2.12 A.C.-D.C.

LOAD FLOW
For solving the load flow problem of an A.C. system in which one or more HVDC links are present,
either of the following two approaches are followed;

a. Simultaneous solution technique

b. Sequential solution technique

In simultaneous solution technique, the equations pertaining to the A.C. system and the equa-
tions pertaining to the DC system are solved together. In the sequential method, the AC and DC
systems are solved separately and the coupling between the AC and DC system in accomplished
by injecting an equivalent amount of real and reactive power at the terminal AC buses. In other
words, for an HVDC link existing between buses ‘i’ and ‘j’ of an AC system (rectifier at bus ‘i’
and inverter at bus ’j’), the effect of the DC link in incorporated into the AC system by injections
(R) (R) (I) (I)
PDCi and QDCi at the rectifier bus ’i’ and PDCj and QDCj at bus ’j’ (the super scripts ’R’ and
’I’ denote the rectifier and inverter respectively). Therefore the net injected power at bus ’i’ and
(R) (R) (I) (I)
’j’ are: Pitotal = PACi + PDCi ; QTi otal = QACi + QDCi ; PjT otal = PACj + PDCj ; QTj otal = QACj + QDCj .
With these net injected powers the AC system is again solved and subsequently, the equivalent in-
(R) (R) (I) (I)
jected powers (PDCi , QDCi , PDCj , QDCi ) and the total injected powers (PiT otal , QTi otal , PjT otal , QTj otal )
are updated. This process of alternately solving AC and DC system quantities is continued till the
changes in AC system and DC system quantities between two consecutive iterations become less then
a threshold value. Although simultaneous technique gives the solution of the system without any
to and fro switching between the AC and DC systems, the sequential solution technique is actually
quite easy to implement as we will see later. Now let as look at the equations of the DC system.

2.12.1 DC system model

For deriving a suitable model of a HVDC system for steady state operation, few basic assumptions
are adopted as described below;

a. The three A.C. voltages at the terminal bus bar are balanced and sinusoidal.

b. The converter operation is perfectly balanced.

c. The direct current and voltages are smooth.

d. The converter transformer is lossless and the magnetizing admittance is ignored.

With the above assumptions, the equivalent circuit of the converter (either rectifier or inverter)
is shown in Fig. 2.18. In this figure, the notations are as follows;

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 Figure 2.18: Equivalent circuit of the converter under the steady state operation

Vt ∠θt ⇒ Magnitude and angle of the terminal bus bar of the converter
a ⇒ Converter transformer tap ratio
Es ∠θs ⇒ Magnitude and angle of the secondary side of the converter transformer
I¯p , I¯s ⇒ Primary and secondary current of the converter transformer respectively
Vd , Id ⇒ DC voltage and DC current respectively

It is to be noted that in Fig. 2.18, the angles are referred to the common reference of the entire
AC-DC system. With the above notations, the basic equation governing the HVDC systems are as
follow:

For rectifier
√
3 2
Vdr = Nr ar Etr cos φr = Vdor cos φr (2.88)
π
3
Vdr = Vdor cos α − Xcr Nr Id (2.89)
π

For inverter
√
3 2
Vdi = Ni ai Eti cos φi = Vdoi cos φi (2.90)
π
3
Vdi = Vdoi cos γ − Xci Ni Id (2.91)
π
In the above equations, the subscripts ‘r’ and ‘i’ denote the rectifier and inverter side respectively.
The quantity ‘N’ denotes the number of six-pulse bridges at any partienlar side and the angle ‘Φ’
denotes the angular difference between the terminal voltages and primary current of the transformer,
i.e. the power factor of the converter as seen by the AC bus. ‘Xc ’ denotes the commutating reactance
of the converter transformer and the angles ‘α’ and ‘γ ’ denote the firing angle of the rectifier and
the extinction angle of the inverter respectively.

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 The rectifie and the inverter are interconnected though the following equation:

Vdr − Vdi
= Id (2.92)
Rd

In equation (2.92), the quantity Rd denotes the DC link resistance. Equations (2.88)-(2.92)
describe the operation of a two-terminal HVDC link. Now, as the basic objective of a HVDC link
is to provide complete controllability of power over a transmission corridor, both the rectifies and
the inverter stations are suitably controlled and thus, suitable control equations also need to be
incorporated in the above model. We will discuss these control equations shortly. However, to solve
the above equations, appropriate solution variables must be chosen. Now, for the reason of simplicity,
following set of solution variables is chosen for each converter;
T
x̄ = [Vd Id a cos α φ] (2.93)

Therefore, for a two terminal HVDC link, the complete set of solution vector is;

T
x̄c = [Vdr Vdi Id ar ai cos α cos γ φr φi ] (2.94)

In equation (2.94), Id has been taken only once as the DC current is same at both the ends. From
equation (2.94) it is observed that there are total 9 unknown variables which need to be solved to
completely determine the HVDC link. However, we have only 5 independent equations as shown in
equations (2.88)-(2.92). Therefore, out of 9 unknown variables, any 4 variables need to be specified
and thereafter, remaining 5 variables can be solved using equations (2.88)-(2.92).
These 4 variables can be specified using the control specification. There can be several combina-
tions of control specification and some of their combination are;

i) α, Pdr , γ , Vdi ; ii) α, Pdr , ai , Vdi ;

iii) ar , Pdr , ai , Vdi ; iv) ar , Pdr , γ , Vdi ;
v) ar , Pdr , γ , ai ; vi) ar , Pdr , α, γ ;
vii) α, Id , γ , Vdi ; viiii) α, Vdr , γ , Pdi ;

With any of these four specified control values, the remaining 5 variables can be solved from
equations (2.88)-(2.92) by using standard Newton-Raphoson technique. However, for the sequential
(R) (R) (I) (I)
solution techniques, the quantities PDci , QDci , PDcj and QDcj can be competed in a much easier
way by algebraic manipulation of equations (2.88)-(2.92). we will show this procedure by two of the
eight combinations listed above.

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Combination 1

In this case, α, Pdr , γ and Vdi are specified. With these known quantities, the calculation procedure
is as follows:
Vdr (Vdr − Vdi )
Step 1: We know, Pdr = Vdr Id . Or, Pdr = (from equation (2.92)).
Rd
Or, Vdr2 − Vdr Vdi − Rd Pdr = 0. Or,
√
Vdi ± Vdi2 + 4Rd Pdr
Vdr = (2.95)
2

From equation (2.95), two values of Vdr are obtained. Out of these two values, the value of Vdr
which is greater than Vdi is chosen, i.e.

1 √
Vdr = (Vdi + Vdi2 + 4Rd Pdr ) (2.96)
2
Step 2: Id is calculated as,
Pdr
Id = (2.97)
Vdr
Step 3: Using equation (2.89), Vdor is calculated as,

3
Vdr + Xcr Nr Id
Vdor = π (2.98)
cos α
Step 4: Using equation (2.88), ar and cos Φr are calculated as,

Vdr
cos Φr = (2.99)
Vdor

Vdor π
ar = √ (2.100)
3 2Nr Etr

In equation (2.100) Etr is known as in the sequential solution method, the terminal voltages are
known from the immediate past solution of the AC system equations.
(R) (R)
Step 5: The quantities PDCi and QDCi are calculated as;

(R)
PDCi = Pdr and Q(R)
DCi = Pdr tan φr (2.101)

Step 6: From equation (2.91), Vdoi is calculated as,

3
Vdi + Xci Ni Id
Vdoi = π (2.102)
cos γ

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 Step 7: Using equation (2.90), ai and cos Φi are calculated as,

Vdi
cos φi = (2.103)
Vdoi

πVdoi
ai = √ (2.104)
3 2Ni Eti
(I) (I)
Step 8: The quantities PDCj and QDCj are calculated as,

(I)
PDCj = Vdi Id and Q(I) (I)
DCj = PDCj tan φi (2.105)

(R) (R) (I) (I)

With these values of PDCi , QDCi , PDCj and QDCj , the AC system equations are again solved
to obtain the updated values of Etr and Eti and subsequently, steps (1)-(8) are repeated again to
(R) (R) (I) (I)
update the values of PDCi , QDCi , PDCj and QDCj . This alternate process of solving AC and DC
system equations are repeated till convergence in obtained.

Combination 8

In this case, α, γ , Pdi and Vdr are known. With these known quantities, the calculation procedure
is as follows:
Vdr − Vdi Vdi Vdr − Vdi2
Step 1: We know Pdi = Vdi Id = Vdi = .
Rd Rd
Or, Vdi2 + Rd Pdi − Vdi Vdr = 0. Or,
√
Vdr ± Vdr2 − 4Rd Pdi
Vdi = (2.106)
2
From the two values of Vdi in equation (2.106), the final value of Vdi is calculated as,

1 √
Vdi = (Vdr + Vdr2 − 4Rd Pdi ) (2.107)
2
Step 2: Id is calculated as,
Pdi
Id = (2.108)
Vdi
With these calculated values of Vdi and Id , steps (3)-(8) of combination-1 are followed to calculate
(R)
the Equivalent power injection values, where PDCi = Vdr Id . With these injected power values, the
AC and DC systems are continued to be solved alternately till convergence in achieved. It is to be
R
noted that at the rectifier end, P(DCi) = −Pdr and Q(R)DCi = −Qdr as the rectifier draws both real and
(I)
I
reactive power from the grid. On the other hand, at the inverter end, P(DCj) = Pdi and QDCj = −Qdi
as the inverter supplies real power to the AC grid and draws reactive power from the AC grid.
In the next lecture, we will look at an example of AC-DC load flow method.

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