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Analysis of Electromagnetic Transients in Reactive Compensators Type MSCDN

-Mechanically Switched Capacitor with Damping Network

Conference Paper · October 2016

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Paula Maria P. Cândida Mário Alves

Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais MF Consultoria
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 Analysis of Electromagnetic Transients in Reactive
Compensators Type MSCDN - Mechanically Switched
Capacitor with Damping Network
Paula Maria P. Cândida and Mário F. Alves
Graduate Program in Electrical Engineering
Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais
Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Abstract—The MSCDN - Mechanically Switched Capacitor with Another important factor is that these capacitors banks are
Damping Network has gained space in today’s electric energy installed in large transmission substations where the
transmission systems, with large facilities already in operation in equipment are exposed to many disturbance sources that
many countries. It is designed to undergo daily energizing and occur, for example, because of transformers energization.
de-energizing switching, thus being exposed to intense and These systemic disturbances impose high dielectric and
frequent transient stresses, requiring special care in the mechanical stresses on equipment, resulting in high risks of
specification and design of its components. This paper presents failure and consequently may impose restrictions on the
some discussions on transients that impact on the specification operation of the system [1], [4].
and design of the MSCDN components, particularly the filter
reactor. A system composed of some 500 km of 230 kV Considering this scenario, a very effective solution to the
transmission lines, a 500/230 kV substation with a 150 MVAr problems mentioned, are the type C harmonic filters, also
MSCDN, tuned to the third harmonic, was modeled on the ATP called MSCDN. A study conducted by [3] shows that, when
(Alternative Transients Program) environment, allowing the compared to conventional capacitors banks (MSCs), the
simulation of transients involving the MSCDN energization, a MSCDNs presented the following advantages:
500/230 kV transformers energization, and short circuit at 1 km
from substation. • Elimination of undesirable system’s low frequency
resonances, with an excellent damping effect when
Index Terms—MSCDN, reactive compensation, c-type filters, using the MSCDN.
transients, harmonics.
• The levels of transient voltages imposed on the
MSCDN capacitors bank are relatively smaller than
I. INTRODUCTION
those imposed on the MSC.
The growth of the electric energy market in many
countries is requiring new sources of reactive energy; many of In spite of the above benefits, the transient stress on the
them installed in extra high voltage transmission systems, to other components of the MSCDN can be quite high. If we
manage the energy quality issues. In the last decade or more, consider the large amount of annual switching realized with
many non-conventional energy suppliers, including large wind the equipment, it becomes evident that special care is required
farms, and HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) transmission in the specification and design of the MSCDN components,
systems were connected to power networks. These new agents particularly the reactors [1], [3], [5].
may introduce harmonic currents in transmission voltage
levels, with the possibility of generating harmonic resonances II. THE MSCDN
problems in the system [1], [2]. Topologically, the MSCDN consists of a damped
harmonic filter, more specifically a type C filter, designed to
Furthermore, in many cases, in the condition described provide some amount of reactive energy during operation at
above, it is expected that operation of capacitors banks fundamental frequency and properly tuned to a specific
switching are realized one to four times a day for reactive frequency, typically the third harmonic, to control the
compensation of the system, with conventional banks (MSC - harmonic distortions, working like a high-pass filter for
Mechanically Switched Capacitor) usually being used to harmonic currents greater than or equal to its tuning
perform this function. However, these conventional banks frequency. Another important characteristic of this solution is
introduce harmonics resonances, thus aggravating the problem the low value of ohmic losses in the damping resistor at the
of pre-existing harmonic currents [1], [2], [3]. fundamental frequency, as consequence of a fundamental

CAPES Foundation, from the Brazilian Ministry of Education,

sponsored this work.

978-1-5090-3792-6/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE

548
frequency resonance between the filter reactor and a Therefore, transient requests imposed to filter reactors
complementary tuning capacitor [1]. The capacitive reactance should be extensively examined, because the high voltage
of the tuning capacitor in the fundamental frequency is peak, associated with high rates of rise of voltage (dV/dt),
canceled by the inductive reactance of the tuning reactor, combined with the winding voltage distribution non-
short-circuiting the damping resistor and in consequence uniformity, can be fatal for the equipment. Such phenomenon
reducing significantly the MSCDN losses in steady state. may explain the failures of some reactors projects in the field
[9].
The main components of the MSCDN are main capacitor,
tuning capacitor, tuning reactor and damping resistor [6], [7]. As primary protection against overvoltage, surge arresters
The calculation of the main parameters are found, for are used in parallel with the damping resistor and, in some
example, in [6]. The basic topology of a MSCDN with its cases, in parallel with the reactor to limit the transient and
major components is shown in Fig. 1. dynamics overvoltage in these components, especially when
the point-on-wave synchronized circuit breakers is out of
service. These surge arresters may be submitted to many
current injections per day, with a frequency of occurrence
greater than what is considered as normal for this type of
equipment [1].
Although the use of point-on-wave synchronized circuit
breakers is common for installation of MSCDNs, it is usual to
not consider it in transient studies needed to define the
transients stress expected to be imposed on the filter`s
components [1], [3].

IV. A CASE STUDY

The system studied is shown in the single line diagram in
Fig. 2, where Zeq is the network equivalent impedance, TR is
Figure 1. Basic topology of MSCDN the transformer, D is the circuit break, S is the substation and
TL is the transmission line. System data are presented in the
Annex.
III. PROBLEMS IMPOSED TO THE MSCDN BY THE
TRANSIENTS
As mentioned before, it is expected that a MSCDN be
switched daily, with at least one operation for energizing and
one for de-energizing. This means that the bank will be
submitted to approximately 700 switching operations per
year, at least [1], [5].
In addition to the daily switching, the MSCDN is also
susceptible to system disturbances, such as transformers
energization and short circuits.
These transients can expose the equipment to waveforms
with high rates of rise, which are typically characterized by
long duration events, reaching tens to hundreds of
milliseconds, and could be classified as dynamic surges.
These surges impose high dielectric and mechanical stresses
on the equipment and may cause reduction of its life
expectancy, with high risk of failure if not be properly
considered during the design phase [1], [4].
Important factors such as duration of transients and
frequency of repetition of the events, and, in some cases, the
time between events, can significantly contribute to adverse
effects on components of the filter [8].
In addition, fast fronts of voltage and current waves can
be generated, especially during normal energization of banks
and re-ignition of the circuit breaker. These particular
phenomena are capable of producing large ratio of change of
voltage and current, which consequently, may expose the
filter components to dangerous voltages [8].
Figure 2. Single-line diagram of the system

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 Four cases were simulated on the ATP (Alternative MSCDN. Due to that, the reactor is normally designed with
Transients Program) environment, based on the guidelines reduced level of insulation.
proposed in [10]: 300

• Case 1: MSCDN energization.

[kV]

200

• Case 2: Energization of transformer 1 with 100

transformer 2 out of service.
0

• Case 3: Three phase short circuit in line AB1, at 1 km

from MSCDN. -100

• Case 4: MSCDN energization considering a detailed -200

model of the reactor. -300

0,00 0,02 0,04 0,06 0,08 [s] 0,10

The circuit breaker closing time considered for all cases Figure 4. Case 1 – Voltage in the main capacitor
was that resulting in the highest overvoltage imposed on the
MSCDN, and POW breakers were not considered, as already As shown in Fig. 5 the energization of the MSCDN
mentioned. resulted in overvoltage of amplitude about seven times the
The main parameters defining the MSCDN considered in reactor’s normal operating voltage, with voltage rates of rise
this study are the following: (dV/dt) of the order of 126 kV/ms. Taking into account the
fact that the bank may be operated approximately 700 times a
• Rated power – 150 MVAr. year, these values become relevant enough.
• Rated voltage – 230 kV. 200
[kV]
150

• Rated frequency – 60 Hz. 100

• Tuning order – 3th (180 Hz). 50

• Main capacitor – 7.52 μF.

0

-50

• Tuning capacitor – 60.17 μF. -100

• Tuning reactor – 116.9 mH. -150

-200
• Damping resistor – 1259 Ω. 0,00 0,02 0,04 0,06 0,08 [s] 0,10

Figure 5. Case 1 – Voltage in the tuning reactor

A. Energization of the MSCDN
For this particular simulation the transformer model did Furthermore, the currents associated with these
not consider hysteresis and saturation, since these are not overvoltages are relevant for its electromechanical design,
important for the frequency range involved in this since they can reach values of the order of magnitude of the
energization. A π circuit as shown in Fig. 3 modeled the short circuit current. These are low frequency overvoltage,
reactor [1], where LR is the reactor inductance, CS is the defined by the tuning frequency of the MSCDN, as can be
reactor series capacitance, Cg is the capacitance of the reactor observed in the frequency spectrum of the voltage waveform,
to earth and RR is the resistance due to the reactor’s losses. shown in Fig. 6. In the case of the MSCDN energization this
current peak value reaches three times the reactor nominal
value.
120
[kV]
92

64

36

-20
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Figure 3. Simplified model of the reactor harmonic order

Figure 6. Case 1 – Fourier spectrum of the voltage waveform - tuning

The results showed voltages up to 1.4 pu in the main reactor
capacitor bank with a high content of third harmonic damped
oscillations, as shown in Fig. 4.
B. Energization of the Transformer
If we consider now the damping reactor, it is important to Switching operations for energization of transformers can
note that its steady state operating voltage is relatively small result in high inrush currents. The amplitudes of these
(0.18 pu), since it is connected to the neutral side of the currents depend mainly on the point on the waveform where

550
energization occur, on the remaining residual flux and on the 1500
characteristics of the transformer’s saturation curve. [A]

Consider that when the transformer is de-energized a 1000

residual flux (Br) stays on in its magnetic material. When the
transformer is energized again, the voltage (V) in phase A 500
will be passing through zero and it will be coincident with the
maximum reverse polarity flux value (-Bmp). So, the flux
density instead of starting up from a maximum negative, it 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
will start from the remaining residual flux value until it harmonic order
reaches a positive peak value of Br+ 2Bmp, taking the core to Figure 9. Case 2 – Fourier spectrum for the inrush current
critical conditions of saturation. This is illustrated in Fig. 7,
where it is possible to observe the effect in excitation current However, for the particular case example considered, the
(i), resulting in high inrush currents (i0). effect of this inrush current in the MSCDN’s components is
not as significant as compared to the case of the energization
of the bank.
Fig. 10 shows the voltage waveform obtained for the
reactor in the study of transformer energization - case 2. The
corresponding frequency spectrum is shown in Fig. 11, and it
shows a high content of fourth harmonic, caused by the
transformer inrush current. In addition, the rates of rise of
these overvoltages are very similar to those obtained
previously for case 1, that is, of the order of 123 kV/ms.
90
[kV]
60

30

-30
Figure 7. Transformer inrush current, from [11]
-60
The models implemented in ATP for the simulations of
the transformers energiziation considered the non-linearity, -90
particularly the saturation and the hysteresis. The transformer 0,00 0,02 0,04 0,06 0,08 [s] 0,10

model used in ATP, suitable for low frequency transients Figure 10. Case 2 – Voltage at the tuning reactor
studies (up to 3 kHz) is the STC (Saturable Transformer
120
Component) [12], whose implementation required the use of [kV]
two complementary procedures: the routine SATURA [12] to 100
obtain the saturation curve, and the routine HEVIA [13] to 80
obtain the hysteresis curve. 60
The inrush current obtained for transformer 1 during its 40
energization with transformer 2 out, presents low order of 20
harmonics components, with the most significant between the
0
2th and 5th order, as shown in Fig. 8, and by the frequency 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
spectrum in Fig. 9. This is a potentially harmful situation for harmonic order
the MSCDN, due to its tuning being exactly within this range. Figure 11. Case 2 – Fourier spectrum for the voltage waveformt - tuning
3000
reactor
[A]

2000 C. Three phase short circuit at 1 km from MSCDN

The biggest overvoltages during the short circuit as well
1000
the highest rate of rise appear in phase A of the MSCDN
reactor, as shown in Fig. 12, reaching values up to 20 kV/µs,
0
due to the presence of high-frequency components. These
frequencies, in the order of 30 kHz, modulate the 180 Hz
-1000
wave (filter tuning frequency). However, considering the fact
that the events resulting from short circuit happen a few times
-2000
0,0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 [s] 0,5 over the life of the equipment, this rates of rise are not a
Figure 8. Case 2 – Transformer inrush current (Phase A, B and C) problem.

551
200
[kV]
The use of detailed models of the reactor only become
150 relevant for the cases where we are interested in the transient
100 voltage distribution in the winding.
50
Fig. 15 shows the voltage distribution along the reactor’s
0 winding at different times. As expected, in the begin (t=0,2
-50
µs), there is a higher voltage gradient in the initial portion of
-100
the winding. The voltage distribution oscillates and will
become linear after some time. The nonlinearity of voltage
-150
distribution shown in Fig. 15 is typical for windings in
-200
0,00 0,02 0,04 0,06 0,08 [s] 0,10
general, and shows the need to inform the manufacturer of the
stresses expected to happen on the equipment. Its design is
Figure 12. Case 3 – Voltage at the tuning reactor (Phase A, B and C) dependent of the magnitude, frequency and frequency of
occurrence of this surges.
D. MSCDN energization with detailed model of reactor
For this simulation, a more detailed model represented the
reactor, with its winding divided in ten equal sections. The
model used is shown in Fig. 13, where Cgi is the capacitance
to earth, Csi is the series capacitance, Ri is the resistance due
to losses and Li is the inductance of section i.

Figure 15. Case 4- Voltage distribution along reactor’s winding

V. SUMMARY OF RESULTS
The MSCDN presents itself as an excellent solution for
reactive compensation in transmission systems, eliminating
the harmonic resonance possibilities and, decreasing the
transient stresses in the main capacitors bank. However, the
air core reactors and the resistors used in its circuit, while
working with a relatively low voltage in steady state, may be
exposed to transient voltages several times the steady state
value, as shown in Table I, which shows the highest values of
peak voltages obtained between the terminals of each
MSCDN component for the simulations performed.

Figure 13. Detailed model of the reactor TABLE I. TRANSIENTS VOLTAGES IN THE MSCDN COMPONENTS

When the objective is to obtain the overvoltages resulting Voltage (kVp – Phase To Earth)
from transients in equipment terminals, the simplified model Condition Main Damping Tuning Tuning
of the reactor becomes fully capable of performing that Capacitor Resistor Capacitor Reactor
modeling function, contributing with results as precise as the Steady state 188 0.7 24 24
detailed model, as can be seen by comparing the waveforms MSCDN
268 165 33 172
for the reactor’s voltage presented in Fig. 14 with that energization
obtained in case 1. Transformer
210 70 25 83
energization
200 Three phase short
[kV]
150
circuit - 1 km 188 168 24 191
from MSCDN
100

50

0
VI. CONCLUSIONS
-50 MSCDNs connected to the extra-high voltage systems are
-100
susceptible to high transient voltages from daily switching
events and possible disturbances like short circuit, as
-150
demonstrated.
-200
0,00 0,02 0,04 0,06 0,08 [s] 0,10
The results shown in this paper confirm the damped
Figure 14. Case 4 – Voltage at the tuning reactor nature of the circuit of MSCDN, indicating a decrease to the

552
voltage stress imposed to the capacitors banks. However, care ANNEX
must be taken with the damping reactor and the resistor, due
Reactor’s Data
to the relatively high overvoltages resulting across its
Parameter Data
winding. For the case example considered, in the MSCDN
energization the overvoltages reach about seven times the Total inductance (LR) 118 mH
reactor’s steady state operating voltage, and the rates of rise is Total series capacitance (CS) 90 pF
of the order of 126 kV/ms, which is a considerable value
when considering the fact that the bank may be switched Total capacitance to earth (CG) 142.4 pF
approximately 700 times a year. Total resistance in the resonance frequency (R) 1.37 Ω
Finally, this work demonstrated some challenges in
MSCDN design, whereas the transient conditions imposed are
Network Equivalent And Loads
daily. Therefore, care should be taken in the specification of
Parameter Data
the equipment, and, necessarily, all transient stresses imposed
on them should be informed to the manufacturer, so that a Equivalent 1 (Z1eq) 0.34 + j9.62 Ω – 500 kVrms – 60 Hz
proper design can be done. Equivalent 2 (Z2eq) 0.37 + j5.28 Ω – 230 kVrms – 60 Hz

Equivalent 3 (Z3eq) 0.73 + j10.5 Ω – 230 kVrms – 60 Hz

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Nominal discharge current 10 kA

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