1616

IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 9. No. 3, July 1994

A Study of Nonlinear Harmonic Interaction Between a Single Phase Line-Commutated Converter and a Power System
Sasan G. Jalali Student Member Robert H. Lasseter Fellow

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department University of Wisconsin-Madison,Madison, Wl53706

Abstract: This paper develops a harmonic coupling matrix

for a single phase, line commutated converter. This matrix illustrates the coupling between the convertor voltage and current harmonics. We show how this coupling matrix can be incorporated into a power system and how the system harmonics can be accurately calculated. In addition, this paper provides an example of a power system interacting with a single phase convertor. This example system exhibits highly nonlinear and unexpected behavior which can neither be explained nor predicted by a classical solution method. In particular, there may be two steady state solutions andor no solutions over regions for which the classical method predicts both existence and uniqueness of solutions. Keywords:
N o n l i n e a r Harmonic Interactions, Harmonic Coupling Matrix and Line Commutated Converter.

and the system is studied by means of the Poincare mapping which takes the system state at one discrete time to the system state at the next discrete time. This method is useful for developing theoretical results. However, it is not practical for studying arbitrarily large power systems since it usually involves the computation of large exponential matrices.

Potential Utility Problems

In the early application of static switches to power systems, it was possible to neglect the interaction between the convertor system and the power system. The normal state of the art for studying the interfacing of a thyristor based converter system to an ac system was to assume that the ac system provided an ideal ac voltage and that the distortion of the ac voltage due to current harmonics could be neglected. If this was not the case, it was assumed that filters could be added to ensure a fundamental voltage source free of harmonic distortion. In either case, important nonlinear harmonic interactions cannot be studied under such assumptions since these assumptions decouple the ac system from the convertor. For example during the early design phase of the 230 kV, 330 MVar advanced series compensator system in northeastern Arizona at Kayenta Substation, a "second resonance" was observed and verified by digital simulations [2]. This "second resonance" could not be detected by the classical solution methods. We investigated this problem more closely in [3] and concluded that this is a situation of nonlinear harmonic interaction.

Introduction
As static switching circuits in power systems proliferate there is an increasing need to analyze and understand these circuits and their interactions with power systems. However switching circuits are nonlinear and very awkward to analyze using standard mathematical techniques.
Present techniques for the study of static switching circuits can be grouped into three categories: Classical analysis, time domain simulations and the Poincare map. Time domain simulation is the most mature methodology. The main drawback is that this is a quantitative method which provides little understanding of the important interactions. Classical analysis [4,5] provides useful qualitative information but it suffers from the simplification required to achieve a solution. The models used generally oversimplify either the power system or the switching circuit so that most harmonic interactions are neglected. The nonlinear circuit dynamics of switching circuits can also be studied using the Poincare mapping from dynamical systems theory [1,9]. In this approach, the system states are examined only at discrete times
94 WM 062-0 PWRD A paper recommended and approved by the IEEE Transmission and Distribution Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presentation at the IEEE/PES 1994 Winter Meeting, New York, New York, January 30 - February 3, 1994. Manuscript submitted July 27, 1993; made available for printing December 6, 1993.

Basic System
To illustrate some of the potential problems and the tools developed in this paper, we will use the system in Figure 1. ,dc dc

3
I

Figure 1. Basic System

emf B

This circuit has a thyristor bridge with a dc load in series with with a dc source. The ac system is a general linear, frequency dependent impedance with ac filters located at the terminals of the converter. The thyristors are assumed ideal so that nonlinearities in the turn odoff of the thyristor are neglected.

0885-8977/94/$04.00 Q 1994 IEEE

1617

Classical Solution Method

This section explains a classical method for studying the interaction of large naturally commutated converters with a power system. [4,5] show how this method can be applied to compute the harmonic levels in power systems which interact with either 6 or 12-pulse thyristor convertors. There are two basic simplifying assumptions in the operation of a converter when using the classical solution method. The first assumption is to approximate the ac system impedance, the filters and the commutating reactance with an equivalent Thevenin inductance, Lth. Lth is the actual inductance at the fundamental frequency. The second assumption is to ignore the DC side harmonic currents by assuming that the DC side inductance, LDC is very large. With these two basic assumptions, two classical equations can be written as: th In=o dc = v n = l [cos a - cos(a+p)] l5o Lth

Harmonic Coupling Matrix Solution Method

This section develops a harmonic coupling matrix for the single phase convertor shown in the Figure 3. This matrix shows the coupling between the convertor harmonics which is an important characteristics of all naturally commutated thyristor switching circuits. More over, we will show how this matrix can be incorporated into a power system network and how the harmonics can be calculated. 1
dc

Iac(ot) L

* l

*3

i
II
s2

II

s4

t-

where Vthn,l is the fundamental component of the Thevenin voltage as seen from the AC busses connecting the line commutated converter to the external systems. In these equations, p is the time required for the current to commutate from one thyristor to another and a,is the region where a thyristor blocks its positive voltage before firing. Solving the equations (1) and (2) for Idcn* and p allows us to construct the steady state waveforms of the inverter AC current and DC voltage at a given operating point. For this operating point, the inverter AC current harmonics, Iacn and DC voltage harmonics, Vdcn can now be calculated by doing a Fourier analysis on the corresponding inverter steady state waveforms.

Figure 3. Single phase line commutated converter Let us consider the form of the harmonic coupling matrix. This matrix provides a relationship between the harmonic components of Vac(ot), and current, Iac(ot), on the AC side and the harmonic components of DC voltage, Vdc(ot), and current, Idc(ot), on the DC side. With this in mind a legitimate structure of the coupling matrix is:

(3)

Where Vac, Idc,Vdc and Iac are matrix representation of the Fourier components of the signals Vac(ot), Idc(ot) Vdc(ot) and Iac(ot) respectively. The matrices A, B , C and D are infinite dimensional matrices dependent upon the converter states and the commutating inductor. Equation (3) allows us to study the interactions of a single phase converter with a power system. Let us take the basic system shown in the Figure 1 as an example. Representing the AC and DC sides by their harmonic Thevenin equivalents as seen from the converter terminal allows us to write the following general equation for Vac and Idc.

F~~
Figure 2. Classical model for calculating the Id', and Vac,
[Bed]=[

I+Zak

ZacB

Va

D - Z d i [ Id]

To calculate IdC, and Vac,, the converter is replaced by an equivalent AC harmonic current source, Iacn and an equivalent DC harmonic voltage source, Vdcn as shown in Figure 2. This paper provides an example where classical solution method is not correct.

(4)

where the matrices Zac and Zdc are diagonal and of infinite dimensions denoting the Thevenin AC and DC impedances. I is the identity matrix and FaCand Bed are vectors of infinite dimension representing the Thevenin AC and DC sources.

the formalism developed in the appendix 11, the constraint equations ( 5 ) and (6) can be written in terms of the Fourier components of the converter AC voltage and IC current as follows:
oo
00

[eimvl +1] m#O

(7)
m

1L

- H1
I

H'
I

$2

j
I

27[-$2+41+P1
I I I

m#O
(8) where Vacm denotes the mth harmonic component of the AC

! P2

m
I

bus voltage, IdCm denotes the mth harmonic component of the dc current, o is the operating frequency and L is the commutating inductance. Equations (3), (4) are infinite matrices and the constraint equations (7) and (8) are infinite sums. Assuming that the higher harmonics can be neglected, these infinite matrices and sums can be approximated with finite matrices and sums by truncating them at a reasonably high harmonic. Trail and error has shown that truncating above the 20th harmonic is reasonable.

th
~

lPlj

I Plj

I s !
Figure 4. Switching functions

0
The two switching functions H13(ot) and H31(wt) uniquely define the commutation process from one thyristor pair to another. For example, the application of a firing pulse at time, $1, to the thyristor pair (Si&) starts a commutation process from the switches (S3,Sq) to (S1,S2). This commutation process is defined by the switching function H31(ot) with a conduction length of pi. The four sub-matrices A , B, C and D which make the harmonic coupling matrix are functions of the phase of the thyristor firing signals, $1 and 42, the inverter inductance, L and the commutation times p.1 and p2. Note that the commutation times, p1 and p2 are not fixed known parameters and thus can not be treated as independent variables. For example, the commutation time pi, ends when the current through the thyristor pair (S3,Sz) goes through zero or when: Iac(ot=$l +p 1) = IdC(ot=$ 1+PI)
(5)

Table 1. Solution LoRic

Establish a control relationship 9 and assign a between @ 1 and 4 value to each.

Find a starting value for p land p2 Assign value

Similarly the commutation time p.2, ends when the current through the thyristor pair (S1,Sq) goes through zero i.e. when:

3
Satisfies equations 7 & 8? and compute a new set of ys
The solution algorithms of the harmonic coupling equations are slightly different for different ,control schemes. This is because each control scheme impose a different constraint on the thyristor firing angles, $1 and 42. The following

We refer to the equations ( 5 ) and (6) as constraint equations since they constrain the commutation times p.1 and p.2. Using

1619

describes the solution under an equidistant firing in which a train of equally spaced firing pulses (180 electrical degrees) are sent to thyristor pairs. First pick some relative firing phases $1 and let $2=$1+x. In addition, pick a reasonable starting guess for the two commutation times pi and p2 (such as the classical method prediction). Numerically compute the linearized change (Jacobian) of the two constraint equations (7) and (8) with respect to pi and p2. Note that you need to solve the linear equation (4) for Vac and Idc twice to numerically compute the Jacobian. Use the Jacobian to update your starting guess for pi and p2. Repeat this process until the two constraint equations are satisfied. Solve (3) and (4) for Vac, Idc, Vac and Iac.

number. For example, an AC system with a short circuit ratio of 25.0 shows harmonic resonance problems when the resonant point is 4.85 times the fundamental frequency.

The Example System Results

An equidistant firing pulse scheme in which a train of equally spaced firing pulses (180 electrical degrees) are sent to convertor is assumed. For each phase of the firing pulses, the circuit is solved using both the classical and the harmonic coupling matrix solution method. For the classical method, the AC system inductance with the filters was approximated by an equivalent inductance of, 0.55 mH. For convenience, only the half wave symmetric periodic solutions are studied. Figure 6 shows the predictions of the two methods for the DC component of the DC current versus the commutation time p. The results are normalized to the DC current at the maximum value of the p 58O. A discussion of the other system harmonic currents and voltages is presented in the appendix I. The classical method predicts a smooth mapping between the DC current and p. This map may be obtained by solving the equations (1) and (2). The point Idc c 0 corresponds to the largest phase of the firing pulses, amax i 60. At this point, the average inverter DC voltage is equal to the DC side Bemf. As a is decreased, the average inverter DC voltage and the DC
(P-U.)

An Example
To demonstrate the above technique and compare its predictions to the classical methods, the basic system shown in Figure 1 is chosen as an example. In this example, the AC system impedance is an inductor of 0.53 mH. The AC filter is made up a passive filter tuned at third in parallel with a fmed capacitor of capacitance 0.867 mF. The inductance of the tuned filter is 2.9 mH. The commutating inductance is 0.265 mH. The DC side resistance and inductance are 0.05 i2 and 26.5 mH respectively. The AC voltage source is 230.0 kV and the DC side Bemf is 73.0 kV. Figure 5 shows the magnitude of the impedance of the AC system, the capacitor and the tuned filter as seen from the AC converter terminals. As can be seen, the AC system is resonant at 2.8 and 4.5 times the fundamental frequency.

I F 2 . 5
2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 . 5point^

.
0 0

1.o

k :
0 0

0 0

0 . 5

14.62 Order of harmonics

29.25

43.87 p (Degrees)

Figure 6. DC component of the inverter DC current current is increased. The larger the DC current, the longer it takes to commutate the current from one thyristor pair to another, and the larger the p. The maximum values of the DC current and p, correspond to an amin 20 and p 58O. While the classical method predicts a smooth mapping between the DC current and p, the harmonic coupling method predicts a discontinuous map made up of three separate regions. These three regions are labelled region A, region B

Figure 5 The impedance of the AC system This example has a short circuit ratio of 5.0 where this ratio is defined as the AC short circuit M V A divided by the rated DC power. A short circuit ratio of 5.0 was used to demonstrate the nonlinear harmonic interaction problems with a high impedance AC voltage source. Trial and error has shown that even very strong AC system show such problems if the AC systems resonance point is close enough to an odd harmonic

1620

and the shaded region. In the region A, the DC current decreases as p decreases. This region exists for p ranging between 4 9 O and 58O. The consequence of moving the system operating point from region A into the shaded region is a transient due to the appearance of a new earlier current zero in the commutating thyristor pair. This new earlier zero results in the switching off time of the thyristor to be suddenly decreased and the stable operation of the system at the previous periodic orbit to be lost. This qualitative change due to a new earlier thyristor current zero was first discovered and describedin [l]. In the region B, the harmonic coupling method predicts that value of the DC current increase as p increases. This region ends for p close to 27 degrees. The consequence of moving the system operating point from region B into the shaded region is a transient due to a thyristor miss fire. The miss fire occurs because the voltage across the commutating thyristor pair will be negative when the gate turn on pulse arrives (more details of this type of instability is given in [3]). We also note that the detail of the transient due to either an early thyristor turn off time or a thyristor m i s s fire depends heavily on the assumptions used in modelling the control of the thyristor bridge. However, the loss of a periodic solution as the control system attempts to operate the system inside the shaded region is inevitable.

Idc

DC curreit (pa.), transition from A t i B

1.087

1.425

. . . 1.762 Time (Seconds)

Figure 7. Inverter DC current (from A to B )

IdC 1.06

I-

DC currknt (p.u.1, for &perationat point A

1.02 * 0.98

- P -

EMTP simulation of Points A and B

The harmonic coupling method predicts that the two periodic solutions labelled A and B in the Figure 6 have approximately 1.0 p.u. of DC component of DC current but two different commutation times. This section checks this prediction by simulating the example system with the ElectroMagnetic Transient Program (EMTP)[8]. In this simulation study, a train of equally spaced firing pulses which are synchronized to an arbitrary reference point are sent to the convertor thyristors. This is to ensure that there is no closed loop between the harmonic contents of the inverter AC voltage and the thyristor firing pulses, an equidistant firing scheme. Figure 7 shows the resulting inverter DC current from EMTP simulation. The system is initially operating at point A with an average DC current close to 1.O p.u. The region labelled as "Event occurs'' is the interval in which the phase of the firing pulses was increased to the predicted value for operating point B. This event starts a gradual decrease in the DC current. A measurement of the commutation time p also indicates a gradual decrease in p from 5 8 O to 4 9 O at time C-. Note that the measured value of p at C- is the predicted value of p as the boundary of region A with the shaded region. Measurement of p at the boundary of (C- ,C+) show that the value of p has a step drop from 4 9 O before C- to 1 4 O after C+. After time C+, the value of p oscillates between 1 4 O and 7O and gradually converges to 100. This is the same value of p predicted by the harmonic coupling matrix solution method.

- \

/--

0.94 *

'625
Time (Seconds)

Figure 8. DC current at point A

DC current (P.u.), for operation at point B

0.98 0.94

.
-P

2.088

2.092

2.0% Time (Seconds)

"

Figure 9. DC current at point B

1621

To look at the commutation times more closely, only one cycle of the DC current in the Figure 7 is plotted in the next two Figures. The Figure 8 shows the steady state operation at the point A and the Figure 9 shows the steady state operation at the point B. It is clear from these Figures that the example system has two periodic solutions with DC currents close to 1.0 p.u. but with two different commutation times and harmonic contents.

[8] EPRI Report EL4541CCMP, Vol. 1 and 2; The Electromagnetic Transients Program (EMTP), Version 1.O, Revised Rule Book, April 1986. [9] J. Guckenheimer, P. Holmes, Nonlinear oscillations, dynamical systems and bifurcations of vector fields, Springer-Verlag, NY,1986.
Sasan Jalali (SM'92) received the BS, MS and PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1988. 1990 and 1993 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Electrical Engineering. Robert H. Lasseter (F'92) received the PhD in Physics at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia in 1971. He was a Consultant Engineer at General Electric Co. until he joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1980.

Conclusion
For the regions where periodic solutions exists, we can use the Fourier techniques to accurately determine the harmonic contents of the steady state solutions. In this method, the voltage and switching functions are broken into Fourier series and a harmonic coupling matrix model of a single phase line commutated converter is constructed. This coupling matrix can be incorporated into a power system and the system harmonics can be accurately calculated. An example system which exhibits highly nonlinear and unexpected behavior was used to illustrate the effectiveness of this method. This example showed that classical solution method fails to correctly compute the harmonics of this example. On the other hand, the harmonic coupling matrix solution method can accurately compute the steady state solutions of this system.

Acknowledgement
The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from EPRI under contract numbers RP-4000-29. We also greatly appreciate numerous discussions with Ian Dobson

References
S . Jalali, I. Dobson, R.H.Lasseter, "Instabilities due to bifurcation of switching times in a thyristor controlled reactor", PESC, Toledo, Spain, July 1992.

N. Christi, et al., "Power System Studies and Modelling

for the Kayenta 230KV Substation Advanced Series Compensation," IEE international Conf., London 1991.

S . Jalali, R.H. Lasseter, "Harmonic Instabilities in Advanced Series Compensators", EPRI FACTS Conference, Boston MA, May 1992
R. P. Stratford; "Rectifier Harmonics in Power Systems",

IAS,Vol. IA-16, NO. 2, pp. 271-275, March 1980

A. Day, et al.,;"Methods of Evaluation of Harmonic Levels in Industrial Plant Distribution Systems", IAS,Vol. IA-23, NO. 3, pp. 498-503, MayIJune 1987. Peter Wood; "Switching Power Converters" Robert E. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida, 1981. L.J. Bohmann, R.H. Lasseter; "Harmonic Interactions in Thyristor Controlled Reactor Circuits"; E E E Trans. on Power Delivery, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 1919-1924, July 1989

1622

Appendix I
This appendix presents the results of the classical method versus the harmonic coupling approach for the example system. The results are plotted versus the p and correspond to the inverter DC and AC harmonic currents and voltages.
( P . U .

1 ;

Point B 2.56

1.92

1.28

1'
0 0

Figure 2a shows harmonic contents of the inverter DC current. All of the plots are normalized to the DC component of the DC current corresponding to p P 5 8 O . For the plot of the DC component of the DC current, refer to the Figure 6 in the paper. Figure 2b shows harmonic contents of the inverter DC voltage. All of the plots are normalized to the DC component
(P.U.

f
3rc
I

I$

Point i
0.03

Poin
I
I I

2nd

0.02

I
I

4
, 0 O 0

I
I

2n(
I
I

0.01

0.64

.p
AAAA

4th

&,2
Point

Re~on B
(P.U..

Shaded Region 5th

I Reeion (P.U.

VF

Point

VF

2.85

5.0 4.0

1.90
3.0

0.95

2.0
1 .o

14.62

29.25

43.87

14.62
CL (Degrees)

29.25

43.87

P (Degrees)

Figure l a . Harmonic content of the inverter AC current l b . Harmonic content of the inverter AC voltage Figure l a shows harmonk contents of the inverter AC current. All of the plots are normalized to Iacn=l corresponding to p I 5 8 O . In region B, as p increase, all the odd harmonics blow up. Figure l b shows harmonic contents of the inverter AC voltage. The AC voltage harmonics are normalized to the no load AC bus voltage. The 3rd harmonic is very small due to the presence of the passive tuned filter in the example system.

Figure 2a. Harmonic content of the inverter DC current 2b. Harmonic content of the inverter DC voltage of the DC voltage corresponding to p I 5 8 O . The region B shows a peculiar drop of the 2nd harmonic voltage on the DC side. However, both of the regions show the blowing up of the harmonics as periodic solutions of the system approach the shaded region.

Appendix I1
This appendix derives the harmonic coupling matrix of the single phase bridge shown in the Figure 3. The method is based on the switching functions shown in the Figure 4. With the converter operating in the continuous mode, Iac(ot) is essentially the sum of four separate current vectors correspondingto four different switching functions: Iac(ot) = &at)

. ..

1623

. .. . ..

.. . .. . .. .

1-1

IO
I1

+ 13(0t) + P ( w t ) + P ( a t )

(1)

Now the problem is reduced to finding the Fourier coefficients of I(ot) defined in equation (2). Since I(ot) and Vac(ot) are periodic signals, we can express each term as a Fourier series.
00

Where: I1(ot) = ( H1(,t) - Hl3(wt) - H3l(ut) ) Iac(wt), 13(wt) = ( H3(ot) - H13(ot) - H31(wt) ) Iac(ot), I3l(wt) = H31(ot) Iac(wt) and I13(ot) = H13(wt) Iac(wt) Let us first look at the AC current during the commutation process H3I(wt). The application of a firing pulse at time, $1, to the thyristor pair (Si&) starts a commutation process from the switches (S3,Sq) to (Si&). During this period, the DC side looks like a short to the AC side. The equivalent circuit during this time is an inductor across the ac voltage, Vac(wt). The commutation current can be expressed as;

n#O

(9)

Multiplying both sides of (9) by the orthogonal function ,-jnwt and integrating over a period yields: where Idc(wt = $1) is the current in the circuit at the start of commutation. Therefore, 131(wt) is given by:
m
00

131(wt) = H31(wt) I(ot)

(3)

Assuming periodic operation, equation (3) can be written as:

00

00

m#O

(1 1)

Equations (10) and (11) allow us to write the matrix representationof the Fourier coefficients of I(wt) as follows: Where,
ac

I- 1
IO

* . .0
. ..p 1

0 0

... . .. ...

ac p,"+-1 V

-j&

-jot 1 201
0 0
Id;
ac

0
V "1" -j&

The harmonic matrix form of equation (4) is shown in (7) and (8). It is made up of infinite dimensional switching function H31, multiplied by the AC current vector, I.
131 = 1-1311

I1

... 0

ly+-j&

(7

The short matrix form of equation (12) can be writter

I = Y Vac - G($1) [Idc

+Y

Vac]

1624 Note that the presence of the term {-G($1) [Idc + Y Vac]} in (13) ensures the current vector (Y Vac) is initialized to the correct DC current just before the start of the commutation process. Equation (7) for 131 now be written as;
131 = H31 [Y Vac - G($1) [Y Vac

Equations (14) , (15) and (17) can be combined to yield the Fourier matrix form of Iac(wt) as defined in equation (1);

Idcl]

(14)

Similar argument can be used to find the AC current in the commutation time frame of H13 as:
113 = H 1 3 [Y Vac - G($2) [Y Vac - Idcl]

B = H1 - H3 - (H31 G($l))

+ (H13 G(42))

(20)

(15)

Inspection of the circuit shown in Figure 4 allows us to compute the time functions I'(ot) and 13(ot) as follows: I1(ot) + 13(ot) = ( H1(ot) - H3(ot) ) Idc(,t) (16)

Where I is the identity matrix. The C and D matrices of the harmonic admittance matrix can be found by expresses Vdc in terms of Vac, Idc and the inverter switching functions. Since the DC voltage is non-zero only during the time corresponding to no commutation the resulting harmonic matrix for DC voltage is:
Vdc = (HI - H3) (Vac - Z Iac) = (H1 - H3) (Vac - Z (A Vac

Again assumed periodicity for Idc(ot), I1(ot) and 13(ot) allows us to relate the harmonic matrix of these signals as:
I1

+ B Idc))

(21)

+ I3 =

(H1-H3) Idc

(17)

Where Idc, 11, 13, H1 and H3 have similar harmonic matrix structure as 131 and H31 in (8).

Where A and B are given by (19) and (20) and Z is a diagonal matrix of impedance L. Equation (21) can be rewritten to yield the C and D matrices as: