H.V.D.C.

TRANSMISSION
(Professional Elective-V)
TEXT BOOK : K.R. Padiyar, HVDC Power Transmission System, 2nd
Edition, New Age International Publishers, 2012.
UNIT-III

HVDC SYSTEM CONTROL:

Principle of DC link control, Converter control
characteristics-,System control hierarchy , firing angle
control-IPC-EPC, current and extinction angle control Starting
and stopping of DC link, power control.
Principle of DC link control

• The control of power in a DC link can be achieved through the control

of current or voltage.
• From minimization of loss considerations, it is important to maintain
constant voltage in the link and adjust the current to meet the required
power.
• It is to be noted that the voltage drop along the DC line is small
compared to the AC line.
• Consider the steady state equivalent circuit of a two terminal DC link
shown is fig-1.
Principle of DC link control

• Schematic diagram of HVDC transmission system

• Tr and Ti are the off nominal tap ratios on the rectifier and inverter side
converter transformers.
Principle of DC link control

• Where Evr is the line to line in the valve side windings of the rectifier
And Evi is the line to line in the valve side windings of the inverter.
• Er and Ei are the AC (line to line) voltages of the converter buses on
the rectifier and inverter side.
Principle of DC link control

• Steady state equivalent circuit of a 2 terminal DC link

Principle of DC link control

•.
Principle of DC link control
• The average direct voltage of a 3 phase 6 pulse converter(Without Overlap)
V = (3√2/π) E cosα
d LL
E = (3√2/π) E cosα
dr vr r
If we take n series connected bridges
b
The average direct voltage equation for Rectifier operation-without overlap can be written
as
E = (3√2/π) n E cosα
dr b vr r
The average direct voltage equation for Inverter operation –without overlap can be written
as
E = (3√2/π) n E cosγ
di b vi i
Principle of DC link control
• The average direct voltage equation for rectifier operation With Overlap can be
written as
V = (3√2/π) n E cosα - Id Rcr
dr b vr r
R = (3 n /π)ωLcr
cr b
R = (3 n /π)Xcr
cr b
Similarly Average direct voltage equation for inverter operation with overlap can be written as

V
di = (3√2/π) nb Evi cosγi - Id Rci
R = (3 n /π)Xci
ci b
Principle of DC link control

• Equivalent circuit
Principle of DC link control
• This is based on the assumption that all the series connected bridges in both poles of a
converter station are identical and have the same delay angles.
• Also the number of series connected bridges (nb ) in both stations (rectifier and inverter)
are the same.
• The voltage sources Edr and Edi are defined by

•Edr = (3√2/π) nb Evr cosαr ---- (1)

• Edi = (3√2/π) nb Evi cosγi ---- (2)

• where Evr and Evi are the line to line voltages in the valve side windings of the rectifier
and inverter transformer respectively. From the above figure these voltages can be
obtained by
Principle of DC link control

•Vdr = (3√2/π) nb Evr cosαr - Id Rcr --------3

•Vdi = (3√2/π) nb Evi cosγi - Id Rci ---4

•Evr = Nsr Er / Npr Tr -----------------5

•Evi = Nsi Ei / Npi Ti ---------------6

Principle of DC link control

E = (3√2/π) n E cosα
• dr b vr r
• Substituting Evr in above equation we can obtain
E = A E / T cosα
• dr r r r r ------7

•Ar is a constant
Principle of DC link control

E = (3√2/π) n E cosγ
• di b vi i
• Substituting Evi in above equation we can obtain
E = A E / T cosγ
• di i i i i ------8
•
•Ai is a constant
Principle of DC link control
• Equivalent Circuit
•Edr = (Ar Er / Tr )cosαr
•Edi = (Ai Ei / Ti ) cosγi
Principle of DC link control
Principle of DC link control

•.

• The control variables are

α γ T and Ti
r, i, r
It is convenient to consider γ
i
Principle of DC link control

• As the denominator in the equation is small ,even small change in the

voltage magnitudes Er or Ei can result in large change in the DC
current, if the control variables are held constant.
Principle of DC link control

• As the voltage change can be sudden it is not obvious that manual

control of converter angle is not feasible.
γ
• Hence direct and fast control of current by varying α r ,and/or i in
response to a feedback signal is essential.
• The direct and fast control over the currents is also desirable from the
viewpoint of limiting the overcurrent in thyristor valve which have
limited short term overload capability.
• It is to be noted that although current and power can be controlled by
changing transformer taps Tr and Ti, this can be achieved only by slow
control of mechanical switches.
Principle of DC link control
• Inverter operation
Principle of DC link control

• It is desirable to control the current and regulate the voltage

simultaneously in the link.
• The question that can be posed now is ,which terminal should be
assigned the task of current control ,while the other terminal regulates
the DC voltage?
• From consideration given below ,it is desirable to have current control
at the rectifier station under normal conditions
Principle of DC link control
α
1. The increase of current in the link is achieved by reducing r which
improves the power factor at the rectifier.
2. The inverter can now be operated at minimum γi
3. It is to be noted that the current control at the inverter
worsen power factor as γi has to be increased.
4. The operation at minimum extinction angle at the inverter and
current control at the rectifier results in better voltage regulation
than the operation with minimum delay angle at the rectifier and
current control at the inverter.
Principle of DC link control

5. The current during line faults are automatically limited with rectifier
station in current control.
• While there is a need to maintain a minimum extinction angle of the
inverter to avoid commutation failure, it is economical to operate the
inverter at constant extinction angle(CEA)
• Under normal condition, the rectifier operates at constant
current(CC) control and inverter at the CEA control.
• Under conditions of reduced AC voltages at the rectifier it is necessary
to shift the current control to the inverter to avoid run down of the
DC link when the rectifier control hits the minimum α limit.
Principle of DC link control

• This implies that current controller must also be provided at the

inverter in addition to the CEA controller.
• A smooth transition from CEA to CC takes place whenever the link
current starts falling.
• To avoid the clash of two current controllers ,the current reference at
the inverter is kept below that at the rectifier by an amount called the
current margin. This is typically about 10% of the rated current.
• The power reversal in the link can take place by reversal of the DC
voltage.
Principle of DC link control
•.
Principle of DC link control
• This is done easily by increasing the delay angle at the station initially
operating as the rectifier, while reducing the delay angle at the station
initially operating as the inverter.
• Thus it is necessary to provide both CEA and CC controllers at both
terminals.
• The on load tap changer control at the inverter is used mainly to
maintain a constant DC voltage (when the inverter is in CEA control)
• The tap changer control at the rectifier is used to maintain the delay
angle within certain limits(100 to 200) in order to maintain certain
voltage margin for the purpose current control.
Principle of DC link control
• The feedback control of power in a DC link is not desirable for the
following reasons.
1. At low DC voltages, the current required is excessive to maintain the
required level of power. This can be counter productive because of
the excessive requirements on the reactive power .
2. The constant power characteristics contributes to negative damping
and degrades dynamic stability.
Converter control characteristics
• Control Characteristics
• Vd = Vdoi cosγi + (Rd - Rci)Id
 Converter control characteristics
• Equivalent circuit
Converter control characteristics
Individual Characteristics of Rectifier and Inverter
• The rectifier will be equipped with a constant current regulator
• If this regulator functions ideally, the rectifier characteristics is a
vertical line(AB)
• In practice it is not quite vertical but does have a negative slope.
• The inverter will be equipped with a C.E.A regulator. Then the
inverter characteristics is a line given by
• Vd = Vdoi cosγi + (Rd - Rci)Id
Converter control characteristics
• Vd = Vdoi cosγi + (Rd - Rci)Id
• On the assumption that the commutation resistance Rci is greater than
the line resistance Rd , the line CD has a small negative slope.
Converter control characteristics
• Both the characteristics can be shifted. The rectifier characteristics can
be shifted horizontally by adjusting the current command (Current
setting),which is one of the inputs to the current regulator ,the other
being the measured current.
• If the measured current is less than the current command, the regulator
decreases the firing angle α ,thus raising the rectifier internal voltage
in proportion to cosα and hence rising Id.
• The inverter characteristics can also be raised or lowered by means of
tap changer on the transformer at the inverter station.
Converter control characteristics
• Actual Control Characteristics
Converter control characteristics
• Now consider a decrease of alternating voltage at the rectifier.
• If cosα is constant, the direct voltage at the rectifier would decrease
proportionally.
• The rapid current regulator, however, trying to maintain constant current by
varying α
• The rectifier characteristics consists of two line segments: one of constant
minimum ignition angle α0 and one of constant current.
• The inverter characteristics is assumed to be CD, as before
• Now a big dip in rectifier voltage shifts the rectifier characteristics down ,which
does not intersects the inverter characteristics.
• Consequently the current and power drop to zero.
Converter control characteristics
• In order to avoid such a great change of current and power(run down) caused by a
dip in alternating voltage , the inverter is also equipped with a fast current
regulator, but it is set at a lower current than the rectifier current regulator.
• The inverter characteristics is now DFG, consisting of two segments one of CEA
as before and one of constant current
• It intersects the new rectifier characteristics at L.
• The difference between the current command of the rectifier and that of the
inverter is called the current margin.
• It is generally 15% of the rated current.
Converter control characteristics
• The control characteristics of both stations
Converter control characteristics
• Each station characteristics has three parts
Converter control characteristics
• Combined characteristics of rectifier and inverter