Abstract:

Shunt capacitor banks are used to improve the quality of the electrical supply and
the efficient operation of the power system. Studies show that a flat voltage profile
on the system can significantly reduce line losses. Shunt capacitor banks are
relatively inexpensive and can be easily installed anywhere on the network. This
report reviews principles of shunt capacitor bank design for substation installation
and basic protection techniques. The protection of shunt capacitor bank includes: a)
protection against internal bank faults and faults that occur inside the capacitor unit;
and, b) protection of the bank against system disturbances. Section 2 of the report
describes the capacitor unit and how they are connected for different bank
configurations. Section 3 discusses bank designs and grounding connections. Bank
protection schemes that initiate a shutdown of the bank in case of faults within the
bank that may lead to catastrophic failures are presented in Section 4. The report
does not address the means (fuses) and strategies to protect individual elements or
capacitor units, nor the protection of capacitor filter banks. System disturbances and
basic capacitor bank control strategies are also discussed.
Introduction:
Capacitor banks are used both as a part of filters, and to compensate for inductive
losses. The focus of this document is the protection of capacitor banks and in
particular units intended to compensate the inductive losses and boosting the voltage.
The basic concept is to utilize the 180° phase shift between a capacitive and an
inductive load. Adding a source of capacitive reactive power will equal out a similar
amount of inductive reactive power. If the capacitor is connected in series with the
line, the voltage will be compensated, while a parallel capacitor bank will
compensate the inductive current. A parallel connected capacitor bank is often called
a shunt capacitor bank. Reducing the inductive component of the current will
decrease the line losses, or potentially allow for more active power to be transported.
The effect of a adding a shunt capacitor bank is a lower power factor. A graphical
presentation of the compensation is given in Figure 1. Note that the shut capacitor
bank also helps boosting the voltage.

Fig.1. Line current compensation with a shunt capacitor Bank

Shunt capacitor banks (SCB) are mainly installed to provide capacitive reactive
compensation/ power factor correction. The use of SCBs has increased because they
are relatively inexpensive, easy and quick to install and can be deployed virtually
anywhere in the network.