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 Classic

filter
0,13

1,0 Id
converter
unbalance
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
•Thereactive 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

0.8

0.6 3
1: qexchng
0.4
2
2: qdc
3: qf
q (=Q/PdN)

0.2
4: qac(limit)
0
1
-0.2
4
-0.4

-0.6

-0.8
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20
p (pu)
Main components of a converter station
Converter station Transmission Converter
line or cable station

Smoothing
reactor
Converter

AC bus

DC filter

Shunt
capacitors AC filters
or other
reactive
equipment 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
Y Y
i1 + i2

Y D
i2

T/4 T/2 3T/4

i1
Phase
current
i2

i1 + i2

[%]
In
I1 10
5
5 7 11 13 17 19 2 3 25
n

[%] §Neglecting the commutating reactance

S In
i1 + i2 5
11 13 23 25
n §Rectangular pulses
 Harmonic generation
Characteristic Harmonic currents on AC side of a
converter
2⋅ 3 1 1 1
Y-Y 6-pulse: i1 = I d (cos ωt − cos5ωt + cos7ωt − cos11ωt + L)
π 5 7 11

2⋅ 3 1 1 1
Y-? 6-pulse: i2 = I d (cosωt + cos5ωt − cos 7ωt − cos11ωt + L)
π 5 7 11

4⋅ 3 1 1 1
12-pulse: i1 + i2 = I d (cosωt − cos11ωt + cos13ωt − cos 23ωt + L)
π 11 13 23

Id: d.c. current

2⋅ 6
The fundamental current I1 = Id
π
I1 n = 11, 13, 23, 25L
The n:th harmonic In =
n
© ABB Group
Slide 13
09MP0163
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
120
Amps

13
100
23

80
35

60

40

20

Direct current (A)

Characteristic Harmonic currents on the AC side of a converter

Ø 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
Ø The characteristic harmonics will decrease with
increasing commutation reactance
Current Pulses with Overlap
Imperfections of the converter

Ø 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
Ø There is always some difference in the transformer
reactance of each phase due to manufacturing tolerances
Ø The phase voltages are not exactly symmetrical, for
example contain a small negative sequence component
Ø 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 DC-side

harmonics harmonics
AC system
rd nd
Negative sequence 3 2
th th th th th
5 and 7 distortion (5 , 7 ) 6

Transformer reactance
th th th
Difference between Y/Y and Y/D 5 ,7 6
Difference between phases odd even

Firing asymmetry All All

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

25

20

3
5
15 9
15
Amps

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

Ø The magnitude of non-characteristic harmonics is small

comparing to the characteristic harmonics
Ø Most of them have a minor influence on the total
harmonic distortion and filter design
Ø 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 ) 1§48 2etc 2
= C + D − 2CD cos( 2α + u )
U dio 2

cos((n + 1) ⋅ u / 2)
C=
n +1
cos(( n − 1) ⋅ u / 2)
D=
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? Q

§ To compensate the reactive power 0,5 Classic

consumption of the converter (classic)

filter
0,13

1,0
converter Id
unbalance
§ 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

© ABB Group
Slide 26
09MP0163
AC Filter capacitors
Performance requirements
Ø 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
Ø 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
Ø The requirements related to the a.c. bus voltage are commonly
used disturbance criteria:
Ø Individual harmonic voltage distortion Dn
Ø Total harmonic voltage distortion THD
Ø Telephone interference factor TIF (B.T.S. - EEI)
Ø 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 AC network impedance

C1

L1
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 (CIGRÉ WG 14.30)

Zmax
X
2
UL
Zmin = ⋅ n
Smax s.c.
Zmin
2
φmax UL
R Zmax = ⋅n
φmin Smin s.c.
§UL = 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

§n = harmonic number
ϕ =0- 80° el for n < 5
ϕ = ±75° el for 5≤ n<11
ϕ = ±70° el for 11≤ n ≤50
Circle limits for the AC network impedance

ius
Rad
φmax
R
Rmin

φmin
AC filter types

• Single-tuned filter
• High-pass filter
• Double-tuned filter
• C-type filter
Single-tuned bandpass filter
4
1 10
C
1

Impedance (ohms)
3
Q 1 1 10
C1 = (1 − )
L1 2 πf1U 2
n 2

100
1
L1 =
R
1 ( 2 πf1n ) 2 C 1 10
R1 = 2πf1n ⋅ L1 / q
1
0 10 20 30
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
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
variation (detuning) ω0L
q=
R
High-pass filter, HP24
4
1 10

Impedance (ohms)
3
C Q 1 1 10
1 C1 = (1 − )
2 πf1U 2 n2
1
L R L1 = 100
1 1
( 2 πf1n ) 2 C1

R1 = 2πf1n ⋅ L1 ⋅ q
10
0 20 40 60
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
Double-tuned filter, 11/13
3
C
1 10
1

Impedance (ohms)
L1 100

C L R
2 2 2 10

1
5 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
3
1 10

C1

Impedance (ohms)
L1 R1
100

C2 L2 R2

10
20 40 60
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
C-type filter
1
(1 − 1 . 10
4
Q 2
)
C1 = ⋅ n
C1

Impedance (ohms)
2πf1U 2 (1 − 1 − 1 )
na2 nb2
1
L = 1 . 10
3
C2 ( 2 πf1na ) 2 C1
R C2 =
1
( 2πf1nb ) 2 L
L 100
0 5 10 15 20
L
R= ⋅q Harmonic number
C1

§ ‘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
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 Bus

§C §C
§1 §1

§L §L
§1 §1

§C §L §C §L
§2 §2 §2 §2

§ Neutral Bus

§ Cnb

n The large smoothing reactor plays a major role in mitigating harmonic

current flow
n DC filter tuned to characteristic harmonics connected on the line side
of the smoothing reactor, between pole and neutral bus
n 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
Pole bus 1 10
C
1 4
1 10

Impedance (ohms)
3
L
1 1 10

100
C L R
2 2 2
10

Neutral bus 0.1

0 10 20 30
Harmonic number
Triple-tuned filter
Pole Bus

1 .10
4

C1
1 .10
3

Impedance (ohms)
R1
L1
F1 100

10
C2
L2
F2

R2 1
10 20 30 40 50
Harmonic order
L3 C3
F3

§Maximum use of high-voltage

capacitor unit size
§Tuned to 3 harmonics for stringent
Neutral Bus Ieq requirement
Modeling of DC side for harmonic calculation,bipolar
§Ldc
§PT

§L3p
§C6p §DC Filter §DC Filter

§2L3p
§PT: Pole Line Transmission

§C6p §ETL: Electrode Line Transmission,

§ETZ: Electrode Line Transmission

§L3p

§Cnb

§ETL §ETZ

§Re

§DC Filter §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