This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been
fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/JESTPE.2021.3058154, IEEE Journal
of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 1
An Accelerated Distance Protection of
Transmission Lines Emanating from
MMC-HVDC Stations
Yingyu Liang, Member, IEEE, Yaotong Huo, and Feng Zhao
Abstract—Compared with synchronous generators, modular
multilevel converter-based high voltage direct current
(MMC-HVDC) stations have unique fault behaviors, potentially
impeding the correct operations of distance relays of lines
connecting MMC-HVDC stations. To minimize the adverse effect
caused by the fault resistance and MMC-HVDC stations, a new
zone 1 protection criterion based on projected reference
impedance is presented. According to the polarity of direction
factor and the amplitude comparison of projected reference and
measured impedances, the internal and external faults can be
accurately distinguished. To shorten the response time of distance
relays for the faults occurring in transmission lines emanating
from MMC-HVDC stations, especially for the faults in the
protection deadzone of zone 1, an accelerated distance protection
based on the new zone 1 protection criterion is presented,
ensuring that distance relays at two ends can clear the internal
faults at high speed. Furthermore, the proposed protection
scheme remains unaffected by fault resistance and operates well
under different fault locations. The performance of proposed
scheme is assessed by more than 2100 digital simulations.
Index Terms—Accelerated distance protection, MMC-HVDC
station, projected reference impedance, a new zone 1 protection
criterion, response time
I. INTRODUCTION
C OMPARED with two- or three-level voltage source
converters, modular multilevel converters (MMCs) offer
advantages such as modularity, scalability, low switching loss,
and high current quality [1]–[3]. Consequently, MMCs have
become the foremost choice for high-voltage direct current
(HVDC) transmission systems. Benefiting from the advantages
of MMCs, modular multilevel converter-based high voltage
direct current (MMC-HVDC) projects are increasingly being
implemented worldwide. Majority MMC-HVDC stations are
connected to high-voltage transmission lines, in which distance
protection is widely applied [4]. However, MMC-HVDC
This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China under Grant 51707193, in part by the Yue Qi Young Scholar Project of
China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), and in part by the
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant
2020YQJD01. (Corresponding author: Yingyu Liang.)
Y. Liang, Y. Huo, and F. Zhao are with School of Mechanical Electronic and
Information Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology
(Beijing) , Beijing 100083, China (e-mail: liangyingyu2013@163.com ;
huoyaotong2018@163.com; 894988702@qq.com)
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stations exhibit unique fault behaviors that may impede the
correct operation of distance relays. Incorrect operation of
distance relays adversely affects the stability of the power
system, potentially causing a big power outage. Because the
amplitude of MMC’s fault current is limited and its phase angle
is controllable, the amplitude of additional impedance is large,
particularly for ungrounded faults. Furthermore, the phase
angle of additional impedance has a wide range. Consequently,
conventional distance protection has a high risk of
misidentifying internal and external faults, causing undesirable
operation of distance relay. The integration of MMC-HVDC
system brings severe challenge to the performance of distance
protection. This study proposes an accelerated distance
protection scheme. The proposed distance protection scheme
ensures that the distance relay can clear any fault in the whole
line with high-speed, despite the integration of MMC-HVDC
stations.
Owing to adverse effect of fault resistance, distance relay
may incur underreach or overreach problem. To minimize
adverse effect caused by fault resistance, some novel protection
schemes, such as fault-impedance-estimation-algorithm-based
distance relaying schemes [5]–[7], adaptive distance relaying
schemes [8]–[9], line protection schemes that use voltage phase
comparison [10], and distance protection schemes based on
improved virtual measured voltage [11], have been proposed.
However, these schemes were designed for transmission lines
connected to synchronous sources at both ends, and significant
differences in fault behaviors between conventional
synchronous sources and MMC-HVDC stations were not
considered therein.
Chang and Hu et al. [12]-[14] studied the fault current
behaviors of DFIG in multi time scales during LVRT and
analyzed impact of DFIG-based wind turbine’s fault current on
distance relay during symmetrical faults. Furthermore, distance
relaying schemes that are designed for transmission lines
connected to DFIG-based wind farm have been well studied
and reported in [15]–[18]. However, owing to different
topologies and control strategies, the fault behaviors of
DFIG-based wind farms significantly differ from those of
MMC-HVDC stations, particularly when the crowbar of DFIG
is put into operation. In contrast, inverter-interfaced renewable
energy power plants (IIREPPs) and MMC-HVDC stations
exhibit similar fault behaviors; therefore, existing research
results on IIREPPs can be also used for MMC-HVDC stations.
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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 2
As reported in [19]–[20], IIREPPs can further aggravate the
adverse effects of fault resistance, significantly increasing the
risk of incorrect operation of the distance relay. Fang et al. [20]
proposed an improved scheme based on delay and
zero-sequence impedance to solve this problem. According to
that protection scheme, the distance relay on the IIREPP-side
should not be put into use until the main grid system is isolated.
However, this distance relay may operate with a delay of 300
ms, even in the case of internal faults. Alam et al. [21]–[22],
Tang et al. [23], and Brantl [24] studied the performance
problem of distance relays of transmission lines emanating
from voltage-source-converter- based HVDC stations; however,
the corresponding solution was not mentioned in those studies.
Xue et al. [25] analyzed the effects of VSC-HVDC stations on
conventional distance protection and presented a novel
protection principle for lines emanating from VSC-HVDC
stations. The ratio between phase currents and the ratio between
negative-sequence currents flowing through both sides are
utilized to distinguish between internal and external faults.
Nevertheless, when negative-sequence current is injected by
VSC-HVDC station and fault resistance is large, the proposed
scheme may have a poor sensitivity or even malfunction. In
addition to distance protection, high-voltage transmission lines
are also equipped with current differential protection. However,
the unique fault current behaviors of MMC-HVDC stations
may cause low sensitivity and even poor dependability of
current differential protection [26]–[28]. Therefore, it is
necessary to present a distance protection scheme that is
applicable to the transmission lines connected to MMC-HVDC
stations.
In this paper, an accelerated distance protection of
transmission lines emanating from MMC-HVDC stations is
presented. To fulfill the quickness requirement of relaying
protection for transmission lines, a communication system is
required for accelerated distance protection to transmit and
receive binary logic signals. High voltage transmission lines are
generally equipped with a fiber-optic or power line carrier
communication system [29]. For example, all transmission
lines are well equipped with a communication system in the
State Grid Corporation of China, wherein the fiber optic
communication channel accounts for 95.33% as of 2018 [30].
Therefore, the requirement of a communication system for the
proposed distance protection scheme will not increase the extra
investment.
The main contributions of this paper are as follows: (1)
Considering that the additional impedance may fall into any of
the four quadrants, a new zone 1 protection criterion is
presented to correctly discriminate between internal and
external faults, unaffected by MMC’s unique fault behaviors
and the location of additional impedance. (2) The solution of
solving the phase angle of fault current during symmetrical
faults is presented, which offers satisfactory robustness against
the variation of short-circuit ratio (SCR). Moreover, the
differences in effects of strong system, weak-infeed system and
MMC-HVDC station on distance protection are analyzed.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section II,
the performance problem of conventional distance protection is
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described in the case of the integration of MMC-HVDC
stations. To eliminate the adverse effect caused by the fault
resistance and MMC-HVDC station, a new zone 1 protection
criterion that can correctly distinguish the internal and external
faults, is presented in Section III. Additionally, based on this
new zone 1 protection criterion, an accelerated distance
protection scheme is presented to shorten the response time of
distance relays. In Section IV, The performance of the proposed
scheme is evaluated. Finally, conclusions are drawn in Section
V.
II. FAULT BEHAVIORS OF MMC-HVDC STATIONS AND
PROBLEM STATEMENT
A. Fault Behaviors of MMC-HVDC Stations
Fig. 1 displays a schematic diagram of a transmission line
emanating from an MMC-HVDC station. The length of line
1–2 is 150 km. The positive- and zero-sequence impedance
parameters of the 500 kV line 1–2, are ZL1 = ZL2 = 0.01839 +
j0.263 Ω/km and ZL0 = 0.1417 + j0.6027 Ω/km, respectively.
The positive- and zero-sequence susceptance parameters of line
1–2 are 500.1314 and 800.5217 MΩ*m, respectively. The rated
capacity of MMC is 1000 MW and the dc voltage is 700 kV.
The parameters of the main transformer are as follows: S =
1100 MVA; the rated transformation ratio is 525/375 kV; XT =
0.14 pu; and RT = 0.032 pu. The parameters of the equivalent
power grid are ZS1 = 0.6278 + j8.9781 Ω, ZS0 = 3.3743 +
j14.6156 Ω, and ES = 525∠0°.
Strong system
EG ZG S1
weak-infeed system Protected zone Protection deadzone Grid
ER ZR S2
SW ZS ES
RMMC Transmission line
RG
1 F1 F2 2
MMC
transformer
DC
side S3
MMC-HVDC station
Fig. 1. Topology of a transmission line emanating from an MMC-HVDC
station or synchronous sources.
Owing to the vulnerability of semiconductor devices and
good controllability of converter, MMC-HVDC stations exhibit
significant differences with synchronous source in fault current
behaviors, as shown in Fig.2.
The behaviors of fault current on MMC-side depend on
MMC-HVDC stations, whereas the behaviors of fault current
on grid-side mainly depend on synchronous source. Compared
with synchronous source, the exclusive fault current behaviors
of MMC-HVDC stations are as follows:
1) Owing to the poor overcurrent capacity of semiconductor
devices, output fault current of MMC is generally limited to
1.1-1.5 times of the rated current. Therefore, the MMC exhibits
weak-infeed characteristic for positive-sequence current.
However, the positive-sequence fault current of synchronous
source is much greater than the rated current.
2) According to the requirements of grid codes in most
countries, the negative-sequence current of MMC during
asymmetrical short-circuit faults is eliminated and its amplitude
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> 3
is close to 0. However, there are also some new grid codes
emerging, which demand a dedicated negative-sequence
current injection [31]-[34]. Even so, due to the limitation of the
overcurrent capacity of semiconductor devices, the injected
negative-sequence current of MMC is much less than that of
synchronous source in most cases. Therefore, the MMC also
exhibits weak-infeed characteristic for negative-sequence
current.
3) The phase angle of MMC’s fault current is affected by
control strategy, active and reactive power references, and fault
condition, as illustrated in [35]. It has a wide range.
It is worth mentioning that zero-sequence current is not
affected by control system of MMC, since transformer of
MMC-HVDC is in Ygd connection. Therefore, the
zero-sequence current is not discussed.
2 example, the following case studies are used to illustrate the
1
Current(kA)
1.5
0
-1
0.5
-2
1.9 1.95 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
Time(s)
(a)
8 Amplitude of negative-
20
6
10
Current(kA)
0 4
-10
2 Amplitude of positive-
-20
0
1.9 1.95 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 1.9
Time(s)
(b)
Fig. 2. Current waveforms during a phase-A-to-phase-B fault. (a) Fault current
on MMC-side. (b) Fault current on grid-side.
As explained in [35], the integration of MMC-HVDC
stations further deteriorate the performance of distance relay on
MMC-side, causing distance relay a high risk of misidentifying
internal and external faults.
Compared with synchronous source, the integration of
MMC-HVDC system brings some challenges for design of the
new zone 1 protection criterion:
1) For the transmission line emanating from SGs, the
additional impedance Zad is in the first or fourth quadrant.
However, in the case of the integration of MMC-HVDC system,
the phase angle of Zad may vary from 0°to 360°theoretically.
The additional impedance Zad may fall into any of the four
quadrants, which should be considered when designing new
zone 1 protection criterion. This is the first challenge.
2) Owing to the unique fault behaviors of MMC-HVDC
stations, the existing methods for solving phase angle of fault
current are not applicable to the lines connected to
MMC-HVDC stations [35]. However, phase angle of fault
current is the key to eliminate the adverse effects caused by
fault resistance and MMC-HVDC stations. Although [35]
provided the method of solving phase angle of fault current
during asymmetrical faults, the solution to solve phase angle of
fault current during symmetrical faults is not provided. This is
the second challenge.
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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
B. Problem Statement
There are two distance relays in transmission line, that is,
RMMC on the MMC-side and RG on the grid-side. Zone 1 of a
distance relay is set to protect 80%–90% of the protected line.
Take RMMC as an example. As shown in Fig. 1, the line segment
that is protected by zone 1 is called the protection zone,
whereas the line segment that is not protected by zone 1 is
called the protection deadzone in this paper.
As shown in Fig. 1, the switch SW is used to choose a strong
system, weak-infeed system or an MMC-HVDC station to
connect with bus 1. For strong system, ZG1 = 0.6278 + j8.9781
Ω, ZG0 = 3.3743 + j14.6156 Ω; for weak-infeed system, ZR1 =
10 ZG1, ZR0 = 10ZG0.
The reach settings of RMMC’s zone 1 and zone 2 are 80% and
120% of line 1–2, respectively. Considering RMMC as an
2 Amplitude of positive-
sequence component performance problems of distance protection.
Case 1: A phase-A-to-ground fault occurs at 50% of line 1–2
1
Amplitude of negative-
sequence component
from bus 1 with a fault resistance of 15 Ω. (internal fault for
RMMC’s zone 1)
0
1.9 1.95 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 Case 2: A phase-A-to-ground fault occurs at 90% of line 1–2
Time(s)
from bus 1 with a fault resistance of 2 Ω. (internal fault for
RMMC’s zone 2)
sequence component Case 3: A phase-B-to-phase C fault occurs at the bus 2 with a
fault resistance of 1 Ω. (external fault for RMMC’s zone 1 and
internal fault for RMMC’s zone 2)
As shown in Fig. 3(a), the impedance measured by RMMC lies
sequence component
within zone 2 in the case of a strong system connecting with bus
1.95 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
Time(s) 1, whereas the impedance measured by RMMC is outside zones 1
and 2 regardless of an MMC-HVDC station or a weak-infeed
system connecting with bus 1, causing RMMC to malfunction.
Compared with strong systems, MMC-HVDC stations and
weak-infeed systems obviously exert more negative influence
on distance protection. This is mainly caused by weak-infeed
characteristics of MMC-HVDC stations and weak-infeed
systems.
As shown in Fig. 3(b), all the impedances measured by RMMC
lie within zone 2, and the fault in case 2 can be cleared by RMMC
with a delay of several hundred milliseconds, i.e., zone 2
operating time. In this case, MMC-HVDC stations and
synchronous sources exhibit similar influence on distance
protection. This is because the output current of MMC is much
less than zero-sequence current, and unique fault behaviors of
MMC are greatly weakened by zero-sequence component. The
detailed explanation can be found in [35].
As shown in Fig. 3(c), the measured impedances fall
correctly into zone 2 in the cases of a strong system and
weak-infeed system connecting with bus 1. However, the
measured impedance enters into zone 1 in the case of an
MMC-HVDC station connecting with bus 1. As a result, the
external fault occurring at bus 2 is misidentified as an internal
fault in the presence of an MMC-HVDC station, causing
unwanted operation of RMMC. In this case, due to the absence of
zero-sequence current (ungrounded fault), the behaviors of
measured current completely depend on fault current behaviors
of MMC. The behaviors of fault current directly affect the
characteristic of additional impedance [35]. The phase angles
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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 4

of additional impedances in the presence of weak-infeed 100

strong system
system and MMC-HVDC station are -18.03° and -62.97°, weak-infeed system
respectively. The different behaviors of measured impedances 80
MMC-HVDC station
between weak-infeed system and MMC-HVDC station, which steady-state point
60

X(Ω)
are shown in Fig. 3(c), are mainly caused by the difference of
phase angle of additional impedance. Suppose that the phase 40
angle of additional impedance (-18.03°) for the case of
weak-infeed system connecting with bus 1 is substituted by the 20
phase angle of additional impedance (-62.97°) for the case of
MMC-HVDC station connecting with bus 1, and the amplitude 0
-20 0 20 40 60 80 100
of additional impedance remains unchanged. The steady-state R(Ω)
measured impedance for the case of weak-infeed system (c)
connecting with bus 1 will be transferred from zone 2 to zone 1. Fig. 3. Impedances measured by RMMC. (a) Case 1. (b) Case 2. (c) Case 3.
The phase angle of additional impedance is affected by phase To tackle these problems, this paper presents an accelerated
angle of MMC’s fault current. Owing to the controllability of distance protection based on a new zone 1 protection criterion
power electronic devices, the phase angle of MMC’s fault for transmission lines connected to MMC-HVDC stations,
current has a wide range, as stated in subsection II.A. In ensuring that two distance relays of line 1–2 can
comparison to the integration of weak-infeed system (-18.03°), instantaneously operate to clear faults on line 1–2, irrespective
the phase angle of additional impedance (-62.97°) for the of fault location, fault resistance and fault type.
integration of MMC-HVDC station deviates much from 0°.
Therefore, the different results between weak-infeed system
III. PROPOSED DISTANCE PROTECTION SCHEME
and MMC-HVDC station largely depend on the special phase
angle behaviors of MMC. A. A New Zone 1 Protection Criterion
According to above analysis, distance relay with Mho and quadrilateral characteristics are widely used in
conventional distance protection may experience three distance relay. However, the integration of MMC-HVDC
problems: (i) the fault in the protected zone is misidentified as stations may cause distance relay with mho or quadrilateral
an external fault, causing distance relay to fail in operation; (ii) characteristic to misidentify the internal and external faults, as
the fault in the protection deadzone is cleared with a delay of stated herein and in [19]–[20]. Hence, first, a new zone 1
several hundred milliseconds, which is unacceptable for protection criterion that can accurately distinguish the internal
high-voltage transmission system; (iii) the external fault is and external faults is required.
misidentifying as the internal fault, causing unwanted operation 1) Forward fault
of distance relay. As shown in Fig. 4(a), take RMMC for instance in this
60 strong system subsection. When a forward internal fault occurs with a fault
Zone 2
weak-infeed system resistance Rf, the measured impedance of RMMC can be
50
MMC-HVDC station
Zone 1 expressed as
40 steady-state point
Um If
Zm = = Z + Z ad =Z + Rf (1)
X(Ω)

30 Im Im
20
where Um and Im are voltage and current phasors measured
10 by RMMC, respectively. If is fault path current. Z is the actual
line fault impedance, that is, line impedance from the relay
0
point to the fault point. Zad is the additional impedance caused
-20 0 20 40 60 80 100
R(Ω) by fault resistance. Herein, the bold font style represents a
(a) phasor.
80 To minimize the adverse effect of fault resistance, the setting
strong system
weak-infeed system
impedance Zset and additional impedance Zad are utilized to
Zone 2
60 MMC-HVDC station construct a reference impedance as follows.
Zone 1 steady-state point Z ref = Z set + Z ad (2)
When a forward internal fault occurs, the geometrical
X(Ω)

40
relationship of various impedances is shown in Fig. 4(b). In Fig.
p
20 4(b), Z ref is the projection of Zref in the direction of the
additional impedance Zad, i.e., projected reference impedance.
0
-20 0 20 40 60 80 100
Similarly, Z mp is the projection of Zm in the direction of the
R(Ω) additional impedance Zad, i.e., projected measured impedance.
(b) φline is phase angle of the line fault impedance Z, i.e., the line

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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 5

impedance angle. Protected zone

Protection deadzone

Based on Fig. 4(b), the following relations are obtained. Grid

Im
OA = Z , OC = Z m , OE = Z mp Uf Uf ZS ES

RMMC F1 F2
p
OB = Z set , OD = Z ref , OF = Z ref (3) 1
If Rf If Rf 2

AC = BD = Z ad
The phase angle of additional impedance Zad depends on the (a)
control system of the converter and fault condition. It may Zad is in the first quadrant Zad is in the second quadrant
jX D Zref jX
theoretically vary from 0°to 360°[20]. When Zad is in the first arg(Zad) Zad Zref D
quadrant, according to the geometrical relationship of various Zad
Zset Zm
B arg(Zad)
impedances in Fig. 4(b), the following relations can be Zad C
Zm
C B
obtained: F A Zad Zset F
Z refp

p
arg(Zad)
Z ref arg(Zad)
OCE = arg( Z m ) − arg( Z ad ), OEC = OFB = A
E
2 E

Z
p Z mp
OBF = OAE = AOC + OCE =

Z
Z m
(4)
line − arg( Z m ) + arg( Z m ) − arg( Z ad ) = line − arg( Z ad ) arg(Zm) arg(Zm)

p  o φ R o φline R
arg( Z mp ) = arg( Z ref ) = arg( Z ad ) + line
2
where Zad is in the third quadrant Zad is in the fourth quadrant
arg( Z ad )= arg( I f ) − arg( I m ) (5) jX jX
B
Zad B
In the right triangles OEC and OFB, OE and OF can be Zset
F Zset F
obtained as follows: D p
p
OE = OC  sin OCE , OF = OB  sin OBF (6) Zref Z ref Zad A A Z ref
E Zad
E Zad
p p
According to (3)–(6), Z and Z
m ref can be derived as C p D

Z
p
Zm Zm Zref
follows. Zm
arg(Zm) C
 p  
( 
)
 Z m = Z m  sin arg( Z m ) − arg( I f )+ arg( I m )   arg( I f ) − arg( I m )+ 2 
  (7) oφ o φ
Zm
R
R arg(Zm)
 line line

 Z p = Z  sin  − arg( I )+ arg( I )   arg( I ) − arg( I )+  

 ref set (
line f m 

) f m
2
 (b)
Fig. 4. Schematic diagram for the forward fault. (a) Studied system. (b)
p p
According to (7), Z m is in phase with Z ref ; thus, Impedance diagram in case of a forward internal fault.
When Zad is in the second quadrant, according to the
Z mp
=
(
Z m  sin arg( Z m ) − arg( I f )+ arg( I m ) ) 0 (8) geometrical relationship of various impedances in Fig. 4(b), the
p
Z ref (
Z set  sin line − arg( I f )+ arg( I m ) ) following relations can be obtained:
In (8), Z m and Z set are greater than zero, and thereby we 
OCE = arg( Z ad ) − arg( Z m ), OEC = OFB =
2
can obtain
OBF = OAE = arg( Z ad ) − line (12)
( ) (
K d = sin arg( Z m ) − arg( I f )+ arg( I m )  sin line − arg( I f )+arg( I m )  0 ) p 
(9) arg( Z mp ) = arg( Z ref ) = arg( Z ad ) −
2
where Kd is called the direction factor. p p
Because ∆OAE is similar to ∆OBF, we can obtain According to (5), (6), and (12), Z m and Z ref can be derived

Z Z mp as follows:
OA OE
=  = (10)  p  
OB OF Z set p
Z ref

( 
)
 Z m = Z m  sin arg( I f ) − arg( I m ) − arg( Z m )   arg( I f ) − arg( I m ) − 2 


(13)
 
For the forward faults shown in Fig. 4(a), Z ≤ Z set in the
 ref set f (
 Z p = Z  sin arg( I ) − arg( I ) − 
m

)
line   arg( I f ) − arg( I m ) − 
2
case of a forward internal fault, and Z > Z set in the case of a p p
According to (13), Z m is still in phase with Z ref in the case
forward external fault. On this basis, combining (9) and (10),
the criterion of forward internal and external faults can be of Zad in the second quadrant; thus,
formulated when Zad is in the first quadrant: Z mp (
Z m  sin arg( I f ) − arg( I m ) − arg( Z m ) ) 0 K (14)
( )
= d >0



Z mp & ( K d  0 ) , forward internal fault
p
Z ref
p
Z ref (
Z set  sin arg( I f ) − arg( I m ) − line )
 (11)
(
 Z mp  Z ref

p
)
& ( K d  0 ) , forward external fault
From Fig. 4(b), when Zad is in the second quadrant, the
relation in (10) is still satisfied. Thereby, (11) can still be used
as a criterion to distinguish the forward internal and external

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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 6

faults. shown in (9) and (15).

When Zad is in the third or fourth quadrant, the analysis and In (9) and (15), Z set and φline are known. Z m , arg(Zm), and
derivation are similar, which is not given herein. arg(Im) can be calculated according to measured voltage,
Regardless of the location of Zad, the criterion of forward measured current, and discrete Fourier transform. Although
internal and external faults is uniformly expressed as shown in fault path current If cannot be measured, arg(If) can still be
p
(11). Z mp and Z ref are expressed as obtained by utilizing the phase relationship between fault path
current If and sequence currents and voltages at the relay point.
(
Z mp = Z m  sin arg( Z m ) − arg( I f )+ arg( I m ) ) (15)
p
Z ref (
= Z set  sin line − arg( I f )+ arg( I m ) ) Protection
deadzone
Protected zone Z
Grid
Im
2) Reverse fault RMMC RG Uf ZS ES
As shown in Fig. 5(a), take RG for instance in this subsection. F3
1 Um 3
To analyze the case of the reverse fault, line 2–3 is connected 2 If Rf
between bus 2 and the power grid. For RG, the fault at F3 is a
reverse fault, which is outside the protected zone of RG. (a)
When a reverse fault occurs at F3 with fault resistance Rf, the Zad is in the first quadrant
measured impedance of RG can be expressed as: jX
Um If
Zm = = − Z + Z ad = − Z + Rf (16) –Zad B
Im Im arg(Zad) F Zset
For a reverse fault, the reference impedance is rewritten as D
Z ref = Z set − Z ad (17) Z refp
Zref
When Zad is in the first quadrant, the geometrical relationship
of various impedances is shown in Fig. 5(b).
From Fig. 5(b), the following relations can be obtained
φline
 o
OCE = arg( Z ad ) − arg( Z m ), OEC = OFB = arg(Zm) R
2 Z mp Zm

–Z
OBF = line − arg( Z ad ) (18) Zad C
arg(Zad)
 p  A E
arg( Z mp ) = arg( Z ad ) − ，arg( Z ref ) = arg( Z ad )+
2 2 (b)
In Fig. 5(b), the relation in (6) still holds. Then, based on (3), Fig. 5. Schematic diagram for the reverse fault. (a) Studied system. (b)
Impedance diagram in case of a reverse external fault.
(6), and (18), Z mp and Z refp can be derived as follows.
B. Robustness of the Proposed Protection Scheme Against
 p  
( )
 Z m = Z m  sin arg( I f ) − arg( I m ) − arg( Z m )   arg( I f ) − arg( I m ) − 2 
   (19)
Fault Resistance (Additional Impedance)
 According to (7), (13) and (19), we can obtain
  
 ref set (
 Z p = Z  sin  − arg( I )+ arg( I )  arg( I ) − arg( I )+
line f m 

) f m
2
 (
Z mp = Z m  sin arg( Z m ) − arg( I f )+ arg( I m ) 
 )
 forward fault
As observed from (19), Z
p
m is out of phase with Z
p
ref , i.e.,
p
Z ref (
= Z set  sin line − arg( I f )+ arg( I m ) 
 ) (22)
p
arg( Z ) = arg( Z
m
p
ref ) − π. Thus, (
Z m = Z m  sin arg( I f ) − arg( I m ) − arg( Z m ) 
p
 )
 reverse fault
Z mp (
Z m  sin arg( I f ) − arg( I m ) − arg( Z m ) ) 0 K (
Z ref = Z set  sin line − arg( I f )+ arg( I m ) 
p
 )
=− 0 (20)
p
Z ref (
Z set  sin line − arg( I f )+ arg( I m ) ) d
According to (22) and the expression of Kd shown in (9), Kd
Similarly, when Zad is in the second, third, and fourth is rewritten as follows:
quadrants, the same result can be obtained, i.e., Kd < 0. Hence,  Zp Zp
 m  ref , forward fault
the direction factor Kd can be used to identify the fault  Z
 m Z set (23)
direction. Kd = 
 Z mp Z ref
p
Based on the previous analysis, a new zone 1 protection −  , reverse fault
criterion is formed as follows.  Z m Z set

 ( p
Z mp  Z ref )
AND ( K d  0 ) , internal fault ( forward ) p
In (23), Z m , Z set , Z mp , and Z ref are the amplitudes of

(
  m ref )
  Z p  Z p AND ( K d  0 )  OR  K d  0 , external fault

(21) impedances. Thus, no matter how the additional impedance Zad
p
 forward external fault
reverse changes, Z m , Z set , Z mp , and Z ref are always greater than
 external fault

According to (21), to distinguish between the internal and 0. As a result, Kd >0 in the case of forward faults, and Kd <0 in
external faults, Z mp , p
Z ref , and Kd must be solved, which are the case of reverse faults, which is independent of the additional
impedance. According to the expression of additional

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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 7

impedance Zad, the sign of Kd is independent of fault current If In (30), U1a+ mainly depends on fault condition, whereas
and fault resistance Rf. I1a+ can be regulated by control system of MMC. To ensure
When Kd <0 (reverse fault), the fault is identified as an
that Z MMC + has a sufficiently high amplitude, the amplitude of
external fault. However, when Kd >0 (forward fault), internal
and external faults are still indistinguishable. An extra criterion I1a+ must be low enough.
is required. In the case of forward faults, based on the similarity Based on (29) and (30), arg ( I1a+ ) can be expressed as:
between ∆OAE and ∆OBF, the relation in (10) has been derived. arg ( I1a + ) = arg ( U1a + ) − arg ( Z L + ) +  (31)
Z ≤ Z set in the case of internal faults, and Z > Z set in the
Thus, the reference currents of MMC can be expressed as:
case of external faults. Thus, the criterion of forward internal 
a + I m cos (t + arg ( U1a + ) − arg ( Z L + ) +  )
and forward external faults is derived, as shown in (11). It is  i* = i[0] + i1*a + = i1[0]
 MMCa 1a
obvious that Z and Z set are independent of the additional  *  
iMMCb = i1b + i1b + = i1b + I m cos  t + arg ( U1a + ) − arg ( Z L + ) + 
[0] * [0]
impedance. Based on the relation in equation (10), the criterion   3
shown in (11) is also independent of the additional impedance. *  
c + i1c + = i1c + I m cos  t + arg ( U1a + ) − arg ( Z L + ) − 
iMMCc = i1[0] * [0]
Based on the above analysis, the proposed protection
  3
criterion is independent of the additional impedance.
(32)
C. Solution to Solve arg(If) Under Symmetrical Faults
where superscript “[0]” denotes prefault quantity, and ∆Im is the
As shown in (19), solving arg(If) is the premise of calculating
amplitude of superimposed current. According to the previous
p
Z mp and Z ref . The solutions to solve arg(If) under analysis, ∆Im should be set to a small value, e.g., 20% of the
asymmetrical faults have been provided [35]. However, the rated current, which can ensure that Z MMC + has a sufficiently
solution under symmetrical faults is not provided. high amplitude.
For symmetrical faults, due to the absence of negative and To make the output current of MMC accurately track the
zero sequence components, arg(If) can be expressed: reference current, conventional dual current control strategy is
arg( I f ) = arg( I fa+ ) (24) adopted in this paper [36].
Fig. 6 shows phase A superimposed network under a MMC-HVDC ∆I1a+ ∆I2a+
symmetrical fault. In Fig. 6, subscript “+” represents station 1 x Z 2 Grid
pu L+ F ∆Ufa+ (1-xpu)ZL+
positive-sequence component, ZL+ is positive-sequence line ZMMC+
impedance, and xpu is per unit fault distance from bus 1 to fault ∆U1a+ Rf ∆U2a+
Ifa+ ZS+
point F.
From Fig. 6, the following relation can be obtained:
I1a +
=
( )
1 − x pu Z L + + Z S +
Fig. 6. Phase A superimposed sequence network under a symmetrical fault.
I fa + Z MMC + + Z L + + Z S +
(25)
=
(1 − x pu ) Z L+ + Z S +  1 Fig. 7 shows Z MMC + + Z L + and Z S + under three-phase
Z MMC + + Z L + 1+
ZS +
Z MMC + + Z L +
short-circuit faults occurring at the middle point of line 1-2 with
different fault resistances. As seen from Fig. 7, irrespective of
Suppose that the relation in formula (26) is true.
the fault resistance, Z MMC + + Z L + is always much greater than
Z MMC + + Z L + ZS + (26)
Z S + , that is, the assumption shown in formula (26) is true.
Then, (25) can be simplified as:
( )
I1a + 1 − x pu Z L + + Z S + (27)
1500
Amplitude of impedance(Ω)

=
I fa + Z MMC + + Z L +
Therefore, for distance relay on MMC-side, arg(If) can be 1000
solved as follows: Z MMC + + Z L +
arg ( I f )= arg ( I fa + )  arg ( I1a + ) + arg ( Z MMC + + Z L + ) − line (28)
500 ZS +
To maximize Z MMC + + Z L + , Z MMC + and Z L + should
satisfy the following relation:
0
arg ( Z MMC + )= arg ( Z L + ) (29) 0 10 20 30 40 50
To ensure that the relation in (26) is satisfied, Z MMC + must Fault resistance(Ω)
Fig. 7. The amplitudes of ZMMC++ZL+ and ZS+ under symmetrical faults with
be much greater than Z S + . Based on Fig. 6, Z MMC + is different fault resistances.
expressed as According to the above analysis, the amplitude of Z MMC+ is
U1a + also much greater than amplitude of Z S+. Thus, I 2a+ is very
Z MMC + = − (30)
I1a +
close to I fa+ , i.e., I 2a+ ≈ I fa+ . Consequently, for distance

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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 8

relay on grid-side, arg(If) can be expressed as follows: be regulated by changing system impedance Zs.
( ) ( )
arg I f = arg I fa +  arg ( I 2a + ) (33)
MMC SAC
According to the expression of Z mp , the measured impedance transformer 1 2
ZS ES
DC 100km
Zm is required to calculate Z mp . Based on the solutions to solve side Transmission line

arg(If) provided in [31] and this subsection, the measured MMC-HVDC station
impedance Zm can be expressed as follows: Fig. 8. Model for performance analysis of the solution to solve arg(If) under
 Ua different SCRs.
 I + 3 KI , AG
 a 0
Assuming that three phase short-circuit faults occur at the
 Ub − Uc
 , BC midpoint of line 1-2, Table I shows the calculated values and
Um  Ib − I c (34)
Zm = = actual values of arg(If) under different SCRs and fault
Im  Ub + Uc , BCG
 I b + I c + 6 KI 0 resistances. Fig. 9 displays the error between the calculated and
 actual values. As observed from Table I and Fig. 9, even if the
 Ua
, ABC
 fault resistance and SCR vary over a wide range, the calculated
 Ia
values are always very close to the corresponding actual values,
where Ua, Ub, and Uc are the voltages of phase-A, B, C at the
and the absolute error remains within 0.3°. The solution
relay point, respectively. Ia, Ib, and Ic are the currents of
presented in subsection III.C offers satisfactory tolerance
phase-A, B, C at the relay point, respectively. I0 is
against the variation fault resistance and SCR.
zero-sequence current at the relay point. K is zero-sequence
compensation factor and K=(ZL0−ZL+)/ (3ZL+). 0.5
0.4 SCR=10
In (34), AG, BC, BCG, and ABC denote phase-A-to-ground SCR=8
0.3
fault, phase-B-to-phase C fault, phase-B-to-phase C-to-ground SCR=5
0.2
fault, and three-phase fault, respectively. SCR=3
Error(°)
0.1
0
D. Performance Analysis of the Solution to Solve arg(If)
-0.1
Under Different SCRs
-0.2
As illustrated in subsection III.C, in order to accurately -0.3
calculate arg(If), Z MMC + must be much greater than Z S + . -0.4
-0.5
Therefore, the performance of the solution is affected by Z S + 0 10 20 30 40 50
Fault resistance(Ω)
that is related to the short circuit ratio (SCR). The SCR is a ratio Fig. 9. Error between the calculated value and the actual value.
of ac system short-circuit capacity at bus 1 (SAC) over the rated
power of MMC, as stated in [37]. As shown in Fig. 8, SCR can
TABLE I
PHASE ANGLE OF FAULT CURRENT UNDER DIFFERENT SCRS AND FAULT RESISTANCES
SCR=10 SCR=8 SCR=5 SCR=3
Fault The The The The
resistance The actual The actual The actual The actual
(Ω) calculated calculated calculated calculated
value (°) value(°) value (°) value (°)
value (°) value (°) value (°) value (°)
1 -79.23 -79.23 -79.00 -79.03 -75.93 -75.86 -68.4 -68.16
5 -64.42 -64.40 -68.62 -68.63 -70.75 -70.67 -65.51 -65.55
10 -49.55 -49.54 -57.11 -57.10 -64.01 -63.95 -61.97 -61.92
15 -38.83 -38.82 -47.59 -47.6 -57.85 -57.83 -58.26 -58.12
20 -31.27 -31.23 -40.02 -40.00 -52.22 -52.18 -54.7 -54.56
25 -25.78 -25.73 -33.98 -33.99 -47.10 -47.05 -51.3 -51.24
30 -21.62 -21.64 -29.26 -29.22 -42.51 -42.49 -48.11 -48.04
35 -18.44 -18.51 -25.37 -25.38 -38.41 -38.38 -45.0 -44.9
40 -16.03 -16.05 -22.28 -22.24 -34.84 -34.79 -42.11 -42.02
45 -14.05 -14.07 -19.69 -19.68 -31.62 -31.56 -39.3 -39.22
50 -12.43 -12.44 -17.51 -17.50 -28.74 -28.71 -36.71 -36.6

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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 9

Protection zone of R G
MMC-HVDC station
Protection zone of R MMC Grid
RMMC F2 RG
F1 Transmission line

1
2
Fiber-optic communication channel

Sample three-phase
currents and voltages Sample three-phase
currents and voltages

Phasor estimation using

discrete Fourier transform Phasor estimation using
discrete Fourier transform

p
Calculate Z mp , Z ref and K d p
Calculate Z mp , Z ref and K d
No
Fault detection? No
Receive Transmit Fault detection?
A new zone 1
protection criterion Trip signal A new zone 1

)
protection criterion

(Z
Yes Transmit Receive OR

)
Yes

(Z
p
p
 Z ref p
m
OR
p
m  Z ref
No &
( Kd  0) Trip signal
( Kd
&
 0)
No
for a continuous
for a continuous
6ms Internal Fault Flag
Internal Fault
(SIFF)
Flag (SIFF) 6ms
Yes
0: external fault or normal Yes
0: external fault or normal condition
condition 1: internal fault
AND 1: internal fault
AND

Fig. 10. Schematic diagram of the proposed accelerated distance protection.

deadzone, the operation of distance relay can be accelerated
when the proposed scheme is implemented. The acceleration
E. Basic Principle of Accelerated Distance Protection
issue will be discussed in two cases. In case 1, a fault occurs at
A new zone 1 protection criterion is presented in subsection the common protection zones of two distance relays, e.g., fault
III.A to accurately identify the internal and external faults. F1 in Fig. 10. In case 2, a fault occurs at the protection
However, to ensure selectivity of protection, zone 1 distance dead-zone of a distance relay, e.g., fault F2, in Fig. 10.
protection is set to protect 80% of the protected line herein. trip

Therefore, when a fault occurs at the protection deadzone of the As shown in Fig. 11, tMMC and tGtrip are the response time of
delay
relay, the distance relay may operate to clear this fault after RMMC and RG. tcom is the communication delay time in the
hundreds of milliseconds, i.e., zone 2 operating time. To tackle
fiber optic cable. For a 150-km fiber optic cable between buses
this issue, an accelerated distance protection based on the delay
proposed zone 1 protection criterion is presented as shown in 1 and 2, tcom is about 0.75 ms, which is a very short delay. In
Fig. 10. case 1, fault F1 can be quickly identified as an internal fault by
To accelerate the operation of the relay, a communication zone 1 of distance relays at both ends within tens of
system is required to transmit and receive a logical signal, i.e., milliseconds. Despite this, one of two distance relays is still
internal fault flag SIIF. When SIIF = 1, an internal fault has
accelerated when
trip
tMMC − tGtrip  tcom
delay
. As shown in Fig. 11(a),
occurred. As explained in Section I, the requirement of a
communication system for the proposed distance protection as tGtrip − tMMC
trip
is greater than
delay
tcom , RG is accelerated and its
will not increase the extra investment. trip trip delay
As shown in Fig. 10, the implementation process of the response time is shortened from tG to tMMC + tcom . Typically,
accelerated distance protection can be described as follows. distance relay can be accelerated by a few milliseconds to a
First, the three-phase voltages and currents are sampled and dozen milliseconds, which is beneficial for improving the
the corresponding voltage and current phasors are estimated stability of a power system.
p
using discrete Fourier transform. Then, Z mp , Z ref , and Kd In case 2, fault F2 can be quickly identified as an internal
fault by RG within tens of milliseconds. However, it is outside
are calculated according to (9) and (15). the protection zone of RMMC’s zone 1. Thereby, fault F2 may be
Next, if the criterion of internal fault in (21) is satisfied for a cleared by RMMC’s zone 2 after hundreds of milliseconds. When
continuous 6 ms and a fault is detected, an internal fault is the proposed accelerated distance protection scheme is
considered to have occurred. After an internal fault is identified, implemented, once RG identifies an internal fault, internal fault
a logical signal SIIF with a value of 1 is transmitted to the relay flag SIIF is transmitted to RMMC via the fiber optic
at the remote end of the transmission line. communication channel. As shown in Figs. 10 and 11(b), after
Finally, if the internal fault flag at the local end or that receiving SIIF from the remote end, RG is accelerated and its
received from the remote end is equal to 1, the local circuit response time is shortened from hundreds of milliseconds to
breaker is instantaneously tripped to clear the fault. trip delay
tens of milliseconds ( tG + tcom ).
Irrespective of the fault in the protection zone or protection

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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 10

Regardless of the fault location, the faults in line 1–2 can be

Amplitudes of impedances(Ω)
100
1
Z mp

Direction factor Kd
quickly cleared by distance relays at both sides using the 80
Forward
accelerated distance protection scheme. 60 Z refp 0.5 fault
Fault Trip signal
trip 40

RMMC
inception time tMMC tGtrip − tMMC
trip
 tcom
delay
20
0

Time -0.5
0
trip 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
RG Fault
inception time
tG Trip signal
Time (s) Time (s)

(a)
Acceleration

Amplitudes of impedances(Ω)
80
1

Direction factor Kd
Fault Trip signal
trip 60 Z mp
RMMC
inception time tMMC t delay
0.5 Forward
com
40 Z refp fault
Time
0
RG Fault
inception time
tGtrip Trip signal
20

-0.5
0
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
(a) Time (s) Time (s)
Fault Trip signal
trip (b)
RMMC
inception time
tMMC
Time 60 1
RG tGtrip Hundreds of milliseconds Z mp

Direction factor Kd
Fault
inception time Trip signal Forward fault
40 Z refp 0.5
Acceleration
0
Fault Trip signal 20
inception time trip
RMMC tMMC -0.5
Time 0
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
trip delay Time (s) Time (s)
RG Fault t G
t
com
inception time Trip signal (c)
Amplitudes of impedances(Ω)

(b) 80 1
Z mp

Direction factor Kd
Fig. 11. The diagram of response time of distance relay with and without 60 Forward fault
acceleration. (a) Case 1. (b) Case 2. Z refp 0.5

40
0
IV. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION 20

-0.5
A simulation model shown in Fig. 5(a) is established in 0
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
Time (s)
PSCAD/EMTDC. The length of line 2–3 is 50 km, and it has Time (s)

the same parameters as line 1–2. The other parameters have (d)
Fig. 12. Simulation results of RMMC under different fault resistances. (a) 1Ω. (b)
been presented in Section 2. A series of simulations were 10Ω. (c) 50Ω. (d) 100Ω.
conducted to evaluate the performances of the proposed
accelerated distance protection scheme. B. Performance Evaluation Under Different Fault Locations
K0, K1, K2, and K3 represent four fault locations. K0 is in
A. Testing of the Robustness to the Fault Resistance
the middle of line 2–3. K1, K2, and K3 are set at 10%, 60%, and
Taking RMMC for instance, the robustness of the proposed 90% of line 1-2 from bus 1. For RMMC’ zone 1, faults at K1 and
scheme to the fault resistance is evaluated in this subsection. K2 are internal faults, whereas faults at K0 and K3 are external
Assuming that phase A-to-ground faults occur at t = 2 s with faults. For RG’ zone 1, faults at K2 and K3 are internal faults,
different fault resistances (1, 10, 50, and 100 Ω), the fault whereas faults at K0 and K1 are reverse and forward external
location is 50% of line 1–2 from bus 1. The simulation results faults, respectively.
corresponding to different fault resistances are displayed in Assuming that phase A-to-ground faults occur with a fault
Figs. 12(a)–(d). resistance of 10 Ω at t = 2 s, the simulation results
As shown in Figs. 12(a)–(d), although the fault resistance corresponding to fault locations K0–K3 are shown in Figs. 13(a)
varies over a wide range, Z refp is always greater than Z mp –(d). As shown in Fig. 13(a), Z mp is greater than Z refp and
and Kd >0 in steady state. According to the new zone 1 Kd >0 in relay RMMC, whereas Kd < 0 in relay RG. According to
protection criterion presented in (21), the faults with different the protection criterion presented in (21), the fault occurring at
fault resistances are all accurately identified as forward internal K0 is correctly identified as an external fault by RMMC and RG.
faults. The proposed scheme exhibits satisfactory robustness Therefore, trip signals of RMMC and RG are 0, and they do not
against fault resistance, which is crucial to ensure the correct
operation of a distance relay. operate. From Fig. 13(b), Z refp > Z mp and Kd >0 in relay
RMMC, whereas Z refp < Z mp and Kd >0 in relay RG.
According to (21), the fault occurring at K1 is accurately
identified as an internal fault by zone 1 of RMMC; therefore, the

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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 11

internal fault flag and trip signal are both changed from 0 to 1. 60
Relay RMMC (At bus 1)
Kd 1 40
Relay RG (At bus 2)
1
Z refp

Direction factor Kd
Direction factor Kd
However, the fault occurring at K1 is accurately identified as an 50

impedances (Ω)
30

impedances (Ω)
Amplitudes of
p

Amplitudes of
40 Z m Kd 0.5
external fault by zone 1 of RG; therefore, its internal fault flag 0.5 20
30
always remains 0. This fault may be in the operation zone of 20 Z p
ref
10 Z p
m 0
0
zone 2 or 3 of RG; however, RG will operate with a long delay. 10
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
0
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
When the proposed accelerated protection scheme is

Logical variables
Acceleration

Logical variables
1 1
implemented, RG receives SIIF with a value of 1 from the remote Internal fault
Internal fault
flag SIIF
end, causing its trip signal to change to 1, as shown in Fig. 13(b). 0.5
Trip signal
0.5 flag SIIF
Trip signal
trip
tMMC and tGtrip are 18.5 and 19.3 ms, respectively. This indicates 0
2 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06
0
2 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06
Time (s) Time (s)
that both RMMC and RG operate fast to this fault, even if the fault (d)
is in the protection deadzone. As observed and analyzed from Fig. 13. Simulation results under different fault locations. (a) K0. (b) K1. (c) K2.
Figs. 13(c) and (d), RMMC and RG can respond quickly when the (d) K3.
fault locations are K2 and K3. C. Performance Evaluation Under Symmetrical Faults
When the accelerated distance protection based on the new
zone 1 protection criterion is implemented, distance relays at Take distance relay on MMC-side, i.e., RMMC as an example
both sides can operate with high-speed for the faults in the in this subsection. The performance of the proposed scheme
and the solution to solve arg (If) under symmetrical faults is
protected line, and they do not operate for faults outside the
protected line. evaluated.
Relay RMMC (At bus 1) Relay RG (At bus 2) Assuming that three-phase short-circuit faults with different
100 1 0.2
Direction factor Kd fault resistances occur at the middle point of line 1-2, the
Direction factor Kd

60 Kd
impedances (Ω)
Amplitudes of

impedances (Ω)
Amplitudes of

Z mp Kd
40
0 calculated and real values for phase angle of fault current, i.e.,
50 0
-0.2 arg (If) are shown in Fig. 14. As observed from Fig. 14, the
20 Z mp Z refp
Z p
ref -0.4 calculated values are very close to the actual values, which
0
0
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
-1
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 verifies the correctness of the solution to solve arg (If) under
Logical variables

1 1
symmetrical faults.
Logical variables

Internal fault flag SIIF Internal fault flag SIIF

0.5 0.5 Trip signal -20
Phase angle of fault current(°)

Trip signal

-30
0 0 the calculated value
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 -40 the actual value
Time (s) Time (s)

(a) -50
Relay RMMC (At bus 1) Relay RG (At bus 2)
80 60 1 -60
Kd
Direction factor Kd

Direction factor Kd

Kd
impedances (Ω)

0.4
impedances (Ω)
Amplitudes of

Amplitudes of

60 50 -70
0.5
40
0.2
40 Z mp
-80
20 Z mp Z refp 0 30 0 0 10 20 30 40 50
p
Z ref Fault resistance(Ω)
0 -0.2 20
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 Fig. 14. Phase angle of fault current under symmetrical faults occurring at the
Logical variables

Acceleration
Logical variables

1 1 middle of line 1-2 with different fault resistances.

Internal fault Internal fault

0.5
flag SIIF 0.5
flag SIIF Three-phase short-circuit faults with different fault
Trip signal Trip signal
resistances occur at 60% of line 1-2 from bus 1 at t=2s. The
0 0
2 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 simulation results are displayed in Fig. 15. As observed from
Time (s) Time (s)

(b) Figs. 15(a)-(c), Z refp is always greater than Z mp and Kd >0

Relay RMMC (At bus 1) Relay RG (At bus 2)
60 1 50 0.8
in steady state under different fault resistances. Therefore, the
Direction factor Kd
Direction factor Kd
impedances (Ω)

50 40 Kd 0.6
impedances (Ω)
Amplitudes of

Amplitudes of

40 Z p
0.5 30 0.4
symmetrical faults with different fault resistances are all
ref Kd Z refp
30 20 0.2 correctly identified as the internal faults by the new zone 1
20
Z mp 0 10 Z mp 0
protection criterion. The proposed scheme exhibits good
10 0 -0.2
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 performance under symmetrical faults.
Acceleration
Logical variables

Logical variables

50
Amplitudes of impedances(Ω)

1 1
1
Internal fault Internal fault
40 Z mp
Direction factor Kd

0.5 flag SIIF 0.5 flag SIIF

Trip signal Trip signal
30 Z refp 0.5
0 0
2 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 20
Time (s) Time (s) 0
10
(c)
-0.5
0
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
Time (s) Time (s)

(a)

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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 12

Amplitudes of impedances(Ω)
50 0.4 within 25ms after fault inception for 84% of all simulation
Z mp cases. Furthermore, the average RT of all the simulated cases is

Direction factor Kd
40 0.3

30
Z refp approximately 20.6 ms. This indicates that the proposed
0.2

20 0.1
scheme responds to the various internal faults with high-speed.
Average response time: 20.6ms
10 0

0 -0.1
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
Time (s) Time (s) 16%
21% RT<15ms
(b)
15ms≤RT<20ms
Amplitudes of impedances(Ω)

50 0.4

Z mp
Direction factor Kd
20ms≤RT<25ms
40 0.3
Z refp RT≥25ms
30 0.2

20 0.1
37% 26%
10 0
2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2 2 2.05 2.1 2.15 2.2
Time (s) Time (s)

(c)
Fig. 15. Simulation results of RMMC under symmetrical faults with different Fig. 17. Statistical percentage of response time of the proposed protection
fault resistances. (a) 5Ω. (b) 25Ω. (c) 50Ω. scheme.

D. Response Time of the Accelerated Distance Protection V. CONCLUSIONS

Scheme for Different Internal Faults
The unique fault behaviors of MMC-HVDC stations
Response time (RT) of the accelerated distance protection is
aggravate the adverse effect of fault resistance on distance
defined as the maximum value of response times of distance
protection; therefore, distance relays of transmission lines
relays at two ends of line 1–2. To test the RT of the proposed
emanating from MMC-HVDC stations are prone to
protection scheme, 2156 simulation cases with various fault
malfunction. To tackle this issue, a new zone 1 protection
conditions, including different fault locations, fault resistances,
criterion based on projected reference and measured
and fault types, are performed. The simulated fault conditions
impedances is presented, which can accurately identify the
are described as follows.
internal and external faults with a superior immunity against the
1) Fault location: fault location is incremented by a step of
fault resistance. To protect the entire length of the transmission
2%, from 2% to 98% of line 1–2.
line with high-speed, an accelerated distance protection scheme
2) Fault types: single-line-to-ground fault (SLG), line-to-line
is presented. Regardless of the fault in common protection zone
fault (LL), line-to-line-to-ground fault (LLG) and
or protection deadzone, the operation of the distance relay can
line-to-line-to-line fault (LLL, symmetrical fault).
be accelerated, thus improving the stability of the power system.
3) Fault resistances: fault resistances are set to 1, 10, 20, 30,
The extensive simulation results show that the proposed
40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 Ω for ground short-circuit faults
protection scheme can respond very fast to the any fault in the
and set to 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 Ω for
protected line regardless of fault location, fault resistance, and
ungrounded short-circuit faults.
fault type. Therefore, the proposed protection scheme is a good
SLG LL LLG LLL
option for primary protection of transmission lines emanating
from MMC-HVDC stations.
Although the proposed protection scheme has some
Response time (ms)

50
40
advantages, its limitations and deficiencies should not be
overlooked:
30
1) Its performance and reliability depend on communication
20
80
100 channel. An accelerated distance protection without the
10 60 e(Ω) requirement of communication channel is preferable. The
0 40 n c
20% 40% 20 esista
Fault lo 60% 80% further research needs to be conducted.
cation(% 100% 0
u lt r
) Fa 2) 16% of all the simulated internal faults is identified over
Fig. 16. Response time of the proposed protection scheme under various fault 25ms. The response time should be further shortened.
conditions. 3) The solution to solve arg(If) with the requirement of
Fig. 16 shows the RT of the proposed protection scheme for complying with the grid code is preferable during symmetrical
2156 simulation cases with various fault conditions. Most of faults, which requires the further research.
simulated 2156 faults can be correctly identified as the internal
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of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/JESTPE.2021.3058154, IEEE Journal
of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics
> 14

Yingyu Liang (M’19) received the B.S. degree from

Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin, China, and the
Ph.D. degree in power system and its automation from
North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China, in
2016.
He is currently an associate professor of China University
of Mining and Technology(Beijing), Beijing, China. His
research interests include power system protection and
VSC-HVDC.

Yaotong Huo was born in Jilin Province, China. She

received the B.S. degree from China University of Mining
and Technology(Beijing), Beijing, China, in 2018, and is
currently pursuing the M.Sc. degree in electrical
engineering at China University of Mining and
Technology(Beijing), Beijing, China.
Her research interests include HVDC and power system
protection.

Feng Zhao received the B.S. degree from Henan

Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, China, and the Ph.D.
degree in power electronics and power drives from China
University of Mining and Technology(Beijing), Beijing,
China, in 2016.
He is currently with China University of Mining and
Technology(Beijing), Beijing, China. His research
interests include multilevel converters and microgrid.

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