1.

3 ENHANCEMENT OF STABILITY USING HVDC CONTROLS

1.3.1 Introduction
The controllability of HVDC links plays a vital role in achieving the performance of massively
interconnected power systems. These systems have various disturbances and system conditions
during its operations, which can be improved by appropriately applying relevant control systems
to achieve desired results. The fundamental control strategies and their auxiliary controls for
improving the system performance of HVDC systems are discussed in the following section.
1.3.2 Basic Control Principles
The HVDC system is constant-current controlled for the following two reasons:
To limit over current and minimize damage due to faults.
To prevent the system from running down due to fluctuations of the ac voltages.
The high-speed constant current control characteristic make the HVDC system operation very
stable [1]. The following are the significant aspects of the basic control system shown in Fig 1.1,
the details of which are explained as under: Fig 1.1: Basic control scheme for HVDC system.
a) The rectifier is provided with a current control and an -limit control. The minimum
reference is set at about 50 so that sufficient positive voltage across the valve exists at the time of
firing, to ensure successful commutation. In the current control mode, a closed loop regulator
(which is a proportional plus integral regulator also termed as Type-0 controller) controls the
firing angle and hence the dc voltage to maintain the direct current equal to the current order. Tap
changer control of the converter transformer brings within the range of 100 to 200. A time
delay is used to prevent unnecessary tap movements during excursions of .
b) The inverter is provided with a constant extinction angle (CEA) control and current control. In
the CEA control mode, is regulated to a value of about 150. This value represents a tradeoff
between acceptable VAR consumption and a low risk of commutation failure. Tap changer
control is used to bring the value of close to the desired range of 150 to 200.
c) Under normal conditions, the rectifier is on current control mode and the inverter is on CEA
control mode. If there is a reduction in the ac voltage at rectifier end, the rectifier firing angle
decreases until it hits the min limit. At this point, the rectifier switches to min control and the
inverter will assume current control. These are illustrated in Fig 1.2.
Fig 1.2: Actual converter control steady state characteristics
d) To ensure satisfactory operation and equipment safety, several limits are recognized in
establishing the current order as shown in Fig 1.3 i.e., maximum current limit, minimum current
limit, and voltage-dependent current-order limit (VDCOL) and are briefed as follows:
i) Maximum current limit:
The maximum current limit is usually limited to 1.2 to 1.3 times normal full-load current, to
avoid thermal damage to valves.
ii) Minimum current limit:
At low values of current, the ripple in the current may cause it to be discontinuous or
intermittent. This is objectionable because of the high voltages (Ldi/dt) induced in the
transformer windings and the DC reactor by the high rate of change of current at the instants of
interruption. At low values of direct current, the overlap is small. Operation is objectionable even
with continuous current if the overlap is too small. With a very small overlap, the two jumps in
direct current at the beginning and end of commutation merge to form one jump twice as large,
resulting in an increased stress on the valves. It may also cause flashover of protective gaps
placed across the terminals of each bridge.
iii) Voltage-dependent current-order limit (VDCOL) :

Under low voltage conditions, it may not be desirable or possible to maintain rated direct current
or power for the following reasons:
When voltage at one converter drops by more than about 30%, the reactive power demand of the
remote converter increases, and this may have an adverse effect on the ac system. A higher or
at the remote converter necessary to control the current causes the increase in reactive power.
The reduced ac system voltage levels also significantly decrease the reactive power supplied by
the filters and capacitors, which often supply much of the reactive power absorbed by the
converters. At reduced voltages, there are also risks of commutation failure and voltage
instability. These problems associated with operation under low voltage conditions may be
prevented by using a voltagedependent current-order limit. This limit reduces the maximum
allowable direct current when the voltage drops below a predetermined value. The VDCOL
characteristics may be a function of the ac commutating voltage or the dc voltage.
Fig 1.3: Steady-state V-I characteristic with VDCOL, minimum current limit and firing angle
limits
Higher-level controls may be used, in addition to the above basic controls, to improve AC/DC
system interaction and enhance AC system performance. All schemes used to date have used the
above modes of operation for the rectifier and the inverter. However, there are some situations
that may warrant serious investigation of a control scheme in which the inverter is operated
continuously in current control mode and the rectifier in -minimum control mode.
1.3.3 Enhancement of AC System Performance using HVDC Controls
In a DC transmission system, the basic controlled quantity is the direct current, controlled by the
action of the rectifier with the direct voltage maintained by the inverter. A DC link controlled in
this manner buffers one AC system from disturbances on the other. However, it does not allow
the flow of synchronizing power which assists in maintaining stability of AC systems. The
converters appear to the AC systems as frequency-insensitive loads and this may contribute to
negative damping of system swings [1]. Also, the DC links may contribute to voltage collapse
during swings by drawing excessive reactive power.
Supplementary controls are needed to exploit the controllability of DC links for enhancing the
AC system dynamic performance. There are a variety of such higher level controls used in
practice whose performance objectives change with the characteristics of the associated AC
systems. Reasons for using supplementary controls for DC links are as follows:
Improvement of oscillation damping
Improvement of transient stability.
System disturbance isolation.
Frequency control of small isolated systems.
Dynamic voltage support and Reactive power regulation.
HVDC links can be controlled in a number of ways by adding supplementary control schemes to
the basic control structure. The purposes of these supplementary control schemes are multiple
and in general they have been developed to satisfy the particular condition of each HVDC
project [62-64]. Therefore, there is no general control scheme applicable to all systems. The
supplementary control structure associated with the HVDC link is helpful in improving the
damping of the overall system.
With proper design of supplementary control loop of the HVDC link, the damping ratio of the
system can be increased to a safe value, which cannot be attained solely using power system

stabilizers. The electromechanical inter-area oscillations can be reduced effectively with power
modulation through the HVDC link.
The control signals used tend to be unique to each system under consideration. Generalized
control schemes applicable to all systems have not been developed so far. To modulate the DC
quantities, the supplementary controls make use of signals derived from the AC system. The
modulating signals derived from the AC system can be system frequency, voltage magnitude and
angle, and line flows. The control signal selection depends on the system characteristics and the
desired results.
In order to augment transient stability limit large signal modulation is used, thereby improving
system security. Large changes in the power flow in the DC link are required to compensate for
tripping of loads, generators or AC ties. The limits imposed by ratings of the link usually do not
curtail the benefits of power modulation, while overload capability in DC links is useful. Hence,
significant improvements can be expected out of the use of DC links in emergency control. The
rapid response of DC link controllers helps in arresting large deviations in the frequency by
matching generation with the load in the area in which the DC link is connected [65]. Some of
the aspects in the application of power modulation in a DC link are discussed in the following
sections.
1.3.4 Control Signals
In large multi machine power systems, there are many modes of generator rotor oscillations. The
stabilizing control is used to damp one or more of the predominant modes of oscillation. The
controller can introduce new undamped modes if proper care is not taken at the design stage. By
increasing the bandwidth of the controller some of the difficulties can be overcome but it can
lead to noise interference. It is desirable to obtain control signals locally. Control signals that can
be used for supplementary controllers are as follows:
Rotor frequency of adjacent generator
Converter bus frequency
Parallel AC tie line power or current
Phase angle changes in the AC system [66].
In the case of a single machine system, the above signals work satisfactorily. An ideal control
signal should have only the components of oscillation which are to be damped. The extraneous
components such as at supply frequency and harmonics, sub-synchronous frequency oscillations,
local mode oscillations when the damping is desired for inter-area modes, can pose problems.
These are suppressed by suitably designed band pass or notch filters. Control signals derived
from relative power angle deviation, relative speed deviation, and acceleration of the various
machines in the system may be used for DC power modulation with multi machine systems.
Different combinations of these signals may also be employed depending on the type of system.
This means it involves derivation of signals from local as well as remote machines.