IEC C0 breakers.

Required Lout=MAX {(30), (31)} for IEEE C0 or Max {(31), (32)} for IEC C0 beakers. (33)

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 4.3 Inrush reactor current rating
4.3.1 Continuous current rating

The continuous current rating of inrush reactors can be calculated using (12-13) and Factors in Table
II, where C is the rated capacitance of every individual capacitor branch in the bank.

4.3.2 Short time current rating

Figure 12 shows the worst case fault location for the inrush reactor.
If the fault occurs at peak voltage, the discharge current from the
capacitors will have maximum magnitude, and the DC component
of the short circuit current from the system will be zero. On the
other hand, if the fault occurs at zero voltage, there will be no
discharge current from the capacitors, but the short circuit current
from the system will have its maximum DC component as in (35).
Fault
Assuming the fault occurs near peak voltage, and the damping
factor of the high frequency circuit is relatively low, the peak
current can be calculated as the short circuit current peak with zero
DC value superimposed on the discharge current magnitude from
“n” capacitor banks as (34).
2 𝑛 𝐶
𝐼𝑖𝑛𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ,𝑓𝑙𝑡 ≅ {√3 × × √𝐿 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 } + {√2𝐼𝑠𝑐,𝑟𝑚𝑠 }, (34)
√𝑛+1 𝑖𝑛
𝑉𝐿𝐿 Figure 12. Worst case fault location
where 𝐼𝑠𝑐,𝑟𝑚𝑠 = (35) for inrush reactor.
√3×2𝜋𝑓𝑠𝑦𝑠 (𝐿𝑠𝑦𝑠 +𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 +𝐿𝑖𝑛 )
𝐼𝑓𝑙𝑡,𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 ≤ 2√2𝐼𝑠𝑐,𝑟𝑚𝑠 (36)

The rated mechanical peak current of the inrush reactor is the highest value of (34) and (36) as shown
in (37), and the thermal short circuit current rating of the inrush reactor is as given in (35).
𝐼𝐿𝑖𝑛 ,𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = 𝑚𝑎𝑥{𝐼𝑓𝑙𝑡,𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 , 𝐼𝑖𝑛𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ,𝑓𝑙𝑡 } (37)

4.4 Outrush reactor current rating

4.4.1 Continuous current rating

The continuous current rating of the capacitor bank is the product of the “Factor” from Table II and
the rated bank current as calculated from (38), where Vcap,L-N is the capacitor’s rated phase voltage.
𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑜𝑢𝑠,𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝐼𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘 × 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟, 𝐼𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘 = 2𝜋𝑓𝑠𝑦𝑠 (𝑛 + 1)𝐶𝑉𝑐𝑎𝑝,𝐿−𝑁 (38)

4.4.2 Short time current rating

There are two possible fault locations affecting the outrush reactor
as shown in Figure 13. At Fault 1, the only transient current
passing through the outrush reactor is the discharge current from
the capacitor. The magnitude of this current can be calculated
from (39). In case of Fault 2, the short circuit current from the
system passes through the reactor, which can be calculated from
(40). The highest of (39) and (40) is determined as the mechanical
peak current rating of the reactor, and the thermal short circuit
rating of the reactor can be calculated from (41).
2 𝐶
At Fault 1: 𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ = √3 × (𝑛 + 1) × √(𝑛+1)𝐿 × 𝑉𝐿𝐿 (39)
𝑜𝑢𝑡 +𝐿𝑖𝑛

At Fault 2: 𝐼𝑓𝑙𝑡,𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 ≤ 2√2𝐼𝑠𝑐,𝑟𝑚𝑠 (40)

𝑉𝐿𝐿
𝐼𝑠𝑐,𝑟𝑚𝑠 = (41)
√3×2𝜋𝑓𝑠𝑦𝑠 (𝐿𝑠𝑦𝑠 +𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 ) Figure 13. Possible fault locations
𝐼𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑡 ,𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = 𝑚𝑎𝑥{𝐼𝑓𝑙𝑡,𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 , 𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ } (42) affecting the outrush reactor.

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 5. EXAMPLE

Assume a 230 kV, 60 Hz system with equivalent inductance of 10 mH seen from the bus as shown in
Figure 14. Three capacitor banks of 52.8 MVar each (C=2.65 µF) are connected to the bus through
BRK1s (C1 circuit breakers rated at 245 kV, 2000 A, 40 kA); and there is a C0 BRK2 breaker near the
bus. Assuming the stray inductance of each capacitor bank is 27 µH, the inrush current from back to
back switching of the capacitors, and the outrush current through the close-on-to-fault BRK2 can be
calculated as in Table III, assuming a total stray inductance of 60 µH between the banks and BRK2.
From Table III, both inrush and outrush currents exceed the standard limits, and therefore inrush
reactors are needed to protect BRK1 and an outrush reactor is required to protect BRK2. Figure 15 (a)
shows the PSCAD simulation results for inrush and outrush currents of the system in Figure 14. The
simulation results yield current peaks and frequencies identical to calculated values given in Table III.

Table III. Inrush and outrush currents calculated for the example. 10 mH
BRK2
I×f (×107) Ipeak (kA) f (kHz) 230 kV
Inrush 78.6 41.8 18.8 BRK1

Outrush 46.2 68 6.8 C=2.65 μF C C

C0 BRK (IEEE) 2 50 N/A

C1 BRK (IEEE) 8.6 20 4.3
Figure 14. Three 230 kV, 52.8
MVar capacitor banks.

(a) (b)
Figure 15. PSCAD simulation results for inrush and outrush currents: (a) without inrush and outrush reactors, (b)
with addition of inrush and outrush reactors.
BRK2 Table IV. Inrush and outrush currents with the reactors in circuit.
10 mH I×f (×107) Ipeak (kA) f (kHz)
230 kV Inrush 8.6 13.8 6.22
Outrush 2 14.1 1.4
1.51 mH
C0 BRK (IEEE) 2 50 N/A
BRK1
C1 BRK (IEEE) 8.6 20 4.3

220 μH 220 μH 220 μH Table V. Inrush and outrush Reactors current ratings specification.
Reactor type Continuous Thermal Mechanical Discharge
C=2.65 μF C C
current short circuit peak current frequency
(A) (kA) rms (kA) (kHz)
Inrush 180 32 ≤901 6.22
Figure 16. Example system Outrush 540 32.6 ≤92 1.4
with addition of inrush and 1,2
The DC component and therefore the mechanical peak current from a short circuit depends
outrush reactors. on the circuit’s damping ratio. The values given in this table assume zero damping.
7
From (24), the required total inrush inductance is found to be Lin=247 µH. Therefore, the required
inductance of the inrush reactors in addition to the stray inductance of the capacitors is calculated to be
220 µH. From (33), the required inductance of the outrush reactor is found to be Lout=1.51 mH. Figure
16 shows the capacitor bank configuration with the addition of the inrush and outrush reactors. Table
IV provides the calculated inrush and outrush currents with the addition of the reactors, and Figure 15
(b) presents the PSCAD simulation results for the inrush and outrush currents with the addition of the
reactors. It can be found that the inrush and outrush reactors successfully limit the three parameters of
I, f, and I×f below the standard limits and the PSCAD simulation results agree with the calculated
quantities using the equations derived in this paper. Table V uses (12-13), (35), (37-38), and (41-42)
and provides the proper sample current ratings for the inrush and outrush reactors required by the
equipment manufacturer. It is important to note that inrush/outrush reactor design costs are often
controlled by short circuit ratings. When specifying short circuit current duration, fault clearing time
and maximum number of reclosing operations should be considered.

6. DISCUSSIONS

In this paper, the inrush reactors are added in series with every capacitor branch in multiple bank
configurations. Optionally, one of the capacitor branches needs not be equipped with an inrush reactor,
providing all other branches have one properly sized inrush reactor. Also, the inrush or outrush
reactors can optionally be installed at the neutral side of the capacitor banks. This method has its
advantages and disadvantages and should be chosen carefully. Also, in the application of series
reactors, circuit breaker TRV considerations should be taken into account. Refer to [8] for details.

7. CONCLUSIONS

High magnitude and frequency of inrush current caused by the back to back switching of capacitor
banks can cause damage to circuit breaker contacts, increase the probability prestrikes, and lead to
over-voltages in CTs secondary circuits. Outrush currents with high magnitudes and frequencies also
occur when a nearby breaker closes on to a fault, potentially causing damage to the breakers’ contacts
and also result in over-voltages in CTs secondary circuit. The paper derived and presented the
mathematical formulae to calculate the required inductance for both inrush and outrush reactors, as
well as the proper current rating specification for equipment manufacturers. The numerical
calculations were validated by the PSCAD simulation results for a case study.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Switching at a Power Distribution Substation Using a Fixed Capacitor Bank,” Reseach Journal
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