EEE4009

FACTS AND HVDC

MODULE 2 LECTURE 4
METHODS OF CONTROLLABLE VAR GENERATION
Dr.K.RAVI
Associate Professor,SELECT
VIT,Vellore
 METHODS OF CONTROLLABLE VAR
GENERATION
• Capacitor-generate Q
• INDUCTOR-ABSORB Q
• They have been used with Mechanical
switches for controlled VAR generation and
absorption since the early days of ac
transmission
• 1970-high power line commutated thyristors in
conjunction with Capacitor and reactor have
been employed in various circuit configuration
to provide variable reactive power output.
• Modern SVG are based on high power
semiconductor switching circuits.
• These switching circuits determine
some of the important characteristics.
• Such as Voltage Vs Reactive output
current
• Loss Vs var output, response time,
• setting limit of var generator
• It is essential to balance the supply and demand of active
and reactive power in an electrical power system.
• If the balance is lost, system frequency and voltage
excursions may occur resulting, in the worst case, in the
collapse of the power system.
• Appropriate voltage and reactive power control is one of
the most important factors for stable power system
operation.
• The Static Var Compensator (SVC) is one of the advanced
power electronics equipment which provides fast and
continuous capacitive and inductive reactive power supply
to the power system.
• The bounds on loading in the St. Clair curve consider
three phenomena
• - thermal, voltage, and stability.
• For short lines, the loading is constrained by thermal
limits.
• For medium length lines the loading is constrained by
voltage drop.
• For long lines the loading is limited by steady-state
stability (or maximum power transfer).
• While these limitations are all well known, the
composite plot of these constraints for any line length
of any voltage is interesting and provides a good
physical feeling for line loadability and the possible
sources of limitation
• The concept of "line loadability" was introduced by H.P. St. Clair in 1953

• Fig. 1 shows the universal loadability curve for overhead uncompensated lines
applicable to all voltage ratings
• Three factors influence power transfer limits:

– thermal limit (annealing and increased sag)

– voltage drop limit (maximum 5% drop)

– steady-state stability limit (steady-state stability margin of 30% as shown in Fig.

1)
• The "St. Clair Curve" provides a simple means of visualizing power transfer
capabilities of transmission lines.
– useful for developing conceptual guides to preliminary planning of transmission
systems
– must be used with some caution

Large complex systems require detailed assessment of their performance and

consideration of additional factors
"St. Clair Curve"

Fig 1
Prabha Kundur goes on to say, "The main factor causing instability is
the inability of the power system to meet the demand for reactive
power. The heart of the problem is usually the voltage drop that
occurs when active power and reactive power flow through the
inductive reactance associated with the transmission network.''
 SVC
• The rapid development of the thyristor
has led to the development of static
var compensator (SVC) systems
• to provide reactive power,
• load balancing,
• power factor improvement,
• and to reduce voltage variations and
associated light flicker due to arc
furnace loads.
• Some of the applications of the SVC systems are listed here.
• In transmission systems:
• a. To increase active power transfer capacity and transient
stability margin1
• b. To damp power oscillations
• c. To achieve effective voltage control
THYRISTOR CONTROLLED REACTOR (TCR)
• Single phase TCR is shown in fig. it consists of fixed reactor with bidirectional
thyristors valve (sw). (block voltage 4KV-9KV, conduct current 3KA-6KA)

• TCR-shunt connected TCR, Whose effective reactance is varied in

continuous manner by partial conduction control of thyristor valve.
• TSR-shunt connected TSR, Whose effective reactance is varied in stepwise
manner by full or zero conduction control of thyristor valve.
THYRISTOR CONTROLLED REACTOR
• Reactors can be both switched and phase -angle controlled. When
phase angle control is used, a continuous range of reactive power
consumption is obtained. It results, however, in the generation of
odd harmonic current components during the control process.
• Full conduction is achieved with a gating angle of 90°.
• Partial conduction is obtained with gating angles between 90° and
180°, as shown in figure 6.2.
• By increasing the thyristor gating angle, the fundamental
component of the current reactor is reduced [17].
• This is equivalent to increase the inductance, reducing the reactive
power absorbed by the reactor.
• However, it should be pointed out that the change in the reactor
current may only take place at discrete points of time, which means
that adjustments cannot be made more frequently than once per
half cycle.
• Static Compensators of the TCR type are characterized by the
ability to perform continuous control, maximum delay of one half
cycle and practically no transients.
• An elementary single-phase thyristor-controlled
reactor (TCR) is shown in Figure 3a. It consists
of a fixed (usually air-core) reactor of inductance
L, and a bidirectional thyristor valve (or switch)
sw. Currently available large thyristors can block
voltage up to 4000 to 9000 volts and conduct
current up to 3000 to 6000 amperes.

• Thus, in a practical valve many thyristors

(typically 10 to 20) are connected in series to
meet the required blocking voltage levels at a
given power rating. A thyristor valve can be 3 (a. )Basic
brought into conduction by simultaneous thyristor-controlled
reactor
application of a gate pulse to all thyristors of the
same polarity.
• The valve will automatically block immediately
after the ac current crosses zero, unless the gate
signal is reapplied.
• The current in the reactor can be controlled from maximum (thyristor valve
closed) to zero (thyristor valve open) by the method of firing delay angle
control.

Fig 3( b).TCR firing delay angle control,

• That is, the closure of the thyristor valve is delayed with respect to the peak of the
applied voltage in each half-cycle, and thus the duration of the current conduction
intervals is controlled. This method of current control is illustrated separately for the
positive and negative current half-cycles in Figure 3b), where the applied voltage v
and the reactor current iL(a), at zero delay angle (switch fully closed) and at an
arbitrary a delay angle, are shown. When α= 0, the valve sw closes at the crest of the
applied voltage and evidently the resulting current in the reactor will be the same as
that obtained in steady state with a permanently closed switch. When the gating of
the valve is delayed by an angle a (0 ≤α≤ π/2) with respect to the crest of the voltage,
the current in the reactor can be expressed with v(t) = V cos wt as follows:
 Fig 3 (c) TCR operating waveforms

• It is evident that the magnitude of the current in the reactor can be varied
continuously by this method of delay angle control from maximum (α = 0) to
zero (α = π/2), as illustrated in Figure 3(c), where the reactor current iL(ex),
together with its fundamental component i LF(α), are shown at various delay
angles, a. Note, however, that the adjustment of current in the reactor can
take place only once in each half-cycle, in the zero to π/2 interval ("gating"
or "firing interval"). This restriction results in a delay of the attainable current
control. The worst-case delay, when changing the current from maximum to
zero (or vice versa), is a half-cycle of the applied ac voltage.
• The amplitude ILF(α) of the fundamental reactor current ILF(α) can be
expressed as a function of angle α:
It is clear from Figure 3.4 that the TCR can control the fundamental current
continuously from zero (valve open) to a maximum (valve closed) as if it was a
variable reactive admittance. Thus, an effective reactive admittance, BL(a), for the
TCR can be defined. This admittance, as a function of angle a, can be written
directly from

Fig 3.4 Amplitude variation of the fundamental TCR current with the delay angle Q
TSC(Thyristor Switched Capacitor)
• A single-phase thyristor switched capacitor
(TSC) is shown in Figure 5 a. It consists of a
capacitor, a bidirectional thyristor valve, and a
relatively small surge current limiting reactor.
This reactor is needed primarily to limit the surge
current in the thyristor valve under abnormal
operating conditions (e.g., control malfunction
causing capacitor switching at a "wrong time,"
when transient free switching conditions are not
satisfied); it may also be used to avoid
resonances with the ac system impedance at
particular frequencies.
• Under steady-state conditions, when the
thyristor valve is closed and the TSC branch is
connected to a sinusoidal ac voltage source, v =
V sin ωt on, the current in the branch is given by
• The TSC branch can be
disconnected ("switched out") at
any current zero by prior removal
of the gate drive to the thyristor
valve.
• At the current zero crossing, the
capacitor voltage is at its peak
value,

• The disconnected capacitor stays

charged to this voltage and,
consequently, the voltage across
the non conducting thyristor valve
varies between zero and the peak-
to-peak value of the applied ac
voltage, as illustrated in Figure 5.
(b). TSC associated waveforms (b).
• Unlike the TCR, the TSC is only ever operated fully on or fully off.
An attempt to operate a TSC in ‘’phase control’’ would result in the
generation of very large amplitude resonant currents, leading to
overheating of the capacitor bank and thyristor valve, and harmonic
distortion in the AC system to which the SVC is connected.
• If the voltage across the disconnected capacitor remained unchanged, the TSC bank could
be switched in again, without any transient, at the appropriate peak of the applied ac
voltage, as illustrated for a positively and negatively charged capacitor in Figure 5.(a) and
(b), respectively. Normally, the capacitor bank is discharged after disconnection.

Fig 5 Waveforms illustrating the switching transients with the thyristor switched
capacitor fully (a) or partially discharged (b).
• Normally, the capacitor bank is discharged after disconnection. Thus, the reconnection of the capacitor may
have to be executed at some residual capacitor voltage between zero and Vn2/(n2 - 1).
• This can be accomplished with the minimum possible transient disturbance if the thyristor valve is turned on at
those instants at which the capacitor residual voltage and the applied ac voltage are equal, that is, when the
voltage across the thyristor valve is zero. Figure 6(a) and (b) illustrate the switching transients obtained with a
fully and a partially discharged capacitor. These transients are caused by the nonzero dv /dt at the instant of
switching, which, without the series reactor, would result in an instantaneous current of ic = Cdv/dt in the
capacitor. (This current represents the instantaneous value of the steady-
• state capacitor current at the time of the switching.) The interaction
between the capacitor and the current (and di/dt) limiting reactor,
with the damping resistor,produces the oscillatory transients visible
on the current and voltage waveforms. (Note that the switching
transient is greater for the fully discharged than for the partially
discharged capacitor because the dv/dt of the applied (sinusoidal)
voltage has its maximum at the zero crossing point.)
Fig 6 Conditions for "transient-free" switching for the thyristor-switched capacitor with different residual voltages.
• The conditions for "transient-free" switching of a capacitor are summarized in
Figure 6. As seen, two simple rules cover all possible cases: (1) if the residual
capacitor voltage is lower than the peak ac voltage (Vc < V), then the correct
instant of switching is when the instantaneous ac voltage becomes equal to the
capacitor voltage; and (2) if the residual capacitor voltage is equal to or higher
than the peak ac voltage (Vc ~ V), then the correct switching is at the peak of
the ac voltage at which the thyristor valve voltage is minimum.
• From the above, it follows that the maximum possible delay in switching in a
capacitor bank is one full cycle of the applied ac voltage, that is, the interval
from one positive (negative) peak to the next positive (negative) peak. It also
follows that firing delay angle control is not applicable to capacitors; the
capacitor switching must take place at that specific instant in each cycle at
which the conditions for minimum transients are satisfied, that is, when the
voltage across the thyristor valve is zero or minimum. For this reason, a TSC
branch can provide only a step-like change in the reactive current it draws
(maximum or zero).