You are on page 1of 2

ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT FAULTS AND PROTECTION IN HVDC LINES High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission system is widely

recognized as h aving technical, economical and environmental benefits since its first commercia l project introduced in Sweden in 1950s. HVDC transmission system has technical advantages in producing an asynchronous interconnection and long-distance bulk p ower delivery. Increasing numbers of HVDC projects over the world shows that HVD C technology plays a more and more important role in the world's power transmiss ion system. An HVDC transmission behaves differently compared to an AC transmission if there is a ground fault or short circuit. The different types of faults which occur i n HVDC lines are DC overhead line faults: When a fault (flash-over) occurs on a AC line, there are circuit breakers that d isconnect the line. It is then normally automatically re-connected again. There are no DC breakers in the HVDC converter stations, so when a fault occurs on a D C line, the fault is detected by the DC line fault protection. This protection o rders the rectifier into inverter mode and this discharges the line effectively. After some 80 - 100 ms, the line is charged again by the rectifier. If the faul t was intermittent, due to e.g. a lightning strike, then normally the line can s upport the voltage and the power transmission continues. Full power is then reso rted in about 200 ms after the fault. But if the fault was due to contaminated l ine insulators, there is a risk that re-charging of the line results in a second fault. Many HVDC transmissions are designed such that after a number of failed restart attempts, the following attempts are made with reduced voltage (80 %). DC line fault clearing does not involve any mechanical action and therefore is f aster than for an AC line. The DC fault current is also lower than the AC fault current and therefore the dead time before the restart is shorter than for an AC line. The reduced voltage restart is also unique for HVDC. DC cable faults : Cable faults are very rare. They are as a rule caused by mechanical damage. Ther efore submarine DC cables are often buried to prevent damage from anchors and tr awls. The same protection action occurs as for a DC line but without the restart attempt. AC network faults: When a temporary fault occurs in the AC system connected to the rectifier, the H VDC transmission may suffer a power loss. Even in the case of close single-phase faults, the link may transmit up to 30 % of the pre-fault power. As soon as the fault is cleared, power is restored to the pre-fault value. When a fault occurs in the AC system connected to the inverter, a ilure can occur interrupting power flow. A commutation failure is ut natural process in a classic HVDC inverter that the system can AC-fault is temporary the power is restored as soon as the fault commutation fa an unwanted, b handle. If the is cleared.

Converter station faults : HVDC converter stations are provided with an elaborate protection system that is designed to detect fault conditions or other abnormal conditions that might exp ose equipment to hazard and/or cause unacceptable disturbances. The faulty equip ment is taken out of service by the protection system. There are significant differences between the requirements of ac and dc CBs, mai nly due to the absence of a natural current zero crossing in dc systems. DC brea kers have to interrupt short-circuit currents very quickly and need to dissipate the large amount of energy which is stored in the inductances in the system. To

day, dc CBs are only widely available for the low- and medium-voltage range. For HVDC applications, only transfer and load current switches are in use. Breakers interrupting HVDC short-circuit currents are not commonly available and have ve ry limited ratings. The area of research is the analysis of different types of faults in HVDC lines. Simulation using MATLAB is planned. Optimization of the existing basic HVDC CB scheme will be done by optimizing the size of elements, such as capacitors, indu ctors, varistors, or charging units. The main goal is the reduction in size, in terruption time, and costs.

You might also like