Alexandria Engineering Journal (2018) 57, 4059–4070

H O S T E D BY
Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Enhanced performance of substation dynamics

during large induction motor starting using SVC
Ahmed S. Omran *, Nabil H. Abbasy, Ragi A. Hamdy

Electrical Engineering Department, Alexandria University, Egypt

Received 30 June 2018; revised 27 September 2018; accepted 20 October 2018

Available online 7 December 2018

KEYWORDS Abstract Static Var Compensators (SVC) have been widely used to separately improve each of
Motor starting; voltage variation performance and steady state power factor of industrial substations. However,
ETAP; these two functions are interdependent, power factor improvement tends to do better voltage reg-
Induction motor; ulation. In this paper, a newly starting method with SVC for large induction motors is suggested.
Power factor; This method provides a controllable amount of reactive power precisely according to the require-
Stativ var compensator; ment of the load. A combined controller consists of slow susceptance control besides fast acting
Voltage regulation voltage control will give SVC the ability to achieve power factor correction, and will present a con-
stant voltage characteristic during large induction motor starting. An ideal compensator approach
is proposed for both power factor correction and optimum voltage regulation. A case study of
1.4 MW large induction motor starting is presented with different starting methods. A comparative
study is conducted to simulation results using Electrical Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP) for
different starting cases. Finally, the simulation results provide bases for the safe and reliable oper-
ation and would insure a robust design of practical substation.
Ó 2018 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

1. Introduction
Large Induction Motors are widely used in all industrial
plants, and the international production of induction motors
is significantly increased. Self-starting advantage for induction
motor used to be focused for research. Induction motors start-
ing is simple due to the absence of external circuit for starting,
it’s a merit, on the other hand the effect of induction motor on
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: ahmed.omran@sidpec.com (A.S. Omran), nabil.
abbasi@alexu.edu.eg (N.H. Abbasy), rhamdy@alexu.edu.eg (R.A.
Hamdy).
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
University.
the utility and the motor itself can’t be neglected. When volt-
age is applied on induction motor, a bulk of current is drawn
from the utility that momentarily causes a dip in system volt-
age, where the magnitude of this dip is proportional to the
magnitude of the current and the impedance of the system.
Because of the highly inductive nature of the motor circuit at
rest, the power factor of induction motor at starting is quite
low, usually on the order of 10 to 20 percent [1,2]. This means
that the effective component at starting is reactive power due
to relatively low power factor and the voltage sag momentarily
occurs till magnetizing circuit fulfills with its demand of reac-
tive component.
In recent years, many researches and studies have been
implemented regarding to induction motors starting. Various
starting methods such as Direct On-Line (DOL), reduced

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.10.009
1110-0168 Ó 2018 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
4060
voltage Auto-transformer, and soft starter are traditionally
used [3]. In some papers the starting behavior of induction
motors was discussed through comparison between conven-
tional starting methods [4–6]. A few researches discussed
motor starting with unconventional voltage support devices
like SVC and static synchronous compensator (STATCOM)
[7,8], these devices have been widely described to overcome
the voltage sag problem during large induction motor starting,
and without effecting motor dynamics during starting. While
STATCOM gives better dynamic performance with different
under voltage levels [9–11], the SVC is the preferred device
in this case because of its cost effectiveness. In previous
research in this field the SVC reacted at motor starting as a
voltage support device, and not required to perform any power
factor correction. In [7] and [12] a straightforward control
topology was implemented for motor starting method using
only voltage reference to SVC controller, while in [13] SVC
controller was using only susceptance control. An alternative
control technique was described for modern static Var system
(SVS) installation in a utility grid using susceptance control
besides voltage reference [14]. The SVS consists of SVC and
switched capacitor banks like in industrial substation. The
slow susceptance control is used to act when the voltage refer-
ence is slightly displaced due to small disturbance. In this case,
the slow susceptance control gives enough time for the
mechanically switched capacitor to compensate reactive power
as a supplementary source [15,16]. In this paper the SVC con-
trol technique described for SVS was suggested in this case
study, a susceptance control is added besides the voltage regu-
lation control to improve the substation power factor and volt-
age profile by SVC. This proposed control scheme will be used
to perform voltage support during induction motor starting
and substation power factor improvement during steady state.
This paper illustrates information on a 1.4 MW induction
motor case study at 11 kV consuming 8920 MWh per annum
with about 10% of total energy consumption for the entire
plant. A substation power flow and induction motor starting
case study will be conducted through simulation. The induc-
tion motor in this case study was originally designed with
embedded Auto-transformer. The Auto-transformer was
replaced with soft starter later after a short circuit accident
was occurred to the Auto-transformer. DOL starting was used
in the period between Auto-transformer and soft starter instal-
lation. In this case study starting methods can be broken down
into four basic categories: full voltage starting DOL, electro-
mechanical reduced voltage starting (Auto-transformer),
solid-state reduced voltage starting (soft starter), and the sug-
gested motor starting with SVC. The first three methods are
applied practically in different field circumstances as men-
tioned, however many problems were recorded for both motor
performance and substation dynamic behavior. The effect of
different startup methods on motor start-up time, starting tor-
que and substation voltages are further analyzed through
ETAP platform. The starting with SVC is proposed to avoid
the drawbacks for the earlier methods, and to solve some
issues in utility side. The effect of SVC on substation power
factor has further investigation with suggested advanced sus-
ceptance control.
This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the
topology of the plant substation, as well as load classification,
and basic calculations for necessary reactive power compensa-
tion. Section 3 presents the dynamic curves of motor charac-
A.S. Omran et al.
teristics in DOL, Auto-transformer, and soft starter starting
methods respectively. The dynamic curves of motor speed,
motor torque, motor current and bus bar voltages in three dif-
ferent starting categories are obtained through ETAP simula-
tion. A transient analysis is conducted for DOL starting as a
base case. Section 4 shows the suggested technique of induc-
tion motor starting with (SVC), In the last section, the contrast
between mentioned methods is highlighted and its correspond-
ing results are obtained.
2. System topology and reactive power calculation
2.1. Utility and substation
The plant substation is fed from two separately incomer at
11 kV as a typical double ended substation. Under normal
conditions, the secondary side arrangement is operated as
two separate radial systems. The load served from a secondary
substation should be divided equally between the two bus
sections, detailed single line diagram (SLD) for plant
substation is shown in Fig. 1. Plant substation Incomer A
and B fed from existing generation switchgear (utility section)
consists of one gas turbine generator (G1) with total active
power generation of 27 MW (36 MVA) and one steam turbine
generator (GS) with total active power generation of 36 MW
(45 MVA). The existing loads of utility section is 47.7 MW,
the utility had the following constraints for the 11 kV
substation during front-end engineering design:

Strict medium voltage motor starting requirements:
Requested starting device for medium voltage motor above
1 MW. This rule limited the ability to start the large com-
pressor motors without special starting method, therefore
the Nitrogen compressor was designed with Auto-
transformer starting.

Limited available reactive power capacity to plant substa-
tion, therefore 92% power factor (PF) is requested (by the
utility contract). A bonus is given in case of sustaining the
PF above certain limits (0.5% reduction in the total cost
for every 0.01 increase in the PF from 0.92 to 0.97).
2.2. Load classification for 11 kV switchgear Bus A

A 4.4 MW motor at 11 kV coupled with twin screw extru-
der application fed from variable speed drive through an
11/4.4 kV step-down transformer.

A 1.4 MW induction motor drives a Nitrogen air compres-
sor application. It represents this paper case study. It’s con-
nected to 11 kV bus bar through voltage controlled soft
starter module. The original design for motor starting was
Auto-transformer, but it faced serious damage due to a
short circuit accident. Starting medium voltage motor
above 1 MW directly is not allowed as mentioned before
therefore, a soft starter module has been installed instead
of Auto-transformer. These two starting methods are classi-
fied as reduced voltage motor starting. These methods have
negative impact on motor starting torque therefore, some
process arrangement is considered for starting without fac-
ing motor stall. reducing compressor feeds at starting was
mandatory in these starting methods. Prior to soft starter
Enhanced performance of substation dynamics 4061

Fig. 1 Detailed SLD for substation.

installation DOL starting was the only option with the util- The substation impedance of Bus A 11 kV is given as
ity side approval, but it wasn’t straightforward and it ZSubA ¼ ð6:5 þ j3) PU at 100 MVA Base.
required many arrangements to start the motor. Motor locked rotor impedance

Three units of capacitor bank (750 kVar each), supported
VLðratedÞ
with single tuned internal reactor for harmonic filtration. ZMLR ¼ pffiffiffi ð1Þ
At first the three capacitor banks were controlled by auto- 3ILRA
matic controller but due to 6.6 kV induction motors start- The base impedance of the system
ing, capacitor banks suffered from continuous switching,
and because of vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) connected ðBase KVÞ2
ZSys Base ¼ ð2Þ
with capacitor bank, there was unwanted overvoltage dur- Base MVA
ing switching over medium voltage buses. Manual switching Converting the motor impedance to reactance and resis-
capacitor bank was a simple solution to overcome the prob- tance respectively in per unit at 100 MVA
lems due to using automatic controller for Power Factor
correction. The sequence of capacitor bank switching is XMLR P:U ¼ ZMLR =ZSys Base  sinðtan1 X=RÞ ð3Þ
simple, the operator read the power factor every two hours.
If the power factor is lower than 92% a single capacitor RMLR P:U ¼ ZMLR =ZSys Base  cosðtan1 X=RÞ ð4Þ
bank unit is switched on service by the operator, and if Motor per unit locked rotor impedance
the power factor is higher than 98% a single unit is switched
off to avoid leading power factor. This method for power ZMLR P:U ¼ RMLR P:U þ J XMLR P:U ð5Þ
factor correction was direct but it depends on the operator The equivalent parallel impedance of the motor and reac-
action, therefore a SVC device is suggested as a solution for tive power compensator impedance (Fig. 2) is:
unwanted capacitor bank switching.
ZMLR  ZCom

8 MVA 11/6.6 kV step-down transformer feeds Bus A ZEq ¼
P:U P:U
ð6Þ
ZMLR P:U þ ZCom P:U
(6.6 kV switchgear) with about 50% loading factor.

Four 11/0.4 kV step-down transformer feeds 4 sections The voltage drops across Bus A 11kV when the motor and
in low voltage switchgears with the same loading compensator are initially energized is represented in voltage
factor 50%. divider to achieve a maximum 1 percent voltage drop in sub-
station as follows:

2.3. Calculation of reactive power compensation

Z Eq

This calculation is proceeded for one section in medium volt-

age substation switchgear which is Bus A 11 kV. The existed
fixed capacitor banks are three stages of 750 kVar to increase
power factor from 90% to 98%, the ideal reactive power com-
Z sub.. A
Z com Z MLR
pensator for this substation should attain power factor correc-
tion for existing loads and voltage support for Nitrogen air
Utilit y
compressor motor starting criteria. he reactive power required
by 1.4 MW at starting is calculated as follow:

Motor full-load current is 89 A.

Motor DOL locked rotor current is 445.1 A at 10% p.f.
Fig. 2 Substation equivalent circuit.
4062
ZEq
V% ¼ 100  ¼ 99%
ZEq þ ZSub A able limits for remote bus bar (5% for Medium and low
By getting ZEq the only unknown in (6) is ZComP:U
Base MVA
ZCom P:U ¼ j
compensator MVA
The calculated value for reactive power compensation dur-
ing 1.4 MW motor starting is 8.7 MVar according to (8). This
capacitance aims to decrease voltage drop to 1% [17]. The
total substation compensator capacity for both power factor
correction and voltage support is 10.95 MVar.
2.4. Substation load flow simulation
The following load flow simulation presents bus voltages in
percentage, apparent power and power factor as it appears
in Fig. 3. The load flow analysis aims to show the power factor
for Bus A 11 kV substation switchgear without capacitor
banks connected to 11 kV switchgear. The load flow analysis
shows that power factor for substation is 90% without any
power factor correction, and the voltage drop across bus bars
for medium voltages (11 kV & 6.6 kV) and low voltage
(0.4 kV) is between 1% and 3% for full load as an extreme
condition for loading which is acceptable limits for voltage
drop.
3. Conventional large induction motor starting
The Case study criteria for every starting method will consist
of three major requirements:

Motor starting with appropriate terminal voltage drop.

Motor starting within acceptable start-up time and motor
torque therefore, further information about mechanical
load is entered in ETAP motor model.
Fig. 3 Load flow simulation for Bus A 11 kV switchgear.
A.S. Omran et al.

Voltage sag during motor starting will not exceed accept-
ð7Þ
voltages switchgears as a marginal limit and 10% as critical
limit).
ð8Þ
3.1. Direct online starting method
A DOL start is the simplest, most common, and least expen-
sive method of starting squirrel cage Induction motors.
Direct-on line starting offers high-acceleration torque and
reduced acceleration time [3,18]. The DOL starting is repre-
sented by two models. The first one is modeled by Simulink
to show the transients during starting as a base case for the
other starting methods. The second one is modeled by ETAP
as a normal motor acceleration case study.

Simulink model.
It’s well known that when the rated terminal voltage is sud-
denly applied to the induction motor at rest, an oscillating
transient torque appears. However, this fact is not unexpect-
edly considered by many industrial users. Excessive transient
torque of oscillatory occurs when power supply voltage
applied suddenly to start an induction motor. As this phe-
nomenon is clarified for a long time, industrial user is not con-
scious unexpectedly because there are no clear descriptions in
the general standard. Depending on a case, transient torque
takes a very big value and there is a case to cause axis fatigue
and damage of compressor side gear. In this case a Simulink
dynamic model is conducted in DOL starting to observe this
phenomenon. The results from this model can give a roughly
figure for the transient torque in the other starting methods.
The transient torque values should be investigated as they
are with acceptable limits. Fig. 4 shows the simulation layout,
Figs. 5 and 6 show the dynamic behavior of the motor during
entire period of starting, while Figs. 7 and 8 give the simulation
Enhanced performance of substation dynamics 4063
1.4MW Th
h ree-Phase Indd uctio
on mottor
Connected to NI air
compresor syste em 2 Speed pu
Direct Online starting PS S
Phase currents A PF
Speed pu 1.5 T
pu o PS S

pu
Real power pu
pu o PS S Scope 1

0.5
pu o PS S
PF

0
I pu o PS S
T
n ~ ~1 ~2 ~1
-0.5
~2 -0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
Current Sensor
f(x) = 0
Voltage Source RLC
Time (sec)
Solver
Configuration
pu
R Fig. 8 Motor transient behavior DOL.
~1
C
~2

Asynchronous Machine
Squirrel Cage Mechanical
Transient torque oscillation of this induction motor occurs

R
~

(fundamental, SI) Rotational Reference

Compressor
Inertia
when nominal voltages are applied directory to the motor ter-
minal. Magnitude and duration of these transient torque oscil-
Fig. 4 Simulink motor dynamic model. lation are not affected by the phase shift of power supply.
Value of these transient torques are 4–6 p.u. or more of the
nominal torque value depending on motor starting current.
Phase currents (A) Frequency of the torque oscillation is equal to frequency of
the power supply. Transient torque shows different aspects
600
by parameters of machine and inertia of rotor of induction
400
200 motor and load.
0
-200

ETAP model.
-400
-600
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The 1.4 MW motor dynamics during acceleration con-
Time (sec)
ducted by ETAP are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. After running
Fig. 5 Motor starting current DOL. motor acceleration without starting device. The final voltage
drop report in ETAP shows that all downstream buses under
11 kV suffer from critical under voltages as shown in Fig. 11.
Speed pu
2 PF
T
1.5 100
% of bus nominl
pu

97
1
A
V bus

kv

93
0.5
89
0
85
-0.5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Time (sec)
Time (sec)
% of motor torque

250

Fig. 6 Motor dynamic behavior DOL.

Torque

150
B
50
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Phase currents (A)
Time (sec)
600

400
Fig. 9 (A: 11 kV bus terminal voltage % at DOL starting, B:
200
motor torque % at DOL starting).
0
-200
8000
-400
reactive power
kvar Motor

6000
-600
-0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 4000 A
Time (sec) 2000

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fig. 7 Motor transient starting current DOL. Time (sec)
4000
kW Motor real

3000
power

result for motor transients at the beginning of the starting 2000 B

period, Current, torque and power factor transient behavior 1000

for the motor are clearly simulate in the following figures 0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(Figs. 7, 8). Time (sec)
From (Figs. 7, 8), and after changing the power supply con-
dition many times, transient torque for this induction motor Fig. 10 (A: Motor reactive power consumption at DOL starting,
can be summarized as follow: B: Motor real power consumption at DOL starting).
4064 A.S. Omran et al.

% of bus nominl kv
100
Vt (% of bus nominl 100
voltage) 0.4 Kv Bus 6.6 Kv Bus 97

V bus
97
93

93
89

89 85
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

85
Time (sec)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (Sec)
Fig. 13 11 kV bus terminal voltage % at Auto-transformer
Fig. 11 Voltage sag across 6.6 kV and 0.4 kV switchgears at starting.
DOL starting.

% of motor torque
200
Motor torque Load torque
150

Torque
600
I (% of FLA)

500 100
400
50
300

200
0
100 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

0 Time (sec)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time(sec)
Fig. 14 Motor and load torque during Auto-transformer
Fig. 12 Motor starting current during DOL starting. starting.

The previous DOL curves show the basic data about bus
voltages associated with motor starting case study, motor
speed, starting current and torque characteristics. Fig. 9 shows
the terminal voltage across the motor and torque speed char-
acteristics. Instead of slip-torque relation the time-torque rela-
tion gives clear image about starting time for motor which is
about 6 secs. The motor terminal voltage drops through start-
ing period to 91% which is lower than the marginal limit. In
Fig. 10 the relation between starting period, active and reactive
power consumption is illustrated, it’s clear that the largest por-
tion of starting power is reactive part. The bus voltages for
0.4 kV and 6.6 kV buses are suffer from critical voltage drop
during DOL starting as shown in Fig. 11, the 6.6 kV bus has
the largest voltage drop, where bus voltage is 89%. The
0.4 kV voltage is beyond 90%. Fig. 12 shows starting current
during DOL starting and its value is almost five times from
its rated value. The DOL starting was applied for the motor
for a long time after Auto-transformer was removed. The
remote buses faced some difficulties in voltage fluctuation dur-
ing motor starting. The soft starter module was the suggested
solution after Auto-transformer failure.
3.2. Auto-transformer starting method
This method is classified as reduced voltage starting method
using electro-mechanical device where the motor terminals
are connected to the lower voltage side of the Auto-
transformer. The most common taps that are used are 80%,
65%, and 50%. In this case 75% voltage is determined for
motor starting voltage, the current in the primary is reduced
Motor torque almost is halved with significant reduction with
respect to DOL method starting torque. Great care should be
taking to make sure that there will be sufficient accelerating
torque available from the motor. An acceptable torque value
is checked, the higher acceleration torque, the shorter starting
time. The motor torque should adequate full load torque of the
motor at all curve points as shown in Fig. 14. The acceleration
time should be evaluated to make sure that the motor has suf-
ficient thermal capacity to handle the heat generated due to the
longer acceleration time.
The dynamic curves for bus voltages in ETAP show great
improvement in both medium and low voltage buses. Fig. 15
represents one bus from each switchgear, which is first concern
in this case study criteria. The torque result was not as good as
the buses voltages. Fig. 14 shows that maximum torque value
at starting is reduced significantly from over than 200% in
DOL starting into lower than 150%. In fact, this result was
expected however, the setting is 75% of rated voltage which
is almost the higher value for Auto-transformer voltage.
Fig. 14 shows very low offset between motor torque and load
torque between second 10 and second 20 period. This case
enforces some process arrangement for starting without facing
problems like reducing compressor feeds at starting. The start-
ing period is increased to 22 secs, therefor, the remote switch-
gear will suffer from voltage sag longer than DOL starting.
The starting current in Fig. 16 is 400%, and it is pushing ther-
mal state for the motor during starting to its thermal capacity.
Vt (% of bus nominl

100
to 70% from its original locked rotor current, the motor is 0.4 Kv Bus 6.6 Kv Bus
97
voltage)

started with this reduced voltage, and then after 25 secs, the
connection is switched to line voltage with external vacuum 93

circuit breaker bypass over the Auto-transformer. The switch- 89

ing moment can be realized in Fig. 13 at second 26. Starting

85
dynamics for the motor are shown in Fig. 14. Since the torque 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Time (Sec)
18 20 22 24 26 28 30

generated by the motor will vary as the square of the applied

voltage, the starting torque is decreased from 80% to 45% Fig. 15 6.6 kV and 0.4 kV bus voltages at Auto-transformer
of rated torque at starting by Auto-transformer [3,4,18]. starting.
Enhanced performance of substation dynamics 4065

% of motor torque
500 150
Motor torque Load torque
I (% of FLA)

400

Torque
300 100

200
50
100

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
0
Time (Sec) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
Time (sec)
Fig. 16 Motor starting current during Auto-transformer
starting. Fig. 18 Motor and load torque during soft starting.

Auto-transformer was removed after severe short circuit acci-

Vt (% of bus nominl
100
dents and was replaced with soft starter device. 97
0.4 Kv Bus 6.6 Kv Bus

voltage)
93
3.3. Soft-starter starting method
89

In this method the reduced voltage starting is still applied but 85

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
with a different technique. A soft starter module uses silicon Time (Sec)
controlled rectifiers (SCRs). By controlling the firing angle of
the SCR the voltage that the device produces can be controlled Fig. 19 6.6 kV and 0.4 kV bus voltages during soft starting.
during the starting of the motor by limiting the flow of power
for only part of the duration of the sine wave. The installed
soft starter is the current limiting type [3,4]. A current limit 400

band is 175% to 500% of full load current and its setting for I (% of FLA) 300

the motor is 350% of full load current. It then will ramp up 200
the applied voltage until it reaches the limiting value, and will
100
then hold that current as the motor accelerates.
In soft starting method, the motor is given an initial torque 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

setting which is user-adjustable from 0 up to 90% of locked Time (Sec)

rotor torque (53% of LRT in this case which represents 40%
from rated torque). From the initial torque level, the output Fig. 20 Motor starting current during soft starting.
voltage to the motor is step up during the acceleration ramp
time. The acceleration ramp time is user-adjustable from 0
motor thermal stress at starting. The smooth operation is obvi-
up to 30 s. Once the medium voltage controller senses that
ous for both terminal voltage and current before bypass
the motor has reached the up-to-speed condition during the
switching on and after The conjunction between terminal volt-
voltage ramp operation, the output voltage automatically
age and motor torque is obvious in Figs. 17 and 18 without
switches to full voltage, and the bypass circuit breaker is
pulsating torque when bypass in service. The starting period
closed.
is longer in soft starter than Auto-transformer but with lower
The dynamic curves for bus voltages in ETAP show modest
starting current therefore, energy in starting period is almost
improvement in both medium and low voltages buses as shown
the same and there is always a preset time option in soft starter
in Figs. 17 and 19 with respect to Auto-transformer starting
to accelerate starting time. When soft starter installed, it was
method. The other results like torque speed shows the similar
working fine but after one month with true switching action
performance as the previous method, in fact this result make
the SCRs module faced damages several times, fortunately
sense because the starting torque in Fig. 18 which is selectable
the system was designed with system bypass work individually,
in soft starter module chosen to meet same starting torque at
but this is the case of DOL starting with its drawbacks. After
Auto-transformer starting device. Fig. 18 shows very low off-
SCRs failure analysis, it thought that capacitor bank might
set between motor torque and load torque between second
cause destructive over voltage on SCRs module, therefore,
10 and second 20 period. Lower accelerating torque is leading
the capacitor banks are arranged to be out of service when soft
to longer starting period on the motor. The best result in this
starter in starting action but the problem still exist and need
method comes with current limiting merit where in this case
further investigation to understand what make the thyristors
starting current doesn’t exceed 350% as shown in Fig. 20,
module fail.
which is lower than Auto-transformer mode and its reduce

4. Substation dynamic enhancement with combined SVC control

% of bus nominl kv

100

97 4.1. Suggested SVC topology

V bus

93

89 The SVC is a flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS) device

85 family using power electronics to control power flow on power
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

Time (sec) grids and it has implemented for industrial application success-
fully in many cases [19]. The SVC regulates voltage at its ter-
Fig. 17 11 kV bus terminal voltage % at soft starting. minal by controlling the amount of reactive power injected
4066 A.S. Omran et al.

11Kv have a susceptance reactive power regulator to slowly return

Switchg ear
the SVC to a desired steady-state operating point depend on
power factor improvement value.

First, voltage regulation

This part of controller is provided with fast acting response

to regulate voltage in case of voltage drop due to utility tempo-
rary faults or large disturbances in substation as large induc-
tion motor starting. When the SVC is operated in voltage
regulation mode, it implements the following V-I characteristic
TSC 4Mvar TSC 4Mvar TSC 4Mvar TCR -4Mvar
in Fig. 23. As long as the SVC susceptance B stays within the
Fig. 21 Topology of the suggested TSC-TCR compensator. maximum (BCmax ) and minimum (BLmax ) susceptance, the volt-
age is regulated to the reference voltageVref . However, a volt-
age droop is used and the V-I characteristic has the slop
indicated in the Fig. 23 [14]. The V-I characteristic is described
Reactive power

4 Mvar by the following three equations

SVC absorbs 
reactive power
controlled L
Q l max
V ¼ Vref þ Xs I
SVC regulation range ð9Þ
BC max < B < BL max

Q l Reactive power V¼

I
BC max
SVC is capacitive ½B ¼ BCmax  ð10Þ

SVC supplies
reactive power I
V¼ SVC is inductive ½B ¼ BL max  ð11Þ
BL max

4 Mvar where V is positive sequence voltage, and I is reactive current

(I > zero indicates an inductive current). Xs is slope or droop
8 Mvar
Q c max
12 Mvar reactance and BCmax and BLmax are maximum capacitive and
inductive susceptance respectively [12].
One TSC
Three TSC Two TSC switched in
switched in switched in
Second, susceptance regulation,

Fig. 22 TSC-TCR reactive power contribution for the suggested
SVC.
into or absorbed from the power system by set a reference volt-
age or susceptance. When system voltage is low, the SVC gen-
erates reactive power (capacitive mode), and when system
voltage is high, it absorbs reactive power (inductive mode).
The variation of reactive power is performed by switching
capacitor banks and controlling inductor banks. The suggested
topology for the SVC is consists of thyristors switched capac-
itor (TSC) as a capacitive source, and thyristors controlled
reactor (TCR) as an inductive source. The TCR is controlled
linearly to generate inductance or to smooth the output capac-
itance using phase control. In this case study, a TCR with TSC
type is used to overcome the voltage sag during large motor
starting and to improve power factor instead of fixed capacitor
bank, The TSC-TCR compensator single line diagram shows
in Fig. 21. The TSC is splitted into three equal units, each unit
has a 4 MVar capacity, while the TCR is one unit 4 MVar.
This combination makes the reactive power control smooth
with no sudden change in reactive power flow from SVC as
shown in Fig. 22.
This control scheme is developed for the SVC that will
operate in a coordinated manner with the switching scheme
of the existing power capacitor banks at the other substations
in company, or improve power factor by susceptance setpoint
with slow response. The strategy chosen to accomplish suscep-
tance regulation by providing a ‘‘dead band” in the SVC’s V-l
characteristic. The function compares the actual power factor
value to the power factor set point, and from this error signal
generates a susceptance contribution to the total voltage refer-
ence of the SVC. The limits of the regulator are set such that
the voltage reference may be adjusted a maximum of 0.08 p.
V-I SVC linear operation
regon
V
ref
B L. MAX
B C . MAX

4.2. SVC control scheme

12 M var 4 M var
The suggested SVC controller is depending on two references, Cap Ind
voltage reference for voltage regulation and susceptance refer-
ence for power factor correction. This SVC control scheme Fig. 23 SVC voltage regulation. V-I characteristic curve.
Enhanced performance of substation dynamics 4067

u by the control to achieve the 0.97 to 1.05 p.u ‘‘dead band”.

Table 1 SVC control parameters.
The time constant for the control is normally in the range
between a few seconds and several minutes. As these values Parameter Definition Unit
are extremely large, the action of the susceptance regulator is K Voltage regulator gain p.u.
negligible during large induction motors starting, and its pres- Ks Synchronizing control gain p.u.
ence does not affect the dynamics of the primary voltage reg- Ksr Susceptance regulator gain p.u.
ulator loop [15]. Fig. 24 shows the V-l characteristics for The A1 Additional control signal gain p.u.
SVC. The intersect between SVC linear regulation line and A2 Additional control signal gain p.u.
normal operation load line at point (a) represent operation VSRMAX Maximum voltage limit p.u.
VSRMIN Minimum voltage limit p.u.
point at steady-state characteristic, with the voltage ‘‘dead
BSet Susceptance set point p.u.
band” (dashed area), and the consumed reactive power for this T Voltage regulator time constant Sec.
operating point represents power factor improvement demand. Tm Measurement time constant Sec.
V-I SVC line shows the selected 5% slope for the module. Tb Thyristors phase control time constant Sec.
Because of the slow speed of response of the susceptance reg- Td Thyristors phase control delay Sec.
ulator, it does not act for fast events. The dynamic V-l charac- Ts Synchronizing control time constant Sec.
teristics, therefore, form a family of lines with identical 5% T1 Voltage regulator time constant Sec.
slope, but without the ‘‘dead band”. At motor starting the load T2 Voltage regulator time constant Sec.
line goes lower due to changes in voltage level then the new Xs Slope p.u.
operating point is (b), the voltage regulation control acts fast TBMAX Maximum susceptance limit p.u.
TBMIN Minimum susceptance limit p.u.
to regulate the voltage by reactive power compensation, the
system operating point is moved to point (c) with precise fast
response controller, when the voltage reach the beginning of
‘‘dead band” limit at 0.97 p.u then the susceptance regulator
give the chance for existing power capacitor banks to compen-
sate reactive power, if not, the power factor correction scheme
take action, and regulate the bus voltage to point (d), which is
V-I SVC characteriscs
line a little lower than point (a) due to large induction motor load-
Load line at normal ing. F The Control block diagram applied for SVC in ETAP is
V
ref
d a operaon presented in Fig. 25, and its parameters in Table 1 [20]. The
c
load flow analysis in Fig. 26 aims to show the power factor
b
for plant substation with SVC connected to switchgear 11KV
Load line at motor (A).
starng
The power factor is improved from 90% as shown in Fig. 2
to 99% after SVC is installed in Fig. 26, furthermore the
apparent power consumed by the substation loads is reduced
from 12.9MVA as shown in Figs. 2–11 8 MVA after SVC
installation, the SVC reactive power delivered to substation
12 Mvar 8 Mvar 4 Mvar -4 Mvar in this load flow is 3.9 MVA which is higher than designed
Cap Ind capacitor bank capacity (3  750 KVAR) because that load
flow is running depend on designed loads not actual loads,
Fig. 24 SVC V-I characteristic curve with ‘‘dead band” for for actual loads load flow the SVC reactive power contribution
susceptance regulation. is halved. In ETAP the SVC doesn’t respond with motor accel-
eration therefore, the motor acceleration case study is simu-
lated in ETAP with capacitor terminal starting, the
capacitance curve is similar to the original reactive power
1 curve consumed by the motor at starting. This dynamic capac-
X s 1 ST I svc S(1 ST )
m
arg(V t) S
2
itance value represents advanced model of the SVC response at
- K S ST
S s
motor starting [15].
+ 1
1 ST V t
m
TB
Max

- + 4.3. Motor starting with SVC results

V K(1 ST1) + 1 +
ref ST d
(1 sT ) (1 ST2) e 1 ST b
+ + The briefed dynamic curves for bus voltages in ETAP shows
VSR B Max
set
TB Min significant improvement in both medium and low voltage
K SR buses with respect to all earlier methods, the voltage drops
S I svc JB Max almost constant for all buses at 1% Fig. 27, Fig. 29. The
VSR Min
torque speed characteristics curve Fig. 28 is identical with
V t DOL starting curves with lower voltage drop across its
A
1 A
2
terminals.
F, P The SVC has been succeeded in minimize the starting time
interval than that with other methods of starting with the best
Fig. 25 Control scheme for SVC [20]. voltage drop profile of them all. The motor torque gives best
4068 A.S. Omran et al.

Fig. 26 Load flow analysis for Bus A 11 kV switchgear with installed SVC.
% of bus nominl kv

101 600

500
97 I (% of FLA)
400
V bus

93
300

89 200

100
85
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0
Time (sec) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (sec)

Fig. 27 11 kV bus terminal voltage % during SVC starting.

Fig. 30 Motor starting current during SVC starting.

300
% of motor torque

% of bus voltage

Motor torque Load torque 100

250
98
Torque

200
V bus

kV

96
150 DOL
94 Auto trans
100 Soft starter
92 SVC
50
90
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (sec) Time (sec)

Fig. 28 Motor and load torque during SVC starting. Fig. 31 11 kV bus terminal voltage % during different starting
methods.

100 5. Comparison table

Vt (% of bus nominl

97

A graphical comparison is made between different induction

voltage)

0.4 Kv Bus 6.6 Kv Bus

93
motor starting methods, where Fig. 31 shows voltage sag dur-
89
ing motor strating for 11 kV bus-bar under different starting
scenarios, Fig. 32 shows the motor torque speed characteristics
85
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 for the same criteria, and finally Fig. 33 shows the starting cur-
Time (Sec) rent behavior under different motor starting methods. Fig. 31
shows that the voltage sag is almost critical at DOL while, its
Fig. 29 6.6 kV and 0.4 kV bus voltages during SVC starting.
marginal for the remaining conventional starting methods. The
motor starting with SVC gives the best voltage profile perfor-
mance in 11 kV switchgear with almost 1% voltage drop. The
performance with original torque speed characteristic curve, accelerating period is shorted to roughly 6 secs at DOL while
Fig. 28 shows the acceleration torque with good offset in the its 22 secs and 26 secs for Auto-transformer and soft starter
same critical period. The starting period is shortened to respectively, even though, the motor starting with SVC has
4.6 sec as shown in Fig. 30 meanwhile, the starting current is beaten this time with almost 4.6 secs as a starting period.
slightly higher than DOL starting current. The best torque speed performance for the motor during start-
Enhanced performance of substation dynamics 4069

% of motor torque DOL

Auto trans
Soft starter
6. Conclusion
250 SVC

200
Torque

150
Overall, in this paper, different starting methods of a particu-
lar induction motor are investigated by ETAP simulation soft-
100
ware, including DOL start, Auto-transformer start, soft starter
50
start, and motor starting using SVC. The influence of load and
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 power grid in each model is analyzed. Through simulation, the
Time (sec)
dynamic curves of the motor current and bus voltages in each
Fig. 32 Motor torque % during different starting methods. starting method can be visualized and analyzed. The advan-
tages and disadvantages of different starting methods are
explored. A combined reference control is proposed with
600
DOL
SVC. Under such scheme, the SVC starting method shows
Auto trans
500
Soft starter
SVC
superior performance relative to other starting methods.
I (% of FLA)

400
Motor starting with SVC increases accelerating torque, and
gives shorter starting time. Using SVC during motor starting
300
produces enhanced voltage profile for all substation voltage
200 levels, without affecting motor starting torque. The SVC with
100 combined references control can achieve power factor
0
improvement for slow susceptance control and voltage support
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (sec)
for fast acting voltage regulation control. The substation
dynamics are improved for both voltage profile and power fac-
Fig. 33 Motor starting current % during different starting tor by using suggested combined reference control. The voltage
methods. drop during starting with SVC is reduced from 11% to 1%
with better motor performance. The power factor is improved
from 90% to 99% with SVC, the unwanted overvoltage due to
VCB with fixed capacitor bank is eliminated. The simulation
Table 2 Motor starting method comparison table.
results provide bases for the safe and reliable operation in
Start-up starting Tstð%Þ =I2 stð%Þ Max Voltage the design of practical substation.
model time (s) Torque drop (%)
(%)
Appendix A. A.1. 1.4 Mw Induction motor parameters
DOL 5.8 0.02 220 11
Auto- 22 0.028 125 7
P = 1470 KW, f = 50 Hz, V = 11000 V
transformer
Soft starter 26 0.03 100 8 I fl @2980 min1 = 89 A, J m ¼ 14:3 kg  m2
SVC 4.6 0.06 230 1 J l @2980 min1 ¼ 44 kg  m2
Rs = 0.941 O, X rðflÞ = 10.6 O
X s = 10.3 O, X rðlrÞ = 6.8 O
ing was at SVC starting Fig. 32, while the DOL starting gives a X m = 538 O, RrðflÞ = 0.9 O
close torque speed characteristic performance. The other two RrðlrÞ = 2.5 O, single cage with deep bars
methods were almost similar to each other, due to their classi-
T st = 70%, PF @2980 min1 = 90%
fication as reduced voltage starting. Fig. 33 shows that the lar-
gest starting current happened during SVC starting at 590%, top speed = 2980 min1
while the soft starter starting limiting the current at 350%,
the starting current at Auto-transformer method began with
400% and decayed 300% at the end of starting period.
Figs. 31–33 give a brief comparison between different start-
ing method characteristics and the results of different motor
starting methods are summarized in Table 2 starting time,
Tst =I2 st ratio, max torque and max voltage drop are all calcu-
lated and tabulated in this table.Tst represents motor starting
torque while Ist represents substation consumed current during
motor starting. The close inspection of these results reveals
that the reduced voltage with Auto-transformer gives good
results in voltage drop and starting torque over the one with
soft starter. However, experience has proven that the perfor-
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