Analysis of Transient Voltage Disturbances in LCC-HVDC Sending Systems Caused by Commutation Failures

Commutation failures (CFs) including repetitive CFs (RCFs) are frequently occurring faults in line commutated converter based high voltage direct current (LCC-HVDC) systems. Consequently, sending end system will suffer transient voltage disturbances (TVD) with a characteristic of “first reduce then rise and may repeat”. Due to the complex interaction process of TVD, the electromagnetic process behind this phenomenon cannot be easily explained, which imposes great challenges on the development of mitigation strategies. Given this, this paper provides a deep insight into the mechanism and the impact factors of the TVD caused by CFs and RCFs. The numerical relationship between the transmitting power and the TVD is derived. Research results revealed that the transient process after fault can be segmented into five stages. In each stage, the control interactions among HVDC controllers and power interactions at the PCC are analyzed. Besides, we discussed the TVD under RCFs in detail. Several indices are further proposed to facilitate the characterization of the TVD, and main control loops of HVDC that have impacts on the characteristics of TVD are thereby studied. Finally, the mathematical relationship between wind farm power and the TVD is derived to quantify the impact of wind farms on the TVD.