Power Systems HVDC / Dipti Khare

Reactive Power Compensation and

Harmonic Filters for HVDC Classic
ABB Group
Slide 1
09MR0163

CONTENTS

Reactive Power Requirement

Harmonic Generation

Harmonic Control

AC Filters
DC Filters

Reactive Power Requirement

Reactive Power Requirement

HVDC

converters absorb reactive power, approximately 50% to 60% of their

active power.
Harmonic

filters are installed on the AC side for filtering the AC current and for
generation of reactive power.
The

reactive power absorption of a converter increases with the transmitted

active power. Also the need for filtering of harmonics is increased.
The

need for reactive power grows slowly at low power, and more pronounced
at high power, whereas the filter needs behave in the opposite fashion.
The

reactive power compensation scheme has to take care of the unbalances

for the AC system requirement, by switching of filters
Q
0,5

0,13

Classic

filter

converter
unbalance

1,0

Id

Purpose of the Reactive Power Control

The purpose of the Reactive Power Control (RPC) is to

control the properties in the AC network that are connected
to the converter station. The RPC will also make sure that
the required filters are connected to prevent excessive
harmonics that may enter into the AC system.

These tasks are performed by switching of the filter banks.

Reactive Power Control

The

reactive power balance of each side of the HVDC transmission will

normally be performed by reactive power controller (RPC).
Each

RPC is located in the pole control level and operates independently

from the RPC in the other end of the HVDC transmission.
Switching

of filter banks or sub-banks is ordered by the RPC or by

protections.
Switching

priority restrictions are determined by limits in the reactive power

compensation study for the different control modes.

Selection of AC filter configurations due to reactive power

requirements

The a.c. filters, PLC-filters and shunt capacitor banks

generate reactive power to compensate the reactive
power consumption by the converter

The consumption of reactive power varies linearly with

the active power, but the generation can only be
changed in steps by switching in or out of filter banks.
Therefore there will be a net interchange of reactive
power with the network

Maximum size of the filter bank may also be influenced by

the permitted voltage step size at the switching of a bank

Reactive power for typical AC filter switching sequence

q (=Q/PdN)

0.8
0.6

0.4

1: qexchng
2: qdc
3: qf
4: qac(limit)

0.2
0

-0.2

-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

p (pu)

0.80

1.00

1.20

Main components of a converter station

Transmission Converter
line or cable station

Converter station

Smoothing
reactor
Converter

AC bus

DC filter

Shunt
capacitors
or other
reactive
equipment

AC filters
Telecommunication
Control
system

~~

Harmonic Generation

Characteristic Harmonic currents on the AC side of a converter

Idealized converter

The supply (AC) voltage is exactly symmetrical

The direct current is perfectly constant without ripple (Infinite
smoothing reactor).
The firing angles of each phase are perfectly equal
The commutation impedances are equal in the three phases

Characteristic Harmonic currents on the AC side of a converter

i1
i1

i2

T/4

i1

i2

T/2 3T/4

Phase
current
i2

i1 +

i2

[%]

In
I1

10
5
5

11 13

17 19

2 3 25

i2

Neglecting

[%]

In

i1 +

5
11 13

23 25

the commutating reactance

n Rectangular

pulses

Harmonic generation
Characteristic Harmonic currents on AC side of a
converter
Y-Y 6-pulse: i1 =

2 3
1
1
1
I d (cos t cos5t + cos7t cos11t + L)

5
7
11

Y-? 6-pulse: i2 =

2 3
1
1
1
I d (cost + cos5t cos 7t cos11t + L)

5
7
11

12-pulse:

i1 + i2 =

4 3
1
1
1
I d (cost cos11t + cos13t cos 23t + L)

11
13
23

Id: d.c. current

The fundamental current
The n:th harmonic

ABB Group
Slide 13
09MP0163

In =

2 6
I1 =
Id

I1
n

n = 11, 13, 23, 25L

Characteristic AC-side harmonics

n

= 12k ? 1

k = 1, 2, 3, ...

11

13

23

25

35

37

47

49
In = Kn * I 1/n
In

= harmonic current

Kn=

reduction factor due to

overlap
I1

= fundamental AC current

Characteristic converter ac harmonic currents

Converter ac harmonic currents as a function of direct current (Id nom
= 1500 A)
200
180
160
140
11

Amps

120
13

100
23

80

35

60
40
20
0

Direct current (A)

Characteristic Harmonic currents on the AC side of a converter

The inductive reactance of converter transformers

gives a gradual transfer of current from one phase to
another and so rounds the steps of the current
waveforms

The characteristic harmonics will decrease with

increasing commutation reactance

Current Pulses with Overlap

Imperfections of the converter

The odd 6-pulse harmonics that are supposed to cancel

perfectly in a 12-pulse converter, may not do so because
of some small difference in the reactance or in turn ratio
between the wye-wye and wye-delta connected
transformers

There is always some difference in the transformer

reactance of each phase due to manufacturing tolerances

The phase voltages are not exactly symmetrical, for

example contain a small negative sequence component

There may be a spread in the firing angles for the

different valves due to imperfections in the control
system

Non-characteristic harmonics

Imperfections

AC-side
harmonics

DC-side
harmonics

AC system
Negative sequence
th
th
5 and 7 distortion

3
th
th
(5 , 7 )

Transformer reactance
Difference between Y/Y and Y/D
Difference between phases

5 ,7
odd

6
even

Firing asymmetry

All

All

rd

th

th

nd

2
th
6

th

Converter ac harmonic currents as a function of direct current (Id nom = 1500 A) - non-characteristic
harmonics
25

20
3
5

15

Amps

15

10

0
100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Direct current (A)

Impact of Non-characteristic harmonics on a.c. side

The magnitude of non-characteristic harmonics is small

comparing to the characteristic harmonics

Most of them have a minor influence on the total

harmonic distortion and filter design

However,if the short circuit impedance of the AC

network is high, it could result in high distortion of the
lower order non-characteristic harmonics(orders 2-7) on
a.c. bus voltage due to parallel resonance between the
network and filter banks

Characteristic DC side harmonics 12-pulse

n=12k k=1, 2, 3, ...
12
24
36

U d (n )
148 2etc 2
=
C + D 2CD cos( 2 + u )
U dio
2
C=

cos((n + 1) u / 2)
n +1

D=

cos(( n 1) u / 2)
n 1

The characteristic harmonic voltage across a converter as a

function of overlap angle u at firing angle of 15 deg.

The characteristic harmonic voltage across a converter as a

function of overlap angle u at firing angle of 15 deg.

As the overlap increases from a very low value at

minimum current to a value in the range 15 25
o at nominal current, it can be seen for the 12th
harmonic that the harmonic generation is high at
low load operation, then decreases to a minimum
before rising again to a value eventually greater
than that at low-load operation
For higher order harmonics, the maximum
generation does not occur at full load. There are
several local maxima, progressively increasing in
peak magnitude, within the feasible range of
overlap angle

Harmonic Control

Why do we need filters?

To compensate the reactive power
consumption of the converter (classic)

Q
0,5

0,13

Classic

filter

converter
unbalance

ABB Group
Slide 26
09MP0163

To clean up the harmonics that are generated

from the converter. These may otherwise
cause

Increased losses / overload of system equipment

Telephone disturbances

Source of misbehavior of control equipment

1,0

Id

AC Filter capacitors

Performance requirements

The basic requirement for the design of a.c. filter is a set of

interference disturbance criteria valid for the voltage of converter
a.c. bus or in special cases for the currents in the outgoing a.c.
lines

It is difficult to specify limits on disturbing current (requiring very

precise knowledge about the impedance of the a.c. network at all
harmonics of interest) even though it would seem justified to
specify limits on the disturbing currents in the outgoing a.c. lines

The requirements related to the a.c. bus voltage are commonly

used disturbance criteria:

Individual harmonic voltage distortion Dn

Total harmonic voltage distortion THD

Telephone interference factor TIF (B.T.S. - EEI)

Telephone harmonic form factor THFF (CCITT) (never used with TIF
simultaneously)

Requirement specification

Voltage distortion

Specified limits on Dn are in the range of

0.5% to 1.5% (most typically 1%)

Specified limits on THD are in the range of

1% to 4%

Telephone interference

Specified limits on TIF are typically between

30 and 50

Required limit of THFF is typically 1%

Equivalent circuit for AC filter calculations

Converter harmonic
current generation

AC filters
C1
L1

AC network impedance

Network Impedance

Network harmonic impedance is of critical

importance to the design of the AC filters

The a.c. network harmonic impedance varies

with varying network conditions.

It is customary to present limit curves

(impedance envelope diagrams) for the
network impedance in an R-X plane; make
filter design manageable and easier

Network harmonic impedance sector diagram

Network harmonic impedance circle diagram

Sector limits for the AC network impedance (CIGR WG 14.30)

Zmax

Zmin =

UL

Zmin
max

Smax s.c.
2

Zmax =

min

UL

=0- 80 el for n < 5

= 75 el for 5 n<11
= 70 el for 11 n 50

UL
Smin s.c.

= line to line AC network voltage

Smax s.c.

= a.c.network maximum short-circuit capacity

Smin s.c.

= a.c.network minimum short-circuit capacity

= harmonic number

Circle limits for the AC network impedance

max

Rad
ius

R
Rmin
min

AC filter types

Single-tuned filter

High-pass filter

Double-tuned filter

C-type filter

Single-tuned bandpass filter

4
1 10

L1

R
1

Q
1
C1 =
(
1

)
2
2
2 f1U
n

L1 =

1
( 2 f1n ) 2 C 1

R1 = 2f1n L1 / q

Impedance (ohms)

C
1

3
1 10
100
10
1

10

20

Harmonic number

Very low impedance in resonance frequency

Efficient filtering in a narrow frequency band

Single-tuned filter normally used for the largest harmonics,

11th and 13th

30

Quality Factor

The Quality factor is a measurement of the sharpness of

a filter

Q-value normally lie in the range between 40 and 90 for

tuned filter branchs

High Q-value filter is sensitive with the frequency

0L
variation (detuning)

q=

High-pass filter, HP24

C
1

L
1

R
1

Q
1
C1 =
(
1

)
2 f1U 2
n2
1
L1 =
( 2 f1n ) 2 C1

Impedance (ohms)

4
1 10
3
1 10

100

R1 = 2f1n L1 q
10

20

40

Harmonic number

Broadband filter to take care of all harmonics from the 23rd and
upwards, tuned to near the 24th harmonics

Q-value of the filter branch normally lie within the range of 2-10

This type filter can be designed with high Q-values for 11th and
13th with lower fundamental losses, but the parallel connected
resistor is more expensive

60

Double-tuned filter, 11/13

C
1

L1

C
2

L
2

R
2

Impedance (ohms)

3
1 10

100

10

10

15

Harmonic number

Commonly used in modern HVDC station

At high system voltage the larger main capacitor is easier to optimize

to a lower cost/kvar

lower reactive power generation in the filter branch to fullfil the

requirement under lower power transmission

Each switched filter attenuates two harmonics to reduce filter branch

types and facilitate filter redundancy

Double-tuned high pass filter

C1
R1

L1
C2

L2

R2

Impedance (ohms)

3
1 10

100

10

20

40
Harmonic number

Tuned to 12th and 24th with relatively low resistive impedance

for higher order harmonics; The efficiency of filtering at
characteristic harmonics is not high,but it does cover the
whole spectrum of interest with only one branch

Tuned to 24th and 36th with a lower resistive impedance for

higher frequencies for stringent requirement on TIF or THFF

60

C-type filter
1
)
2
Q
n
C1 =

2f1U 2 (1 1 1 )
na2 nb2
1
L =
( 2 f1na ) 2 C1
1
C2 =
( 2f1nb ) 2 L

1 . 10

(1

C2
R
L

R=

L
q
C1

Impedance (ohms)

C1

1 . 10

100

5
10
15
Harmonic number

Low-order high-pass filter for 3rd,5th,7th harmonic filtering

The lower L-C is series resonant at the fundamental

frequency and so bypassed the resistor to greatly reduce the
filter losses

20

DC harmonic filter capacitor

Cancellation of harmonic currents between poles

Harmonic current - pole 1

Harmonic current - pole 2

In a balanced bipolar operation, the harmonic currents

in the two pole conductors will partially cancel

lower level of disturbing current of bipolar operation

than of monopolar ground return operation

Typical DC filter arrangement

Ldc
Pole

C
2

C
1

C
1

L
1

L
1

L
2

C
2

Bus

L
2

Neutral

Bus

Cnb

The large smoothing reactor plays a major role in mitigating harmonic

current flow

DC filter tuned to characteristic harmonics connected on the line side

of the smoothing reactor, between pole and neutral bus

Neutral bus capacitor providing a return pass for the harmonic current
through stray capacitances in the converter transformers to ground

DC filters
The filter types used on the d.c. side are essentially the same
as those used on the a.c. side
Double-tuned 12/24 filter
Triple-tuned 12/24/36 filter
Hybrid passive plus active filter

Double-tuned 12/24 filter

5
1 10

Pole bus

L
1

C
2

L
2

R
2

Impedance (ohms)

C
1

4
1 10
3
1 10
100
10
1

Neutral bus

0.1

10

20

Harmonic number

30

Triple-tuned filter
Pole Bus

Impedance (ohms)

C1

R1
F1

L1

1 .10

1 .10

100

10
C2
L2
F2
R2

F3

L3

Neutral Bus

10

20
30
Harmonic order

40

50

C3

Maximum use of high-voltage

capacitor unit size
Tuned to 3 harmonics for stringent
Ieq requirement

Modeling of DC side for harmonic calculation,bipolar

Ldc
L3p

PT

DC

Filter

DC

Filter

DC

Filter

2L3p

C6p

Pole Line Transmission

ETL: Electrode Line Transmission,

ETZ: Electrode Line Transmission

Cnb

C6p
L3p

PT:

ETZ

Re

ETL

DC

Filter

3GG Jingzhou station

AC-filters
DC-filters

Harmonics and Filter

in Line Commutated
Converter (HVDC
Classical)

ABB Group
Slide 48
09MP0163

www.abb.com/hvdc