Voltage Quality Improvement Using DVR

Abstract:-
The problem of voltage sags and Swells and its severe impact on
sensitive loads is well known. To solve this problem, custom power devices
are used. One of those devices is the Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR),
which is one of the most efficient and effective modern custom power
devices used in power distribution networks. This paper described DVR
principles and voltage correction methods for balanced and/or unbalanced
voltage sags and swells in a distribution system. Simulation results were
presented to illustrate and understand the performances of DVR under
voltage sags/swells conditions. The results obtained by simulation using
MATLAB confirmed the effectiveness of this device in compensating
voltage sags and swells with very fast response (relative to voltage sag/swell
time).

1.Introduction

Power quality has a significant influence on high-technology

equipments related to communication, advanced control, automation, precise
manufacturing technique and on-line service. For example, voltage sag can
have a bad influence on the products of semiconductor fabrication with
considerable financial losses. Power quality problems include transients,
sags, interruptions and other distortions to the sinusoidal waveform. One of
the most important power quality issues is voltage sag that is a sudden short
duration reduction in voltage magnitude between 10 and 90% compared to
nominal voltage. Voltage sag is deemed as a momentary decrease in the rms
voltage, with duration ranging from half a cycle up to one minute. Deep
voltage sags, even of relatively short duration, can have significant costs
because of the proliferation of voltage-sensitive computer-based and
variable speed drive loads. The fraction of load that is sensitive to low
voltage is expected to grow rapidly in the coming decades.
Studies have shown that transmission faults, while relatively rare, can cause
widespread sags that may constitute a major source of process interruptions
for very long distances from the faulted point. Distribution faults are
considerably more common but the resulting sags are more limited in
geographic extent. The majority of voltage sags are within 40%of the
nominal voltage. Therefore, by designing drives and other critical loads
capable of riding through sags with magnitude of up to 40%, interruption of
processes can be reduced significantly. The DVR can correct sags resulting
from faults in either the transmission or the distribution system.

Faults at either the transmission or distribution level may cause voltage

sag or swell in the entire system or a large part of it. Also, under heavy load
conditions, a significant voltage drop may occur in the system. Voltage sags
can occur at any instant of time, with amplitudes ranging from 10 – 90% and
a duration lasting for half a cycle to one minute. Further, they could be either
balanced or unbalanced, depending on the type of fault and they could have
unpredictable magnitudes, depending on factors such as distance from the
fault and the transformer connections. Voltage swell, on the other hand, is
defined as a sudden increasing of supply voltage up 110% to 180% in RMS
voltage at the network fundamental frequency with duration from 10 ms to 1
minute. Voltage swells are not as important as voltage sags because they are
less common in distribution systems. Voltage sag and swell can cause
sensitive equipment (such as found in semiconductor or chemical plants) to
fail, or shutdown, as well as create a large current unbalance that could blow
fuses or trip breakers. These effects can be very expensive for the customer,
ranging from minor quality variations to production downtime and
equipment damage.

There are many different methods to mitigate voltage sags and

swells, but the use of a custom Power device is considered to be the most
efficient method. The concept of custom Power was introduced by N.G.
Hingorani in 1995. Like Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) for
transmission systems, the term custom power pertains to the use of power
electronics controllers in a distribution system, especially, to deal with
various power quality problems. Just as FACTS improves the power transfer
capabilities and stability margins, custom power makes sure customers get
pre-specified quality and reliability of supply. This pre-specified quality may
contain a combination of specifications of the following:
 low phase unbalance, no power interruptions, low flicker at the load
voltage, low harmonic distortion in load voltage, magnitude and duration of
overvoltages and undervoltages within specified limits, acceptance of
fluctuations, and poor factor loads without significant effect on the terminal
voltage.
Each of Custom Power devices has its own benefits and limitations.
Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) is one of the most effective type of these
devices. There are numerous reasons why the DVR is preferred over the
others. A few of these reasons are presented as follows. The SVC pre-dates
the DVR, but the DVR is still preferred because the SVC has no ability to
control active power flow. Another reason is that the DVR costs less
compared to the UPS. Other reasons include that the DVR has a higher
energy capacity and lower costs compared to the SMES device.
Furthermore, the DVR is smaller in size and costs less compared to the
DSTATCOM. Based on these reasons, it is no surprise that the DVR is
widely considered as an effective custom power device in mitigating voltage
sags. In addition to voltage sags and swells compensation, DVR can also
added other features such as harmonics and Power Factor correction.
Compared to the other devices, the DVR is clearly considered to be one of
the best economic solutions for its size and capabilities.
This paper Introduced Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) and its
operating principle. Then, analyses of the voltage correction methods were
presented. At the end, simulation results using MATLAB were illustrated
and discussed.

1.1 What Are Voltage Sags?

Electronic devices function properly as long as the voltage (or driving force)
of the electricity feeding the device stays within a consistent range. There
are several types of voltage fluctuations that can cause problems, including
surges and spikes, sags, harmonic distortions, and momentary disruptions.
(For definitions of these terms, see the “Power Quality Glossary” sidebar,
next page.) A voltage sag is not a complete interruption of power; it is a
temporary drop below 90 percent of the nominal voltage level. Most voltage
sags do not go below 50 percent of the nominal voltage, and they normally
last from 3 to 10 cycles—or 50 to 170 milliseconds.
Voltage sags are probably the most significant power quality (PQ) problem
facing industrial customers today, and they can be a significant problem for
large commercial customers as well.

There are two sources of voltage sags: external (on the utility’s lines
up to your facility) and internal (within your facility). Utilities continuously
strive to provide the most reliable and consistent electric power possible. In
the course of normal utility operations, however, many things can cause
voltage sags. Storms are the most common cause of external sags and
momentary interruptions in most areas of the U.S. A storm passing through
an area can result in dozens of major and minor PQ variations, including
sags. For example, consider how PQ would be affected by a lightning strike
on or near a power line or by wind sending tree limbs into power lines.
Other common causes of external voltage sags are ice storms, animals
(particularly squirrels), and the start-up of large loads at neighboring
facilities. Internal causes of voltage sags can include starting major loads
and grounding or wiring problems. Whether or not a voltage sag causes a
problem will depend on the magnitude and duration of the sag and on the
sensitivity of your equipment. Many types of electronic equipment are
sensitive to voltage sags, including variable speed drive controls, motor
starter contactors, robotics, programmable logic controllers, controller power
supplies, and control relays. Much of this equipment is used in applications
that are critical to an overall process, which can lead to very expensive
downtime when voltage sags occur. If your facility is having frequent
voltage sag problems, a good place to start is with your utility. Ask about the
utility’s statistics regarding performance in your area. You should also look
into possible internal causes. But whether the causes are mainly external or
internal, you should consider taking charge of the problem and working
toward a costeffective solution for your facility.

1.2 Power Quality Glossary:

Although specialists use complex equations for precise descriptions and

analysis, the following definitions are adequate for most discussions.

Harmonic distortion: Continuous or sporadic distortions of the 60-

hertz (Hz) voltage sine waveform, usually caused by microprocessorbased
loads in the building such as computer power supplies, lighting ballasts, and
electronic adjustable speed drives. Harmonics can
also be transmitted from an energy user down the block. These can cause
telecommunications or computer interference; overheating
in motors, transformers, or neutral conductors; decreased motor
performance; deterioration of power factor–correction capacitors; or
erratic operation of breakers, fuses, and relays.

Interruption, momentary: A very short loss of utility power that

lasts up to 2 seconds, usually caused by the utility switching operations
to isolate a nearby electrical problem.

Interruption, temporary: A loss of utility power lasting from 2

seconds to 2 minutes, caused by a nearby short circuit due to something
like animals, wet insulators, or accidents. Corrected by automated utility
switching.

Long-term outage: A loss of utility power lasting more than 2

minutes due to major local, area, or regional electrical events.

Noise: Sporadic voltage changes consisting of frequencies higher than the

normal 60-Hz power frequency due to any number of
causes, including arc welders, loose wiring, and nearby radio and TV
transmitters.

Sag: A short-term decrease in voltage lasting anywhere from milliseconds

up to a few seconds. Sags starve a machine of the electricity
it needs to function, causing computer crashes or equipment lock-ups.
Usually caused by equipment start-up—such as elevators,
heating and air-conditioning equipment, compressors, and copy machines—
or nearby short circuits on the utility system.

Spike: A very brief (nanoseconds to milliseconds) change in voltage

ranging from tens to thousands of volts. Can be produced by
utility and customer equipment operations, nearby lightning strikes, falling
tree limbs on power lines, and even static discharges.

Surge: A short-term increase in voltage, lasting up to a few seconds.

They are due either to customer equipment operation, such as
air conditioners or motors switching on and off, or to utility activities, such
as capacitor switching.

Transient: A sudden momentary change in voltage. Also called a spike.

Undervoltage: A decrease in voltage lasting longer than a few seconds.

Usually due to undersized wiring at the facility but can also
be caused by overloaded utility circuits and result in brownouts.

2. Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR)

A Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) is a series connected solid state
device that injects voltage into the system in order to regulate the load side
voltage. The DVR was first installed in 1996. It is normally installed in a
distribution system between the supply and the critical load feeder. Its
primary function is to rapidly boost up the load-side voltage in the event of a
disturbance in order to avoid any power disruption to that load. There are
various circuit topologies and control schemes that can be used to implement
a DVR. In addition to voltage sags and swells compensation, DVR can also
added other features such as: line voltage harmonics compensation,
reduction of transients in voltage and fault current limitations.
The general configuration of the DVR consists of an Injection / Booster
transformer, a Harmonic filter, a Voltage Source Converter (VSC), and a
Control and Protection system as shown in Figure 1.
 Fig. 1 DVR series connected topology

2.1 Injection / Booster Transformer

The Injection / Booster transformer is a specially designed transformer that
attempts to limit the coupling of noise and transient energy from the primary
side to the secondary side. Its main tasks are: connects the DVR to the
distribution network via the HV-windings and transforms and couples the
injected compensating voltages generated by the voltage source converters
to the incoming supply voltage. In addition, the Injection / Booster
transformer serves the purpose of isolating the load from the system (VSC
and control mechanism). It is one unit three phase construction.

2.2 Harmonic Filter

The main task of harmonic filter is to keep the harmonic voltage
content generated by the voltage source converters to the permissible level
(i.e., eliminate high frequency switching harmonics).It has a small rating
approximately 2% of the load MVA.

2.3 Voltage Source Converter

A VSC is a power electronic system consists of a storage device

and switching devices, which can generate a sinusoidal voltage at any
required frequency, magnitude, and phase angle. In the DVR application, the
VSC is used to temporarily replace the supply voltage or to generate the part
of the supply voltage which is missing.
Numerous circuit topologies are available for the VSC. A widely
used method is the two level or multilevel three-phase converter which
shares a dc capacitor between all phases. The purpose of this capacitor is
mainly to absorb harmonic ripple and hence it has a relatively small energy
storage requirement, particularly when operating in balanced conditions. The
size of this capacitor has to be increased if needed to provide voltage support
in unbalanced conditions. Also, as the capacitor is shared between the three
phases, a sag on only one phase may cause a distortion in the injected
current waveforms on the other phases.

2.3.1 Switching Devices

There are four main types of switching devices: Metal Oxide Semiconductor
Field Effect Transistors (MOSFET), Gate Turn-Off thyristors (GTO),
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT), and Integrated Gate Commutated
Thyristors (IGCT). Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks. The
MOSFET requires a high on-resistance and has fast switching times. It is
capable of working beyond the 20 kHz frequency. The limitations are that
the increasing on-resistance with increasing voltage limits the device to
applications with just a few hundred volts. The GTO is a latching device that
can be turned off by a negative pulse of current to its gate. The GTO is best
suited for high voltage applications. The disadvantages of the GTO are that
GTO based devices are not able to meet the dynamic requirements of a
DVR. The IGBT is considered to be a newer device compared to the
MOSFET and GTO. It was first introduced in the early 1980s and has
become a popular device because of its superior characteristics.
In essence, it is a three terminal controllable switch that combines the fast
switching times of the MOSFET with the high voltage capabilities of the
GTO. The result of this combination is a medium speed controllable switch
capable of supporting the medium power range. The IGCT is a recent
compact device with enhanced performance and reliability that allows
building VSC with very large power ratings. Because of the highly
sophisticated converter design with IGCTs, the DVR can compensate dips
which are beyond the capability of the past DVRs using conventional
devices.

2.3.2 Storage Devices

The purpose is to supply the necessary energy to the VSC via a dc
link for the generation of injected voltages. Batteries and Ultracapacitors are
the most common types of energy storage devices. In fact, the capacity of
the stored energy directly determines the duration of the sag which can be
mitigating by the DVR. Batteries are the common choice and can be highly
effective if a high voltage battery configuration is used. This high voltage
string of batteries can be placed across the regulated dc bus with little or no
additional circuitry. However, batteries in general have a short lifetime and
often require some type of battery management system, which can be quite
costly. An interesting alternative to batteries is the use of ultracapacitors,
which have a wider voltage range than batteries and can be directly
paralleled across the input bus. Ultracapacitors have a specific energy
density less than that of a battery, but a specific power greater than a battery,
making them ideal for short (up to several seconds) pulses of power. Certain
ultracapacitors (unsyrnmetrical electrochemical) can hold charge over
extended periods of time, so as to act like a battery. However, unlike
batteries, these ultracapacitors have a short charge time and much longer
lifetime.

2.4 Control and Protection system

The control mechanism of the general configuration typically consists of
Digital Signal Processing (DSP) boards. The software on the DSP board
provides the controls such as detection and correction. Filters are commonly
used for these purposes. The most common types of filter algorithm are the
Fourier Transform (FT) and the Wavelet Transform (WT). Although, the
Fourier Transform still remains the most common type.
To maximize dynamic performance, a direct feedforward-type control
architecture should be applied in the control concept of the DVR. With this
concept a fast response time (approximately 1ms) can be achieved to
compensate voltage sags.
All protective functions of the DVR should be implemented in the
software. Differential current protection of the transformer, or short circuit
current on the customer load side are only two examples of many protection
functions possibility. Depending on the particular fault condition, the fast
control and protection may switch the DVR into bypass if it becomes
inoperable, thus securing an uninterrupted energy flow to the customer’s
plant.

Basic Principle of DVR:

To quantify voltage sag in radial distribution system, the voltage divider

model, shown in Fig. 1, can be used on the assumption that the fault current
is much larger than the load current during faults. The point of common
coupling (PCC) is the point from which both the fault and the load are fed.
Voltage sag is mostly unbalanced and accompanied by phase angle jump.
From Fig. 1, the voltage at the PCC and phase angle jump can be obtained
by

The DVR is able to compensate the voltage sag especially at sensitive loads
by injecting an appropriate voltage through an injection transformer. Figure
2 shows a block diagram of the DVR power circuit. When examining the
DVR it can be divided into four component blocks:

1) Energy storage device,

2) DC to DC power controller,

3) A three-phase voltage converter,

4) Three single-phase series injection transformers.

The design of the DVR allows real and reactive power to be either supplied
or absorbed when operating. If a small fault occurs on the protected system,
then the DVR can correct it using only reactive power generated internally.
For correction of larger faults, the DVR may be required to develop real
power. To enable the development of real power an energy storage device
must be used; currently the DVR design uses a capacitor bank. Once the
fault has been corrected and the supply is operating under normal conditions,
the DVR replenishes the energy expended from the healthy system. The
rating (in terms of energy storage capabilities) of the capacitor bank is
dependent upon system factors such as the rating of the load that protects
and the duration and depth of anticipated sags. When correcting large sag
(using real power), the power electronics are fed from the capacitor bank via
a DC-DC voltage conversion circuit.

The core element in DVR design is the three-phase voltage converter. This
inverter utilizes solid-state power electronics (insulated gate bipolar
transistors, IGBTs) to convert DC to AC and back again during operation.
The DVR connects in series with the distribution line through an injection
transformer, actually three single-phase transformers. The primary side
(connected into the line) must be sized to carry the full line current.The
primary voltage rating is the maximum voltage the DVR can inject into the
line for a given application.The DVR rating (per phase), is the maximum
injection voltage times the primary current.The bridge outputs on the
secondary are filtered before being applied to the injection transformer. The
bridges are independently controllable to allow each phase to be
compensated separately. The output voltage wave shapes are generated by
pulse-width modulated switching. When voltage sag reaches a value below
the limit for correction using zero energy, the energy storage system within
the DVR has to be used to aid voltage correction.

The ideal restoration is to make load voltages unchanged. When DVR

restores large voltage disturbances, active power or energy should be
injected from DVR to distribution system. If the capability of energy storage
of DVR were infinite, DVR could maintain load voltage unchanged ideally
during any kind of faults. However, the stored energy in DVR is limited
practically by the limit of DC link capacity of DVR. Namely, DVR cannot
restore the load voltage constantly when the voltage across the DC link has
gone down and stored energy has run out eventually during deep voltage sag
with long duration. Therefore, it is necessary to minimize energy injection
from DVR.

There are several methods how to inject DVR mitigating voltage to

distribution system: pre-sag compensation, in-phase compensation, and
phase advance
 3. Operating Principle of DVR

The basic function of the DVR is to inject a dynamically controlled voltage

VDVR generated by a forced commutated converter in series to the bus voltage
by means of a booster transformer. The momentary amplitudes of the three
injected phase voltages are controlled such as to eliminate any detrimental
effects of a bus fault to the load voltage VL. This means that any differential
voltages caused by disturbances in the ac feeder will be compensated by an
equivalent voltage generated by the converter and injected on the medium
voltage level through the booster transformer.
The DVR works independently of the type of fault or any event that
happens in the system, provided that the whole system remains connected to
the supply grid, i.e. the line breaker does not trip. For most practical cases, a
more economical design can be achieved by only compensating the positive
and negative sequence components of the voltage disturbance seen at the
input of the DVR (because for a typical distribution bus configuration, the
zero sequence part of a disturbance will not pass through the step down
transformer which has infinite impedance for this component).
The DVR has two modes of operation which are: standby mode and
boost mode. In standby mode (VDVR=0), the booster transformer’s low
voltage winding is shorted through the converter. No switching of
semiconductors occurs in this mode of operation, because the individual
converter legs are triggered such as to establish a short-circuit path for the
transformer connection. Therefore, only the comparatively low conduction
losses of the semiconductors in this current loop contribute to the losses. The
DVR will be most of the time in this mode. In boost mode (VDVR>0), the
DVR is injecting a compensation voltage through the booster transformer
due to a detection of a supply voltage disturbance.

4. DVR Voltage correction Methods

The possibility of compensating voltage sag can be limited by a number
of factors including finite DVR power rating, different load conditions and
different types of voltage sag. Some loads are very sensitive to phase angle
jump and others are tolerant to it. Therefore, the control strategy depends on
the type of load characteristics. There are three different methods for DVR
voltage correction which are presented below.
 4.1 Pre-Dip Compensation (PDC)
The PDC method tracks the supply voltage continuously and
compensates load voltage during fault to pre-fault condition. In this method,
the load voltage can be restored ideally, but the injected active power cannot
be controlled and it is determined by external conditions such as the type of
faults and load conditions. This method is achieved by using a fault detector
to freeze the output from the Phase Locked Loop (PLL) circuit, when the
fault occurs. Then, the frozen angle is used to restore the previous balanced
load voltages by using the Park transform. The lack of the negative sequence
detection in this method leads to the phase-oscillation in the case of single-
line faults. Fig. 2 shows the single-phase vector diagram of this method.


VL

VDVR

Vs θ DVR

θS θL


IL

Fig. 2 Single-phase vector diagram of the PDC method.

According to fig.2, the apparent power of DVR is,

S DVR = 3I LVDVR
= I L VL2 +VS2 − 2VLVS cos (θL −θS )

And the active power of DVR is,

PDVR = 3I L (VL cos θL − VS cos θS )

The magnitude and the angle of DVR voltage are:

. VDVR = VL2 +VS2 − 2VLVS cos (θL −θS )

 V sin θL − VS sin θS 
θDVR = tan −1  L 
 VL cos θL − VS cos θS 

4.2 In-Phase Compensation (IPC)

This is the most straight forward and used method in which the injected
DVR voltage is in phase with the supply side voltage regardless of the load
current and the pre-fault voltage as shown in Fig. 3. The IPC method is
suitable for minimum voltage or minimum energy operation strategies. In
other word, this approach requires large amounts of real power to mitigate
the voltage sag, which means a large energy storage device.
 
V Lpre −dip

 
VS V DVR

VL
θS θDVR
θL

IL

Fig. 3 phasors diagram of the IPC method

According to fig.3, the apparent power of DVR is,

S DVR = 3I LVDVR = 3I L (VL − VS )

And the active power of DVR is,

PDVR = 3I LVDVR cos θS = 3I L (VL − VS ) cos θS

The magnitude and the angle of the DVR voltage are,

VDVR =VL −VS

θDVR =θS
 4.3 In Phase Advance Compensation (IPAC)
Pre-Dip and in-phase compensation method must inject active power
to loads to correct voltage disturbance. However, the amount of possible
injection active power is confined to the stored energy in DC link, which is
one of the most expensive components in DVR. Due to the limit of energy
storage capacity of DC link, the DVR restoration time and performance are
confined in these methods.
For the sake of controlling injection energy, in phase advance
compensation method was proposed. The injection active power is made
zero by means of having the injection voltage phasor perpendicular to the
load current phasor. This method can reduce the consumption of energy
stored in DC link by injecting reactive power instead of active power.
Reducing energy consumption means that ride-through ability is increased
when the energy storage capacity is fixed. On the other hand, the injection
voltage magnitude of in-phase advance compensation method is larger than
those of pre-dip or in-phase compensation methods and the voltage phase
shift can cause voltage waveform discontinuity, inaccurate zero crossing and
load power swing. Therefore, in phase advance compensation method should
be adjusted to the load that is tolerant to phase angle jump, or transition
period should be taken while phase angle is moved from pre-fault angle to
advance angle.
In short, IPAC method uses only reactive power and unfortunately, not
al1 the sags can be mitigated without real power, as a consequence, this
method is only suitable for a limited range of sags.

5. Simulation
In order to show the performance of the DVR in voltage sags and swells
mitigation, a simple distribution network is simulated using MATLAB
(fig.1).Voltage sags and swells are simulated by temporary connection of
different impedances at the supply side bus. A DVR is connected to the
system through a series transformer with a capability to insert a maximum
voltage of 50% of the phase to ground system voltage. Apart from this, a
series filter is also used to remove any high frequency components of power.
In this simulation the In-Phase Compensation (IPC) method is used. The
load considered in the study is a 5.5 MVA capacity with 0.92 p.f., lagging.

5.1 Voltage Sags

A case of Three-phase voltage sag is simulated and the results are shown in
Figure 4. Figure 4 (a) shows a 50% voltage sag initiated at 100 ms and it is
kept until 300 ms, with total voltage sag duration of 200 ms. Figure 4 (b)
and (c) show the voltage injected by the DVR and the compensated load
voltage, respectively. As a result of DVR, the load voltage is kept at 1 p.u.
throughout the simulation, including the voltage sag period. Observe that
during normal operation, the DVR is doing nothing. It quickly injects
necessary voltage components to smooth the load voltage upon detecting
voltage sag.
In order to understand the performance of the DVR under unbalanced
conditions, Single-phase voltage sag at supply bus bar is simulated and the
results are shown in Figure 5. The supply voltage with one phase voltage
dropped down to 50% is shown in Figure 5 (a). The DVR injected voltage
and the load voltage are shown in Figure 5 (b) and (c), respectively. As can
be seen from the results, the DVR is able to produce the required voltage
components for different phases rapidly and help to maintain a balanced and
constant load voltage at 1.00 p.u.
(a)

(b)
 (c)

Fig. 4 Three-phase voltages sag: (a)-Source voltage, (b)-Injected

voltage, (c)-Load voltage

(a)
 (b)

(c)

Fig. 5 Single-phase voltage sag: (a)-Source voltage, (b)-Injected

voltage, (c)-Load voltage.

(a)
 (b)

(c)

Fig. 6 Three-phase voltages swell: (a)-Source voltage, (b)-Injected

voltage, (c)-Load voltage

(a)
 (b)

(c)

Fig. 7 Two-phase voltages swell: (a)-Source voltage, (b)-Injected

voltage, (c)-Load voltage
 5.2 Voltage Swells

The performance of DVR for a voltage swell condition is

investigated. Here, the supply voltage swell is generated as shown in
Figure 6 (a). The supply voltage amplitude is increased about 125% of
nominal voltage. The injected voltage that is produced by DVR in order to
correct the load voltage and the load voltage are shown in Figure 6 (b) and
(c), respectively. As can be seen from the results, the load voltage is kept at
the nominal value with the help of the DVR. Similar to the case of voltage
sag, the DVR reacts quickly to inject the appropriate voltage component
(negative voltage magnitude) to correct the supply voltage.
The performance of the DVR with an unbalanced voltage swell is
shown in Figure 7. In this case, two of the three phases are higher by 25%
than the third phase as shown in Figure 7(a). The injected voltage that is
produced by DVR in order to correct the load voltage and the load voltage
are shown in Figure 7 (b) and (c), respectively. Notice the constant and
balanced voltage at the load throughout the simulation, including during the
unbalanced voltage swell event.

6.Multilevel Dynamic Voltage Restorer:

High voltage dynamic voltage restorer (HVDVR) is used in power

distribution network to compensate for sags in utility voltages. The proposed
HVDVR is implemented using a multilevel inverter topology with isolated
dc energy storages, allowing the direct
connection of the HVDVR to the distribution network without using a bulky
and costly series injection transformer. A control algorithm, incorporating
P+resonant and Posicast compensators, is also presented for controlling the
HVDVR with perfect reference voltage tracking and effective damping of
transient voltage oscillations at the instant of sag compensation. Finally,
simulation results are presented to verify the performance of the proposed
multilevel HVDVR.

Figure shows the series connection of a dynamic voltage restorer

(DVR) between the utility source and loads, through a coupling transformer.
During normal operating conditions, the DVR can be switched offline [1] or
controlled to compensate for any injected harmonic voltages in the utility
grid [2]. Upon the occurrence of voltage sag, the DVR is commanded to
inject a voltage Vo such that the magnitude of Vl remains essentially
constant throughout the sag period. However, the phase of Vl can either be
shifted or remain unchanged, depending on the compensation techniques
adopted. Conventionally, the series voltage Vo is injected through a
coupling transformer, Fig. 1, whose main functions are to provide voltage
boosting and electrical isolation between the phases. Usage of a transformer,
however, has the disadvantage of making the DVR bulky and costly, and
other disadvantages, as summarized in [1]. To overcome these
disadvantages, [1] has proposed the series/parallel connection of
semiconductor switches, or H-bridges, to develop high voltage DVR
(HVDVR), which can be connected directly to the utility grid without a
coupling transformer. This letter now extends the concept to address issues
that have not been discussed in [1].
(Note that only the series connection of H-bridges is considered here, since
the other option of series-connecting semiconductor switches usually require
the use of complex snubber and gate driver circuitries, which can limit the
speed of response of the HVDVR).
Fig. System configuration with dynamic voltage restoration.

The letter begins by analyzing different topological possibilities for

implementing the HVDVR with the main aim of designing a reliable custom
power conditioner. The letter next presents an open-loop control scheme
with Posicast compensator [3] incorporated for damping transient voltage
oscillations at the instant of voltage injection (an issue which has not been
actively investigated for DVR). The Posicast-based open-loop control is
subsequently improved by adding a parallel multi-feedbackloop control path
to give two-degrees-of-freedom in control tuning. This feedback path uses
the P resonant compensator to force the steady-state voltage error to zero,
hence, enhancing the DVR load voltage regulation performance. All
principles presented have been verified in Matlab/Simulink simulation using
a cascaded five-level and a binary seven-level inverter.

Fig.2. Direct connection of multilevel HVDVR to utility grid.

6.1 TOPOLOGY OF MULTILEVEL HVDVR:

Fig. 2 shows the single-phase representation of a HVDVR

implemented using multiple series-connected H-bridges, each with its own
isolated dc energy storage. This inverter arrangement is commonly referred
to as multilevel inverter in the power conversion literature, and its overall
output voltage ‘Vinv’ is given by the sum of voltages Vi ( i=1 to N ) of the
H-bridges. Depending on its switching state, the output of each H-bridge can
assume the three discrete dc voltage levels of +Vdc , 0 V and -Vdc. When
series-connected, the resultant output ‘Vinv’ of the multilevel inverter can
then switch among a greater number of voltage levels, giving rise to an
improved waveform quality. In addition, depending on the dc capacitor
potentials used, the total number of voltage levels that can be assumed by
‘Vinv’ varies, giving rise to four types of multilevel inverters, namely,
cascaded [5], binary [6], [7], quasilinear [7] and tri-nary [7] inverters (the
latter three inverters are referred to as hybrid inverters in this letter). The dc
source potentials needed for implementing these inverters and expressions
for their total number of output voltage levels are summarized in TableI.

TABLE I
DC CAPACITOR VOLTAGES AND NUMBER OF OUTPUT VOLTAGE
LEVELS OF DIFFERENT MULTILEVEL INVERTERS (N = NUMBER OF H-
BRIDGES)

Referring to Table I and Fig. 2, it is noted that the output voltage of a hybrid
inverter can assume a larger number of dc voltage levels than a cascaded
inverter with the same number of series-connected H-bridges, by designing
its upper H-bridges to block higher dc voltages (‘kN’ > ‘kn’ > ‘k1’) .
Therefore, the upper H-bridges of a hybrid inverter should be implemented
using high-voltage thyristor-based power devices [e.g., integrated gate
commutated thyristors (IGCTs)], while the lower H-bridges should be
implemented using fast-switching power devices [e.g., insulated gate bipolar
transistors (IGBTs)], as indicated in Fig. 2 [6]. In addition, the switching
frequencies of the H-bridges should vary with the lowest H-bridge (with dc
link voltage of ‘K1Vdc’ ) pulse-width modulated at a high switching
frequency, and while moving up the inverter phase-leg in Fig. 2, each H-
bridge should be switched at a progressively slower switching frequency.
Naturally, hybrid inverters offer the attractive advantage of significantly
improving the inverter harmonic performance using the same number of H-
bridges as a cascaded inverter. However, when considering cases of
semiconductor failure, hybrid inverters are less reliable (especially trinary
inverter) since a fault in the higher voltage H-bridge will significantly limit
the sag compensation ability of the HVDVR and also increase the overall
inverter harmonic content. With a greater emphasis on reliability rather than
harmonic performance, the HVDVR studied in this letter is therefore
implemented using either a cascaded five-level inverter or a binary seven-
level inverter with two series-connected H-bridges.
 CONCLUSION

In this paper an overview of DVR is presented. DVR is an

effective custom power device for voltage sags and swells
mitigation. The impact of voltage sags on sensitive equipment is
severe. Therefore, DVR is considered to be an efficient solution
due to its relatively low cost and small size, also it has a fast
dynamic response.
The simulation results show clearly the performance of a
DVR in mitigating voltage sags and swells. The DVR handles both
balanced and unbalanced situations without any difficulties and
injects the appropriate voltage component to correct rapidly any
anomaly in the supply voltage to keep the load voltage balanced
and constant at the nominal value.