CONVERTER FAULTS & PROTECTION

INTRODUCTION
Faults in DC systems are caused by
the malfunction of the equipment and controllers

In a converter station
Valves are the most critical equipment needed to be protected

The failure of insulation caused by external sources such as lightning ,pollution etc

CONVERTER FAULTS
Arc backs Faults due to malfunctions of valves and controllers Arc through Misfire

Types of Converter Faults

Commutation Failure

Quenching or Current Extinction

Short Circuits in converter station

ARC BACKS
In this phenomena the valve losses its capability to block in the reverse direction Hence conduction takes place in reverse direction also

When this fault is detected we need to block the converter valves and open the backup AC breaker

This is non-self clearing fault

This can be eliminated by using a bypass valve placed across converter bridge on the valve side

The bypass valve has higher current rating than ordinary valves

ARC THROUGH
It is the failure to block a valve during a scheduled non conduction period

A malfunction in the gate pulse generator can fire a valve which is actually not supposed to conduct, but is forward biased

This malfunction is mainly because of failure of a) Negative grid pulse b) early occurrence of positive grid pulse

This fault mainly takes place at inverter station

MISFIRE

This takes place when the required gate pulse is missing and the incoming valve fails to ignite

This can occur in both rectifier and inverter stations, but effects are more in inverter

Effects are commutation failure and arc through. This is a self clearing fault

CURRENT EXTINCTION

This takes place when the current through a valve reaches a value less than the holding current

This fault may cause overvoltage's to take place in the valve

COMMUTATION FAILURE
It is nothing but the failure of the completion of commutation before the reversal of commutating voltage takes place. The minimum value of extinction angle is defined by =180-- The overlap angle is a function of the commutation voltage and the DC current. The reduction in voltage or increase in current or both can result in an increase in the overlap angle and reduction of below min. This gives rise to commutation failure.

Consider the circuit shown above. Assuming initially valves 1 and 2 are conducting. Now because of increased DC current or decreased AC voltage or any case valve 1 fails to extinguish. Therefore valve1 carries full link current and the current in valve 3 becomes zero. Hence valve 3 extinguishes and valve 1 continues its conduction .

Next when valve 4 fires the short circuit of the bridge takes place as valves in the same arm conducts. This causes the voltage across valve 5 to be negative hence it does not conducts. Valve 4 gets extinguished and valve 6 is fired next.

Hence the normal operation is retained back.

Therefore it can be said that single commutation failure is self clearing.

The effects of single commutation failure are,

There is no AC current for the period in which the two valves in an arm are left conducting. The bridge voltage remains zero for a period exceeding 1/3 of a cycle, during which the DC current tends to increase.

Double commutation failure can also takes place in a converter station. A commutation failure in a bridge can cause several sequence commutation failures in the series connected bridges. Hence the initial rate of rise of current has to be sufficiently limited by connecting the smoothing reactor in the circuit.

SHORT CIRCUIT IN A BRIDGE

This fault has very low probability of occurrence.

As the valves are kept in a valve hall with air conditioning.

They may sometime occur because of flashover in bushings. This fault mostly occurs in rectifiers.

PROTECTION AGAINST OVER C

It provides basic protection against faults in a converter

This is used as backup. The level of overcurrent required to trip must be set higher than VGP to avoid tripping

It compares the rectified current on URRENTS the valve side of converter transformer to DC current on line side smoothing reactor

This is mainly used to detect the ground faults, such as neutral faults.

The faults producing overcurrents are classified into 3 categories:

The first one being line faults. They occur frequently and can be controlled by controlling the current. The second being the internal faults. They cause high overcurrents. These are infrequent. The third fault may be commutation failure at inverters. They occur quite frequently.

PROTECTION AGAINST OVER VOLTAGES

The sources of over voltages in converter station are:

Switching operations Lightning strokes Sudden load rejection Resonance between filter and system when suppressing lower order harmonics.

Symmetrical faults in AC yard

Errors in voltage control Converter faults

SWITCHING OPERATIONS

These over voltages are of short duration.

Switching surges are on account of circuit breaker operation while switching inductive and capacitive loads. Protection schemes:

Using surge absorbers with circuit breakers.

Using SF6 breakers.

LIGHTNING STROKES

The primary cause of this over voltage is lightning strikes.

These occur for a very short duration but causes more damage to the system. Protection schemes:

Using surge arresters and spark gaps.

Using overhead ground wire.

With the help of neutral grounding.

OTHER FAULTS

Sudden load rejection,resonance,symmetrical faults in AC yard and other causes temporary over voltages in the system. This occurs at power frequency and lasts for a few seconds. Protection schemes:

Using surge over voltage relays and circuit breakers. Using fast acting static VAR sources. Using On Load Tap Changers.

SURGE ARRESTERS

It is a device connected between a conductor and ground, to protect the equipments against high voltage surges. It is also known as lightning arrestors.

It diverts the lightning or switching surges equipment towards the ground.

from the

Under normal operating voltage, the impedance offered by a surge arrester is very high. As the current always chooses the low resistance path equipment can perform in normal operation.

SURGE ARRESTERS CONTD

When an over voltage occurs it causes the drop in the impedance of surge arrester. Thus the flow now will be through the surge arrester rather than the main path. Two types of arresters are there:
Gapless arresters Zinc oxide arresters

Zinc oxide arrester is widely used as they have high energy absorbing capability.

SMOOTHING REACTORS

It is a high inductance coil connected in series with the converter to reduce the ripple current on the DC side of the system. Basically the DC current from the rectifier has harmonic components called ripple. As SR is in series with rectifier whole load current flows through it. Then their magnitude is reduced and current becomes smoother.

CORONA ON DC LINES

The phenomena of hissing sound, violet glow accompanied with the production of ozone gas due to ionization of air surrounding the conductor, when voltage gradient exceed a particular value is called corona. In DC transmission system, due to the discharge a current pulse is generated resulting in increase in power loss. The effects of corona are:
Radio Interference Audible Noise Space charge field

RADIO INTERFERENCE

It is also known as radio influence. It occurs in the band region of 0.5 to 1.6Mhz. In HVDC lines, RI effect is more in positive conductor rather than in negative conductor. It is expressed in millivolts per meter. Mathematically it is expressed as RI=25+10logn+10logr+1.5(g-go) In negative conductors the value of radio interference is lower by 20dB.

AUDIBLE NOISE

The corona discharges from the conductor produce compressions and rarefactions that are propagated through the medium as acoustical energy. The portion of the acoustical energy spectrum that lies within the sonic range is perceived as audible noise.The sound level is expressed in decibels'. It is defined as dB=20log(P/Pr) where P= measured sound pressure Pr= reference pressure level The positive polarity conductor is the primary source of AN.