1999-Lausanne Strobl

Analysis and Identification of Faults in Bridge Converters Using the Symmetrical Space Phasor Components Strobl, B
EPE '99 - Lausanne P. 1

Analysis and Identification of Faults in Bridge Converters Using the
Symmetrical Space Phasor Components
Strobl, B.
Heinrich, W.
Herold, G.
UNIVERSITY of ERLANGEN-NUREMBERG
Institute for Electrical Power Systems
Cauerstrasse 4, Bldg. 1
D-91058 Erlangen
Germany
Fax: +49 / 9131 / 85-29541
e-mail: strobl@eev.e-technik.uni-erlangen.de
heinrich@eev.e-technik.uni-erlangen.de
herold@eev.e-technik.uni-erlangen.de
Keywords
Diagnosis, Diagnostics, Converter circuits, Measurements, Real time processing
Abstract
High power converters have to work with high reliability. It would be useful if these devices can be
monitored during normal operation with low expenses in order to detect failures before they become
hazardous events. In this paper it will be shown that this diagnosis can be done very easily by
describing a converter circuit in the domain of the so-called Symmetrical Space Phasor Components.
By this transformation networks with a cyclical behavior like converters, for example, can be
transformed to equivalent networks which are decoupled for faultless operation. Faults lead to
characteristic coupling between these networks. By measuring the voltages and currents of the
converter with high accuracy equipment and processing the data with suitable algorithms it is
possible to separate the components which correspond to each of the equivalent networks. By
analysing this, conclusions about the fault can be drawn.
Introduction
Presently converters are being used increasingly more often. Converters for high power applications
are of particular importance. For example, HVDC links or FACTS-devices in electrical power
systems or converters in the chemical industry have to be mentioned. Because of their large power
these devices have to work with high reliability. Faults in such a converter leads to economic loss or
to damage of equipment or the plant and can even cost human lives.
In order to prevent these events and to diagnose failures in converters as soon as possible online-
diagnosis is of great importance. For several years such efforts have been made. To diagnose internal
faults, the voltages and currents in each of the valve branches had to be monitored [1]. However,
usually the converter has to be regarded as a black box. That means that the valve branches are not
available for measurement. Therefore, a comprehensive diagnostic method should use only the
terminal voltages and currents.
It is therefore necessary to know how various faults affect the terminal currents or voltages or their
space phasors. This effect can be investigated by simulation of a certain converter circuit for example
or by performing experiments at faulty converters [2,3]. Furthermore the terminal voltages can be
evaluated using analytical methods. However, in this case the regarded converter circuits have to be
idealised to keep the expense within acceptable limits [3,4,5,6]. Some authors have analysed the
computed or simulated currents in the frequency domain and have investigated the spectra of
different faults [5,6,7,8]. Finally these characteristics can be used to set up rules for knowledge-based
systems or neuronal networks [7,8,9].
The described methods, however, have the drawback that the evaluated characteristic generally hold
only in the case of plain faults (for example breakdown of a valve). To find out smaller faults or to
detect small differences between the valves it is necessary to compute the circuit in more detail.
However, this can only be done for certain converter circuits. Changes in the circuit can affect the
results significantly.
The goal should be to find out general chracteristics of faults which hold for the most widely used
converters. Therefore the analysis of converter circuits in the Symmetrical Space Phasor Components
domain is very useful. These components were presentated at the 8th PEMC in Prague [10]. This
method uses the fact, that the terminal currents and voltages of a converter are cyclic in the
undisturbed case. Faults lead to differences from this symmetry. The transformation to the
Symmetrical Space Phasor Components is able to separate the symmetrical (undistorted) parts from
the asymmetrical ones.
Basics of the Symmetrical Space Phasor Components
In describing three-phase systems it is advantageous to compute the space phasor ) (t v and the
homopolar system ) (
0
t v out of the line variables ) (
R
t v , ) (
S
t v , and ) (
T
t v by applying
( )
( )
j 2
0
3
2
e ) ( ) ( ) (
3
2
) (
) ( ) ( ) (
3
1
) (
+ +
+ +
a t v a t v a t v t v
t v t v t v t v
T S R
T S R
(1)
Symmetrical operation is characterised by the fact that the line variables behave according to
,
_
,
_
+
3
2
3
) (
T S R
T
t v
T
t v t v (2)
with the line period T. In this case the space phasor fulfills
) (
3
2
and ) (
3
2
t v a
T
t v t v a
T
t v
,
_
+
,
_
+ (3)
By transforming any asymmetrical three-phase system to the Symmetrical Space Phasor Components
using
,
_
+
+
,
_
,
_
) (
) (
) (
1
1
1 1 1
3
1
) (
) (
) (
3
2
3
2
2
) 2 (
) 1 (
) 0 (
T
T
t v
t v
t v
a a
a a
t v
t v
t v
(4)
the component ) (
) 1 (
t v is obtained which fulfills the symmetrical condition eqn. (3), whereas the other
two components behave according to eqn. (5) or (6) respectively.
) (
3
2
and ) (
3
) 0 ( ) 0 ( ) 0 ( ) 0 (
t v
T
t v t v
T
t v
,
_
,
_
+ (5)
) (
3
2
and ) (
3
) 2 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( 2 ) 2 (
t v a
T
t v t v a
T
t v
,
_
,
_
+ (6)
A symmetrical system distinguishes itself by the fact that only the (1)-component differs from zero.
Asymmetrical parts are put to the (0)- or (2)-component.
The homopolar system has to be decomposed in its (0)-, (1)- or (2)-component, as well. The
symmetrical part of the homopolar system satisfies eqn. (5), consequently it is transformed to the (0)-
component.
Further properties of these components and mathematical backgrounds can be found in [10].
An essential advantage of the Symmetrical Space Phasor Components is based on the fact that in the
case of voltages and currents which are connected by impedance matrices with cyclic symmetrical
elements the transformation leads to groups of components which are completely decoupled.
This is true of the description of converter circuits which are modelled with the use of switched
impedances. For a three-pulse converter in total nine components are obtained which are coupled
only in groups of three.
Three-pulse converter as basic element for higher-pulse order circuits
In the following the three-pulse converter will be investigated with the use of the Symmetrical Space
Phasor Components. This is also the basis for describing higher-pulse converters, because six-,
twelve-, and higher-pulse converters can be composed of series or parallel connected three-pulse
converters.
Faultless Operation
In order to demonstrate the method firstly a very simple and very idealized case will be taken into
account: the faultless three-pulse converter as shown in fig. 1. The valves are modelled by
timevariant impedances which have the time function as shown in fig. 1 on the right side. For the
present commutation overlap will not be taken into account. Additionally in the supplying network
there are network impedances
N
Z and in the d.c. circuit there is a timeinvariant load
d
Z . The
currents and voltages correspond to each other according to the following equation:
Fig. 1: Faultless three-pulse converter
,
_
1
1
1
]
1
,
_
,
_
,
_
,
_
) (
) (
) (
) ( 0 0
0 ) ( 0
0 0 ) (
0 0
0 0
0 0
) (
) (
) (
T
S
R
d d d
d d d
d d d
T
S
R
N
N
N
T
S
R
t i
t i
t i
Z Z Z
Z Z Z
Z Z Z
t Z
t Z
t Z
Z
Z
Z
t v
t v
t v
(7)
The following relationship written in blockmatrices is obtained by transforming this equation to the
Symmetrical Space Phasor Components
,
_
1
1
1
]
1
,
_
,
_
,
_
,
_
) (
) (
) (
) (
) (
) (
) III (
) II (
) I (
d
d
d
N
N
N
) III (
) II (
) I (
t
t
t
t
t
t
i
i
i
Z 0 0
0 Z 0
0 0 Z
Z 0 0
0 Z 0
0 0 Z
Z 0 0
0 Z 0
0 0 Z
v
v
v
(8)
Thereby the voltage and current vectors contain every component. For example, in
I) (
v the (0)-
component of the homopolar system, the (1)-component of the space phasor, and the (2)-component
of the conjugated complex space phasor are grouped together. These are all the specific components
which lead to a cyclical behavior in the three phases. The other two vectors are obtained by a cyclical
changing of the indices. They contain the asymmetrical parts. The 3-by-3 matrices
N
Z and
d
Z are
made of the network impedance
N
Z and the load impedance
d
Z , respectively. The matrix Z
describes the converter. It contains only the valve branch impedances
on
Z and
off
Z .
With these equivalent networks for the converter can be constructed as shown in fig. 2. It should be
regarded that this is a formal representation of eqn. (8). Thereby the "voltages" and "currents" stand
for a voltage and current vector containing each three of the Symmetrical Space Phasor Components.
The impedances of the equivalent network are given by 3-by-3 matrices. In all the three networks
shown in fig. 2 the voltage and current vectors are connected by the same Matrix Z. If the power
supply has asymmetrical parts then also in the (II)- and (III)-network corresponding voltage sources
have to be added.
Regarding the structure of the equivalent network the similarity to the Symmetrical Components is
conspicuous. The difference lies in the fact that here three components are grouped together to
vectors. The impedances extend to matrices. These matrices are not necessarily symmetrical around
the main diagonal so it is not generally possible to give passive equivalent networks for each of the
nine components.
Fig. 2: Equivalent networks of a three-pulse faultless converter.
If additionally commutation overlaps are taken into account which are the same for all three phases,
then for the commutation interval changes in the matrix Z are obtained. The decoupling of the
networks, however, is not affected.
From it the convincing fact results that for a symmetrical power supply (only the (I)-network has a
source) and for a cyclic working converter (the networks are decoupled) only cyclic symmetrical
currents can occur. Cyclic symmetric means that the time funtions in all three phases are the same
except shifted by a third of a period.
Faults in the Valves
Faults in a valve disturb this symmetry. For example, if a valve has a higher resistance during the
conducting stage, this can be simulated by a resistance in series to the corresponding valve.
Analytically this can be described by an additional asymmetrical matrix in eqn. (8). If this matrix is
transformed to the Symmetrical Space Phasor Components, couplings between each of the networks
result, as shown in fig. 3.
Fig. 3: Equivalent networks for a valve fault
The analysis of the coupling leads to characteristics for the different faults. In our case it can be seen
that the networks (II) and (III) are coupled to the (I)-network in the same way. Therefore, the current
vectors in the (II)- and (III)-networks have to be identical. They obey
,
_
,
_
) ( ) (
) (
) (
) ( ) (
) (
) (
) 1 ( *
) 0 (
) 2 (
0
) 0 ( *
) 2 (
) 1 (
0
t i
t i
t i
t i
t i
t i
(9)
If there are energy storing elements in the network like inductors or capacitors, eqn. (9) holds for the
stationary part of the currents. The third row in eqn. (9) is redundant and contains no more
information, because the Symmetrical Space Phasor Components have the property (cf. [10])
( ) ( )
*
) 2 ( ) 1 ( *
*
) 0 ( ) 0 ( *
) ( ) ( ) ( and ) ( ) ( ) ( t i t i t i t i (10)
To illustrate this result, the circuit according to fig. 3 was simulated. At the left side of fig. 4 the
components of the homopolar system and the space phasor are shown. The characteristic correlation
according to eqn. (9) between each of the components can be clearly seen.
Fig. 4: Simulation of converters with faults (left: series resistance, right: parallel resistance)
On the other hand the right side of fig. 4 shows the corresponding components in the case of a valve
which has a lower impedance during the blocking stage. This was simulated by a parallel resistance
to the corresponding valve. In this case also characteristic couplings of the equivalent networks are
obtained, but they significantly differ from the other fault.
Six-pulse converter
For the analysis of higher-pulse order converters it is useful to generalise the transformation
according to eqn. (4) and to decompose the space phasor and the homopolar system to N components
(for example N=6 or N=12 for six- or twelve-pulse converters). Eqn. (11) shows this generalised
transformation. Thereby
N
N
a
2
j
e

is a generalised rotation operator.
,
_
+
+
,
_
,
_
) (
) (
) (
1
1
1 1 1
1
) (
) (
) (
) 1 ( 1
1
) 1 (
) 1 (
) 0 (
N
T N
N
T
N
N N
N
N
N
N
t v
t v
t v
a a
a a
N
t v
t v
t v
!
"
! # ! !
"
"
!
(11)
Faultless Operation
If this transformation is used on a six-pulse converter (N=6), then components (0) up to (5) are
obtained for both the homopolar system and the space phasor.
By comparing eqn. (11) and (4) a correlation between the (0)-, (1)-, and (2)-component for the three-
pulse case and the (0)-, ..., (5)-component for the six-pulse case is given by
,
_
+
+
+
,
_
,
_
) (
) (
) (
) (
) (
) (
1 0 0 1 0 0
0 1 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 1
1 0 0 1 0 0
0 1 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 1
2
1
) (
) (
) (
) (
) (
) (
2
) 2 ( 3
2
) 1 ( 3
2
) 0 ( 3
) 2 ( 3
) 1 ( 3
) 0 ( 3
) 5 ( 6
) 4 ( 6
) 3 ( 6
) 2 ( 6
) 1 ( 6
) 0 ( 6
T
T
T
t v
t v
t v
t v
t v
t v
t v
t v
t v
t v
t v
t v
(12)
For a better differentiation the three-pulse components are marked with an additional "3", and,
correspondingly, six-pulse components with a "6". In the following this will be left out if the meaning
is clear.
Fig. 5: Relationship between three-pulse and six-pulse equivalent networks
In eqn. (12) a close relationship between the three-pulse and the six-pulse components can be seen.
This relationsship leads to the fact that each of the three equivalent networks of the three-pulse
converter can be decomposed into two equivalent networks. In other words: The components which
were grouped together in one component in the three-pulse network, are now distributed to two
networks. In general these two networks are coupled by the matrix K (cf. fig. 5). For the case of
symmetrical behavior of the two half-bridges this coupling matrix is zero. Then all six equivalent
networks are decoupled.
Asymmetries
Corresponding to the three-pulse converter, asymmetries in six-pulse converters can now be
described. Faults result in characteristic couplings between the different networks as well. Since six-
pulse converters normally have no neutral line, no homopolar currents can occur. Therefore only the
space phasor has to be taken into account.
Faults in the valve lead to characteristic couplings between the equivalent networks once again. The
result of corresponding simulations have been published in [10].
Asymmetrical firing angles lead to characteristic figures, too. In normal operating condition six
operating stages are cyclic changed. Commutation overlap will be neglected for the following
considerations. If there is a asymmetry in one firing angle, one of the stages will be hold for a longer
(or shorter) time and the following stage will be hold for a shorter (respectively longer) time. During
normal operation the space phasors ) (t v , ) (
6
T
t v + , ..., ) (
6
5T
t v + form a regular figure. Applying the
transformation eqn. (11) yield to the six components which are zero except the (1)-component. For
the duration of the firing asymmetry the figure of the space phasors ) (t v , ) (
6
T
t v + , ..., ) (
6
5T
t v + has
a asymmetrical shape. In this case the other components occur.
This can be seen in fig. 6 where the six components of the measured terminal current of a converter
with a firing asymmetry is shown. Most of the samples fall into a symmetrical stage. Therefore in all
components except the (1)-component the corresponding samples are zero (resp. near zero because of
small converter asymmetries). In the (1)-component the normal operation lead to the well-known six-
pulse shape. The few samples of the asymmetrical stage clearly differ from normal operation for all
six components.
A comprehensive analysis of firing asymmetries shows that in the case of a one-valve-fault it is
enough to regard the (0)- and (1)-component to evaluate the faulty valve and the kind of the fault
(firing to early or to late). If in general there are faults in more than one valve all components have to
be taken into account to identify the faulty firing valves resp. the kind of the faults. These and other
results with their theoretical background will soon be published in a detailed report.
Fig. 6: Asymmetry in firing angle of a six-pulse converter
Asymmetrical power supply
The considerations about the effect of faults have shown that for a symmetrical power supply only in
one of the equivalent networks there is a power source. Currents in the other networks point to
coupling between the networks and therefore to a fault. If there are asymmetries in the power supply,
voltage sources will appear in further networks. Now it has to be analysed whether the asymmetrical
components result from the asymmetrical power source, or from a coupling because of a fault.
For the special case of an asymmetrical power source only with odd harmonics the source disappears
in the networks which contain the (0)-, (2)-, and (4)-component of the space phasor. Now in the
faultless case in these networks the currents must disappear, too. The occurance of such currents
inevitably points to an asymmetry in the converter.
Conclusion
The transformation into the domain of the Symmetrical Space Phasor Components is a very powerful
method for describing networks with a timevariant, but cyclical behavior. The transformation
separates the voltages and currents into different components which are, similar to the Symmetrical
Components, completely decoupled in the faultless case. The relationship between the components
can be represented by equivalent networks. Asymmetries lead to characteristic couplings between
these networks so that by analysing the components conclusions to the fault can be drawn. Because
of its simple equations it is possible to implement these algorithms into digital online measurement
equipment [11].
References
1. Murty, Y.V.V.S., Dubey, G.K., Sinha, R.M.K.: Fault Diagnosis in Three-Phase Thyristor Converters Using
Microprocessor. IEEE Trans. on Ind. Appl. IA-20 (1984), No. 6, pp. 1490-1497
2. Marques Cardoso, A.J., Mendes, A.M.S.: Converter Fault Diagnosis in Variable Speed DC Drives, by Park's
Vector Approach. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Industrial Electronics ISIE 1997, vol. 2,
pp. 497-500
3. Glowacz, Z.: Modelling and Simulation of Semiconductor Systems for Diagnostic Purposes. Proc. EPE
1997, vol. 2, pp. 1001-1006
4. Moo, Ch.S., Chang, Y.N.: Analysis on the Fault Operations of 3-phase a.c./d.c. Full-Controlled Converters.
Energy Convers. Mgmt., vol. 38 (1997), No. 14. pp. 1421-1429
5. Grtzbach, M., Xu, J.: Noncharacteristic Line Current Harmonics in Diode Rectifier Bridges Produced by
Network Asymmetries. Proc. EPE 1993, vol. 3, pp. 64-69
6. Krebs, R.: Anisotrope Thyristorbrcken. Arch. f. Elektrotechnik, vol. 72 (1989), pp. 263-275
7. Cosulich, G., Fracchia, M., Mariscotti, A.: Neural Network Approach to Cycloconverter Faults Diagnosis:
Availability Point of View. Proc. Stockholm Power Tech Conference 1995, paper SPT EM 07-05-0111
8. Szczesny, R., Piquet, H., Kurzynski, P.: Fault Detection and Diagnosis in the Electric Drives. Proc. EPE
1997, vol. 2, pp. 995-1000
9. Renfrew, A.C., Tian, J.X.: The Use of a Knowledge-based System in Power Electronic Circuit Fault
Diagnosis. Proc. EPE 1993, vol. 7, pp. 57-62
10. Strobl, B., Heinrich, W., Herold, G.: Diagnosis of Asymmetries in Bridge Converters Using a Novel
Transform to Symmetrical Space Phasor Components. Proc. 8th. PEMC, Sept 1998, vol. 2, pp. 18-23
11. Strobl, B., Heinrich, W., Herold, G.: Space Phasor Measuring Equipment for Analysis and Diagnostics of
Three-Phase AC-Systems. Proc. 7th. PEMC, Sept 1996, vol. 2, pp. 159-162

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Analysis and Identification of Faults in Bridge Converters Using the Symmetrical Space Phasor Components Strobl, B

EPE '99 - Lausanne P. 1

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