Abstract
A fault current compensation technique is proposed in this paper for resonant grounded power distribution systems in bushfire prone areas. Arc suppression devices with residual current compensation inverters are used to compensate fault currents due to single line-to-ground faults in order to mitigate powerline bushfires. The main contribution of this paper is the design of a compensation technique for the T-type residual current compensation inverter using a non-singular terminal sliding mode control scheme. The main objective of the proposed scheme is to reduce the fault current and bring its value to a level so that it cannot ignite fires. The proposed controller is designed based on the selection of a sliding surface in a way the singularity problem can be avoided and chattering effects in existing sliding mode controllers can be eliminated. The desired current injection through the residual current compensation inverter is ensured by enforcing the control law into the terminal sliding surface where the control law is determined by satisfying the Lyapunov stability criteria. The performance of the non-singular terminal sliding mode controller is compared with an integral sliding mode controller by considering different values of fault currents where these values are varied by changing fault resistances. Results for simulation in the software and processor-in-loop simulations are verified against operational standards which are essential for mitigating powerline bushfires. This work focuses to design a non-singular terminal sliding mode controller for the residual current compensation inverter which is used in an arc suppression device to compensate both active and reactive components of the fault current and keeps its value below 0.5 A within 2 s after activating the residual current compensation inverter which is a requirement as per the operational standard. This controller is designed based on the selection of a terminal sliding surface while satisfying the condition for avoiding the singularity problem.
Highlights
Power distribution networks are generally grounded to compensate currents due to electric faults as high fault currents ignite fires
The detailed designed procedure of a non-singular terminal sliding mode controller is presented for the residual current compensation inverter used within an arc suppression devices (ASDs) in resonant grounded
The non-singular terminal sliding mode controller is designed to track the reference value of the neutral current in such a way that the fault current is almost completely compensated which in turn reduces the chances of igniting powerline bushfires
Summary
Power distribution networks are generally grounded to compensate currents due to electric faults as high fault currents ignite fires. Different types of PI controllers are employed for RCC inverters to compensate the fault current in distribution networks which include single- or dual-loop configurations where some of these schemes have compound characteristics, that is, more than one controller is used within a single-loop in order to improve the performance. The non-linear backstepping controllers are proposed in [21, 22] for the RCC inverters in ASDs to compensate the fault current while providing robustness against parametric uncertainties These backstepping controllers consider uncertainties in the filter inductances which do not have significant effects on the overall performance of the system. Based on the existing literature, it can be summarised that the RCC inverter in an RGPDS system is mainly controlled to reduce the fault current without satisfying the required standard for compensating the powerline bushfire due to the single-lineto-ground faults. Simulation results from the software and processor-in-loop (PIL) clearly justify theoretical claims while satisfying the operational standard under all operating scenarios
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