The change rate of the dc reactor voltage with predefined protection voltage thresholds is proposed to provide fast and accurate dc fault detection in a meshed multiterminal HVDC system. This is equivalent to the measurement of the second derivative of the dc current but has better robustness in terms of electromagnetic-interference noise immunization. In addition to fast dc fault detection, the proposed scheme can also accurately discriminate the faulty branch from the healthy ones in a meshed dc network by considering the voltage polarities and amplitudes of the two dc reactors connected to the same converter dc terminal. Fast fault detection leads to lower fault current stresses on dc circuit breakers and converter equipment. The proposed method requires no telecommunication, is independent of power-flow direction, and is robust to fault resistance variation. Simulation of a meshed three-terminal HVDC system demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed dc fault detection scheme.

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DC Fault Detection and Location in Meshed Multiterminal HVDC Systems Based on DC Reactor Voltage Change Rate

DC line faults are major issues for a multiterminal high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system based on voltage-source converter (VSC). The fault current increases quickly along with a large peak, and complete isolation of the faulted system is not a viable option. Therefore, protection with high selectivity and accuracy is essential. In this paper, a new protection scheme for dc line in multiterminal VSC-HVDC system is proposed, which consists of a main protection and a backup protection. Both the protection principles are based on the supplemental inductor placed at each end of the dc line. Fault identification can be achieved by calculating the ratio of the transient voltages (ROTV) at both sides of the inductor. The main protection is able to detect the fault quickly without communication, while the backup protection is a pilot method based on the ROTVs at both ends of dc line, which is employed to identify the high-resistance faults and offer a backup in case the former fails. Comparison with some previous protection methods shows that the performance of the proposed protection scheme is promising. Numerous simulation studies carried out in PSCAD/EMTDC and real-time digital simulator (RTDS) under various conditions have demonstrated that fault identification with high selectivity and strong robustness against fault resistance and disturbance can be achieved by employing the proposed protection scheme.

Transient-Voltage-Based Protection Scheme for DC Line Faults in the Multiterminal VSC-HVDC System

Fast and reliable DC fault detection is one of the main challenges for modular multilevel converter (MMC) based DC grid with DC circuit breakers (DCCBs). This paper extracts the high-frequency components in transient voltages by wavelet transform and proposes a fault identification method based on the difference of square of transient voltages to identify the faulted lines for DC grids using overhead lines. Meanwhile, a faulted pole discrimination method based on the difference between the change of positive and negative pole voltages is presented. A line protection scheme including detection activation, fault identification, faulted pole discrimination, and post-fault re-closing is designed. Using only the local measurements, the scheme can realize the protection of the whole line without communication and has the capability of fault resistance endurance and anti-disturbance. The proposed method is tested with a four-terminal MMC-based DC grid in PSCAD/EMTDC. The selection methods of threshold values are presented and the impact of DCCB operation on the reliability of DC fault protection is analyzed. Simulation results verify the fast detection and reliability of the designed DC line protection scheme.

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A Transient Voltage-Based DC Fault Line Protection Scheme for MMC-Based DC Grid Embedding DC Breakers

The development of voltage-source-converter (VSC)-based high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems has increased significantly. However, the implementation of VSC-HVDC systems is limited for lacking fast, low-loss, and reliable circuit breakers. Hybrid dc circuit breakers (DCCBs) may help to improve this situation. In this paper, an efficient modular multilevel converter (MMC) HVDC system model based on the Zhangbei–Beijing ${\pm \text{500}\,\text{kV}}$ bipolar MMC-HVDC transmission (overhead line) project is first established. Then, the system transient characteristics are investigated involving permanent line-to-ground faults (LGFs), permanent short-circuit faults (SCFs), temporary LGFs, and temporary SCFs with either ac circuit breakers (ACCBs) or DCCBs in service. Finally, the performances, including the fault clearance and recovery, comparison of DCCBs with two different breaking methods, and comparison of ACCBs and DCCBs, in the MMC-HVDC system are presented. This paper provides a deep understanding of LGF and SCF in the MMC-HVDC systems, operation of DCCB, and comparison of faults clearance and recovery under these faults conditions using ACCB and DCCB, respectively. Results also benefit the application of the DCCB and the operation strategies in high-voltage and high-power MMC-HVDC systems with overhead lines.

Transient Characteristics Under Ground and Short-Circuit Faults in a ${\pm \text{500}\,\text{kV}}$ MMC-Based HVDC System With Hybrid DC Circuit Breakers

This paper proposes a fast dc short-circuit fault detection method for HVdc grids, which relies on the voltage across the dc fault-current-limiting reactor. In the proposed approach, primary detection uses only the single-terminal dc reactor voltage information and is shown to be able to identify the faulted line as well as the faulted pole within 1 ms. The backup detection is primarily required for high resistance faults and uses communication between the two sides of the line. Its speed is dependent on the travel time of signals between the two ends, but will operate, as shown in the paper, typically in 2 ms or less. The approach is justified using analytical calculations and exhaustively validated via electromagnetic transient simulation for pole-to-pole and pole-to-ground faults, different fault resistance, fault locations, and dc reactor values. The validation shows that the method is able to identify all genuine dc line faults, but is not prone to misoperation with ac line faults, different loading levels, and so on.

A Fast DC Fault Detection Method Using DC Reactor Voltages in HVdc Grids

Different HVDC grid types and the respective protection options are discussed. An earthed bipole HVDC grid was modeled in PSCAD, and using simulation results, the necessity of di/dt limiting inductors to contain the rise of fault currents within the capacity of current hybrid dc breakers is demonstrated. The impact of different inductor sizes on current rise was studied. A fault detection and localization scheme using the rate of change of voltage measured at the line side of the di/dt limiting reactors is proposed. The protection system was modeled and tested under different fault types and locations. The results show that the proposed method of HVDC grid protection is feasible using the current hybrid dc breaker technology. A systematic procedure for setting the necessary protection threshold values is also demonstrated.

Fault Detection and Interruption in an Earthed HVDC Grid Using ROCOV and Hybrid DC Breakers

Different HVDC grid types and the respective protection options are discussed An earthed bi-pole HVDC grid was modeled in PSCAD, and using simulation results, the necessity of di/dt limiting inductors to contain the rise of fault currents within the capacity of current hybrid DC breakers is demonstrated The impact of different inductor sizes on current rise was studied A fault detection and localization scheme using the rate of change of voltage (ROCOV) measured at the line side of the di/dt limiting reactors is proposed The protection system was modeled and tested under different fault types and locations The results show that the proposed method of HVDC grid protection is feasible using the current hybrid DC breaker technology A systematic procedure for setting the necessary protection threshold values is also demonstrated

Fault detection and Interruption in an earthed HVDC grid using ROCOV and hybrid DC breakers

An earthed bi-pole nine converter HVDC grid was modelled in PSCAD. A protection system involving hybrid DC breakers at the ends of each line and cable segment is proposed. Inductors are placed in series with each breaker to limit the rate of rise of the fault currents through the breakers. A fault detection system and localization scheme is proposed using ROCOV measured locally at the line side of these inductors at each breaker location. A systematic process for setting the ROCOV protection thresholds is discussed. Resistive faults are detected using local over-current methods. The protection system was modelled and tested under different fault types and locations. The results show that the proposed method of HVDC grid protection is feasible using hybrid DC breaker technology.

Jeremy Sneath

Papers

Fault Detection and Interruption in an Earthed HVDC Grid Using ROCOV and Hybrid DC Breakers

Fault detection and Interruption in an earthed HVDC grid using ROCOV and hybrid DC breakers

DC Fault Protection of a Nine-Terminal MMC HVDC Grid