Commutation in HVDC

Ahmad Usman

Mr. Chen Kangning

Introduction:
High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) systems are widely used in long-distance electric power
transmission networks. This is attributable to their advantages such as bulk power transmission
with lower energy loss, interconnection of asynchronous networks, and the controllability of
HVDC systems, which enhance network stability with varying load dynamics. Each HVDC
station consists of more than a converter for rectifying or inverting electric current. In order to
obtain technically and economically optimum transmission, the voltage is transformed to a
suitable level by a transformer. Moreover, there must be filters on the AC side to smoothen the
current from the HVDC valves and reactive power compensation on the AC lines. The converter
valve consists of a large number of thyristors connected in series to withstand the high voltage
levels utilised in HVDC systems. For successful switching of a thyristor valve, the internal stored
charges should be removed such that the valve can establish forward voltage blocking capability.
Otherwise, the preceding valve will re-conduct when it is forward biased, consequently
interrupting the current commutation process and increasing the chances of a commutation
failure. Commutation failure can be defined as an adverse dynamic event that occurs when a
converter valve that is supposed to turn off, continues to conduct without transferring its current
to the next valve in the firing sequence. Its occurrence causes temporary interruption of
transmitted power and stresses the converter equipment. Furthermore, it can result in significant
direct current increase and thus lead to additional heating of converter valves, consequently
shortening their lifespan.

Background:
System faults on the AC networks connected to a line-commutated HVDC system with thyristor
based technology result in voltage disturbances in the form of voltage magnitude reduction
and/or phase shift. If the disturbance is severe enough, the power transmission is interrupted by a
so called commutation failure. When a commutation failure occurs, the normal sequence of
rectifying and/or inverting is disturbed. In an HVDC system dynamic performance study, where
the control system is optimized for a certain system, one of the tasks is to adjust a function called
Commutation Failure prevention (CFPrev). This function detects disturbances in the AC network
and feeds into other parts of the control system so that the probability of a commutation failure
occurring is reduced. This method has shown good mitigation capabilities for single phase AC
faults, as well as for repeated commutation failures resulting from three phase faults. Currently,
the CFPrev function consists of two different parts: The predictor (CFPred) that is always active
and outputs a signal when the risk of commutation failure is increased and the detector (CFDet)
that acts when a commutation failure has already occurred. On detection of AC faults, CFPrev
will give an angle contribution to one of the control blocks resulting in earlier firing,
consequently increasing the commutation margin and mitigating commutation failure or further
commutation failures. CFPrev also sends the angle contribution to another control block to get a
reduction in the maximum limit of the firing angle. This is done to allow for earlier firing of the
next valve in the firing sequence. The existing CFPrev outputs an angle contribution which is
independent of the minimum extinction angle allowed. This poses a challenge because under
certain fault cases, the angle contribution is limited and thus insufficient to mitigate commutation
failures.

HVDC Basics:
A typical line commutated converter HVDC system consists of at least one converter station at
the sending and receiving ends and the transmission medium. The converter stations at each end
are similar and contain converters, converter transformers, harmonic filters, shunt capacitors and
DC smoothing reactors. Converter Station The main component of the converter station is the
converter which consists of thyristor valves. The converter is responsible for power conversion
either from AC to DC (rectifier) or DC to AC (inverter) depending on what is desired. Each
thyristor valve consists of a certain number of series-connected thyristors so as to attain the
required voltage level. The thyristor valves are either arranged into six pulse or twelve pulse
groups. The switching of the valves is ordered by the converter control system; all
communication between the control and each valve is usually achieved through fibre optics. The
converter transformers; steps down the AC voltage of the connected AC system to be supplied to
the DC system at the rectifier end. On the inverter end, they step up the AC voltage before it’s
fed into the receiving AC network. Basically, the transformers adjust the supply’s AC voltage
level to the required DC voltage level of the HVDC system. These transformers also provide
galvanic isolation between the AC and DC systems. The converter transformers largely
contribute to the commutation reactance due to their sizeable leakage reactance. Usually, the
transformers are of single phase three winding type connected in a wye-wye-delta configuration.
A combination of single phase two winding transformers connected in a wye-wye and wye-delta
configuration can be used as well. However, the use of three phase transformers is limited by the
power requirements, cost, weight and the requirement of a spare transformer.

The converter operation generates harmonic voltages and currents on both the AC and DC sides.
These harmonics contribute to losses and lead to additional heating within the converters. On the
AC side of a k-pulse converter, current and voltage harmonics of the nk ± 1 (n=1,2,3,. . . ) are
generated. AC filters are installed to absorb these harmonic components, thus limiting the
amount of harmonics and reducing the voltage distortion in the network. High pass filters are
used as AC filters. On the DC side of a k-pulse converter, the order of DC harmonics is nk
(n=1,2,3,. . . ). DC filters reduce the harmonics flowing out into the dc line. DC filters are not
required in pure cable transmission or back-to-back HVDC schemes. However, it is essential to
install them where overhead lines form part of the transmission system to aid in the reduction of
telecommunication interference. In steady state operation, line commutated converters consume
reactive power during the power conversion process. The shunt capacitors and/or other reactive
power sources are installed at the converter AC bus to supply the reactive power required to
maintain the converter AC bus voltage. To achieve suitable reactive power compensation, the
shunt capacitors are normally subdivided and switched by circuit breakers as the power
conversion level varies. Some or all of the shunt capacitors are normally configured as AC
harmonic filters.

The DC reactor contributes to the smoothing of the DC current by reducing the direct current
ripples, thus reducing the harmonic voltage in the DC line and preventing the extinction of the
direct current at low power levels. The smoothing reactors also protect the converter valves by
limiting the fast rise of current flowing through the converter during commutation failures.
Moreover, they enable the limitation of the crest current during a short-circuit fault on the DC
line. It should be noted that the inductance of the converter transformer also contributes
significantly to these functions.

Line Commutated Converters

In Fig. 1 to 6 are the thyristor valves, L is the total commutation inductance per phase seen by
the valves, Ua,b,c are the source voltages of the AC network, Ud and Id are the DC voltage and
direct current respectively. Ld is a large DC inductance to ensure that the ripples in the direct
current are significantly reduced. Consider that valve 1 is fired during an interval when it is
forward biased (its anode voltage is positive with respect to the cathode) such that it is
conducting current. An alternating line voltage Uba appears across valve 3. When Uba is in its
negative cycle, valve 3 experiences a negative voltage across it (reverse biased) and cannot
conduct current even when a firing pulse is provided. Once the line voltage switches to its
positive cycle, valve 3 is forward biased. If valve 3 is fired during this interval, it will conduct
current and consequently, valve 1 experiences a negative voltage across its terminals. Through
the consecutive firing of incoming thyristor valves while the line voltage across their terminals
are of appropriate polarity, each thyristor can be successfully commutated. The incoming
thyristor valves causes the application of a line voltage to the outgoing valve which reverse
biases the outgoing valve. The term line commutated converter arises because an alternating line
voltage is required to serve as the commutating voltage, and should have a polarity that will
reverse bias the outgoing thyristor valve. The thyristor valves do not turn on at the point in the
AC cycle at which they become forward biased. Subsequent to being forward biased, a thyristor
valve must receive a firing pulse before it starts to conduct. The duration between receiving the
forward voltage and start of conduction is usually expressed in angular measure and is referred to
as firing or delay angle.

Theoretically, the delay angle ranges from 0 o to 180o. When the delay angle lies between 0 o to
90o, the converter is said to be operating in the rectifier mode. On the other hand, when the delay
angle lies between 90o to 180o, the converter is said to be operating in inverter mode. However,
in practice, the minimum delay angle is about 5 o for rectifier operation and the inverter
operation range is from 110o to 165o. The adjustable delay angle enables the control of the
converter’s voltage conversion ratio. In rectifier mode, the direct current flows from the positive
polarity of the DC circuit, this facilitates conversion from AC to DC. Conversely, in inverter
mode, the direct current flows from the negative polarity of the DC circuit therefore facilitating
conversion from DC to AC. An HVDC system basically consists of two twelve pulse groups
with each group comprising two Graetz bridges. One group operates in rectifier mode with the
other operating in inverter mode.

Commutation Process:
The switching of current conduction from one of the thyristor valves to another in the same row
of a converter bridge is referred to as commutation. Fig. 2.2 showing a basic six pulse converter
is utilized to describe the commutation process. The direct current, it is assumed to be constant
during the commutation interval. Since the current through an inductance cannot change
instantaneously, the commutation process takes a certain time. The inductance is due to the
reactive converter transformer and the AC grid reactance. This duration of commutation is
referred to as overlap time or angle of overlap, it is measured in degrees or radians and denoted
by µ. In order to change a current through an inductor, a voltage needs to be applied over the
inductor. Consider a case when valves 1 and 2 are conducting and the direct current is to be
commutated from valve 1 to valve 3 in the top row of Fig. The commutation can take place as
long as the voltage difference Ub - Ua is positive, this voltage difference is referred to as
commutating voltage. The commutating voltage is the voltage, which at constant direct current
would have occurred across the thyristor valve, if the valve had not been fired. The commutating
voltage can also be described as the reverse voltage across the thyristor terminals that serves to
turn off the thyristor. During the commutation process, the converter bridge can be represented
with an equivalent circuit shown. Valves 1 and 3 are both conducting in the top row while valve
2 in the bottom row continues to conduct as before. The commutating voltage drives a
commutating current i through valve 1 and 3, this commutation current will increase thereby
increasing the current flowing through valve 3 while decreasing the current through valve 1.

The commutation process is complete when the commutation current has increased and is equal
to the direct current Id. This is illustrated in Fig. 2.4, where Uba is the commutation voltage, i is
the commutation current, i1 and i3 are the currents flowing through valve 1 and valve 3
respectively and area A is the inverter commutation margin. In the rectifier, valve 3 is fired at α1
and the commutation of current from valve 1 to valve 3 takes µ1. The remaining area, γ1, is more
than sufficient for successful commutation therefore commutation failures rarely occur in the
rectifier. In the inverter, valve 3 is fired at α and the commutation of current from valve 1 to
valve 3 takes µ. The remaining voltage-time area A (commutation area) can be greatly reduced
in the event of disturbances in the AC network

Fig. shows the delay angle (α), which corresponds to the time when valve 3 is fired after the
commutation voltage has turned positive. Mu (µ) is the overlap angle, the angle corresponding to the
time when both valves 1 and 3 are conducting. Gamma (γ) is extinction angle or commutation margin,
the angle corresponding to the time between when valve 1 is extinguished and when the commutation
voltage goes through its zero crossing. During steady state operation, the relationship between these
angles is expressed as follows:

α + µ + γ = 180o

A reverse voltage needs to be applied across a thyristor valve for a certain duration. This is required to
remove the charges stored during the conduction process such that the valve can withstand a voltage in
the forward direction. This negative voltage is applied during the time corresponding to γ, the
commutation margin. Moreover, the extinction angle also provides an additional margin to ensure
successful commutation when small disturbances occur during normal operation. Considering inverter
operation, the expressions for the commutating current and the overlap angle can be derived. The
commutating voltage is given.

Uab = √ 2 ULL sin (ωt)

Uab = 2 ω L diµ d(ωt)

The shape of the commutating current which gives the time it takes for the current in the succeeding
valve to increase is obtained from where α + µ is replaced by ωt. So it is clear that the overlap angle
depends on the direct current, the AC voltage, the converter transformer inductance, the firing angle
and the AC system frequency.