DC Power Modulation

By
G.Koteswara Rao
M.Tech.(P & ID)
14L31D4204

INTRODUCTION
What is power modulation ?
Controlling the power or current flow in a system.
Example: Controlling the power flow in the DC link.
Why we are going for power modulation ?
To improve the stability of system.
Large interconnected systems exhibit low frequency oscillations which are

sustained at only high loading conditions.

These oscillations are caused due to the presence of high gain automatic
voltage regulators (AVR) and fast exciters.
So, for damping these oscillations there is need for auxiliary controllers.

 Power systems stabilizers (PSS) are essential auxiliary controllers that

modulate generator terminal voltage magnitudes which are used for damping
these oscillations.
But if there is a DC link in the system they must be provided with these
auxiliary controller to damp the oscillations and to increase the stability.
The stability of power system when subjected to small perturbations (which
are always present) is dynamic stability.
It is obvious that any power system must always operate in dynamic stability
limits.
Thus by using well designed auxiliary controllers we can improve the dynamic
stability.

Synchronous link
Consider a two area system as shown in figure:

Controller structure

The controller and system dynamics are represented by a single time constant
If the time delay
can be ignored, it is possible to improve the damping and

synchronizing torques.
The controller structure is
The first term introduces damping torque and second contributes
synchronizing torque.
The time delay in the feedback path due to the DC link controllers can be
overcome by introducing phase lead compensator in series.
If the objective is to only damp oscillations
can be set equal to zero.
The controller gain
has to be chosen such that the damping of the low
frequency rotor oscillations is maximum without destabilizing other modes.
However the effectiveness of the controller is reduced considerably if

Asynchronous link
Consider a system with asynchronous DC link as shown in figure:

The control signal contains two components derived from the frequency

deviations at the two terminals of the link.

The major objective is to use the DC link for frequency control of two areas
interconnected by the link.
In addition the control is fast ,it also helps to damp oscillations in AC ties
which may be at some distance from DC link

Practical considerations in the application of power modulation

converters
General:
The power modulation can be classified as small signal and large signal.
The objective of the small signal modulation is to provide damping of one or
more rotor nodes of low frequency oscillations.
Large signal modulation is used to augment transient stability limits there by
improving the system security.
The rapid response of DC link controllers makes it possible to arrest large
fluctuations in the frequency by matching generation to the load in the area to
which the DC link is connected.

Selection of control signals:

It is desirable to obtain the control signal locally.
Some of the controls that are used are:
1. Rotor frequency of adjacent generator
2. Frequency at the convertor bus
3. Power or current in the adjacent , parallel AC tie
Controller design:

Communication requirements:
The normal DC link control requires the power or current order from the
master(usually rectifier station) to be transmitted to the trailing station for
co-ordination of current controllers at the two ends.
The current order at the rectifier station is higher than the inverter station by a
fixed amount called current margin.
If the power order changes slowly the information can be conveyed manually.
The presence of power or current modulation requires faster and reliable
communication channel if the amplitude of modulation exceeds the current
margin.
Examples of power modulation:
1.Eel river
2.Pacific inter tie

Gamma or reactive power modulation

With weak AC systems the effectiveness of power modulation reduces

considerably.
For example , modulation at the rectifier results in increase of DC current.
The voltage in the link is determined by the inverter control and the convertor
bus AC voltage.
The increase in the DC current leads to increase in the reactive power
requirements at the inverter station.
For weak AC systems this leads to the reduction of convertor bus voltage
which results in reducing the DC power below the level ordered by the
modulation controller.
The solution for this problem is to introduce gamma modulation at the inverter
such that the effectiveness of power modulation at the rectifier is maintained.

 Gamma modulation may require the nominal value of extinction angle to be

increased to accommodate the excursions of gamma in both directions.

This leads to higher costs of converter valves , increased losses and reactive
power requirements in steady state

Power modulation in MTDC systems

The simulator and analytical studies with or without reactive power

modulation is beneficial in MTDC systems also.

The controller design is more complicated because of the need for
co-ordination of the controllers associated with each terminal.
There is a lot more work to be done in this area as the state of MTDC system
operation is still in the stage of infancy.

Thank You