SUPPRESSION OF DC LINE CURRENT OSCILLATION OF HVDC TRANSMISSION-SYSTEM USING VOLTAGE-SOURCE FORCED COMMUTATION CONVERTER

The conventional converter used in an HVDC system requires line voltage to turn off the current flowing through a thyristor or a mercury-arc valve. Hence, the HVDC system cannot supply electric power to the system which has no ac source, such as a generator or a synchronous condenser. Thus, the HVDC system has some difficulties in operating with the weak system. The conventional solution to avoid these problems is to install large-capacity synchronous condensers which require considerable construction costs and maintenance. Another solution is the application of a forced commutation converter. The recent development of high-power and high-frequency semiconductor devices with fast gate turn-off ability (e.g., GTOs and SI thyristors) suggests the application of a voltage-source-type forced commutation converter (VSFC) to an HVDC system. To ensure the promising characteristics of the overall system, further investigation is of course necessary. The performance of dc transmission into a remote load-only system without ac source has been investigated by means of computer simulation. In many runs of a simulation program of the HVDC system using VSFC, we noticed that long sustaining oscillation of dc line current and dc voltage occurs when a large disturbance is applied. The performance is worse when series dc reactance (DCL) is installed to suppress higher harmonics of dc line current. To improve the performance of the HVDC system using VSFC, an attempt was made to install the L-R parallel damper circuit in series of dc transmission line. Simulation results when DCL and L-R damper are installed in series show that suppression of higher harmonics is as effective as the installation of DCL only, and the damping of oscillation also is substantial to improve the dynamic performance of the whole system.