HVDC TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

K.Sravanthi,
Assistant Professor,
Vignan’s Institute of Information Technology
 UNIT-3
SYLLABUS

Converters and Reactive Power Control in

HVDC
 Principle of DC Link Control
 Converter Control Characteristics
 Firing Angle Control
 Current and Extinction Angle Control
 Starting And Stopping Of DC Link
 Power Control
 Reactive Power Requirements in Steady State
 Conventional Control Strategies
 Alternate Control Strategies
 Sources Of Reactive Power
 AC Filters
 Shunt Capacitors
 Synchronous Condensers
 Introduction to MTDC Systems- Series, Parallel,
Ring Systems
Unit Objective:

 To explain the converter and reactive power

control in HVDC transmission system

Unit Outcome:

 To be able to operate the converters in HVDC

System
Principle of DC Link Control
PRINCIPLE OF DC LINK CONTROL

HVDC technology is used to transmit electricity over long

distances by overhead transmission lines or submarine cables.

HVDC Principle
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 CONTROL OF HVDC SYSTEMS

Objectives of Control
• Efficient and stable operation.
• Maximum flexibility of power control

• Basic Principles of Control

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 Direct current from rectifier to inverter:
 Id = Vdor Cos - Vdoi Cos
__________________
Rcr + Rl + Rci

Power at the Rectifier: Pdr = Vdr.Id

Power at the Inverter:

2
Pdi = Vdi.Id = Pdr – Id .Rl
 DC voltage at the converter terminals is
 Vdr = Vdor Cos α- Id Rr
 Vdi = Vdoi Cos ϒ + Id Ri
 As the valves are unilateral, Id and internal voltages
are positive.
 So to reverse the power flow direction, it is necessary
to reverse the polarity of the voltage at both ends of the
line.
 Then the converter 2 becomes rectifier and converter 1
becomes inverter
 BASIC MEANS OF
CONTROL

• Internal and Vdoi cos can be used to control

Vdor cos
voltages
the voltages at any point on the line and the current flow
(i.e. power)

◦ This can be accomplished by:

Controlling firing angles (for fast action).

Changing taps on the transformers on the

AC side (slow response).

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 For achieving high power factor, α for rectifier and γ for inverter
should be kept as low as possible
 The rectifier has minimum α limit of about 5 degrees to ensure
adequate voltage across the valves before firing .
 Rectifier operates within in the range of 15 to 20 degrees so as to
leave a room for increasing rectifier voltage to control DC power
flow.
 In case of the inverter, it is necessary to maintain a certain
minimum extinction angle to avoid commutation failure.
 It is important to ensure that commutation is completed with
sufficient margin to allow deionization before voltage reverses γ =
β-μ.
 The minimum margin for this is 15 degrees for 50Hz and 18
degrees for 60Hz supply.
 Under normal operations, Rectifier will take care of the current
and the Inverter will take care of the voltage.
 Rectifier - Constant Current Control (CC)
 Inverter - Constant Extinction Angle Control (CEA)
 Id = Vdor cos α − Vdoi cos(β or γ)
Rr + Rl ± Ri
Converter Control Characteristics
ACTUAL CONTROL CHARACTERISTICS
VOLTAGE DEPENDENT CURRENT LIMIT
ACTUAL
CHARACTERISTICS
COMBINED
CHARACTERISTICS
 SYSTEM CONTROL HIERARCHY

SYSTEM
CONTROL

MASTER
CONTROL

POLE I POLE II
CONTROL CONTROL

VALVE VALVE VALVE VALVE

GROUP GROUP GROUP GROUP
CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL

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SYSTEM CONTROL HIERARCHY
◦ The master controller for a bipole is located at one of the terminals and is
provided with the power order (Pref ) from the system controller (from
energy control centre).
◦ It also has other information such as AC voltage at the converter bus, DC
voltage etc.
◦ The master controller transmits the current order (Iref ) to the pole control
units which in turn provide a firing angle order to the individual valve
groups (converters).
◦ The valve group or converter control also oversees valve monitoring and
firing logic through the optical interface. It also includes bypass pair
selection logic, commutation failure protection, tap changer control,
converter start/stop sequences, margin switching and valve protection
circuits.
◦ The pole control incorporated pole protection, DC line protection and
optional converter paralleling and deparalleling sequences.
◦ The master controller which oversees the complete bi-pole includes the
functions of frequency control, power modulation, AC voltage and
reactive power control and torsional frequency damping control.

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FIRING ANGLE CONTROL
◦ The operation of CC and CEA controllers is closely linked with
the method of generation of gate pulses for the valves in a
converter. The requirements for the firing pulse generation of
HVDC valves are
◦ The firing instant for all the valves are determined at ground
potential and the firing signals sent to individual thyristors by
light signals through fibre-optic cables. The required gate
power is made available at the potential of individual thyristor.
◦ While a single pulse is adequate to turn-on a thyristor, the gate
pulse generated must send a pulse whenever required, if the
particular valve is to be kept in a conducting state.
◦ The two basic firing schemes are
◦ Individual Phase Control (IPC)
◦ Equidistant Pulse Control (EPC)

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 FIRING ANGLE
CONTROL
Two Schemes

Individual Phase Control (IPC)

Equidistant Pulse Control (EPC)

Constant α control Inverse cosine control

Pulse Frequency control Pulse period control Pulse Phase control

INDIIVIDUAL PHASE CONTROL

This was used in the early HVDC projects.

The main feature of this scheme is that the firing pulse generation
for each phase (or valve) is independent of each other and the firing
pulses are rigidly synchronized with commutation voltages.
◦ There are two ways in which this can be achieved
◦ Constant α Control
◦ Inverse Cosine Control

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1. CONSTANT ΑLPHA CONTROL:

1. Constant α Control:
◦ Six timing (commutation) voltages are derived from the converter AC bus
via voltage transformers and the six gate pulses are generated at nominally
identical delay times subsequent to the respective voltage zero crossings.
◦ The instant of zero crossing of a particular commutation voltage
corresponds to α = 0 for that valve.
◦ Delays are produced by independent delay circuits and controlled by
common control voltage V derived from controllers

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 2. INVERSE COSINE CONTROL

◦ The six timing voltages (obtained as in constant α control) are each phase
shifted by 90 degrees and added separately to a common control voltage V.
The zero crossing of the sum of the two voltages initiates the firing pulse
for the particular valve is considered.
◦ The delay angle α is nominally proportional to the inverse cosine of the
control voltage.
◦ It also depends on the AC system voltage amplitude and shape.
◦ ADVANTAGE
◦ The average DC voltage across the bridge varies linearly with control
voltage Vc.
◦ In this, it should maintain the phase shift at 90 degrees for changes in supply
frequency.
2. Inverse cosine control:

The delay angle α is

proportional to the Inverse
cosine of the control
voltage.
 Drawbacks of IPC scheme:

• The major drawback of IPC is the harmonic instability.

• This is mainly due to the fact that any distortion in the system voltage
leads to perturbations in the zero crossing. This effects the instants of
firing pulses.
• Thus non characteristic harmonics are generated in AC current which
amplifies the harmonic content in AC voltage at the converter end.

This drawback can be overcome by:

• Use of filters for filtering these non characteristic harmonics. This may
be problematic due to variation in the supply frequency and will add to
control delays.
• Use of firing angle control independent of zero crossings of the AC
voltages.
This solution leads to equidistant pulse firing scheme.
 ADVANTAGES OF IPC:
 The output voltage will be high

DISADVANTAGES OF IPC:
 Harmonic instability with less SCR.
 Non characteristics harmonics introduction in the
system.
 Parallel resonance with filter impedance and system
impedance
 EQUIDISTANT PULSE CONTROL
(EPC)
• Equidistant pulse control (EPC)
– No synchronization of control pulses with applied ac voltage.
– Used in modern HVDC.
– It produces pulses at equal intervals of 1/( f*p )
– This method gives low dc output voltage but successful in weak ac
system. Three methods in EPC scheme:
1. Pulse frequency control:

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 The basic components of the system are Voltage Controlled
Oscillator (VCO) and a ring counter. The VCO delivers pulses at
a frequency directly proportional to the input control voltage.
 The train of pulses is fed to a ring counter which has six or twelve
stages.
 One stage is on at a time with the pulse train output of the VCO
changing the on stage of the ring counter.
 As each stage turns on, it produces a short output pulse once per
cycle.
 Over one cycle, a complete set of 6 or 12 output pulses are
produced by the ring counter at equal intervals
 These pulses are transferred to the firing pulse generator to
the appropriate valves of the converter bridge
 Under steady state conditions V2=0 and the voltage V1 is
proportional to the AC line frequency ω1.
 This generates pulses at the line frequency and constant firing
delay angles α.
 If there is a change in the current order , margin settings or
line frequency., a change in V3 occurs which in turn results
in change in the frequency of the firing pulses.
 A change in the firing delay angle results from the time
integral of the differences between the line and firing pulse
frequencies.
 It is apparent that this equidistant pulse control firing scheme
is based on pulse frequency control.
◦A Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) is used, the
frequency of which is determined by the control
voltage Vc which is related to the error in the quantity
(current, extinction angle or DC voltage) being
regulated.
◦ The frequency in steady-state operation is equal to pfo
where fo is the nominal frequency of the AC system.
PFC system has an integral characteristic and has to be
used along with a feedback control system for
stabilization.
◦ The Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) consists of an
integrator, comparator and a pulse generator.
• The frequency of voltage control oscillator (VCO) is determined by the control
voltage Vc related to the error in current, gamma or voltage.
• The VCO consists of an integrator, comparator and a pulse generator.
• The output pulses of the generator drive the ring counter and also resets the
integrator.
• The instant (tn ) of the firing pulse is determined from following equations

Where V1 is bias voltage and V3 is proportional to the system period.

At steady state Vc=0,

The gain K1 of the integrator is chosen as,

2. Pulse period control:
• This is similar to PFC except that Vc is summed with V3 instead of V1.
• Thus the instant (tn ) of the pulse generation is given by
Vc

V3
Thus we get,

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 3.Pulse phase control:
 A train of pulses are generated proportional to the control voltage
Vc.
 The analog circuit is configured to generate firing pulses
according following equation:

• Response of this system is fast as it doesn’t have integrator

characteristics.
• Capacitor is used here for charging and discharging. It is maintained
between ± ∆V.
 PULSE PHASE CONTROL (PPC):
 In this scheme a step change in control signals causes
a spacing of the only pulse to change these results in a
shift of phase only.
 ADVANTAGES:
 Equal delay for all the devices.
 Non characteristics harmonics are not introduced
DISADVANTAGES:
 Less DC output voltage than IPC
CURRENT AND EXTINTION
ANGLE CONTROL
◦ The current controller is invariably of feedback type which is of PI type. The
extinction angle controller can be of predictive type or feedback type with
IPC control. The predictive controller is considered to be less prone to
commutation failure and was used in early schemes. The feedback control
with PFC type of Equidistant Pulse Control overcomes the problems
associated with IPC.

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STARTING AND STOPPING
OF DC LINK
◦ Energization and Deenergization of a Bridge:

◦ Consider N series connected bridges at a converter station. If

one of the bridges is to be taken out of service, there is need to
not only block, but bypass the bridge.
◦ This is because of the fact that just blocking the pulses does
not extinguish the current in the pair of valves that are left
conducting at the time of blocking.
◦ The continued conduction of this pair injects AC voltage into
the link which can give rise to current and voltage oscillations
due to lightly damped oscillatory circuit in the link formed by
smoothing reactor and the line capacitance.
◦ The transformer feeding the bridge is also subjected to DC
magnetization when DC current continues to flow through the
secondary windings.

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 The bypassing of the bridge can be done with the help
of a separate bypass valve or by activating a bypass
pair in the bridge (two valves in the same arm of the
bridge).
 The bypass valve was used with mercury arc valves
where the possibility of arc backs makes it impractical
to use bypass pairs.
 With thyristor valves, the use of bypass pair is the
practice as it saves the cost of an extra valve.
voltage waveform
during energization
STARTUP OF DC LINK : D E P E N D IN G ON
TYPE OF PULSE
◦ Start-up with long pulse firing: ◦ Start-up with short pulse
firing: 1. Open bypass switch at one
terminal
1. De block inverter at about
γ = 90deg 2. Deblock that terminal
and load to minimum
2. De block rectifier at α = current in the rectifier mode
85deg 3. Open bypass switch at
to establish low direct the second terminal and
current commutate current to the
3. Ramp up voltage by bypass pair
inverter control and the 4. Start second terminal
current by rectifier also in the rectifier mode
control. 5. The inverter terminal is
put into the inversion
mode
6. Ramp up voltage
and current.
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POWER
CONTROL
◦ The current order is obtained as the quantity derived from the
power order by dividing it by the direct voltage.
◦ The limits of the current order is adjusted by the voltage
dependent current order limiter (VDCOL)
◦ The objective of VDCOL is to prevent full current through
individual thyristors during commutation failures.
◦ Each station has dividing circuit which has power calculator
and high gain op-amp which receives power order, voltage and
current signals to get current order
◦ Telecommunication equipment, power order
setting(OS),emergency power controller(EPC), & current limiter
are present in power control unit.
◦ Control error is obtained from the difference of Id measured and
Id reference

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VDCOL
 During disruptions where the A.C. voltage at the rectifier or
inverter is lowered, it will not be useful to a weak A.C. electrical
system if the HVDC transmission electrical system tries to keep
full load current. A drop in A.C. voltage at either end will also end
in a decreased D.C. voltage.
 The D.C. control characteristics presented shows the D.C. current
order is decreased if the D.C. voltage is decreased. This can be
seen in the rectifier characteristic R-S-T and in the inverter
characteristic F-G .
 The controller which decreases the maximum current order is
known as a voltage dependent current order limit or VDCOL. The
VDCOL control, if raised by an A.C. electrical system disruption,
will maintain the D.C. current Id to the decreased limit during
recovery which helps the corresponding recovery of the D.C.
electrical system.
 Only when D.C. voltage Ud has retrieved sufficiently will the
D.C. current go back to its original Iorder level.
REACTIVE POWER REQUIREMENTS IN STEADY STATE :

 The converters in HVDC stations are line commutated, which

implies that the current initiation in the valve can only be
delayed with reference to the zero crossing of the converter bus
AC voltage.
 This results in lagging power factor operation of the converters,
requiring reactive power sources connected at the converter bus
for better voltage control.
 The reactive sources are required at both the rectifier and
inverter stations.
 While the rectifier station appears as a load in the system, the
inverter station can be viewed as a generator consuming reactive
power.
 This characteristic of the inverter is generally not desirable and
requires suitable modifications by providing adequate var
compensation
CONVENTIONAL CONTROL STRATEGIES
ALTERNATE CONTROL STRATEGIES
REACTIVE POWER REQUIREMENTS IN
STEADY STATE
REACTIVE POWER
SOURCES
AC FILTERS
SHUNT CAPACITORS
SYNCHRONOUS
CONDENSER
Introduction to MTDC Systems- Series, Parallel,
Ring Systems
MTDC SYSTEMS
 MTDC is a DC equivalent of AC grid which will have
DC transmission network connecting more than two
AC/DC converter stations.
 The use of HVDC breakers is generally required in the
MTDC systems.
 With recent advances in the emerging technology of
VSC-HVDC transmission, the application of MTDC
systems is becoming more attractive than before.
APPLICATIONS OF MTDC:
 Connects multiple DC renewable energy farms to multiple power
grids
 Connecting multiple offshore wind farms to the power grid
 Transfer of bulk power from multiple remote AC generating
stations to multiple load centers.
 Allow interconnection between two asynchronous AC power
systems
 Power supply reallocation in case of power failures in one of the
generating stations.
 It can be used to offer more power to a heavily loaded AC
network by using one rectifier & multiple inverters that injects
power into the said AC network.
 Offers flexibility for power tapping at multiple points
 There are two possible types of MTDC systems:
(i) Series
(ii) Parallel
 The parallel MTDC systems can be further subdivided
into the following categories:
(a) Radial
(b) Mesh
SERIES MTDC SYSTEM

 In such configuration, multiple converter stations are

connected in series with each other. Just like in a series
circuit, the current flowing through each of the
converter stations remains the same which is set by one
station while the voltage drop may divide among the
converter stations.
 Natural extension of two terminal systems which is a
series connected system
 Three Terminal MTDC System:
 In this series connected three terminal system act as
monopolar system.
 Ground is only at one point.
 Insulation cost is high.
 Current is same all station which is set by one
station.
 “MULTI TERMINAL DC SYSTEMS”

SERIES MTDC:
 Fault clearance, power reversal, are same as two terminal systems.
 High speed power reversal.
 Voltage rating of valves related to power.
 Cheaper (insulation cost is high).
 Line and valve losses are high.
 Insulation coordination problems.
 Permanent fault in line of one station means it
affects other stations also.
 It is an extension of a two-terminal HVDC system with
multiple converter stations in series as shown in the figure
above.
 The converter stations are usually of lower capacity than the
ones used in parallel MTDC systems.
 This system usually uses monopolar DC links where the line is
grounded at only one point. However, a grounding capacitor
can be used at any other line for protection against transients.
 The insulation coordination for the series MTDC system is
quite complex due to the varying DC voltages at each station.
 The power flow in parallel MTDC system is a little complex as
compared to the series MTDC system because a parallel
MTDC system can control its power flow by injecting current
in a specific line while in series MTDC system, the power
flow control is done by voltage control at each terminal
station.
 In a series MTDC system, the power flow reversal can be
easily implemented using both VSC (Voltage Source
Converter) & CSC (Current Source Converter).
 In case of fault or scheduled maintenance in a specific line, the
whole DC network will face a blackout.
 Therefore, just like a two-terminal system, the circuit breaker
on the AC sides is used to de-energize the DC networks.
 The same is the case with the expansion of the series MTDC
system.
 It is also quite difficult & requires the whole network to face
blackout during the installation of new terminal stations. In
order to install new terminal stations, the DC network (ring-
shaped) must be split up at the point of installation which will
break the supply to every other station in the path.
PARALLEL MTDC SYSTEM

 In the Parallel MTDC system, there are multiple

converter stations (inverters) or load stations that are
connected to a single converter station (rectifier) that
supply power to the whole DC network.
 Just like a parallel circuit, the voltage remains constant or
the same at all the inverter or load station that is set by
one of the converter stations.
 While the current supply may change depending on the
power demand.
 According to the power demand at each load station, the
current is adjusted to balance the current supply. These
terminal stations are generally of higher capacity than in
series network.
 The power reversal can be done with either voltage reversal or
current reversal. In parallel MTDC system, the Voltage reversal
(using CSC based terminal stations) affects all converter stations
thus we need to implement a sophisticated control &
communication system between these converters.
 However, if the power reversal is done using the current reversal
technique (using VSC based terminal station) it will be much easier
to realize. It is the reason, VSC (Voltage Source Converters) are
preferred in parallel MTDC system instead of CSC.
 Since the voltage remains constant in the VSC MTDC system, the
current ratings of the valve converter decide the power rating of the
terminal station.
 It offers a wide range of power flow control in the DC network by
injecting current in the specific line. This is more convenient than
the power control in series systems using voltage control at each
station.
 The best feature of the Parallel MTDC system is that it if there is
a fault in any terminal stations, the remaining DC network does
not get affected. However, to isolate these specific DC lines, it
does need a separate DC circuit breaker.
 Also in case of expansion of the DC network, the power supply
does not need to be interrupted because the new terminal is
installed in parallel from these existing lines.
 The insulation coordination in such a system is far more simple
than in a series system because the voltage remains constant.
 The parallel MTDC System is further divided into two
categories;
 Radial MTDC System
 The radial MTDC system is a type of parallel MTDC
configuration where a break in a transmission line or
removal of one link will cause interruption of power
supply to one or more than one converter station
 This figure shows inverter stations connected with a
single rectifier station. A break in one of the lines will
surely interrupt the power supply to a minimum of one
terminal station.
 Because of such interruption in power supply, they are
unreliable as compared to Mesh or Ring type MTDC
system.
 Mesh (Ring) MTDC System
 In Mesh or Ring MTDC system, the inverter (load)
stations are connected with a single rectifier station in
mesh or ring formation where a break in one
transmission line or removal of one link does not
interrupt the power supply to any inverter stations.
 The following figure shows a mesh or ring MTDC
system.
 As you can see, the removal of any link will not
interrupt the power supply to any converter. In fact, the
power will be routed through the other links. However,
the other links must be designed to withstand the
power transmission with power losses.
 There is no power interruption in mesh type MTDC
system. Therefore, parallel-connected mesh type
MTDC system is more reliable than a parallel-
connected radial type MTDC system.
THANK
YOU….

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