Torsional interaction between an SSSC and a PSS in

a series compensated power system

G.N. Pillai, A. Ghosh and A. Joshi

Abstract: The extent and nature of control interaction between a power system stabiliser and a
static synchronous series compensator (SSSC) has been studied. Countermeasures are suggested to
reduce such interactions. The study system considered is the IEEE first benchmark model for
subsynchronous resonance. The SSSC is used as a fixed compensator and the DC-link voltage of
the SSSC is regulated by a simple PI controller. Stability of the system is determined from
eigenvalue analysis. Nonlinear simulations are performed to verify the results of eigenvalue
analysis.

1 Introduction vibrations have been observed on large thermal units using

Series compensation in transmission systems can yield
several benefits, such as increased power transfer capability
and enhancement of transient stability. A static synchro-
nous series compensator (SSSC) injects synchronous
alternating voltages in series with a transmission line to
allow fast continuous control of the flow of power in the
line [I]. It is implemented by a GTO-based voltage-source
inverter and can provide controllable compensating voltage
over an identical capacitive and inductive range, indepen-
dently of the magnitude of the line current. The non-
capacitor-like behaviour, superior operating characteristics,
and hitherto unattainable application flexibility that the
SSSC offers, may provide a sufficient basis to reconsider the
general applicability of series compensation for power flow
control and system stability improvements [11.
Fundamental principles, characteristics and potential
benefits of SSSC are described in [l]. The application of a
24-step SSSC for the control of power flow over a
transmission line is given in [2]. The design, control and
application of a 48-step SSSC are presented in [3]. The
performance of the SSSC in the IEEE first benchmark
model is examined in [4]. The effects of the value of the DC-
link capacitor of the SSSC on torsional modes are also
studied in [4]. In [5] a robust controller based on H ,
optimal control theory has been used to improve the
torsional performance of an SSSC.
In [4] it is shown that an increase in the conventional
fixed series-capacitor compensation increases the damping
of small-signal oscillations, whereas the use of an SSSC
resulted in a decrease of small-signal stability of the power
system. Power system stabilisers (PSS) can be used in SSSC
power systems to improve the damping of the swing mode.
The effectiveness of such stabilisers utilising speed as an
input signal when applied with excitation systems for
damping swing-mode oscillations on the capacitor-conipen-
sated power system has been documented [6]. Torsional
PSS with stabilising signals based on shaft speed measure-
ment [7]. In this paper the effect of an excitation system that
includes a power system stabiliser on the torsional
performance of SSSC power system is studied. The control
interaction study is carried out through eigenvalue analysis
and time-domain simulations. A torsional filter with speed
and acceleration as input signals is designed to reduce the
destabilising effect that the PSS has on the torsional modes.
The SSSC used in this study consists of a 48-pulse
voltage-source converter (VSC), its magnetic circuit and an
interfacing transformer. In the 48-pulse VSC, eight identical,
elementary six-step inverters are operated from a common
D C bus, each to produce a compatible set of three-phase,
quasisquare-wave output voltage waveforms. The magnetic
circuit contains 18 single-phase three-winding transformers
and six single-phase two-winding transformers [3]. This
connection eliminates all low-order harmonics. The lowest-
order harmonic on the AC side is 47th while that on the DC
side is 48th.
2 System representation for eigenvalue analysis
Fig. 1 shows the compensated IEEE first benchmark model
for SSR analysis [SI, which consists of a generator with
excitation system, turbine shaft and the SSSC transmission
network. Symbols L, and R represent the inductance and
resistance of the transmission line, respectively, and L2
represents the leakage inductance of the transformer
connected at the infinite busbar. The SSSC is represented
by a fundamental voltage source in series with an
impedance.
infinite
bus

0 IEE, 2002
/€E P,ocedi~iqronline no. 20020375
Dol: 10.1049/1p-gtd:20020375
Originally published online: 17th October 2002. Paper first received 27th
September 2001 and in revised form 29th January 2002
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute
of Technology, Kanpur-208 016, India
IEE Proc -Gener. Triiiisrn. Distrib., Vol 149, No 6, Noaemhw 2002
Fig. 1 Single-line diagram of SSSC power system
2. I Excitation system
A block diagram representation of the excitation system,
including an automatic voltage regulator, a PSS, and a
653
 tenninal voltage limiter is shown in Fig. 2. The regulator
transfer function has single time constant and a positive
gain of KA. The voltage limiter prevents the generator
output from exceeding a set level of typically 1.12 to 1.15
per unit. and Ejci,nin,respectively, are the maximum
and minimum levels of generator field voltage Ejd. In the
block diagram V, is the machine terminal voltage and V, is
the output signal from the PSS. The input to the PSS is the
generator slip S,. The PSS consists of a washout block and
a single lead-lag block. The objective of the washout block
is to act as a highpass filter that eliminates DC offset. The
lead-lag block must have an appropriate phase-lead
characteristic to compensate for the phase lag between the
exciter input and the electrical torque. The output of the
PSS is limited to ensure that the PSS does not counteract
the voltage regulator action of the AVR.
I vt
vref +@---4 i+s;
T vs
Fig. 2 Block diagrum of e-xciter with PSS
For the sake of convenience in writing the state equations
for PSS, the block diagram of Fig. 2 can be modified to the
form shown in Fig. 3. Taking EFD, xl and x2 as state
variables, linearised equations for static exciter with PSS can
be written as
I 7
Fig. 3 Alternate method of PSS representation
where
r -KA VDO -KA VDO1
654
and
[Be21 =
2.2 Complete generator system model with
excitation system
The linearised equations for the generator (including
mechanical, electrical and excitation controller) for the
IEEE FEM are derived in the same manner as given in [9]
d i e = [AG]dXG + [Bclduc (2)
d y e = [Ccldxc (3)
where the state vector and the vectors duC and d y output
~
vector are given, respectively, by
x; =[h$q E& E;/ Em XI x2 6, se 7g.e s,
SLPB TLPA.LPBSLPA T~P,LPAsip THP.IP SHP]
TLPB.~
In the equation $ denotes the stator flux linkage, E' denotes
the transient internal voltage, 6, is the rotor angle, S denotes
the per unit slip and Tdenotes the torque. Note that the six-
mass mechanical system contains the generator (g), exciter
(e), LPB, LPA, IP and HP turbine shafts. The torques
between these shafts are indicated by subscripts. The vector
AUC contains the terminal voltages and the vector dyC
contains the armature currents. The generator electrical
quantities are represented in d-q domain with respect to the
synchronously rotating frame of the generator. The input
and output quantities, however, are transformed with
respect to a common reference frame for the entire system.
2.3 Network model
The AC- and DC-side equivalent circuits of 48-step SSSC
are shown in Fig. 4. In Fig. 4u, u, is the voltage injected by
SSSC. The series inductance L,. accounts for the leakage of
the interfacing transformer and transformers in the mag-
netic structure of the inverter, while R, represents the
conduction losses of the inverter and transformer. In the
DC side shown in Fig. 4b, V,, is the voltage across the D C
capacitor that has a value of CdL, the resistance Rdc in shunt
with the DC capacitor represents the switching losses and iclc
is the current through the inverter as seen by the DC side.
a b
Fig. 4 Equivalenl r-epresentution of 48-step inverter
u AC side
h DC side
The fundamental component of phase-a of the inverter
output voltage is [3] -
IEE Proc.-Gcrwr. Trcmstn. Distrib., Vol 149. No 6. Noceriiher 2002
where G is the turns ratio of the interfacing transformer, o is
the fundamental frequency and @is the phase displacement
of the inverter voltage with respect to a reference bus. When
the SSSC is connected to the power system, Kirchoffs
voltage law can be written for the entire network including
the machine terminal and the infinite bus voltage as [3]
L ndc
The PSS parameters are selected as T,v= I0 s, T , = 0.3 s and
T2 = 0.07 S.
Before proceeding with the analysis of the effect of PSS
on SSSC controls it is beneficial to examine the effect of PSS
on a fixed-capacitor compensated system. A compensation
level of 0.15 p.u. is assumed. The PSS gain is selected as
K,= 1.
The eigenvalues of the capacitor compensated system are
shown in Table 1. It is seen that without PSS, with the
assumed value of compensation, the torsional mode of
frequency 203.22 rad/s (mode 4) is unstable. Introduction of
PSS improved the damping of the zeroth mode (swing
mode), but resulted in destabilising of the lowest torsional
mode (mode 1).

Table 1: Eigenvalues-fixed-capacitor-compensated system

Modes Without AVR . With AVR

and PSS and PSS
where p3 = &o/XT, vDm and are d- and q-axis
components of infinite bus voltage. XT= ( L I L2 L,.)o + + network
mode 1
-4.42+j 531.11 -4.42tj531.14
and RT = R + R, are the total reactance and resistance,
respectively. After linearising, (5) can be decomposed into network -3.95kj222.41 -3.96+j 222.26
mode 2
two parts
mode 0 -0.83kj7.85 -1.69+ j7.38
mode 1 -0.15kj99.12 0.06+j99.28
mode 2 -0.56+j 127.03 -0.49kj 127.12
mode 3 -0.16+j 160.64 -0.141j 160.68
mode 4 0.03+j203.22 0.06+j203.36
mode 5 -0.18+j 298.18 -0.18kj298.18
exciter - -14.51+j 22.01
mode

Eigenvalue analysis of SSSC system is carried out next.

Taking the state variable AI& as the output, the output
equation can be written as
y = [00 . . . ..O 11" = HX (9)
We now choose a proportional-plus-integral (PI) controller
to compensate for any variation in A Vclc[3].The control law
2.4 Combined system model
in Laplace domain is then given by
Substituting the values of duG Ayc and d j , in (2) and (7),
the overall system equations can be written as
X=AX+Bu (8)
AOf =
( + 'I)
K, 2 ( A &,,.<rf. -A GC) (10)

Since the DC capacitor voltage is held constant, d V<,,,.din

where X T = [ ~ X G ,
dxN], u = AOfand A and B matrices are
B = [BGHF,BelTand H = I
{ 2 -- [CCBC]
}-I
, [4] is 3,000pF. The compensation level is the same as that
3 Results of eigenvalue analysis
The IEEE first benchmark model for SSR analysis is
characterised by four torsional modes that are distributed in
a relatively wide frequency range. A steady-state operating
point is chosen in which the machine is operating with a
power factor of 0.9 (lagging) while delivering a power of 0.7
per unit. Self and mutual dampings are neglected. The
exciation system parameters are KA = 200 and TA = 0.025s.
IEE Proc-Gener. Truiisni. Disrrib., K)l 149. hro 6, Noueinber 2002
the equation will be zero. We now combine (8H10) to
obtain a homogeneous state-space equation that can be
used for eigenvalue analysis. A proportional gain of 1 .O4,
and an integral gain Kiof 500 is chosen as the controller
parameters. The SSSC parameters are given in [3]. The
value of DC capacitance chosen based on the guidelines in
for fixed-capacitor compensation.
Without PSS, all torsional modes of the SSSC system are
stable. But the damping of the swing mode is less. The
frequency of the swing mode is smaller than observed in
Table 1. This indicates that the synchronising torque is
lesser if an SSSC is used. This is not surprising because
unlike a fixed capacitor the voltage injected by an SSSC
does not increase with increase in current.
With a PSS gain K,= 5, damping of the swing mode is
increased. All the torsional modes are stable. Damping of
the first torsional mode is reduced. The effect on other
torsional modes is not significant. Thus a PSS can be used
655
 in an SSSC power system without using additional torsional real power, p.u
filter. However, an increase in stabiliser gain can destabilise r 1.0 r
the first torsional mode as evident from Table 2 when a
stabiliser gain of Ks= IO is chosen. It is seen that the
damping of the swing mode is further increased but the first
torsional mode is destabilised. A destabilising effect on the
0
- -0
torsional mode imposes a maximum limit on the allowable
stabiliser gain. For the overall effectiveness of the stabiliser gen-exc torque, p.u.
in damping the system oscillations, a torsional filter must be
used.

Table 2: Eigenvalues of SSSC system

Modes Without AVR With AVR W i t h AVR

a n d PSS a n d PSS Ks=5 and PSS Ks= 10 LPB-gen torque, p.u

31 3 r
network -10.71~j400.41 -10.74kj 400.4 -10.74fj 400.41
mode 1 2 2

network -6.34i-j 81.61 -7.03+i 81.94 - 7 . 1 8 k j 81.86 1 1

mode 2

-
0 0
mode 0 -0.44kj 6.99 -0.81 + j 6.91 -l.Ol+j6.67 0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
mode 1 -0.24f j 98.57 -0.05i-j 98.69 0.01 ij 98.83 time, s time, s --+
mode 2 - 0 . 6 6 k j 127.00 -0.63+j 127.00 -0.61 + j 127.00 a b
mode 3 -0.18kj 160.54 -0.13 _+jl60.55 - 0 . 1 3 i j 160.55
Fig. 5 Sy ytenz responre f o r c~~pucrtor-conipei~~uted
yysterii
mode 4 -0.06k j 202.89 -0.05kj 202.96 - 0 . 0 4 k j 202.89
u Without PSS and AVR
mode 5 -0.18+j 298.18 -0.18+j 298.18 -0.18kj 298.18 h With PSS and AVR
exciter -18.88kj 21.34 - 17.67 j 20.94
mode

4 Time-domain simulations

Time-domain simulations are carried out to investigate the

transient torque phenomenon using the PSCADiEMTDC
package. All system nonlinearities are incorporated in detail
1.o

0.5

1.o
- 0.5

- 0

line current, p.u

and the system parameters are the same as in eigenvalue

analysis. A bolted three-cycle three-phase to ground fault is 0.5
created between the compensator and the infinite bus when u- 0 '
0
the system is operating in the steady state for 0.5 s.
The simulation results obtained with a capacitor- gen-exc torque, p.u
compensated system are shown in Fig. 5. Without AVR 0.10 ~

0.10
and PSS, the system response (Fig. 5mj is unstable. Fig. 5b
shows the response of the system with AVR and PSS. The 0.05 0.05
value of stabiliser gain K , is 1. The voltage limiter in AVR is
set at a level of 1 .I2 per unit. The stabiliser output is limited 0
to 0.1 per unit. It is evident from this Figure that with PSS LPB-gen torque, p.u.
the stability of torsional modes decreases and swing mode 2
increases. An increase in the damping of swing mode is
reflected in the line current and real power output. In Fig. 5 1
simulation must be done for a longer time (50 s or inorej to
see the instability of the real power output. 0
0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
Fig. 6 shows the response of the SSSC system for the
time, s __t time, s
same operating point and compensation level. It is clear
from Fig. 6u that all the electrical and mechanical modes a b
are stable for an SSSC system. It can be seen that there is a Fig. 6 Systern response fi,r SSSC systrni
significant reduction in the peak values of shaft torques in (1Without PSS and AVR
the SSSC system. However, damping of the system mode is h With PSS and AVR
reduced as it takes longer time for the oscillations in the real
power output to decay. Fig. 6b shows the response of the
SSSC system with a PSS of gain of K s = 5. The PSS is able 5 Excitation system with PSS and torsional filter
to damp the swing-mode oscillations without destabilising
the torsional modes. Unlike a capacitor-compensated power As seen earlier, speed input power system stabilisers in a
system, torsional interactions of PSS in an SSSC system is fixed-capacitor-compensated system can contribute to
minimum. negative damping of shaft torsional modes of oscillation.

656 IEE Proc.-Gww. Ttmisi?r. Di,strih.. Vol 149. No 6, A'oumiihrr 2002

A torsional filter, which is primarily a lowpass filter, is used
in capacitor-compensated power systems to ensure the
stability of torsional modes. The use of a torsional filter
invariably produces some phase lag in the stabilising path.
This has the effect of reducing the maximum usable
stabiliser gain. In generators where very high stabiliser
gains were used, the effect of the torsional filter did restrict
the desired stabiliser gain [7]. A torsional filter can also
adversely affect the exciter mode [lo]. Because of these
limitations the choice of the parameters of the torsional
Linearised state equations for the PSS with the lead
network can be found in a way similar to (1). The lead
network adds one more state variable. Table 3 shows the
eigenvalues for two values of stabiliser gains K s = 10 and
Ks= 15. The time constants of the lead networks are
selected as TFI = 0.0024 and Tm = 0.0005.
Table3: Eigenvalues of SSSC system with PSS and
torsional filter
~

filter is critical. In an SSSC system suitable parameters are Modes PSS with PSS with
difficult to find. I n fact, for the operating point chosen it is filter Ks= 10 filter Ks= 15
impossible to find a set of operating points. As shown
earlier, system oscillations are lightly damped in SSSC network -10.74+j 400.41
systems. To permit a higher stabiliser gain that results in mode 1
better damping of system oscillations, the use of a network -6.94kj81.86 -6.89kj 80.93
composite signal derived from speed and acceleration (or mode 2
electrical power) has been suggested in the case of capacitor mode 0 - 1 .09+j6.52 - 1.41k j 6.02
compensated systems [ 1 I]. I n fixed-capacitor-compensated mode 1 -0.17kj98.83 -0.07kj 99.98
systems, destabilisation of the swing mode is mainly due to mode 2 -0.64+j 127.00 -0.64kj 127.12
the action of fast high-gain AVR. In an SSSC system, use of -0.14ij160.55 -0.11 + j 160.82
mode 3
high-gain AVR aggravates the problem of low damping. To
overcome these limitations, a PSS is used with a combina- mode 4 -0.08kj298.18 -0.03+j 203.21
tion of speed and acceleration as the input signal. mode 5 -0.18+j 298.18 -0.18kj 298.18
Fig. 7 shows the block diagram of a PSS which uses a exciter -17.72ij21.05 -17.21 kj 22.2
lead circuit in place of a second-order lowpass torsional mode
filter. For low values of Tm, the numerator term (1 +sTFI)
is equivalent to introducing a composite signal with speed
and acceleration. Frequency response of the PSS transfer
function with lead circuit is shown in Fig. 8. The value of real power, p.u.
TFIis taken in such a way that it introduces phase lead at
torsional frequencies without affecting the gain. In this case
exciter and swing modes are not affected. A conventional 0.5
lowpass torsional filter introduces phase lag at the exciter-
mode frequency without reducing the gain.
line current, p.u

gen-exc torque, p.u.

torsional filter 2

Fig. 7 Block clingrclm of’PSS with lead network 0.10 0.10

0.05 0.05 .

35
LPB-gentorque, p.u.

m 2
U
aj 1
U
25
f
m -0 -0
2 0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
time, s time, s
15 a b

45 Fig. 9 System response o j SSSC power system

u PSS with stabiliser gain KT= IO
0 PSS with torsional filter 2 (K,= 15)
cn 30
U
a,

2a 15 For stabiliser gain Ks= 10, the lead network stabilises,

without affecting the damping of the swing mode, the first
torsional mode that was unstable earlier without the
0 torsional filter. Increasing the value of T F , resulted in an
increase in the damping of the first torsional mode and
100 10’
frequency, rad/s -, 102
exciter mode. However, an increase in T F ~decreases the
damping of higher-order torsional modes and network
Fig. 8 Frequency response o j PSS with and without l e d network mode 2. Use of a lead network allows one to use higher
IEE Pror.-Geiier. Trciiism. Dirtrib., Vol 1493No 6, Noueinba- 2002 651
stabiher gain for better damping of system oscillations.
Table 3 also shows eigenvalues of the complete system with
stabiliser gain Ks= 15. Damping of the swing mode is
further improved and all torsional modes are stable.
Further increase in stabiliser gain can destabilise the
torsional modes as low values of mechanical damping have
been provided to these modes.
Using digital simulation Fig. 9u shows the response of the
system to a three-phase three-cycle fault, when there is no
torsional filter, for a stabiliser gain of Ks= 10. Fig. 9b
shows the response of the system, which uses a PSS with
increased gain of Ks= 15 and torsional filter. The time
constants of the lead networks are selected as T,, = 0.0024
and T n = 0.0005. It can be seen that the system transients
die out faster for this case.
6 Conclusions
The control interaction of a PSS with an SSSC has been
presented. In a capacitor-compensated system the use of
PSS results in increased damping of swing mode, but
destabilisation of torsional modes. PSS can be used in an
SSSC system without any adverse effect on the torsional
modes. However, with a high-gain stabiliser, the lowest
torsional mode is destabilised. Torsional filters in a PSS
with shaft speed as input signal have some inherent
limitations that can restrict the range of their application.
To overcome these limitations, a design in which the
torsional modes of oscillation are highly attenuated is
proposed. The PSS uses a lead network in place of a
lowpass torsional filter. This is equivalent to introducing a
composite signal with speed and acceleration. The lead
658
network parameters can be selected in such a way that the
maximum damping can be achieved for the swing mode
without affecting the damping of the other modes.
7 References
1 GYUGYI, L., SCHAUDER, C.D., and SEN, K.K.: ’Static
Synchronous Series Compensator: A Solid-State Approach to the
Series Compensation of Transmission Lines’, IEEE Trrrrzs. Poiiwr
Deliu., 1997, 12, (I), pp. 4 0 W 1 7
2 SEN, K.K.: ‘SSSC-Static Synchronous Series Compensator: Theory.
Modeling, and Applications’, IEEE Trcins. Power Deliti 1998, 13, (I),
pp. 241-246
3 SUNlL KUMAR, L., and GHOSH, A.: ‘Modeling and Control
Design of a Static Synchronous Series Compensator’, IEEE Tvcms.
Power Deliu., 1999, 14: (4), pp. 1448-1453
4 PILLAI. G.N., GHOSH, A,. and JOSHI, A,: ‘Torsional oscillation
studies in an SSSC compensated power system’, Electr. Poii:c,r Syst.
Re.s., 2000, 55, pp. 5 7 4 4
5 PILLAI, G.N., GHOSH, A., and JOSHI, A.: ‘Robust control of
SSSC to improve torsional damping’, IEEE PES Winter Meeting,
2001, Columbus, OH, pp. 1 1 15-1 120
6 LARSEN, E.V., and SWAN, D.A.: ‘Applying Power System
Stabilizers, Parts 1, 11 and 11 I’, IEEE Truiis. Power Aypar. Syst.,
1981, 100, (6), pp. 3017-3046
7 LEE, D.C., BEAULIEU, R.E., and SERVICE, J.A.R.: ‘A Power
System Stabilizer Using Speed and Electric Power Inputs-Design and
Field Experience’, IEEE Tram. P o i w Appuv. Sjtsf.,1981, 100, (9): pp.
415 14167
8 IEEE SSR Task Force: ‘First Benchmark Model for Computer
Simulation of Subsynchronous Resonance‘, IEEE Trurzs. Ponw
Appcrv. Syst., 1977, 96, (5), pp. 1 5 6 ~ 1 5 7 1
9 PADIYAR, K.R.: ‘Power System Dynamics: Stability and control’,
(Wiley, Singapore, 1996)
10 KUNDUR, P., KLEIN, M., ROGERS, G.J., and ZYWNO, M.S.:
‘Application of Power System Stabilizers for Enhancement of Overall
System Stability’, IEEE Trcms. Power Syst.. 1989, 4, (2), pp. 767-782
II PADIYAR, K.K., and GEETHA, M.K.: ‘Analysis of torsional
interactions with power system stabilizer’, EIec.fr. M c ~ h .poi^ $vsi.,
1995, 21, pp. 767-782
IEE Proc.-Gmer. Trrmsfn. Dislrih., Vol 149, No 6, Nocanher 2002