INTRODUCTION

In the past, equipment used to control industrial process was mechanical in nature, which was
rather tolerant of voltage disturbances. Nowadays, modern industrial equipment typically
uses a large amount of electronic components, such as PLCs, adjustable speed drives and
optical devices, which can be very sensitive to such voltage disturbances. Typical
disturbances that cause problems for electronic equipment are voltage interruptions and sags,
voltage fluctuations, capacitor switching transients, and harmonics [1].
Voltage sags have been found especially troublesome because they are random events lasting
only a few cycles. The process equipment may not keep continuing its normal operation
during these sags for many cycles and will trip or shut down, although the supply voltage is
totally recovered a few cycles after the sag occurrence. Therefore, from the point of view of
industrial customers, voltage sags and momentary interruptions might produce the same
effect to their processes. Besides, the occurrence of voltage sags at a certain point of a
distribution system is much more frequent than the occurrence of momentary interruptions
since the voltage sag can still be observed very far away from the fault location. The term
“area of vulnerability” is usually employed to survey the voltage magnitude on a
geographical map or one-line diagram due to the fault occurrence on a certain line [2].
Many surveys regarding power quality problems related to voltage sags and momentary
interruptions have been presented in literature. They are usually useful for determining the
solution required for tackling the existing problem at a certain industrial facility, with special
emphasis on the rating and ride-through capability of proposed mitigation equipment. These
surveys agree usually in at least one point: faults on overhead transmission lines contribute to
the great majority of voltage sags verified in the distribution network and these sags are the
most critical power quality problem to industrial customers. The subject of voltage sags and
interruptions has even been the main topic covered by a recently published book.

Voltage sag

Voltage sag is a short-duration reduction in rms voltage caused by faults on the power system
and the starting of large loads, such as motors. It is said that a voltage sag has taken place in
an electrical network point when the voltage in one or more phases falls suddenly beneath an
established limit (generally a 90% of the normal voltage), and recovers after a short period of
time (usually between 10 ms and some seconds).

Multi-Phase Sags and Single Phase Sags

They are three types of sags based on the number of phases are as follows :

Single Phase Sags The most common voltage sags, over 70%, are single phase events which
are typically due to a phase to ground fault occurring somewhere on the system. This phase to
ground fault appears as single phase voltage sag on other feeders from the same substation.
Typical causes are lightning strikes, tree branches, animal contact etc. It is not uncommon to
see single phase voltage sags up to 30% of nominal voltage or even lower in industrial plants.

Phase to Phase Sags Two Phase, phase to phase sags may be caused by tree branches,
adverse weather, animals or vehicle collision with utility poles. The two phase voltage sag
will typically appear on other feeders from the same substation.
 Three Phase Sags Symmetrical three phase sags account for less than 20% of all sag events
and are caused either by switching or tripping of a three phase circuit breaker, switch or
recloser which will create three phase voltage sag on other lines fed from the same substation.
Three phase sags will also be caused by starting large motors but this type of event typically
causes voltage sags to approximately 80% of nominal voltage and is usually confined to an
industrial plant or its immediate neighbour.

Organization of report

Chapter 1 gives idea about Modern Substation Design which is divided in

substation and classification of substation. Chapter 2 focuses on History and Survey of
Modern substation design. Chapter 3 discuss about some important considerations, design
approaches and criteria to be considered while designing substation. Chapter 4 describes
primary substation equipments and some advanced alternatives for them. Chapter 5 includes
secondary substation equipments which should be used for efficient and reliable operation.
Chapter 6 includes benefits of using new equipments in existing substations. Chapter 7
concludes result of Modern Substation Design
 LITERATURE REVIEW

The quality of power delivered to the end user is very important as the
performance of the consumer’s equipment is heavily dependent on it. But
the power quality is affected by various factors like voltage and frequency
variations, presence of harmonics, faults in the power network etc. Among
them the voltage variations (sag) is one of the most frequently occurring
problem. There are many methods to mitigate the voltage sag and among
them the best way is to connect a FACT device at the point of interest.
The well-known devices like DSTATCOM, DVR, and UPQC are used for this
purpose. The world’s earliest DVR ‘installation was done at Duke Power
Company’s 12.47kV substation in Anderson, South
Carolina in 1996. After that immediately then ABB, Siemens and other
companies have also focused and worked hard for several years to
achieve the design patterns and finally developed their own patterns of
the products to ensure the quality of voltage-sensitive load. Therefore,
there is lot of research in this field. A survey on the structure and control
strategies of the DVR is presented in. It discusses how a DVR can be
controlled to mitigate voltage sag. It also presents the other advantages
of connecting a DVR to the power network. The design of a DVR for
voltage sag mitigation application is presented in. It also presents the
response of the DVR when sag is created.
The other FACT device that is used for voltage sag application is D-
STATCOM. The basic structure of D-STATCOM is explained in. This paper
discusses the working principle of the device. The different modes of
operation of a D-STATCOM are clearly presented in. The control strategy
to control the device is discussed in. A comparison between the DVR and
D-STATCOM in mitigating voltage sag is given in. It states that the power
injection required by D-STATCOM to mitigate a given voltage sag is more
compared to that of DVR. But the D-STATCOM is capable of mitigating
higher voltage sags without injecting active power. However, both these
devices include switching losses. To overcome the drawback of these
devices, a new technique to mitigate voltage sag is proposed in. It
presents a PWM switched auto transformer to mitigate the voltage sag. As
this topology uses only one power electronic switch, the switching losses
are reduced greatly and the efficiency of the system is increased. This
paper presents control strategy to control the IGBT switch such that the
auto transformer is responded intact with the voltage imbalance. The
proposed control strategy is validated with simulation results.
 VOLTAGE SAG

Definition of voltage sags

The definition of voltage sags is often set based on two parameters, magnitude or depth and
duration. However, these parameters are interpreted differently by various sources. Other
important parameters that describe voltage sags are:
i. the point-on-wave where the voltage sags occurs, and
ii. how the phase angle changes during the voltage sag. A phase angle jump during a fault is
due to the change of the X/R-ratio. The phase angle jump is a problem especially for power
electronics using phase or zero-crossing switching.

Voltage Sag

A Voltage Sag as defined by IEEE Standard 1159 - 1995, IEEE Recommended Practice
for Monitoring Electric Power Quality, is a decrease in RMS voltage at the power
frequency for durations from 0.5 cycles to 1 minute, reported as the remaining voltage.
The measurement of a Voltage Sag is stated as a percentage of the nominal voltage; it is a
measurement of the remaining voltage and is stated as a sag to a percentage value. Thus a
Voltage Sag to 60% is equivalent to 60% of nominal voltage, or 264 Volts for a nominal 440
Volt system. Voltage sag for a system is shown in fig.
 Fig. Voltage sag

Standards associated with voltage sags

Standards associated with voltage sags are intended to be used as reference documents
describing single components and systems in a power system. Both the manufacturers and the
buyers use these standards to meet better power quality requirements. Manufactures develop
products meeting the requirements of a standard, and buyers demand from the manufactures
that the product comply with the standard.
The most common standards dealing with power quality are the ones issued by IEEE, IEC,
CBEMA, and SEMI. A brief description of each of the standards is provided in next subtopic.

IEEE Standard
The Technical Committees of the IEEE societies and the Standards Coordinating Committees
of IEEE Standards Board develop IEEE standards. The IEEE standards associated with
voltage sags are given below. IEEE 446-1995, “IEEE recommended practice for emergency
and standby power systems for industrial and commercial applications range of sensibility
loads” The standard discusses the effect of voltage sags on sensitive equipment, motor
starting, etc. It shows principles and examples on how systems shall be designed to avoid
voltage sags and other power quality problems when backup system operates.

IEEE 493-1990, “Recommended practice for the design of reliable industrial and commercial
power systems” The standard proposes different techniques to predict voltage sag
characteristics, magnitude, duration and frequency. There are mainly three areas of interest
for voltage sags. The different areas can be summarized as follows [3]:
i. Calculating voltage sag magnitude by calculating voltage drop at critical load with
knowledge of the network impedance, fault impedance and location of fault.
ii. By studying protection equipment and fault clearing time it is possible to estimate the
duration of the voltage sag.
iii. Based on reliable data for the neighbourhood and knowledge of the system parameters an
estimation of frequency of occurrence can be made.

SEMI

The SEMI International Standards Program is a service offered by Semiconductor Equipment

and Materials International (SEMI). Its purpose is to provide the semiconductor and flat panel
display industries with standards and recommendations to improve productivity and business.
SEMI standards are written documents in the form of specifications, guides, test methods,
terminology, and practices. The standards are voluntary technical agreements between
equipment manufacturer and end-user. The standards ensure compatibility and
interoperability of goods and services. Considering voltage sags, two standards address the
problem for the equipment.

SEMI F47-0200, “Specification for semiconductor processing equipment voltage sag

immunity”
The standard addresses specifications for semiconductor processing equipment voltage sag
immunity. It only specifies voltage sags with duration from 50ms up to 1s. It is also limited to
phase-to-phase and phase-to-neutral voltage incidents, and presents a voltage-duration graph,
shown in Fig.

Fig Immunity curve for semiconductor manufacturing equipment according

to SEMI F47
This standard defines a test methodology used to determine the susceptibility of
semiconductor processing equipment and how to qualify it against the specifications. It
further describes test apparatus, test set-up, test procedure to determine the susceptibility of
semiconductor processing equipment, and finally how to report and interpret the results.

CBEMA (ITI) Curve

Information Technology Industry (ITI, formally known as the Computer & Business
Equipment Manufacturers Association, CBEMA) is an organization with members in the IT
industry. Within the organization, the Technical Committee 3 (TC3) has published the “ITI
(CBEMA) curve application note”. The note describes an AC input voltage that typically can
be tolerated by most information technology equipment. The note is not intended to be a
design specification (although it is often used by many designers for that purpose), but a
description of behaviour for most IT equipment. The curve assumes a nominal voltage of
120VAC RMS and 60Hz and is intended for single phase information technology equipment
[IEEE 1100 – 1999].
The voltage-time curve in Fig. describes the border of an area. Above the border the
equipment shall work properly and below it shall shutdown in a controlled way.

Fig. Revised CBEMA curve, ITIC curve, 1996

Sources of Sags and Short Interruptions

Power systems have non-zero impedances, so every increase in current causes a

corresponding reduction in voltage. Usually, these reductions are small enough that the
voltage remains within normal tolerances. But when there is a large increase in current, or
when the system impedance is high, the voltage can drop significantly. So conceptually, there
are two sources of voltage sags:
1) Large increases in current.
2) Increases in system impedance.
As a practical matter, most voltage sags are caused by increases in current. It is possible to
think of the power system as a tree, with the customer sensitive load connected to one of the
twigs. Any voltage sag on the trunk of the tree, or on a branch leading out to the customer
twig, will cause a voltage sag at its load. But a short-circuit out on a distant branch can cause
the trunk voltage to diminish, so even faults in a distant part of the tree can cause a sag at
customer load.
The cause of most voltage sags is a short-circuit fault occurring either within the industrial
facility under consideration or on the utility system. The magnitude of the voltage sag is
mainly determined by the impedance between the faulted bus and the load, and by the method
of connection of the transformer windings. The voltage sag lasts only as long as it takes the
protective device to clear the overcurrent condition (typically up to 10 cycles)[5], therefore
the duration of the sag is determined by the fault-clearing time of that protection
system adopted. Moreover, if automatic reclosure is used by the utility, the voltage sag
condition can occur repeatedly in the case of a permanent fault. Finally, depending on its
magnitude and duration, the sag can cause an equipment trip, thus becoming a power quality
problem[4].

The most common causes of facility-sourced voltage sags are:

1) Starting a large load, such as a motor or resistive heater.
2) Loose or defective wiring, such as insufficiently tightened box screws on power
conductors.
3) Faults or short circuits elsewhere in the facility (trees, animals, adverse weather such as
wind or lightning).
Voltage sags can also originate on the utility's electric power system. The most common
types of utility-sourced voltage sags are:
1) Faults on distant circuits, which cause a corresponding reduction in voltage on your
circuit.
2) Voltage regulator failures (far less common).

General causes and effects of voltage sags

There are various causes of voltage sags in a power system. Voltage sags can caused by faults
(more than 70% are weather related such as lightning) on the transmission or distribution
system or by switching of loads with large amounts of initial starting or inrush current such as
motors, transformers, and large dc power supply.

Voltage Sags due to Faults

Voltage sags due to faults can be critical to the operation of a power plant, and hence, are of
major concern. Depending on the nature of the fault such as symmetrical or unsymmetrical,
the magnitudes of voltage sags can be equal in each phase or unequal respectively. For a fault
in the transmission system, customers do not experience interruption, since transmission
systems are looped or networked. Fig. shows voltage sag on all three phases due to a cleared
line-ground fault.

Factors affecting the sag magnitude due to faults at a certain point in the system are:
i. Distance to the fault
ii. Fault impedance
iii. Type of fault
iv. Pre-sag voltage level
v. System configuration
a. System impedance
b. Transformer connections

The type of protective device used determines sag duration.

Figure 2.4 Voltage sag due to a cleared line-ground fault

Voltage Sags due to Motor Starting

Since induction motors are balanced 3 phase loads, voltage sags due to their starting are
symmetrical. Each phase draws approximately the same in-rush current. The magnitude of
voltage sag depends on:
i. Characteristics of the induction motor
ii. Strength of the system at the point where motor is connected.
Figure 2.5 represents the shape of the voltage sag on the three phases (A, B, and C) due to
voltage sags.

Figure 2.5 Voltage sag due to motor starting

Voltage Sags due to Transformer Energizing

The causes for voltage sags due to transformer energizing are:
i. Normal system operation, which includes manual energizing of a transformer.
ii. Reclosing actions

Figure 2.6 Voltage sag due to transformer energizing

The voltage sags are unsymmetrical in nature, often depicted as a sudden drop in system
voltage followed by a slow recovery. The main reason for transformer energizing is the over-
fluxing of the transformer core which leads to saturation. Sometimes, for long duration
voltage sags, more transformers are driven into saturation. This is called Sympathetic
Interaction. Fig. show the voltage sag due to transformer energizing.
 VOLTAGE SAG ANALYSIS

According to standard IEEE 1346-1998, Voltage Sag is defined as-

“A decrease in rms voltage or current at the power frequency for
durations of 0.5 cycle to
1 min.
Typical values are 0.1 to 0.9 pu.”

Characteristics of Voltage Sag:

The voltage sag is characterized by its magnitude, duration and phase

angle jump. Each of them is explained below in detail.

Magnitude of Sag:
A sag magnitude is defined as the minimum voltage remaining during the
event. The magnitude can be defined in a number of ways. The most
common approach is to use the rms voltage. The other alternatives are to
use fundamental rms voltage or peak voltage. Thus, sag is considered as
the residual or remaining voltage during the event. In case of three-phase
system where the dip in voltage is not same in all phases, the phase with
lowest dip is used to characterize sag.
The magnitude of voltage sag at a certain point depend on-
 Type of fault
 Fault impedance
 System Configuration
 Distance of the fault from the point of consideration

Duration of Sag:

Table-I Classification of Sag

The duration of sag is the time for which the voltage is below a threshold
value. It is determined by the fault clearing time. In a three phase system
all the three rms voltages should be considered to calculate the duration
of the sag. A sag starts when one of the phase rms voltage is less than the
threshold and continues until all the three phase voltages are recovered
above the threshold value. Based on the duration of sag, the voltage sags
are classified as shown in Table-I.

Phase-Angle Jump:

The short circuits in power system not only cause a dip in voltage, but
also change the phase angle of the system. The change of phase angle is
called as “Phase-Angle Jump”. It causes the shift in zero crossing of the
instantaneous voltage. This phenomenon affects the power electronic
converters which use phase angle information for their firing.

Point-on-Wave:

To perfectly characterize sag, the point-on-wave where the sag starts and
where it ends should be found with high precession. The point-on-wave is
nothing but the phase angle at which the sag occurs. These values are
generally expressed in radians or degrees.

Effects of Voltage Dip on Commercial Installations

Chiller System

It is a known fact that chillers plants and its related equipment are sensitive to voltage dips.
Relays, control contactors and the electronic/computerized controls may drop off during dips,
hence causing the trip. The impact to building occupiers is small; as these effects are likely to
be transparent to them; or at most minor discomfort due to a slightly raised ambient
temperature.

Lighting Circuits

During a voltage dip, flickering of the lights can be observed. In general, problems only arise
when High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps are used. These types of lightings are known to
be sensitive to voltage dips and temporarily extinguish after a voltage dip. Re-ignition time
usually takes up to 10 minutes.

Escalators

During a voltage dip, the control contactors and PLC of the escalator may drop off. Another
Cause could be the activation of the phase monitoring relay, which is meant to activate upon
loss of mains. Governed by the Singapore Standard CP15:2004, escalators are designed to be
brought to rest in a largely uniform deceleration in the event of loss of mains (thus not a
safety concern). However public image may be affected.

General Circuits
General circuits served by miniature circuit breakers (MCB) have also been reported to have
tripped after a voltage dip. Immediately after a voltage dip, some MCBs may tripped due to
large in-rush current drawn by motors, switch mode power supply, circuits containing
Control transformer, etc. In the market there also exists Residual Current Device (RCD) that
is equipped with under voltage detection. This type of RCD will trip automatically when the
mains voltage falls below a specified level. This prevents voltage sensitive equipment from
being operated at low voltages and avoids damage to such equipment.

Measurement & Characterisation of Voltage Sags

Voltage sags are measured using specialised power quality monitoring instrumentation. The
instrumentation must be configured with a sag threshold voltage. That is, a voltage level that
will trigger a sag capture when the rms voltage falls below it. Voltage sags are characterised
by reporting the duration for which the voltage variation persisted below the sag threshold
combined with the maximum reduction in rms voltage, also known as depth. The depth is
reported as the retained voltage. Figure 1 shows a graphical representation of a voltage sag
including the sag threshold and the parameters (duration, retained voltage) used to report the
sag. Note the use of a hysteresis value in Figure 1; this value is used to prevent voltage levels
which are close to the sag threshold crossing the threshold multiple times and triggering
multiple sags which are basically due to the same event. The theory of measurement,
characterisation and reporting of voltage sags is considerably more complex than the basic
overview given in this technical report.

Figure 1: Example of a Voltage Sag

Impact & Cost of Voltage Sags

There is a strong argument that can be made to claim that voltage sags are the most costly of
all power quality disturbances. While perhaps not as costly as interruptions, voltage sags are
much more prevalent and in some cases may have the same impact as a supply interruption.
Relatively shallow voltage sags can lead to the disruption of manufacturing processes due to
equipment being unable to operate correctly at the reduced voltage levels. Industrial
equipment such as variable speed drives and some control systems are particularly sensitive
to voltage sags. In many manufacturing processes, loss of only a few vital pieces of
equipment may lead to a full shut down of production leading to significant financial losses.
For some processes which are thermally sensitive a significant loss of material as well as the
time taken to clean up and restart the process must also be considered. There have been many
studies which aim to quantify the cost of voltage sags. The results of these studies range
from relatively modest cost associated with voltage sags through to very high costs generally
at high technology industrial plants (such as semi-conductor manufacturing). Table 1 below
reproduced from [5] show the costs associated with voltage sags from a range of industries.

Industry Typical Financial Loss per Event ( )

Industry Financial loss per event (in €)

Semiconductor Production 3 800 000

Financial Trading 6 000 000 per hour

Computer Centre 750 000

Telecommunications 30 000 per minute

Steel Works 350 000

Glass Industry 250 000

Table 1: Typical Financial Loss for Voltage Sags based on Industry [5]

Table 2 reproduced from shows another summary of the impact of voltage sags on various
industries from the US. The data presented agrees reasonably well with the data given in
Table 1. It is stated in [6] that the cost to industry in the United States due to voltage
disturbances is over $20 billion annually.
Industry Loss per Voltage Sag ($US)

Industry Loss per voltage sag

 Paper Manufacturing 30 000
Chemical Industry 50 000
Automobile Industry 75 000
Equipment Manufacturing 100 000
Credit Card Processing 250 000
Semiconductor Industry 2 500 000

Table 2: Impact of Voltage Sags on Industry [6]

VOLTAGE SAG MITIGATION

The voltage sag is a major problem that the power system network is
facing nowadays. This is a severe problem and affects the functioning of
the equipment. Therefore, this problem should be mitigated in order to
maintain the efficiency of the power network. The use of custom power
devices solves this problem. This chapter presents the basic structure and
working principle of different devices like DVR, D-STATCOM, Auto
Transformer used to mitigate the voltage sag.

Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR)

A Dynamic Voltage Restorer is a power electronic converter based gadget

intended to ensure the discriminating burdens from all supply-side
unsettling influences other than deficiencies [1]. It is connected in
arrangement with the distribution feeder for the most part at the purpose
of regular coupling.
Basic Structure:
The DVR is a series connected power electronic device used to inject
voltage of required magnitude and frequency. The basic structure of a
DVR is shown in Fig. 3.1. It contains the following components-
1) Voltage Source Inverter (VSI)
2) DC storage unit
3) Filter circuit
4) Series Transformer

Fig.3.1 Basic Structure of DVR Fig.3.1 Basic Structure of DVR

 Fig.3.1 Basic Structure of DVR

Voltage Source Inverter (VSI): The VSI consists of solid state switches
like IGBT’s or GTO’s used to convert the DC input to AC. It is used to inject
the AC voltage to compensate the decrease in the supply voltage. The
switches of the VSI are operated based on the pulse width modulation
(PWM) technique to generate the voltage of required magnitude and
frequency.

DC Storage Unit: The storage unit may consist of batteries, capacitors,

flywheel, or super magnetic energy storage (SMES). For DVR with internal
storage capacity, energy is taken from the faulted grid supply during the
sag. This configuration is shown in Fig. 3.2. Here a rectifier is used to
convert the AC voltage from the grid to DC voltage required by the VSI.
 Fig.3.2 DVR without Internal Storage

Filter Circuit: An LC filter is connected at the output of the VSI to filter

the harmonics that are present in the output voltage of VSI. It also
reduces the dv/dt effect on the windings of the transformer [2].
Series Transformer: A series transformer is used to connect the DVR
with the distribution feeder. In case of three phase system, three single
phase transformers are used to connect the DVR with the power network.

Operating Principle:
The main operation of the DVR is to inject voltage of required magnitude
and frequency when desired by the power system network. During the
normal operation, the DVR will be in stand-by mode. During the
disturbances in the system, the nominal or rated voltage is compared with
the voltage variation and the DVR injects the difference voltage that is
required by the load. The equivalent circuit of a DVR connected to the
power network is shown in Fig. 3.3. Here V s is the supply voltage, Vinj is the
voltage injected by the DVR and VL is the load voltage.

Fig .3.3 Equivalent Circuit Diagram of DVR

Control Strategy:
The principle contemplations for the control of a DVR are- identification of
the begin and completion of the hang, voltage reference era, transient
and unfaltering state control of the infused voltage and security of the
system[6].Any control technique implemented to control the DVR should
fulfil all the above aspects. The basic idea behind the control strategy is to
find the amount by which the supply voltage is dropped. For this the three
phase supply voltage is compared with the reference voltage V ref. If there
is voltage sag (or any other voltage imbalance) then an error occurs. This
error voltage is then sent to the PWM generator, which generates the
firing pulses to the switches of the VSI such that required voltage is
generated. The whole control strategy can be implemented in 2-ϕ rotating
(d-q) coordinate system.

Applications of DVR:

There are many applications of DVR in addition to mitigate voltage sag.

They are
1) DVR can be used to compensate the load voltage harmonics and
improves the
power quality of the system.
2) DVR can be used under system frequency variations to provide the
real power
required by the load. This is done by connecting a uncontrolled rectifier at
the input of the VSI.
3) DVR can also protect the system against voltage swell or any other
voltage
Imbalances that occur in the power system.

D-STATCOM
A Distribution Static Compensator is in short known as D-STATCOM. It is a
power electronic converter based device used to protect the distribution
bus from voltage unbalances. It is connected in shunt to the distribution
bus generally at the PCC.

Basic Structure:
D-STATCOM is a shunt connected device designed to regulate the voltage
either by generating or absorbing the reactive power. The schematic
diagram of a D-STATCOM is as shown in Fig. 3.5. It contains-
 DC Capacitor
 Voltage Source Inverter (VSI)
 Coupling Transformer
 Reactor
.
 Fig.3.5 Schematic Diagram of D-STATCOM

As in the case of DVR, the VSI generates voltage by taking the input from
the charged capacitor. It uses PWM switching technique for this purpose.
This voltage is delivered to the system through the reactance of the
coupling transformer. The voltage difference across the reactor is used to
produce the active and reactive power exchange between the STATCOM
and the transmission network. This exchange is done much more rapidly
than a synchronous condenser and improves the performance of the
system.

Operating Principle:

A D-STATCOM is capable of compensating either bus voltage or line

current. It can
operate in two modes based on the parameter which it regulates. They
are-
 Voltage Mode Operation: In this mode, it can make the bus
voltage to which it
is connected a sinusoid. This can be achieved irrespective of the
unbalance or distortion in the supply voltage.
 Current Mode Operation: In this mode of operation, the D-
STATCOM forces
the source current to be a balanced sinusoid irrespective of the load
current harmonics.
The basic operating principle of a D-STATCOM in voltage sag mitigation is
to regulate the bus voltage by generating or absorbing the reactive
power. Therefore, the DSTATCOM operates either as an inductor or as a
capacitor based on the magnitude of the bus voltage.
  Inductive Operation: If the bus voltage magnitude (V B) is more
than the rated
voltage then the D-STATCOM acts as an inductor absorbing the reactive
power from the system. The circuit and phasor diagram are shown in
Fig.3.6.

Fig.3.6 Inductive Mode of Operation

 Capacitive Operation: If the bus voltage magnitude (V B) is less

than the rated voltage then the D-STATCOM acts as a capacitor
generating the reactive power to the system. The circuit and
phasor diagram of this mode of operation are shown in Fig. 3.7.

Capacitive Mode of Operation

Control Strategy:
The main aim of the control strategy implemented to control a D-
STATCOM used for voltage mitigation is to control the amount of reactive
power exchanged between the STATCOM and the supply bus. When the
PCC voltage is less than the reference (rated) value then the D-ATACOM
generates reactive power and when PCC voltage is more than the
reference (rated) value then the D-ATACOM absorbs reactive power. To
achieve the desired characteristics, the firing pulses to PWM VSI are
controlled. The actual bus voltage is compared with the reference value
and the error is passed through a PI controller. The controller generates a
signal which is given as an input to the PWM generator. The generator
finally generates triggering pulses such that the voltage imbalance is
corrected. The block diagram of the control circuit is shown in Fig. 3.8.

Fig.3.8 Block Diagram of the Control Circuit of D-STATCOM

Applications of D-STATCOM:
The applications of the D-STATCOM are-
1. Stabilize the voltage of the power grid
2. Reduce the harmonics
3. Increase the transmission capacity
4. Reactive power compensation
5. Power Factor correction

Auto-Transformer
An auto transformer is a single winding transformer where there is no
isolation between the primary and secondary windings. This device
requires less conductor material in its construction and is of less size and
weight when compared to the normal two winding transformer. This
device can be used in mitigating the voltage sag when controlled
properly. The principle of operation and the control technique are
explained below.

Basic Structure:
The basic structure of an auto transformer is shown in Fig. 3.9. In this
circuit configuration the secondary voltage is more than the primary
voltage and the transformer operates as a step-up transformer. This
configuration is used in voltage sag mitigation.

Fig.3.9 Circuit Diagram of an Auto-Transformer

From the circuit diagram,

VP is the primary voltage
VL is the load voltage
IS is the source current
IL is the load current
The turns ratio N1:N2 is taken as unity and the relation between primary
and
Secondary voltages and currents is given by the equation.

VL/VP = IS /IL = (N1+N2)/N1

Operating Principle:
The auto transformer is controlled by a PWM operated power electronic
switch. The single-phase diagram of a power system network with a PWM
switched auto transformer used for voltage sag mitigation is shown in Fig.
3.10.

Fig.3.10 Voltage Sag Mitigation Scheme Using Auto Transformer

The circuit contains the following components-
1. An IGBT Switch: This switch is operated based on the pulses
generated by the PWM generator and controls the auto transformer
operation.
2. Auto-Transformer: It is used to boost the voltage so that the
load voltage remains constant irrespective of the variations in the
supply voltage. It is controlled by the IGBT switch.
3. Ripple Filter: The output voltage given by the auto-transformer
contains harmonics along with the fundamental component. Thus,
these harmonics should be filtered out to maintain the THD for the
given system voltage at the load should be within the IEEE standard
norms. Therefore, a ripple filter is used at the output of the auto-
transformer.
Bypass Switch: There is a bypass switch made of SCR’s connected in
antiparallel. This switch is used to bypass the auto-transformer during the
normal operation. During voltage sag condition, this switch remains off
and autotransformer operates.
The single-phase circuit diagram during voltage sag condition is shown in
Fig. 3.11. Here the bypass switch is off and the auto-transformer works
based on the IGBT switch operation to generate required voltage on the
load side [7].

Control Strategy:
The main aim of the control strategy is to control the pulses generated to
the IGBT switch such that the auto-transformer generates desired voltage
to mitigate the voltage sag. The RMS value of the load voltage is
compared with a reference value (Vref). Under normal operating conditions
there is no error and no pulses are generated to the IGBT switch and auto-
transformer do not work. When there is voltage sag then an error occurs
and based on the error value PWM generator generates pulses to the IGBT
switch. Accordingly, the auto-transformer operates and the load voltage is
maintained constant. The block diagram of the control Strategy is shown
in Fig. 3.12.

Fig.3.11 Single-phase Circuit Diagram during

Voltage Sag
 Fig.3.12 Block Diagram of Control Circuit

The voltage error is passed through a PI controller and it generates a

phase angle δ. With this phase angle a control voltage is generated [7]
using sine wave generator by using equation
Vcontrol = Fa Sin (ωt+Ϩ)
Where ma is the modulation index
The magnitude of the control voltage is dependent on the phase angle δ.
The phase angle is proportional to the degree of disturbance [7]. Here the
voltage which has been generated called control voltage is compared with
the triangular voltage Vtri for the cause to generate the pulses which can
be fed to the IGBT switch. In this way the auto transformer is controlled to
mitigate the voltage sag.

Advantages:
The PWM switched auto-transformer is advantageous over the other
devices in
Mitigating the voltage sag. The advantages are as follows-
1. Less cost
2. Less number of switches required
3. Reduced gate driver circuit size
4. No energy storage device

Solid State Transfer Switch (SSTS)

The SSTS can be used very effectively to protect sensitive loads against voltage sags, swells
and other electrical disturbance [8]. The SSTS ensures continuous high quality power supply
to sensitive loads by transferring, within a time scale of milliseconds, the load from a faulted
bus to a healthy one. The basic configuration of this device consists of two three phase solid
state switches, one for main feeder and one for the backup feeder. These switches have an
arrangement of back-to-back connected thyristors, as illustrated in Figure 4.6
 Figure 4.6 Schematic representations of the SSTS as a custom power device.

Each time a fault condition is detected in the main feeder, the control system swaps the firing
signals to the thyristor in both switches, in example, Switch 1 in the main feeder is
deactivated and Switch 2 in the backup feeder is activated. The control system measures the
peak value of the voltage waveform at every half cycle and checks whether or not it is within
a pre-specified range. If it is outside limits, an abnormal condition is detected and the firing
signals of the thyristors are changed to transfer the load to the healthy feeder.

Basic Configuration and Function of SSTS

The SSTS as shown in Figure 4.7 is a high speed, open transition switch which enables the
transfer of electrical loads from one ac power source to another within a few milliseconds.

Solid State Transfer Switch system

The open-transition property of the SSTS means that the switch break contact with one
source before it makes contact with the other source. The advantage of this transfer scheme
over the closed-transition mechanical switch is that the electrical sources are never cross-
connected unintentionally. The cross connection of independent ac sources, with the alternate
source switching on to a faulted system is discouraged by electric utilities. The solid state
transfer switch consists of two three phase ac thyristors switches. The thyristor, operating in
its two modes, forms the key component of the SSTS. In the ON-state mode, low impedance
forward conduction of current takes place. In the OFF state mode, an open circuit with almost
infinite impedance occurs in the thyristor. The basic ON-state and OFF-state properties of the
thyristor are used to form an intelligent switch which can choose between two upstream
power sources providing the better quality of supply available to the electrical load
downstream. The basic configuration is based on anti-parallel thyristor group on preferred
and alternate sides of the switch. A thyristor allows conduction only in forward direction.
Figure 4.8 illustrate how the thyristors of transfer switch 1 can conduct either in the positive
or the negative half cycle of the ac sinusoid and the supply path is indicated by the bold line.

During normal operation, thyristors associated with the preferred source are in the ON-state
normally closed (NC) position, while those associated with the alternate source are in the
OFF-state normally open (NO) position. Current sensing circuits constantly monitor the states
of the preferred and alternate sources and feed the information to the monitoring high speed
controller. Upon detecting the loss of the preferred source or voltage that is not within the
preset range, the controller blocks the firing impulse signals to the gate-driven thyristors of
transfer switch 1 and instructs the thyristors of transfer switch 2 to turn ON with a fail-safe
interlocking mechanism. Power then flows via the path as indicated by the bold line in Fig.
Figure 4.9 Thyristors on the alternate supply are turned ON on a sensing a disturbance on the
preferred source.

The mechanical bypass equipment provides conventional transfer switch functionality when
the SSTS is in a thermal overload condition or is out of service for testing or maintenance.

CONCLUSIONS:
The demand for electric power is increasing at an exponential rate and at
the same time the quality of power delivered became the most prominent
issue in the power sector. Thus, to maintain the quality of power the
problems affecting the power quality should be treated efficiently. Among
the different power quality problems, voltage sag is one of the major one
affecting the performance of the end user appliances. In this report the
methods to mitigate the voltage sag are presented. From this report, the
following conclusions are made-
Among the different methods to mitigate the voltage sag, the use of
FACT devices is the best method
 The FACT devices like DVR, D-STATCOM are helpful in
overcoming the
voltage unbalance problems in power system
 DVR is a series connected device and injects voltage to
compensate the voltage
imbalance
 D-STATCOM is a shunt connected device and injects current into
the system
 These devices are connected to the power network at the point
of interest to protect the critical loads
 These devices also have other advantages like harmonic
reduction, power factor
correction
 The amount of apparent power infusion required by D-STATCOM
is higher than
that of DVR for a given voltage sag
 DVR acts slowly but is good in reducing the harmonic content
 Both DVR and D-STATCOM require more number of power
electronic switches
and storage devices for their operation
 To overcome this problem, PWM switched auto-transformer is
used for
mitigating the voltage sag
 Here the number of switches required are less and hence the
switching losses are
also reduced
 The size and cost of the device are less and hence PWM switched
auto
transformer is an efficient and economical solution for voltage sag
mitigation.
 REFERENCES

[1] R.C. Dugan, M.F. McGranaghan, and H.W. Beaty, “Electric Power Systems Quality,”
McGraw-Hill, 1996.
[2] “IEEE Recommended Practice for the Design of Reliable Industrial and Commercial
Power Systems,” IEEE Std. 493-1997, December 1997.
[3] IEEE Standards Board (1995), “IEEE Std. 1159-1995”, IEEE Recommended Practice for
Monitoring Electric Power Quality”. IEEE Inc. NewYork
[4] Ambra Sannino. Mitigation of voltage sags and short interruptions through distribution
system design. Dept. of Electrical Engineering University of Palermo, pp 1-6,2000.
[5] David Chapman, Power Quality Application Guide - The Cost of Poor Power Quality,
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[6]. Haque, M. H., "Compensation of distribution system voltage sag by DVR and
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