HVDC LCC Modelling

DIgSILENT PowerFactory

Abstract
This paper discusses the modelling of HighVoltage Direct Current (HVDC) Transmission Systems, in particular line-commutated
(LCC) technology, for the purpose of load
flow and time-domain simulation.

Content

This document presents a model of a HVDC

system. A few simulations are performed
and the results are discussed. The simulations show the steady-state effect of tap
changing commutation transformers, as well
as the transient response to faults in the AC
network on both sides of the HVDC system.

Model for
operation

steady-state

The model is based on the IEEE benchmark

model [1]. It has been constructed in DIgSILENT PowerFactory version 15.0 and is contained in the file HVDC Example.pfd. The
single line diagram of the system as implemented in PowerFactory is shown in Figure
1.
The system has twelve-pulse thyristor converters on both the rectifier and inverter side.
The 500 kV DC line has a length of 500
km and is rated at 2 kA. If the study case
0 BaseCase is activated and a load flow
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calculation performed, the user may observe

that approximately 1000 MW flows through
the DC link. The rectifiers set the DC current
to 2 kA and the inverters set the DC voltage
to 99%. The converter models include commutation transformers, which provide the 30
degree phase shift in AC voltage between
the upper and lower converters. The transformers include tap changers, which, initially,
have fixed positions of 1.01 on the rectifier
side and 0.989 on the inverter side. The resulting voltage ratio leads to a firing angle of
= 15.2 on the rectifier side and = 14.6
on the inverters side. The overlap angle on
the inverter side is 23.6 . The model also includes harmonic filters. In the load-flow calculation these harmonic filters can be seen
to compensate the reactive power consumption of the converters.
The study case 1 TapControl can be activated to demonstrate the effect of automatic
tap changers (installed in the commutation
transformers) on the steady-state operation.
The settings of the tap changers can be seen
under the load flow tab of the converters dialogue windows. The tap positions on the rectifier side are set so that the firing angle is
= 15 . The tap positions on the inverter side
are set so as to lead to an extinction angle of
= 20 . For the purpose of testing the tap
changers the initial tap positions have been
set to 0.95 on all converters.

Model for time-domain

simulation

The converter model used for the EMTsimulation reproduces the transients due to
the six thyristor switches and their snubber

HVDC LCC Modelling

circuits. Either a built-in firing controller or
a user-defined firing controller can be used.
The built-in firing controller represents EPC
(equidistant firing control). The firing angle
is measured relative to an internal synchronising angle phiref, which varies at the rate
of the frequency signal that is connected to
the converter model. The frequency is measured by a phase-locked loop (PLL). The
model requires the commutation reactance
to be entered correctly so that the internal
angle phiref can be initialised correctly.
When either the study case 2. . . or 3. . . is
activated then the variations HVDC Control
and Lower SCR are activated. The former links dynamic controllers to the converter models and the latter modifies the
short-circuit levels of the external AC grid elements.
The graphic HVDC Controls provides
an overview of the controls.
It shows
how the converter models are linked with
the dynamic controller models, phasemeasurement devices and voltage & current
measurement devices.
The graphic Rect Controller shows the dynamic model of the rectifier controller. Under normal conditions, this controller regulates the DC current to the reference Id ref,
which is calculated from the load flow solution.
In the event of a severe drop
in the DC voltage the current reference
is reduced through the VDCOL (voltagedependent current-order limiter).
The graphic Inv Controller shows the dynamic model of the inverter controller. Under normal conditions the controller regulates the extinction angle to gamma min,
which is obtained from the load flow solution. In the event of a severe reduction in DC
voltage the controller can switch to currentcontrol mode. In this case the inverter regulates the DC current (to the initial current less
the margin, Im).

Fault at the inverter side

The study case 2 Fault InverterSide is

used to study the response of the HVDC
system to a three-phase short circuit in the

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AC system on the inverter side using a timedomain simulation (EMT).

After running the EMT simulation the simulation plots appear in the graphics named
. . . . The inverter phase currents in the
graphic AC Waveforms display thyristor
commutation failures (see Figure 2). The
graphic Rec Ctrl shows that the VDCOL is
activated during the fault due to the reduction
in the DC voltage. The rectifier controller reduces the DC current and alleviates the commutation problems on the inverter side.

Fault at the rectifier side

The study case 3 Fault Rectifier Side is

used to study the response of the HVDC system to a three-phase short circuit in the AC
system on the rectifier side. The response
is studied using a time-domain simulation
(EMT).
After running the EMT simulation the plots
appear in the graphics named . . . . The
firing angle on the rectifier side reduces to
the minimum value of 5 degrees, but the rectifier controller is unable to regulate the current to its set-point. The inverter controller
switches to current control mode (see Figure
3). The inverter controller has a reference
current equal to 90% (the initial 100% less
a 10% margin). The inverter controller prevents the HVDC system from running down.
When the fault clears the rectifier controller
takes over current control again. After some
time the inverter controller switches back to
extinction-angle control.

References
[1] M. Szechtman, T. Wess, and C.V. Thio.
A benchmark model for HVDC system
studies. In International Conference on
AC and DC Power Transmission, pages
374378. IET, 1991.

HVDC LCC Modelling

Figure 1: Single line diagram for the HVDC system as modelled in PowerFactory

Figure 2: Commutation failure

Figure 3: Current control at the inverter

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