Article

Analysis and Mitigation onSwitching Transients of

Medium-Voltage Low-HarmonicFilter Banks
Joon-Ho Kim 1,2 and Jin-O Kim 1,*
1 Department of Electrical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea; comebackjh@hanyang.ac.kr
2 Hyundai Electric and Energy Systems,Gyeonggi-do 16891, Korea
* Correspondence: jokim@hanyang.ac.kr

Received: 6 April 2020; Accepted: 24 April 2020; Published: 1 May 2020

Abstract: This paper presents the switching transients of medium-voltage low-harmonic filter
banks, which have alower back-to-back inrush current and higher transient recovery voltage (TRV)
compared withcapacitor banks. The switching transients of the filter banks aredescribed by the
analytical approach and field measurementsfor 150 MVA back-to-back filter banksare provided to
support the switching phenomena described in this paper.As a mitigation measure of the high
transient recovery voltage, a double-breaker type switchgearisanalyzed in terms of the operating
sequence and the time of the upper and lower breakers. From the analyses, an operation scheme
forthe double-breaker switchgear is proposed toavoid insulation failure of the breaker during the
interruption by mitigating the transient recovery voltage across each breaker.

Keywords:back-to-back inrush current; capacitor switching; harmonic filter banks; switching

transients; transient recovery voltage

1. Introduction
Filter banksare applied to mitigate harmonics in power systems by providing a low-impedance
path for a certain harmonic frequency [1,2]. Depending on theapplication and voltage level, there are
several types of filter banks, as shown in Figure 1, namely, damping filters for high-voltage direct
current (HVDC) systems, detuned filters for low voltage systems,and single-tuned filters for low-
and medium–voltage systems[3–5]. A single-tuned filter is the most common filter in industrial
applications. It consists of resistance, inductance, and capacitance in series to bypass a certain
harmonic to which it is tuned.The configuration and passive components of de-tuned filters are the
same asthose of single filters. De-tuned filters are used for power factor correction. Theyalso
mitigate any harmonics a little bit, andarenormally tuned between 4.0 and 4.4.C-type filters have
become the most widespread filters among the four types of damped filters, namely: first-order,
second-order, third-order, and C-type filters. A C-type filter includes a resistor in parallel to the
inductor thatproduces a damping characteristic at frequencies above the tuning frequency.

CM

L Ld De-tuning
C reactor
R
L
C C

Sinlge-tuned C-type Detuned

filter filter filter

Figure 1.The most widespread passive filter banks in power utilities.

Energies 2020, 13, 2187; doi:10.3390/en13092187 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies

Energies 2020, 13, 2187 2 of 15

In Korean power grids, one of the representative harmonic loads is an electric arc furnace (EAF)
of medium voltage. This load generates lots of power quality issues and has to be integrated into the
grid with harmonic filter banks in order to meet the grid code[6–11].One waywidely used for EAFsis
to install multiple low-harmonic single-tuned filters forthe mitigation of multiple harmonic orders
(Figure 2). The EAF system shown in Figure 2 consists of an EAF for steel melting; a
thyristor-controlled reactor (TCR) for voltage rise prevention caused by large capacitive filter
banks;and four harmonic filters for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th harmonics mitigation.

Figure 2. Configuration of an electric arc furnace with four single-tuned filter banks.

Capacitor banks, which are normally used for reactive power compensation, are composed of
series and parallel capacitor units. In addition, inductors, often called current limiting reactors, are
placed between the main bus and the capacitor banks to mitigate transient inrush currents during
the energization, and outrush currentsfor a short-circuit near to the capacitor banks.The equivalent
circuits of the capacitor banks are, therefore,the combination of the inductance and capacitance in
series, similar to the single-tuned and de-tuned filters in Figure 1.
A high magnitude and frequency inrush current and voltage occur during back-to-back
switching in capacitor banks. Numerous studies have been conducted on how to reduce these
switching transient currents and voltages, which can affect equipment damage, system reliability,
and power quality[12–25]. The authors of [12] presentthe considerations that must be given to the
phenomenon of the increased transient currents that accompany back-to-back capacitor switching
operations and provide references based on industry standards and experiences. The authors of [14]
propose installinga surge capacitor across the reactor as well asa standard surge protection package,
which can be applied to the existing installations to solve these issues.
While the configuration of both banks is similar, the switching transients between them are
completely different because of the different ranges of the inductance value. For capacitor banks, the
value of the current limiting reactors istypically several hundred microhenries. On the other hand,
harmonic filter banks normally include a higher inductance than capacitor banks, and the
inductance value is determined by the system voltage, power frequency, effective reactive power,
and tuning harmonic order [26]. Low harmonic filter banks normally include a higher inductance
than capacitor banks, which is about several tens of millihenries, especially at a medium voltage
[26]. Asthese characteristics affect transient phenomena, the capacitor bank and the harmonic filter
bank must be distinguished and analyzed.
Ascapacitor banks and filter banks have different characteristics, it should be applied after
analyzing the transient study according to each international standard. The standards have not yet
been set for the harmonic filter bank, causing problems in designing the back-to-back filter bank.
This paper presents the differencebetween the transient phenomena, which are inrush current,
transient voltage, and transient recovery voltage in the back-to-back switching of the capacitor
banks and the harmonic filter banks. To address these problems, an appropriate breaker
considering the inrush current and transient voltages due to the back-to-back harmonic filter bank
Energies 2020, 13, 2187 3 of 15

need tobe selected and operated. This paper proposes equations to calculate the inrush current,
inrush frequency, and transient recovery voltage for the back-to-back switching of harmonic filter
banks. Moreover, the mitigation method and operating sequence are presented by an
Electromagnetic Transients Program (EMTP) simulation. Transient phenomena, due to the
back-to-back switching of capacitor banks and harmonic filter banks,are investigated by field
measurements and EMTP simulation. In addition, the proposed mitigation methods are
demonstrated through EMTP simulation in a case study.

2. Switching of Filter Banks

The switching of filter banks produces transient voltages and currents. Such phenomena have
different characteristics compared withnormal capacitor banks,because of thedifferent parameters
and/or circuit configurations. Thus, in this section, the peculiarity of single- and de-tuned filter bank
switching is discussed with regards to the transient phenomenaoccurring during energization and
de-energization, i.e., transient voltage and inrush current during single and back-to-back filter bank
energization, recovery voltage after the current interruption, restrike overvoltage in the recovery
phase, and outrush current for the short circuit near to the banks. In this paper, low harmonic filter
banks are considered,especially atmedium-voltage. So, it is assumed that the value of the current
limiting reactors for the capacitor banks isseveral hundred microhenries and the value of the
current limiting reactors for the filter banks is tens of millihenries.

2.1. Energization of Single Filter Bank

The equivalent circuit of a single bank is a seriesRLC circuit,as shown Figure 3. It consists of a
source, source impedances (RS and LS), and filter impedances (L1 and C1).

Rs Ls VBUS

CB

Vmcosω t
L1

C1

Figure 3.Equivalent circuit for single filter bank energization.

This R–L–C circuit can be written with the single nodal equation. By solving the nodal equation,
the natural response for the underdamped condition (inrush current) is as follows:

𝐶 1
𝑖 𝑡 = 𝑉 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡 (1)
𝐿 𝐿 𝐶

where L = L + L ,assuming R = 0.
The peak and frequency of the inrush current for a single filter bank are the same asthose in the
literature [27]:

𝐶
𝑖 = 𝑉 (2)
𝐿

and
1
𝑓 = (3)
2𝜋 𝐿 𝐶
Energies 2020, 13, 2187 4 of 15

Compared to a capacitor bank, the inrush current and its frequency, associated with single filter
bank energization, are greatly reduced by the series tuning reactor. Moreover, the transient
overvoltage during energization is also reduced with the reduced inrush current. In other words,
neglecting the effects of pre-ignitions, the switchgear may not bestressed with additional
over-voltages and inrush currents compared withtheregular energizing of a capacitor bank.

2.2. Energization of Back-To-Back Filter Bank

Multiple single-tuned filters are normally employed as a group in order to mitigate multiple
harmonic orders.Therefore, multiple single-tuned filters are considered to describe the
characteristics of back-to-back filter bank energization.
Asthe energization of these multiple filters at the same time can result in significant transient
overvoltages for low-order harmonic filters, the multiple filters are switched individually[28],
known as back-to-back switching conditions [28].Back-to-back capacitor bank switching occurs
when switching C1 with C2for being in service, or vice versa [27]. As shown in Figure 4,the
energization of back-to-back filter banksshould be started with the filter withthe lowest harmonic
order, and they should be de-energized from the filter withthe highest harmonic filter to the filter
withthe lowest harmonic filter in order to avoid undesired parallel resonance [28].

Figure 4. Switching sequence of multiple single-tuned harmonic filters.

The inrush current includes two natural components;one between the bank being energized (C2
bank in Figure 5) and the bank already energized (C1 bank in Figure 5), and the other between the
source impedance and the bank being energized.If the source inductance, L , is much greater than
the tuning or current limiting reactors (L ≫ L andL ), the inrush current is mainly the resonant
current between two banks, and it is expressed as follows:

𝐶 1
𝑖 𝑡 = 𝑉 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡 (4)
𝐿 𝐶 𝐿

where
𝐶𝐶
𝐶 = (5)
𝐶 + 𝐶
and
𝐿 = 𝐿 + 𝐿 (6)
The peak and frequency of the inrush current for two banks in parallel, which are the same as
those in the literature [28], can be written as follows:

𝐶
𝑖 =𝑉 (7)
𝐿

and
1
𝑓 = (8)
2𝜋 𝐶 𝐿
Energies 2020, 13, 2187 5 of 15

Rs Ls
VBUS

CB 1 CB 2

Vmcosω t L1 L2

C1 C2

Figure 5. Circuits for back-to-back filter banksenergization.

In the case of capacitor banks, the current limiting reactor is sized with relatively small values
(approximately several hundred microhenries). Therefore, the resonant current between two banks
is dominantly considered, and the above equations are typically used for a capacitor bank
application.
On the other hand, if the source inductance, L , is much less than the tuning or current limiting
reactors (L ≪ L andL ), the inrush current is mainly the resonant current between the source
impedance and the filter bank being energized. It is the same condition forthe single bank
energization, and its equation is as follows:

𝐶 1
𝑖 𝑡 =𝑉 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑡 (9)
𝐿 +𝐿 𝐶 𝐿 +𝐿

From the above equation, the peak and frequency of the inrush current for two back-to-back
banks are the following:

𝐶
𝑖 =𝑉 (10)
𝐿 +𝐿

and
1
𝑓 = (11)
2𝜋 𝐶 𝐿 + 𝐿

Because of the high tuning reactors of filter banks, the energization of back-to-back filter banks
is similar to single bank energization,and the inrush current and its frequency can be calculated by
the above equations. Moreover, the transient overvoltage of the back-to-back filter bank energization
is also much smaller than that of the back-to-back capacitor bank energization, because the transient
overvoltage is associated with the back-to-back inrush current.Table 1 shows the inrush current and
transient voltage between back-to-back capacitor banks and back-to back filter banks.
Thus, it could be summarized that the back-to-back energization of filter banks has a lower
back-to-back inrush current magnitude and frequency, as well as lower overvoltage, compared
withthose of capacitor banks.
Energies 2020, 13, 2187 6 of 15

Table 1. Comparing the inrush current and transient voltage between back-to-back capacitor banks
and back-to back filter banks.

Contents Back-To-Back Capacitor Banks Back-To-Back Filter Banks

𝐶 𝐶
Peak 𝑖 =𝑉 𝑖 =𝑉
𝐿 𝐿 +𝐿
1 1
Inrush Frequency 𝑓 = 𝑓 =
current 2𝜋 𝐶 𝐿 2𝜋 𝐶 𝐿 + 𝐿
High inrush current and its Low inrush current and its
Remarks frequency supplied by other frequency supplied by the
feeders already energized source
Peak High Low
Transient
Dominant
voltage Several frequencies Power frequency
frequency

2.3. De-Energization of Back-To-Back Filter Bank

Breaking the current of a capacitor bank or a filter bank is like a capacitive switching duty,
which is explained first. Afterwards, the differences are pointed out. In the following, a single-phase
breaking operation is explained inthe circuit diagram given in Figure 6, and the corresponding
current/voltagecharacteristics are also shown in Figure 6. The grid is represented by an AC voltage
source,Us, an inductance LS, and a capacitance Cs,whereas the load is a simple capacitor, Cl. When
the circuit-breaker (CB) opens at time t0, an arc ignites. Because of the arc characteristics, the
current,ib, is chopped at t1, prior to the natural current of zero. At this moment, the system voltage,
Us, is nearly at its maximum, because of the capacitive phase angle. In addition, the voltage across
the capacitors is higher than the actual source voltage, because of the inductance. This leads to a
1-cos -shaped recovery voltage Uvac across the switch with a source side and load side component.
The source side transients are caused by oscillations between elements Cs and Ls, which disappear
within severalmilliseconds. At the load side, the capacitor stays charged because no discharge path
is available.

Figure 6. Circuit diagram for single phase filter current interruption.

For a filter bank, thetrapped voltage at Cl (Ul) canbe calculated as follows:

𝑍
𝑢 = 𝑢 (12)
𝑍 +𝑍

Thisimplies that the trapped capacitor voltage is higher compared withthat of a pure capacitor
load. In particular, lower harmonic filter banks show a higher trapped voltage,as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Trapped capacitor voltage for filter banks.

Filter Harmonic Order

Parameters Unit
Second Third Fourth Fifth
System frequency Hz 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0
Inductance mH 56.2 17.6 17.0 9.6
Capacitance μF 50.0 70.0 40.0 50.0
Trapped capacitor voltage (VC) pu 1.38 1.14 1.07 1.05
Energies 2020, 13, 2187 7 of 15

For medium-voltage applications, filter banks are commonly connected to an ungrounded star
connectionto block the flow of the 3rd harmonic current into the system through the grounded
neutral. On the other hand, a grounded star connection with the tuning reactor located on the
neutral side may be used for high-voltage applications [28]. A delta-connection is only used fora low
voltage (e.g., 2400 V) [29], and therefore, this connection was not considered.
The equivalent circuit for the ungrounded filter banks can be drawn as shown in Figure 7. In
Figure 7, the ungrounded filter bank is represented by capacitors,Cf, combined with
inductors,Lf;while Ceq is the capacitance between the circuit breaker (mostly cable capacitance) and
the filter bank; and Cn is the capacitance to ground of the neutral.

Vsa Lf Cf
A A’
Lf Cf Cn
Vsb B B’
N
Vsc Lf Cf
C C’
Ceq Ceq Ceq

Figure 7. Equivalent circuit for the three-phase filter bank.

Under asteady-state condition, Cn is at the ground potential. When phase A is first interrupted,
it makes the three-phase system unbalanced and causes the rise of the potential of the neutral point
with half of the trapped capacitor voltage (VC). If the effect of the inductance is neglected, the
transient recovery voltage (TRV) in phase A is the following:
𝑉 = 𝑉 + 1.5𝑉 (13)
In the case of capacitor banks, the trapped capacitor voltage, VC, is almost the same as the
source voltage, VS. By assuming VC = VS, the TRV in phase A of the capacitor banks can reach 2.5 pu
(2.5 VS) [30]. As shown in Table 2, the trapped capacitor voltage, VC, is higher than the source
voltage, VS, for the filter banks. Therefore, filter banks experience higher TRV than capacitor banks.
For example, the TRVs of 2nd and 3rd harmonic filters in Table 2 can reachup to3.07pu and 2.71pu,
respectively.
Figure 8 shows the measured transient capacitor voltages during the interruption of the current
of a 2nd harmonic filter and the transient recovery voltage of phase A, which is interrupted first; 1
puis equivalent to the source voltage and transient recovery voltage when phase A is interrupted
first by EMTP simulation.

(a) (b)
Energies 2020, 13, 2187 8 of 15

90
[kV]
70

50

30

10

-10

-30

-50

-70
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 [s] 0.10

(c)

Figure 8. Transient voltages for three-phase filter interruption; (a) transient capacitor voltages during
the interruption of the 2nd harmonic filter (field measurement); (b) transient recovery voltage for
phase A interrupted first (field measurement) (c) transient recovery voltage for phase A interrupted
first (simulation).

Neglecting the pre-ignition, the oscillating capacitor voltage consists of the following two parts:
(1) before and (2) after the interruption of phases B and C. Before the interruption of phases B and C,
the transient overvoltage originatedfrom the unbalanced circuit configuration shown in Figure 8a,
and its frequency (f1) can be calculated with the fact that Cf>>Ceq and Cn:
1
𝑓 = (14)
2𝜋 1.5𝐿 𝐶

The equivalent of the circuit after the interruption is shown in Figure 8b, and its frequency (f2) is
as follows:
1
𝑓 = (15)
2𝜋 𝐿 𝐶

It is also observed in Figure 9a that after the interruption of phase A, the upcoming current
zero-crossing of phases B and C should be a quarter of a cycle (90 degrees) later in the power
frequency. However,the interruption of phases B and C happened around 30 degrees earlier than
this, around 60 degrees later,because of the harmonics from the thyristor rectifier installed on the
same bus with the filter banks.

Lf Cf 2Cf Lf / 2 Lf Cf
A A’ A A’

Ceq Cn Ceq

(a) (b)
Figure 9. Circuit diagrams for three-phase filter current interruption:(a) one phase interruption and
(b) all three-phase interruption.

The circuit parameters for the measured voltage waveforms in Figure 9 areLf = 39.1 mH and Cf =
52.5 μF. It is expected that Ceq has a very small value, but to know its exact value is difficult in
practice. From the measurement, the value of Ceqcan be calculated reversely as 55 nF, and, with this
value, the frequencies of this circuit are the same as the frequencies evaluated from Figure 9b.
For the grounded filter banks, there is no capacitance between the neutral point and the ground.
Therefore, the TRV in phase A of the grounded filter banks is smaller than that of the ungrounded
case, and its analytical expression is as follows:
𝑉 =𝑉 +𝑉 (16)
Energies 2020, 13, 2187 9 of 15

In addition, the circuit diagram of the ungrounded filter banks is the same as that inFigure
9bfor both the 1stphase and all three-phase interruptions, because of their balanced condition. The
TRV frequency can be calculated as follows:
1
𝑓= (17)
2𝜋 𝐿 𝐶

3. Case Study and Results

A case study was performed to examine the impacts of the switching back-to-back filter banks,
which wasbased on an actual electric arc furnace in South Korea, and aschematic diagram of four
multiple single-tuned filter banks is presented in Figure 10.Parameters for thyristor-controlled
reactor (TCR) and harmonic filter banks are in Table 3.
A case study was simulated considering three cases,namely(1) the switching of the HF5 with
the closed Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 CBs;(2) comparing the results considering CB open sequences; and (3)
the switching with a double circuit breaker structure in Figure 11, which is EMTP modeling for
electric arc furnace.

Figure 10. Schematic diagram of four multiple single-tuned filter banks for an electric arc furnace.

Figure 11.Electromagnetic Transients Program(EMTP)modelingfor electric arc furnace.

Table 3.Parameters for thyristor-controlled reactor (TCR) and harmonic filter banks.

TCR HF5 HF4 HF3 HF2

Voltage (kV) 33 kV
Energies 2020, 13, 2187 10 of 15

Capacity (MVA) 150 51.4 26.3 42.4 30

Inductance (mH) 19 @ 150 MVA 2.34 7.35 8.7 39.1
Capacitance (μF) - 122.5 61.3 92.3 52.5
Cable (m) 220 210 225 240 255

3.1. Results of Case 1

The inrush current of the back-to-back filter banks with 150 MVA was also presented with its
measured waveform so as to discuss the characteristics of the back-to-back filter bank inrush
current. The inrush current for the switching of the HF5 wasmeasured under the condition with the
closed Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 CBs.
The measured current wascompared with the EMTP simulation to analyze the inrush current
components, as shown in Figure 12. In Figure 12, while there is little deviation between the two
waveforms because of the parameter inequality between the real and simulation circuits, the
characteristics in the frequency and the amplitude of the inrush current are almost consistent. With
the EMTP simulation, the inrush current contribution of each feeder was analyzed and is compared
in Figure 13. The analysis result shows that the inrush current of low harmonic filter banks is mainly
the resonant current between the source impedance and the filter bank being energized.

Figure 12. Inrush currents for 5thharmonic filter (HF5) energization.

Figure 13. Inrush current and each feeder current for HF5 energization.

3.2. Results of Case 2

Initially, all of the breakers were closed, and only the breakers of the corresponding feeders
were set to open in 60 ms under individual blocking conditions.In the condition of simultaneous
blocking, the main circuit breaker was set to open 10ms in advance, and the rest of the HF feeders
were set to open after60ms.
Table 4 shows the results for the transient recovery voltage according to the scenarios, and the
waveforms of the simulation of transient recovery voltage are shown in Figure 14.VSis maximum
Energies 2020, 13, 2187 11 of 15

source voltage, VL is maximum load voltage, and VTRV is maximum transient recovery voltage of
CB.

Table 4. Transient recovery voltage for Case 2.

Condition CBs VS(kV) VL(kV) VTRV(kV) Waveforms

HF #2 CB 26.6 61.9 88.5 Figure 14a
HF #3 CB 26.3 45.8 72.1 Figure 14b
Individualblocking
HF #4 CB 26.6 43.0 69.6 Figure 14c
HF #5 CB 26.0 42.2 68.2 Figure 14d
HF #2 CB 0.0 85.2 85.2 Figure 14e
HF #3 CB 0.0 39.2 39.2 Figure 14f
Simultaneous blocking
HF #4 CB 0.0 35.7 35.7 Figure 14g
HF #5 CB 0.0 33.7 33.7 Figure 14h

Under individual blocking conditions, transient recovery voltages up to 88.5 kV are calculated
for HF #2 CB. This exceeds the CB test value of approximately 17kV and may fail to break because
of the re-ignition caused by the dielectric breakdown.

90 80
[kV] [kV]
70 60

50
40

30
20
10
0
-10
-20
-30

-40
-50

-70 -60
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 [s] 0.10 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 [s] 0.10

(a) Individual blocking: HF #2 CB (b) Individual blocking: HF #3 CB

80 80
[kV] [kV]
60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0

-20 -20

-40 -40

-60 -60
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 [s] 0.10 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 [s] 0.10

(c) Individual blocking: HF #4 CB (d) Individual blocking: HF #5 CB

50 40
[kV] [kV]

30 30

20
10

10
-10
0
-30
-10

-50
-20

-70 -30

-90 -40
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 [s] 0.10 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 [s] 0.10

(e) Simultaneous blocking: HF #2 CB (f) Simultaneous blocking: HF #3 CB

Energies 2020, 13, 2187 12 of 15

40 40
[kV] [kV]
30 30

20 20

10 10

0 0

-10 -10

-20 -20

-30 -30

-40 -40
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 [s] 0.10 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 [s] 0.10

(g) Simultaneous blocking: HF #4 CB (h) Simultaneous blocking: HF #5 CB

Figure 14. Simulation results of the transient recovery voltage for Case 2.

In order to reduce the transient recovery voltage without changing the equipment, the circuit
breaker operation sequence was changed to the simultaneous blocking condition, but the high
transient recovery voltage of 85.2kV still occurred in HF #2 CB.A very high TRV can occur during
the filter bank interruption and it can be one of the severest transients in the filter bank, which might
not be a big issue in the capacitor bank interruption. Thus, for the filter bank switching, a higher
rating of circuit breakers or circuit breakers with double poles in series ishighly recommended to
withstand such a high TRV level.

3.3. Results of Case 3: Proposed Method for Reduction Transient Recovery Voltage
The circuit breaker could be damagedbecause of the transient recovery voltage generated
during the breaker operation. In this paper, a switchboard witha double circuit breaker structure is
proposed, wheretwo circuit breakers are connected in series to the switchboard, and the breaker
damage caused by the transient recovery voltage can be minimized by sharing the transient
recovery voltage with the two circuit breakers. The switchboard consists of a bus vacuum circuit
breaker (VCB), which is an upper breaker, and a load VCB, which is a lower breaker.
The transient recovery voltage analysis of each circuit breaker was performed according to the
different operating times between the circuit breakers in order to verify the effectiveness of the
proposed scheme, and the optimum sequence and operation time.The waveforms of the simulation
of the transient recovery voltage are shown in Figure 15, and the results are summarized in Table 5.

100 100

*10 3 *10 3

80 80

60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0

-20 -20
0.060 0.065 0.070 0.075 0.080 0.085 0.090 0.095 0.100 0.060 0.065 0.070 0.075 0.080 0.085 0.090 0.095 0.100

(a) Opening Time: (b) Opening Time:

Bus VCB(62.5 ms), Load VCB(67.5 ms) Bus VCB(62.5 ms), Load VCB(65.5 ms)
100 100

*10 3 *10 3

80 80

60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0

-20 -20
0.060 0.065 0.070 0.075 0.080 0.085 0.090 0.095 0.100 0.060 0.065 0.070 0.075 0.080 0.085 0.090 0.095 0.100

(c) Opening Time: (d) Opening Time:

Energies 2020, 13, 2187 13 of 15

Bus VCB(62.5 ms), Load VCB(64.5 ms) Bus VCB(62.5 ms), Load VCB(62.5 ms)
100 100

*10 3 *10 3

80 80

60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0

-20 -20
0.060 0.065 0.070 0.075 0.080 0.085 0.090 0.095 0.100 0.060 0.065 0.070 0.075 0.080 0.085 0.090 0.095 0.100

(e) Opening Time: (f) Opening Time:

Bus VCB(64.5 ms), Load VCB(62.5 ms) Bus VCB(65.5 ms), Load VCB(62.5 ms)
100
*10 3
80

60

40

20

-20

-40
0.060 0.065 0.070 0.075 0.080 0.085 0.090 0.095 0.100

(g) Opening Time:

Bus VCB(67.5 ms), Load VCB(62.5 ms)
Figure 15. Simulation results ofthetransient recovery voltage for the proposed method.

Table 5. Transient recovery voltage for theswitchboard witha double circuit breaker structure.

Opening Time (ms) TRV (kV)

Bus VCB Load VCB Waveforms
Delta T Bus VCB Load VCB
(Upper Breaker) (Lower Breaker)
62.5 67.5 −5.0 84.1 0.0 Figure 15a
62.5 65.5 −3.0 76.8 8.5 Figure 15b
62.5 64.5 −2.0 76.0 9.3 Figure 15c
62.5 62.5 0.0 53.7 31.5 Figure 15d
64.5 62.5 2.0 44.7 40.5 Figure 15e
65.5 62.5 3.0 38.3 46.9 Figure 15f
67.5 62.5 5.0 35.4 66.1 Figure 15g

If the load VCB is closed after opening the bus VCB, a high TRV may occur in the bus VCB.
Additionally, the differencesinthe breaker open time and the TRV values were not
linear.Simultaneous opening of both VCBsand opening the load VCB first,havea high TRV sharing
effect that leads to reducingindividual breaker TRV.In order to reduce the trapped charge of the
load VCB, the two-breaker opening time difference should be kept below 3ms.In addition, it can
share the stress of the VCB operating by controlling the operation sequence of the bus VCB and
load VCB.

4. Conclusions
This paper addressed the difference between the capacitor bank and the harmonic filter bank
and analyzed the transientcharacteristics during back-to-back switching. The cause of the
differences between these banks was found to be caused by design,taking into accountL and C.
The switching transients of the filter banks aredescribed by the analytical approach and field
measurementsfor 150 MVA back-to-back filter bankswere provided to support the switching
phenomena described in the paper. In the case of the filter banks, a lower back-to-back inrush
current and higher transient recovery voltage compared to capacitor banksappeared. Therefore, a
Energies 2020, 13, 2187 14 of 15

mitigation method for the transient recovery voltage was needed. To mitigate the high transient
recovery voltage, a double-breaker type switchgearwasanalyzed in terms of the operating sequence
and the time of the upper- and lower-breakers. According to the analyses, the effectiveness of the
proposed scheme,the optimum sequence, and the operation time wasverified to avoid the insulation
failure of the breaker during the interruption, by mitigating the transient recovery voltage across
each breaker. The proposed method could be a useful guide for back-to-back filter bank switching
issues.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, J.-H.K.; methodology, J.-H.K.; supervision, J.-O.K.; writing

(originaldraft), J.-H.K.; writing (review and editing), J.-H.K. and J.-O.K. All authors have read and agreed to
the published version of the manuscript.

Funding: This research received no external funding.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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