DC Fault Analysis and Clearance Solutions of MMC-HVDC Systems

Zheng Xu, Huangqing Xiao, Liang Xiao and Zheren Zhang
Additional contact information
Zheng Xu: College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Huangqing Xiao: College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Liang Xiao: College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Zheren Zhang: College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: In this paper, the DC short-circuit fault and corresponding clearance solutions of modular multilevel converter-based high-voltage direct current (MMC-HVDC) systems are analyzed in detail. Firstly, the analytical expressions of DC fault currents before and after blocking the MMC are derived based on the operation circuits. Before blocking the MMC, the sub-module (SM) capacitor discharge current is the dominant component of the DC fault current. It will reach the blocking threshold value in several milliseconds. After blocking the MMC, the SM capacitor is no longer discharged. Therefore, the fault current from the AC system becomes the dominant component. Meanwhile, three DC fault clearance solutions and the corresponding characteristics are discussed in detail, including tripping AC circuit breaker, adopting the full-bridge MMC and employing the DC circuit breaker. A simulation model of the MMC-HVDC is realized in PSCAD/EMTDC and the results of the proposed analytical expressions are compared with those of the simulation. The results show that the analytical DC fault currents coincide well with the simulation results.

Keywords: modular multilevel converter; DC fault current; operation circuit; DC fault clearance solution; AC circuit breaker; full-bridge MMC; DC circuit breaker (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/4/941/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/4/941/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:4:p:941-:d:141202

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().