Asymmetrical Short-circuit Faults Research Articles

Transient Synchronous Stability Analysis of Grid-Forming Photovoltaic Grid-Connected Inverters during Asymmetrical Grid Faults

Compared with the traditional grid-following photovoltaic grid-connected converter (GFL-PGC), the grid-forming photovoltaic grid-connected converter (GFM-PGC) can provide voltage and frequency support for power systems, which can effectively enhance the stability of power electronic power systems. Consequently, GFM-PGCs have attracted great attention in recent years. When an asymmetrical short-circuit fault occurs in the power grid, GFM-PGC systems may experience transient instability, which has been less studied so far. In this paper, a GFM-PGC system is investigated under asymmetrical short-circuit fault conditions. A novel Q-V droop control structure is proposed by improving the traditional droop control. The proposed control structure enables the system to accurately control the positive- and negative-sequence reactive current without switching the control strategy during the low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) period so that it can meet the requirements of the renewable energy grid code. In addition, a dual-loop control structure model of positive- and negative-sequence voltage and current is established for the GFM-PGC system under asymmetrical short-circuit fault conditions. Based on the symmetrical component method, the composite sequence network of the system is obtained under asymmetrical short-circuit fault conditions, and positive- and negative-sequence power-angle characteristic curves are analyzed. The influence law of system parameters on the transient synchronous stability of positive- and negative-sequence systems is quantitatively analyzed through the equal area criterion. Finally, the correctness of the theoretical analysis is verified by simulation and hardware-in-the-loop experiments.

A new fault location scheme based on local measurements for transmission lines connected to inverter-based resources

This paper aims to reveal conventional impedance-based fault location methods’ shortcomings in the presence of inverter-based resources (IBRs) through an analytical framework established for the analysis of the IBR sequence impedances. Thereafter, a single-ended method is put forward in order to accurately specify the fault location in the lines emanating from the IBRs. The proposed fault location formulation utilizes the negative and zero sequence currents as alternative polarizing currents, therefore it is independent of the pre-fault data, and it can be applied for all kinds of asymmetrical short circuit fault. Furthermore, the established formulation is further amended to make it applicable to long transmission lines. The suggested method also provides acceptable accuracy in various conditions, such as different fault resistances, different host grid codes, and dynamic behavior of the fault resistance. The performance of the proposed scheme is scrutinized using the PSCAD/EMTDC software with an extensive number of simulations. The obtained results reveal the effectiveness and efficacy of the proposed fault location method in the presence of IBRs.

Resiliency Enhancement Control of Converter Fed Smart Renewable Micro Grids Against Multiple Risks

Increasing the penetration level of converter-based renewable power plants, along with the advanced grid code requirements, has made the role of the control of grid-connected voltage source converters more important. In this paper, an improved combined control method for the grid-connected converters is proposed to improve the resiliency of the microgrid against multiple risks. Two main objectives of the proposed method are to <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">i)</i> improve the steady state and dynamic performance of grid-connected converter, and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ii)</i> enhance the resiliency of the system. It copes with high power fluctuations, severe load changes, symmetrical and asymmetrical short circuit faults, and unbalanced grid conditions. As a result, no extra means are needed to tackle each undesirable conditions. The advantages of a current control scheme are integrated with a logical switching table in the proposed control method to improve its steady state and dynamic performance. The virtual flux estimation is eliminated from the control system to reduce the dependency of the system on the parameters. It provides stable operation under normal and abnormal conditions such as unbalanced voltages, voltage sag, faults, etc. The performance of the proposed control method is compared with a virtual-based direct power control and a conventional combined control to confirm its effectiveness superiority through simulation and experimental results.

Current limiting strategy for grid-connected inverters under asymmetrical short circuit faults

Grid-connected inverter plays an essential role as an interface between energy resources and the power grid. The performance of the inverters is adversely affected by the grid disturbances such as imbalances and asymmetrical short circuit faults. Then, it is necessary to enhance the functionality of the inverter under such conditions. This paper proposes an unbalance current limiting strategy for grid-connected inverters under asymmetrical short circuit fault conditions. In the proposed current limiting strategy, two main features are included: (i) second-order harmonic elimination from instantaneous active power injected into the grid, and (ii) reactive current injection according to the grid code demand. In the proposed current limiting strategy, proper positive and negative sequence current components are calculated, by which the aforementioned goals are achieved. Furthermore, to be compatible with the well-known control structure of the power converters, the current references are obtained in the form that is applicable with the commonly-used double-synchronous-references-frame control structure. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, the behavior of the current limiting strategy is examined by simulation of an asymmetrical short circuit fault condition in a test system. In the simulation, both the transient response upon fault occurrence and steady-state of fault condition are considered and analyzed. Furthermore, the simulation results are supported by experimental test results, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

Asymmetrical fault analysis on distribution feeders with inverter interfaced distributed generators

As the penetration level of the inverter interfaced distributed generators (IIDGs) increases, it is necessary to consider the effect of the IIDG connection on fault analysis in distribution networks. To extend the conventional analysis methods, this paper proposed a sequence component-based method to analyse the asymmetrical short-circuit faults. The boundary condition alternation caused by the IIDG connection was presented as well as its effect on the phase components of the feeder fault currents. Moreover, the difference between fault currents before and after IIDG connection was analysed, considering the boundary condition alternation. The fault current values obtained in network without IIDG connection were used to calculate fault currents of the feeders connected with IIDGs, which can simplify the calculation process and reduce the calculation time. The proposed method was programmed and implemented on different cases, and results were compared with the simulation and conventional analysis method. Comparisons demonstrated the improvements of the proposed method in accuracy of the results and calculation time. The new method can be conveniently integrated into software packages for power system analysis and relay protection evaluation.

Sliding Mode Controller-Based BFCL for Fault Ride-Through Performance Enhancement of DFIG-Based Wind Turbines

The fault ride-through (FRT) capability and fault current issues are the main challenges in doubly fed induction generator- (DFIG-) based wind turbines (WTs). Application of the bridge-type fault current limiter (BFCL) was recognized as a promising solution to cope with these challenges. This paper proposes a nonlinear sliding mode controller (SMC) for the BFCL to enhance the FRT performance of the DFIG-based WT. This controller has robust performance in unpredicted voltage sag level and nonlinear features. Theoretical discussions, power circuit, and nonlinear control consideration of the SMC-based BFCL are conducted, and then, its performance is verified through time-domain simulations in the PSCAD/EMTDC environment. To reduce the chattering phenomenon and decrease the reaching time, it used the exponential reaching law (ERL) for designed SMC. Also, the SMC-based BFCL performance is compared with the conventional and PI controller-based BFCL for both symmetrical and asymmetrical short-circuit faults. Simulation results reveal that the SMC-based BFCL provides better performance compared with the conventional and PI controller-based BFCL to enhance the FRT.

A Current Limiting Strategy With Parallel Virtual Impedance for Three-Phase Three-Leg Inverter Under Asymmetrical Short-Circuit Fault to Improve the Controllable Capability of Fault Currents

Voltage-controlled three-phase three-leg inverters are widely applied in various occasions. The inverters are generally switched to the current-controlled mode to limit the fault currents when short-circuit faults happen. Under symmetrical fault, the inverter can be controlled as a symmetrical, three-phase current source. However, the voltage limiting will happen under asymmetrical fault. As a result, the fault phase currents will be distorted and cannot be completely controlled. Considering that the voltage limiting is mainly caused by large load impedance of healthy phase under asymmetrical fault, the voltage limiting is avoided by paralleling the virtual impedance with the output filter capacitor in this paper. As a result, the current limiting loop is not broken and the fault phase currents can be effectively controlled. The implementation of virtual impedance in control system and the influence of virtual impedance on the stability of system are also analyzed in detail in this paper. The theoretical results are validated by experiments.

Performance Improvement of AC-DC Power Converters under Unbalanced Conditions

In this paper, a single synchronous reference-frame based control method is proposed to improve the performance of AC-DC interlink converters feeding DC loads under unbalanced AC grid conditions. Unbalanced grid voltages cause undesirable double frequency (2ω0) oscillations on the DC link voltage in AC-DC converters. In the medium/high power applications, low switching frequency, and the oscillatory power of the input filter considerably degrade the functionality of the existing methods for removing 2ω0 ripples from DC link voltage. In this paper, an analytical equation for the terminal active power is derived considering the input filter inductance. Accordingly, suitable current references are proposed to eliminate the undesirable 2ω0 ripples from DC-link voltage considering low switching frequency. It is shown that the filter inductance adds a non-linear term to the active power equation which complicates the current reference calculation. Accordingly, a real-time recursive method is proposed to solve the equations and find the current references. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, different grid unbalanced conditions, including asymmetrical short circuit faults, are applied to a test system in the PSCAD/EMTDC environment. Furthermore, the functionality of the proposed method is compared with that of the existing method for unbalanced conditions in the literature.

Comparison of the characteristics of three kinds of HVDC systems with ABB, SIMENS, and Cigre Benchmark

This study presents the comparison among three control systems: Cigre Benchmark model, ABB model, and SIMENS model based on PSCAD. Firstly, the control systems which refer to Cigre Benchmark control model, ABB control model, and SIMENS control model are introduced, respectively. Analysis and comparison are done on these control systems about their design theories, control logic, and functional models, and the advantages and disadvantages of each control system are concluded. Secondly, simulations in both normal and fault conditions are done in order to verify the conclusions. On the one hand, the steady-state response characteristics of these three high-voltage direct current (HVDC) models are obtained and compared by setting different voltage of the receiving terminal AC bus. On the other hand, the transient response characteristics of these three HVDC models under different operating conditions are obtained, such as symmetrical and asymmetrical short-circuit fault, line switching on or off etc. The research results will provide experiences and references for the future optimisation of the HVDC control system.

Experimental Verification of Rotor Demagnetization in a Fractional-Slot Concentrated-Winding PM Synchronous Machine Under Drive Fault Conditions

This paper presents the results of experimental tests designed to verify analytical predictions of the rotor demagnetization characteristics of a 0.6 kW (cont.) 9-slot/6-pole fractional-slot concentrated winding (FSCW) interior permanent magnet (IPM) synchronous machine. The demagnetization characteristics of the rotor magnets in this commercially produced FSCW-IPM machine are measured using a test configuration that is designed to conduct multiple demagnetization tests on the same test machine under controlled temperature conditions. In this paper, finite-element (FE) predictions of the rotor demagnetization characteristics of the experimental machine during three-phase symmetrical short-circuit and single-phase asymmetrical short-circuit faults are presented. These results are compared with experimental test measurements of the postfault currents and the magnet flux density distribution following demagnetization, demonstrating very good agreement of many key features. These comparisons also confirm that 3-D effects and magnet material properties such as the magnet thermal coefficients have a significant impact on some details of the FE predictions of the machine's fault-mode response characteristics.

PM Synchronous Machine Drive Response to Asymmetrical Short-Circuit Faults

This paper investigates the impact of machine topology and parameters on the fault-mode characteristics of permanent-magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs) exposed to asymmetrical short-circuit (ASC) faults, one of the most dangerous faults in terms of peak current amplitudes and demagnetization risks. Simulations using an equivalent circuit model combined with finite-element (FE) analysis are used to explore the differences between the ASC fault-mode responses of three major types of PM machines. The effects of several different rotor and winding configurations have been studied to identify the key machine parameters that have a major influence on the fault current amplitudes. Results indicate that fractional-slot concentrated winding (FSCW) PM machines tend to exhibit lower peak currents compared to distributed winding (DW) machines during ASC fault events. Finally, the results from three different types of short-circuit faults are summarized and compared for several PM machine configurations to provide information that will be helpful for choosing the best machine for new applications. Experimental results are provided for constrained ASC fault conditions that build confidence in the models and their predictions.

IPM synchronous machine drive response to symmetrical and asymmetrical short circuit faults

A closed-form solution is presented for the steady-state response of interior permanent magnet (IPM) synchronous machines to symmetrical short circuits including the effects of q-axis magnetic saturation. Machine response to single-phase asymmetrical short circuits is also investigated. Experimental data are presented to verify predicted behavior for both types of short circuits. It is shown that single-phase asymmetrical short circuit faults produce more severe fault responses with high pulsating torque and a significant threat of rotor demagnetization. A control strategy that purposely transitions such faults into symmetrical three-phase short circuits can minimize the fault severity and associated demagnetization risks. Implications for the design of IPM machines with improved fault tolerance are discussed.

IPM Synchronous Machine Drive Response to Symmetrical and Asynunetrical Short Circuit Faults

A closed-form solution is presented for the steady-state response of interior permanent magnet (IPM) synchronous machines to symmetrical short circuits including the effects of q-axis magnetic saturation. Machine response to single-phase asymmetrical short circuits is also investigated. Experimental data is presented to verify predicted behavior for both types of short circuits. It is shown that single-phase asymmetrical short circuit faults produce more severe fault responses with high pulsating torque and a significant threat of rotor demagnetization. A control strategy that purposely transitions such faults into symmetrical three-phase short circuits can minimize the fault severity and associated demagnetization risks. Implications for the design of IPM machines with improved fault tolerance are discussed.