International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2163

Volume 1 Issue 4 (May 2014) http://ijirae.com

Simulation and Implementation of FC-TCR

Sumit K Rathor1(IEEE Member), Chintan Patel2, Mithila S Zodape3
Department of Electrical Engineering
G.H.Patel College of Engineering & Technology, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, India
rathorsumit2006@gmail.com1, chintanpatel@gcet.ac.in2, mithilazodape@gcet.ac.in3

Abstract- This paper deals with hardware implementation of fixed capacitor thyristor controlled reactor (FC-
TCR) system as well as simulation of FC-TCR in various environments using PsCAD/EMTDC and
Matlab/Simulink. The simulation results are presented in open loop and closed loop environment. Laboratory
model for FC-TCR is implemented using low cost microcontroller techniques and successfully tested on
transmission line model with various load conditions. The current drawn by SVC is varied by changing firing
angle. The experimental results are compared with simulation results.

Index Terms— FACTS, Static VAR Compensator (SVC), Power Electronics, PsCAD/EMTDC, Matlab/Simulink.

I. INTRODUCTION
There is a continuous rise in demand of electrical power. To meet this rise, the growth in generation is essential,
which is not always possible due to various limitations like environmental, financial, resources, land, etc. Expansion
of transmission network is always not easy. Due to these problems, the entire power system is operated at its highest
capacity which may generate problems of stability, voltage collapse and grid failure. To provide stable, secure and
quality power supply to end users and to utilize available transfer capacities in better way, Flexible AC transmission
systems (FACTS) controllers are used to enhance power system stability along with their main application of power
flow control [1].
The Power electronic based FACTS devices are employed to power systems to improve system performance.
FACTS are devices that can be used into power grids in series, shunt and both in shunt and series combination. With
FACTS devices, the following merits can be achieved in power systems:
- Enhanced power transfer capability
- Improved system stability and power quality
- Reduced environmental impact
- Reduced transmission losses
Following types of FACTS devices are used to enhance the performance of transmission system:
(A) Shunt Devices
i) Static Var Compensator (SVC)
ii) Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM)
(B) Series Devices
i) Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor (TCSC)
ii)Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC)

Two types of SVCs are used frequently.

(i) Fixed Capacitor-Thyristor Controlled Reactor (FC-TCR)
(ii) Thyristor Switched Capacitor-Thyristor Controlled Reactor (TSC-TCR)

II. STATIC VAR COMPENSATOR (SVC)

Static VAR systems are employed in transmission systems for number of applications. The primary function is
the fast control of voltage in a transmission network. The device may be installed at the midpoint of transmission
lines or at the ends. SVCs are shunt connected static generators / absorbers whose outputs can be changed to control
the voltage of the systems [2].
An SVC can improve the performance of transmission and distribution in a number of ways. Providing an SVC at
one or more locations in the network, can increase power transfer capability and minimize the losses and maintain a

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2163
Volume 1 Issue 4 (May 2014) http://ijirae.com

smooth voltage profile under different operating situations. The dynamic stability of the system can also be
improved, and active power oscillations mitigated. The use of SVC gives the following advantages:
- Voltage stability in the system
- Less transmission losses
- Enhanced transmission capacity, so more power can be transferred
- Higher transient stability limit
- Damping of small disturbances
- Reduced voltage fluctuations and light flicker
In its simplest form, SVC is used as Fixed Capacitor-Thyristor Controlled Reactor (FC-TCR) configuration as
shown in Fig. 1.
The TCR branch provides continuously controllable reactive power only in the lagging power-factor region. To
extend the controllable range to the leading power-factor region, a fixed-capacitor bank is connected in shunt with
the TCR. The TCR MVAr is rated larger than the fixed capacitor to compensate the capacitive MVAr and provide
net inductive-reactive power should a lagging power-factor operation be desired [3].

Fig.1: Configuration of FC-TCR

The fixed-capacitor banks, generally connected in a star configuration, are split into 3-phase group. Each
capacitor consists of a small tuning inductor which is connected in series and tunes the branch to work as a filter for
a specific harmonic order [4].

III. SIMULATION OF FC-TCR

For simulating SVC and to observe the effectiveness of SVC system chosen for study is shown in Fig. 2. The source
is connected by transmission line with fixed capacitor in parallel with thyristor controlled reactor (TCR) branch
with parallel load-1 and load-2. Load-1 is fixed while load-2 is operated by breaker after specified time duration to
affect the system voltage and reactive power requirement. Normally loads are RL in nature so here parallel RL load
is considered[5].

Fig. 2: System Considered for Simulation

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2163
Volume 1 Issue 4 (May 2014) http://ijirae.com

To implement FC-TCR in system first and foremost thing is the sizing of capacitor and inductor. If breaker is open
there is no need to put SVC in operatiion. Inital firing angle α must be such that under condition that SVC does not
exchange any power with AC system. To illustrate SVC's ability for providing voltage regulation at the point of
connection control scheme has been implemented in closed loop as well in open loop environment in two different
software simulations PsCAD/EMTDC and Matlab/Simulink[6]. SVC voltage and current waveforms for different
firing angles are shown in figure 3.

Fig. 3 SVC Voltage and Current at α = 100o

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2163
Volume 1 Issue 4 (May 2014) http://ijirae.com

Fig. 4 SVC Voltage and Current at α = 115o

Fig. 5 SVC Voltage and Current at α = 140o

Fig. 6 shows PsCAD/EMTDC results for load change at 0.3second for the duration of 0.15second again break opens
the load at 0.45 seconds.
Vrms(pu)
Vrms(pu)
1.20

1.00

0.80
Vrms(pu)

0.60

0.40

0.20

0.00
time 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60

Fig. 6: Open loop voltage at load point in pu

Incase XC and XL cancel out each other, in that case SVC reactance is infinite and there is no current leaving or
entering the SVC so power exchange between SVC and the source or load system is zero.
TCR equivalent reactance is given by[4]

and

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2163
Volume 1 Issue 4 (May 2014) http://ijirae.com
voltage at load point VL
VLoad
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0

Load Voltage
0.0
-5.0
-10.0
-15.0
-20.0
time 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60

Fig. 7: Open Loop Load Voltage in kV

where XL is the reactance of the linear inductor and σ & α are the thyrisotr conduction and firing angles respectively
At α =90o TCR conducts fully and the equivalent reactance XTCR becomes XL. At α =180o TCR blocked and its
equivalent reactance becomes extremely large i.e infinite[5].
Total SVC reactance including capacitor branch is given by

And as function of conduction angle σ

And as a function of firing angle α

So we can say that effective reactance of SVC branch is function of firing angle α.
In closed loop scheme amplitude of bus voltage is measured and converted to pu system and filtered. then it is
compared against voltage reference[9]. difference of two voltage reading is processed by PI controller which causes
a corresponding change in firing anlge α. the value provided by PI controller is used as input to TCR firing angle
control unit.

Fig 8: Close loop control scheme

V(pu)
Vpu
1.20

1.00

0.80

0.60
Vpu

0.40

0.20

0.00
time 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60

Fig. 9: Close loop voltage at load point in pu

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2163
Volume 1 Issue 4 (May 2014) http://ijirae.com

Vload
VL
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
V(actual) kV
0.0
-5.0
-10.0
-15.0
-20.0
time (... 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60

Fig. 10: Close loop voltage at load point in kV

IV. HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION

Here the hardware setup is done on medium transmission line model and under variable RL load condition firing
angle is set to change the requirement of reactive power injection into the system. The firing angle is generated
using microcontroller 89C51 (8051). The pulses are generated based on Zero crossing detector circuit input of ZCD
is given to controller based on ZCD output microcontroller generates pulses and that is given to antiparallel
connected thyristor with isolation using coupler ICs. In actual single pulse is generated that is inverted and given to
second thyristor of same leg with assurance of avoiding short circuit of the thyristor pair leg.

Fig. 11: Controlling scheme for TCR branch

Fig.12: Hardware implementation of TCR

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2163
Volume 1 Issue 4 (May 2014) http://ijirae.com

Experimental setup of the hardware is shown in Fig. 12, is very similar to system that is simulated in Matlab and
PsCAD. Load in laboratory setup is chosen as RL load and value of Fixed Capacitor is 125 µf and inductor of
100mH. Sending end voltage is set to 110Volt and receiving end voltage is measured for various load condition.

Fig. 13: Comparison of rectifier output with ZCD pulses

After implementing hardware circuit with full wave bridge rectifier and zero crossing detector using dual
operational amplifier output signals are obtained as shown in figure 13 at each zero crossing pulses are generated
from operational amplifier the same pulses are given to microcontroller unit and then processed for delay
operation for firing of thyristor.
V. RESULTS
o
With alpha α =126 pulse and waveform is shown in figure 17. Ultimately with increase in firing angle current
decreases. So the system reactive power can be varied by varying the firing angle α. Readings are taken for various
load condition tabulated in table1 and table2 withour SVC and with SVC(variable firing angle α). Table 3 shows
variation of SVC current with variable anlge α.

TABLE I. BUS VOLTAGE V ARIATION WITHOUT SVC

Bus Voltage Variation Without SVC

Sr. No Sending Current- Power- Power- Current- Receiving
voltage Sending Sending Receiving Receiving Voltage
Vs (v) Is(amp) Ws (Watt) Wr (Watt) Ir (Amp) Vr (V)
1 110 0.3 39 38 0.3 106
2 110 0.42 42 41 0.42 104.7
3 110 0.61 53 52 0.61 102

TABLE II. BUS VOLTAGE VARIATION WITH SVC

Bus Voltage Variation With SVC

Sr No Sending end Current Sending end Power Current Receiving Firing angle
Volt Vs Is (amp) Power Ws Wr Ir end Voltage in degree
(watt) (Watt) (Amp) Vr
1 110 0.6 41 39.5 0.27 116 100o
2 110 0.63 50 48 0.39 114 115o
3 110 0.71 53 52 0.51 110 140o

TABLE III. FIRING ANGLE AND TCR CURRENT

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2163
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Sr. Sending
No end Alpha(α
Itcr
Voltage Degree)
(volt)
1 110 100o 0.9
o
2 110 115 0.3
o
3 110 140 0.3

Fig.14: Firing pulses at 100o comparison with ZCD signal

Results are obtained for open loop control of TCR branch by firing pulses generated from microcontroller for
various delay angles and result is tabulated in table I, II, and III. Waveform obtained for firing angle at 100, 115 and
140 are shown in figure 14, 15 and 16.

Fig. 15: Firing pulses at 115o comparison with ZCD signal

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2163
Volume 1 Issue 4 (May 2014) http://ijirae.com

Fig. 16: Firing pulses at 140o comparison with ZCD signal

Fig. 17: Firing pulse for α=140˚

VI. CONCLUSION
From the simulation results for FC-TCR using Matlab-Simulink and PsCAD it is found that suggested scheme can
effectively use to control voltage and reactive power profile. Simulation results are verified using hardware
implementation and it is found that FC-TCR is effective compensation technique compare to mechanical operated or
other dynamic power flow controllers. Also it is observed that in closed loop system the performance of system
improved as well response time of system is very fast.

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 International Journal of Innovative Research in Advanced Engineering (IJIRAE) ISSN: 2349-2163
Volume 1 Issue 4 (May 2014) http://ijirae.com

Fig. 18: Real power v/s receiving end voltage

REFERENCES
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[12] H. Schweickarat and G. Romegialli, Badenm "The static VAR Source in EHV Transmission Systems and its control ", Brown Boveri
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