Analysis of Electric Disturbances from the Static Frequency Converter of a Pumped Storage Station

Files
TR Number
Date
2001-05-11
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Virginia Tech
Abstract

The present work studies the disturbances created in the electric system of a pumped storage power plant, which is an hydraulic generation facility where the machines can work as turbines or pumps, by the operation of a static frequency converter (SFC). The SFC is used for starting the synchronous machines at the station when in the pump mode. During the starting process several equipment is connected to the SFC being possible to get affected by the disturbances generated. These disturbances mainly include the creation of transient overvoltages during the commutation of the semiconductor devices of the SFC and the introduction of harmonics in the network currents and voltages. This work analyzes the possible effects of the SFC operation over the station equipment based on computer simulations. For this purpose, the complete system was modeled and the starting process simulated in a computer transient simulator program. The work begins with a general review of the effects of electric disturbances over high voltage equipment and in particular of the disturbances generated by power electronics conversion equipment. Then the models for the different kind of equipment present in the system are discussed and formulated. The control system that governs the operation of the SFC during the starting process is analyzed later as well as the operation conditions. Once the model of the system is set up, the harmonic analysis of the electric network is done by frequency domain and time domain methods. Time domain methods are also employed for the analysis of the commutation transient produced by the SFC operation. Finally, the simulation results are used to evaluate the impact of the SFC operation on the station equipment, especially on the generator step up transformer.

Description
Keywords
power system modeling, variable speed drives, frequency conversion, power transformers, synchronous machines, power system harmonics, power system transients, power quality
Citation
Collections