A Two-Level 24-Pulse Voltage Source Converter Based HVDC System for Active and Reactive Power Control

D. Madhan Mohan, Bhim Singh, Fellow, IEEE and B. K. Panigrahi, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract Active and reactive power flow control and power quality improvement of a two level Voltage Source Converter (VSC) based High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) system operating at fundamental frequency switching is proposed in this paper. Two converter stations used in this HVDC system consists of two level VSC configuration to achieve active and reactive power control with fundamental frequency switching. The reactive power is independently controlled in each converter station. A coordinated control algorithm is proposed for both the rectifier and an inverter stations for bidirectional active power flow. This results in a substantial reduction in switching losses and avoiding reactive power plant. MATLAB based simulations are carried out to verify and to validate the proposed control method of the VSC based HVDC system for bidirectional active power flow and their independent reactive power control. Keywords- Voltage Source Converter, HVDC System, Active power, Reactive Power Control, Power Quality system each device is switched one time per cycle and conducts for 180duration. Therefore, the device is fully utilized. A 12-pulse converter topology is commonly used in HVDC installations to reduce the harmonics in the ac system. High pulse number more than twelve can be used to improve the power quality further and to meet the IEEE standard. A new configuration of a 24-pulse voltage source converter based HVDC system is designed, modeled and its simulated performance is given to demonstrate the improved power quality of the HVDC system [8, 9].

II. OPERATING PRINCIPLE

The active and reactive power flows in a VSC based HVDC system are given as,
P = (Vs Vc sin)/X Q = Vs (Vs - Vc )cos/X (1) (2)

VDC transmission technology has reached mature state in the past 50 years of its own history. It is superior in providing economic solutions for special kind of transmission such as bulk, long distance, back to back and underwater transmission lines [1]. This technology is started with the current source converter and still it is the best of all HVDC technology. The voltage source converter (VSC) technology has started its role in HVDC systems once after the modern semiconductor devices are introduced in high power ratings. It has made it best suited for such kind of applications with additional features and improved performance compared to its conventional HVDC system which is based on the line commutated thyristor converter. VSC converters used for power transmission or voltage support combined with an energy storage sources offer continuous and independent control of active and reactive powers [24]. The VSC technology is used in HVDC systems for both large and medium power system. Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) and Gate Turn Off thyristors (GTOs) are the semiconductor devices used in the VSC based HVDC technology, for medium and high power respectively. In case of high power HVDC system the PWM technology may not be suitable as it increases the switching losses in VSC [5-7]. Therefore, it is not advisable to use PWM control for the high power applications. In view of these factors it is considered proper to operate the converter at low switching frequency. This paper proposes a fundamental frequency switching (FFS) operation of voltage source converter (VSC) based HVDC system. In such
Authors are with the Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India-110016. e-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

I. INTRODUCTION

where Vs is rms grid voltage. Vc is fundamental rms voltage at the primary winding of the converter transformer. XL is interface reactance between the two voltages. is phase angle difference between supply voltage (Vs) and converter voltage (Vc). From eqns (1) and (2), it may be observed that the independent control of active and reactive power can be achieved by controlling both amplitude and phase of ac voltages Vs and Vc. The active power can be controlled by varying the phase angle of the converter voltage and the reactive power is controlled by varying the rms value of the converter voltage. Using single VSC bridge it is difficult to control the converter voltage magnitude with constant dc voltage (Vdc). The value of dc voltage is function of amplitude of the converter voltage (Vcm). The dc link voltage has to be varied for the reactive power control. To overcome this issue, two VSC bridges are used in place of single VSC bridge and are considered as a one unit. Two VSC bridges are separately connected two isolated secondary windings of the transformer. The gating pulses of the two bridges are generated in such a way that the upper bridge voltage (Vc1) is leading to the supply voltage and lower bridge voltage (Vc2) is lagging to the supply voltage. A synthesis of these two voltages (Vc1 and Vc2) gives the converter primary voltage (Vc). By this method the dc voltage is maintained constant and it is independent of magnitude of Vc. Magnitudes of Vc1 and Vc2 are varied without depending upon the dc voltage (Vdc). An angle () is the phase angle between voltages of the secondary windings of the converter transformer (Vc1 or Vc2) as shown in Fig.2. An angle () is the phase angle difference between the supply voltage (Vs) and converter primary voltage (Vc). The angle () is responsible for the reactive control and an angle () is responsible for the active power control. The phasor diagrams of active and reactive power control for VSC based HVDC are shown in Fig 1. These three phasor diagrams are shown with respect to the rectifier station. Fig. 1 (i) shows the condition that when both active and reactive transfer at rectifier station is zero. This is a case when the converter voltage (Vc)

978-1-4244-8542-0/10/$26.00 2010 IEEE

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is in phase with the supply voltage (Vs) and magnitudes are equal. Two converter voltages (Vc1 and Vc2) are equally displaced from supply voltage (Vs) at an angle of (). Similarly Figs. 1 (ii) and (iii) show the conditions when the active power is flowing from the rectifier to an inverter and the reactive power is supplied by the converter station and when the active power is flowing from an inverter to the rectifier and the reactive power is supplied to the converter station. The relation between dc voltage (Vdc) and the converter fundamental rms voltage (Vc) is given as, Vc=(8n6Vdc)cos/ (3) where n is turns ratio of the transformer. It is decided based dc voltage requirement and multipulse VSC operation. In all the cases, the two converter voltages (Vc1, Vc2) maintain the same angle () from converter voltage (Vc), but with respect to the supply voltage the angle varies according to the operating mode.
Fig. 3 Transformer connection for two-level double bridge 24-pulse VSC based HVDC system

(i) (ii) Fig. 1 Phase diagrams for real and reactive powers control

(iii)

III. CIRCUIT CONFIGURATION

Fig. 2 shows the proposed system configuration of 100 MW, 24-pulse two-level double bridge GTO-VSC based HVDC system connected to 33 kV system. Totally 8 bridges are used for one converter station. Combination of two bridges forms the 6-pulse VSC operation. Therefore there are 4 VSC sets used to achieve the 24-pulse VSC operation. Each VSC set is displaced by 15 from each other. These bridges are connected in parallel on the dc side with an energy storing dc capacitor. The ac sides of the all four converters are connected to a delta connected secondary windings.

Accordingly, harmonic voltages of the order 23rd 25th and other higher order harmonics are cancelled in primary windings connected to an ac grid system. All secondary windings are connected in delta configuration and isolated from each other and they are connected to VSC bridges. Primary windings of 1st and 2nd transformers are connected in series and primary windings of 3rd and 4th transformers are connected in delta configuration. These two sets of windings are connected in series configuration. First and third converters form a leading converter and second and fourth converters form the lagging converter.

VI. CONTROL SYSTEM OF VSC BASED HVDC SYSTEM A. DC Voltage Controller

The dc voltage controller is common for both the rectifier and an inverter stations. In this control algorithm, the sensed dc voltage is compared with reference dc voltage and the voltage error is processed in PI (Proportional Integral) controller which gives d-axis reference (id1*, id2*) currents for the rectifier and an inverter stations respectively. The d-axis reference currents id1* and id2* is given as, id1*=(P*/3Vs)+ {Kp1(Vdc*-Vdc) + Ki1(Vdc*-Vdc)dt} (4) (5) id2*=(-P*/3Vs)+ {Kp1(Vdc*-Vdc) + Ki1(Vdc*-Vdc)dt} where P* is the reference active power to be transmitted from one side to another side, Kp1, KIi1 are proportional and integral gain constants, Vs is rms supply voltage, Vdc* is reference dc voltage and Vdc is actual dc voltage. The q-axis reference currents (iq1*, iq2*) for the rectifier and an inverter stations are calculated from the reference reactive power of each station. (6) iq1* = (Q1*/3Vs) (7) iq2* = (Q1*/3Vs) In general, the instantaneous active power, and the reactive power are drawn from the utility grid are expressed as, (8) P = vsd1.id1 + vsq1.iq1 (9) Q = vsd1.iq1 - vsq1.id1 where id1, iq1 are the d-axis and q-axis components of supply currents is1. vsd1, vsq1 are the d- axis and q-axis component of supply voltage (vs) of the rectifier station [10]. The block diagram of dc bus voltage control is shown in Fig. 4a.

Fig. 2 A two-level double bridge 24-pulse VSC based HVDC system

The transformer windings connection used for this 24-pulse VSC is shown in Fig. 3. There eight transformer units are used out of which four are Y- connected and remaining four are - connected. One converter from Y- and one converter from - forms a one 6-pulse converter set as shown in Fig. 3. The winding turns of the -winding (secondary) are made 3 times in the -winding (primary winding) of the other transformer to maintain equal line voltage on the converter side.

Fig. 4a Block diagram of dc bus voltage controller

B. Current Controllers The output of a dc voltage controller is given as an input to the current controller. The d-axis and q-axis reference currents for the rectifier and an inverter stations compared with sensed d-axis and qaxis currents and the current controller generates reference d-axis and q-axis voltages (Vd*, Vq*). The calculation of actual d-axis and qaxis voltages and currents are given by the equation as, vsd1=(2/3)*{vasin(t)+vbsin(t-2/3)+vcsin(t+2/3)} (10) (11) vsq1=(2/3)*{vacos(t)+vbcos(t-2/3)+vccos(t+2/3)} (12) id1=(2/3)*{iasin(t)+ibsin(t-2/3)+icsin(t+2/3)} iq1=(2/3)*{iacos(t)+ibcos(t-2/3)+iccos(t+2/3)} (13) The operation of the inner current controller for rectifier station can be explained by using the following equations. Vd1* = vsd1-(kp2 id1* + ki2 id1* dt) + L1iq1 (14) (15) Vq1*=vsq1-(kp3 iq1* + ki3 iq1*dt) + L1id1 where vsd1, vsq1 are d-q axis components of supply voltage, L1 is ac link reactance of rectifier station.

Fig.4c Control scheme for GTO-VSC-HVDC system

The gate drive logic is designed to produce square pulse of duration of 180. It is synchronized with the supply voltage.

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Fig. 5a shows the dynamic performance of a rectifier station of a 24pulse two-level voltage source converter based HVDC system. It shows the supply voltages (Vabc), supply currents (Iabc), active power (P), reactive power (Q), dc voltage (Vdc) of the rectifier station. In this case, no active power in transferred between two stations and reactive power is controlled from +60 Mvar to -60 Mvar at the rectifier station and zero reactive power is maintained at inverter stations. The dc voltage is maintained at 3 kV. Initially both active and reactive powers are at zero value. At 0.4 s, a reactive power of 60 Mvar absorbed by the converter and at 0.8 s, 60 Mvar is supplied by the converter stations. Fig. 5b shows the dynamic performance of the inverter station during reactive power control carried out at the rectifier station.

Fig. 4b Block diagram of the Current Controller

From these above equations the angles () and () are calculated for rectifier and inverter stations as, -1 * * 1 =tan (vq1 / vd1 ) (16)

1 =tan

-1 -1

2 2 2 2 2 (2vc1) (V q1 )/(V q1 ) d1 +V d1 +V * *

(17) (18) (19)

2 =tan (vq2 / vd2 ) 2 =tan

-1 2 2 2 2 2 (2vc2) (Vd2 +V q2 )/(V q2 ) d2 +V

The calculated angles ( and ) are used to generate the gating signals for the GTO of the VSC bridges. The leading converter set is gated at an angle of (-) and the lagging converter set is gated at an angle of (--) [6-9]. The block of current control is shown in Fig. 4b and overall coordinated control scheme of VSC based HVDC system is shown in Fig. 4c.

Fig. 5a Dynamic performance of a 24-pulse VSC rectifier station.

Fig. 5b Dynamic performance of a 24-pulse VSC inverter station.

Fig. 6a Dynamic performance of a 24-pulse VSC rectifier station during real power control

The variations for angles () and () are also shown in Figs. 5c for the rectifier and the inverter stations. Fig. 6 shows the dynamic performances of rectifier and inverter stations during active power flow control between two stations. In this case, maximum active power of 100 MW is transferred from between the stations in various steps. Initially the active power is zero. At 0.4 s, 50 MW is transferred from rectifier to inverter and at 0.5 s it is increased to 100 MW. At 0.6 s it is suddenly reversed from inverter to rectifier. Fig. 6a shows the dynamic performance of rectifier station during active power control and Fig. 6b shows the inverter station performance. Fig. 7 shows the harmonic spectra and waveform of the converter voltage and supply current. The THD of converter voltage at a rectifier and an inverter stations are observed as 6.69% and 6.06% and the supply current is observed as 1.38% and 2.03%. The THD level of supply current is well within the IEEE standard. The system parameters used for simulation are given in Table-I.

Fig. 6b Dynamic performance of a 24-pulse VSC inverter station during real power control

Fig. 5c Variation of angles () and () values for rectifier and inverter stations for reactive power control

(a)

VI. CONCLUSION
A two level voltage source converter based HVDC system operating at fundamental frequency switching has been proposed for a 24-pulse converter HVDC system and it has been successfully tested for an independent control of active and reactive powers. A control algorithm has been developed for the power flow between the two stations. The converter has been successfully operated in all four quadrants of active and reactive powers with the proposed control. The power quality of the HVDC system has also improved with the 24-pulse converter operation. This type of VSC based HVDC system is expected to enable to transmit very high power for long distance with the advantages of voltage source converter. Artificial intelligence techniques such as particle swarm optimization, neural network can also be used to optimize the controller gains to get more accurate and robust control system.

(b)

VII. REFERENCES
[1] Xiao Wang and Boon-Tech Ooi, High Voltage Direct Current Transmission System Based on Voltage Source Converter, in IEEEPESC90 Record, vol.1, pp.325-332. [2] Michael P. Bahrman, Jan G. Johansson and Bo A. Nilsson, Voltage Source Converter Transmission Technologies-The Right Fit for the Applications, in Proc. of IEEE-PES General Meeting, Toronto, Canada, July-2003, pp.1840-1847. [3] Gunnar Asplund, Kjell Eriksson and kjell Svensson, DC Transmission based on Voltage Source Converters, in Proc. of CIGRE SC14 Colloquium in South Africa 1997, pp.1-7. [4] HVDC Light DC Transmission based on Voltage Source Converter, ABB Review Manual 1998, pp. 4-9. [5] Y. H. Liu R. H. Zhang, J. Arrillaga and N. R. Watson, An Overview of Self-Commutating Converters and their Application in Transmission and Distribution, in Conf. Proc of IEEE/PES T & DConf. & Exhibition, Asia and Pacific Dalian, China 2005, pp.1-7. [6] Tatsuhito Nakajima and Shoichi Irokawa, A Control System for HVDC Transmission by Voltage Sourced Converters, in Proc. of PES Summer Meeting, vol.2, 1999, pp. 11131119. [7] Makoto Hagiwara and Hirofumi Akagi, An Approach to Regulating the DC-Link Voltage of a Voltage Source BTB system during power flow line faults, IEEE Trans. on Industry Applications, vol.41, no.5, pp.12631271, Sep/Oct. 2005. [8] Hirokazu Suzuki, Tatsuhito Nakajima, Kunikazu Mino, Sigeyuki Sugimoto, Yoshiaki Mino and Hideyuki Abe. Development and Testing of Prototype Models for a High-Performance 300 MW Self-Commutated AC/DC Converter, IEEE Trans.on Power Delivery, vol.12, no.4, pp.1589-1601, Oct. 1997. [9] Makoto Hagiwara, Hideaki Fujita and H. Akagi, Performance of a SelfCommutated BTB HVDC Link System under a Single-Line to-Ground Fault Condition, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol.18, no.1, pp.278-285, Jan. 2003. [10] Ruihua, Song Chao, Zheng Ruomei, Li, Xizoxin and Zhou, VSC based HVDC and its control Strategy, in. Proc. IEEE/PES T& D Conf. Exhibition: Asia and Pacific, China, pp.1-6, 15-18, Aug. 2005.

(c)

(d)
Fig. 7 Waveform and Harmonic Spectra of a) converter voltage b) supply current of rectifier station TABLE- I SYSTEM PARAMETERS OF TWO-LEVEL DOUBLE BRIDGE 24-PULSE VSC BASED HVDC SYSTEM Design Parameters Rated active power P Line-to-line supply voltage Vs Frequency f1/f2 ac inductance L1/L2 dc link voltage Vdc dc link capacitance Cdc Transformation ratio n dc voltage controller gain(Kp1, Ki1) current controller gain (Kp2, Ki2) current controller gain(Kp3, Ki3) Design Values 100 MW 33 kV 50 Hz/ 60 Hz 6.9 mH /5.7 mH 3 kV 0.125 F 0.5 0.1, 0.15 1.66, 3.33 0.824, 15.82