First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 - 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka

Design and Testing of an TCSC for Distribution

Network Applications
J.R.S.S. Kumaral, A.M.T.K. Bandara2, A. Atputharajah3, J.B. Ekanayake4

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
sarath d_ee.pdn.ac.lk1 ,tha
ee.pdn.ac.lk2,atpu
ee.pdn.ac.lk3,jbe dee.pdn.ac.lk4

were implemented in the laboratory and tested to verify the

developed TCSC model. Application of the proposed TCSC
for a real network at the connection point a DG was studied.
Out of a number of operational issues related to DG
interconnection, the fault current limiting and voltage
profile improvement capability of the TCSC were
investigated with the simulation study.

Abstract - Connection of Distributed Generator (DG) into

very weak points of the electricity distribution network is
increasing. These connections impose many operational issues
and therefore utilities restrict DG connections to the grid. In
this study an application of Thyristor Controlled Series
Compensator (TCSC) to overcome some of these issues are
investigated, especially voltage control at the point of
connection and its fault limiting capabiltiy. The TCSC was
designed for a prototype network and implemented in the
laboratory. The expected performance of the model was
investigated with PSCAD/EMTDCC simulation and verified
with experimental results. Application of an TCSC with a
Distributed Generator (DG) for a real scale network was
studies using PSCAD/EMTDC simulation to investigate the
performance of the TCSC as FCL and series compensator.

II

Configuration of TCSC
The TCSC model presented in this paper consists of three
sub systems: TCSC power circuit, thyristor firing system
and firing angle controller. The TCSC power circuit made
up of parallel combination of a fixed capacitor and
Thyristor Controlled Reactor (TCR) as shown in Fig. 1. A
Metal Oxide Variastor (MOV) is connected in parallel with
capacitor for over voltage protection.

INTRODUCTION

This paper presented the work carried out in designing and

testing of an TCSC for distribution network applications.
So far TCSC is widely used in transmission networks to
increase power transfer capability, to improve the transient
stability, to reduce transmission losses and to damp the
power system sub synchronous fluctuations [1], [2], [3].
Due to potential threat for the environment, depletion of the
resource and difficulty of finding right of way for new
transmission facilities, there is a recent trend towards
connecting Distributed Generation (DG) mainly based on
renewable energy sources [4]. In many instances these
sources are available in locations where utility grid is very
weak. The weak networks impose many operational
constraints when connecting DG and therefore utilities
tends to impose large safety margins when allowing DG
interconnection. Some of the operational issues of DG
interconnection include violation of voltage and line flow
limits, fault current exceeding switchgear rating and
stability issues. Due to the controllable impedance
characteristic and simple structure of the TCSC, it will be a
good competitor for solving most of the above mentioned
problems. A properly designed TCSC can be used as a
voltage compensator in normal operation while using as a
Fault Current Limiter (FCL) during fault conditions [1], [2].
This study is focused on application of a TCSC for
distribution networks. An TCSC model with an appropriate
controller was designed for a prototype network using
PSCAD/EMTDC computer package. The performance of
the designed model was investigated with the simulation
study. The proposed TCSC model and its control circuit

1-4244-0322- 7/06/$20. 00 C2006 IEEE

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Fig. 1 Configuration of TCSC and control system

151

First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 - 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka

B Controller circuit
In this model firing angle is defined with respect to the
voltage across the capacitor. Comparison of a triangular
ramp, which is synchronizing with the TCSC voltage and a
dc level, which is define by line current or voltage at
downstream to the TCSC is used to produce the firing pulse
at required angle. The voltage across the TCSC is step
down to a level compatible with the control circuit using a
transformer. The step-down voltage is rectified using a full
wave rectifier bridge and fed through a zero crossing
detector, which is producing a narrow pulse at zero
crossing. This pulse is connected to a triangular ramp signal
generator to produce a triangular ramp which is
synchronized with the TCSC voltage. The rms line current
and voltage at downstream bus was measured and fed to the
controller. A microcontroller was used to determine the
firing angle reference signal according to the current and
voltage feedbacks. By comparing the firing angle reference

of PI controller parameters are depending on the application

and selected operating regions. A programmable micro
controller was programmed in such away to lead TCSC into
correct operation point according to the modified feedback
signals.

I/

-' ~~~~i

Pc-pli

90

z -e
---T-

180

b-

Fig

-~agle (deg)

signal and the triangular ramp firing pulse is produced

using a comparator. The firing pulse produce by comparator
is fed to the thyristor driver circuit via an isolation circuit.

Fig. 2 Impedance Characteristics of TCSC: Firing angle is measured with

respect to the voltage across the TCSC

C Operating modes
According to the impedance characteristic of TCSC shown
in Fig. 2, two impedance regions can be identified:
Inductive and capacitive [5]. When the firing angle is
reaching resonance angle (,res) the impedance of the TCSC
can be infinitely large and that region should be avoided.
The allowable operations regions are defined using PI and
(32- When firing angle is increasing from 900 to (Ures~f3i)0
impedance is inductive and varies from minimum to
allowable maximum. When firing angle decreasing from
1800 to (U,res 32) impedance is capacitive and varies from
minimum to allowable maximum. Depending on the
application using these variable impedance characteristic
different operating modes can be defined. Depending on the
line current and voltage, two operation modes were defined,
(a) voltage compensation and (b) fault current limiting
operation. The voltage controller was designed such that
when the voltage is less than the set level, the TCSC is
switched to variable capacitive impedance mode, where as
when the voltage is higher than the set level, the TCSC is
switched to variable inductive impedance mode. When ever
there is a fault the TCSC was taken into high inductive
impedance region thus limiting the fault current. The
amount of current limiting can be controlled by adjusting
the firing angle.

DESIGN AND TESTING OF PROTOTYPE Tcsc

III

Prototype Network

Laboratory scale single phase network shown in Fig. 3 was

used to verify the performance of the proposed TCSC
model. The network consist of 50 Hz, 220 V single phase
source, 1.1 kVA, 220/55 V single phase step-down
transformer, a transmission line and a 55 VA, 0.85 power
factor lagging load. The transmission line is a scale down
model of 136 km long, 76 kV and its resistance and
reactance are 2 Q and 3.11 Q respectively. The transformer
shows resistance of 0.24 Q and reactance of 0.522 Q at 50
Hz. The TCSC was connected in series with the network at
the sending end of the transmission line.
TCSC

220

Overhead

Transmssionline

500H

single phase

11 kVA,220/55 V

source

X/

Si4ephase

TM former_

55 VA
0.85 pf
Load

Fig. 3 Circuit diagram of prototype network

Design Criteria
According to the minimum capacitive and inductive
reactance requirement of the distribution system, the
capacitor Xc and Inductor XL were selected. The resonance
angle (,res) was calculated and stability margins of PI and P32
was maintained to avoid unnecessary high impedance
operations. For a particular application using the current
and voltage values the operation modes need to be defined.
The scaling of current feed back signal and determination

1-4244-0322- 7/06/$20. 00 C2006 IEEE

Inductive

Design and Implementation of TCSC

The prototype TCSC was design and implemented using
the current feedback signal only. For a radial network,
voltage signal may be ignored. However in order to test the
performance in the two modes defined under section II-C,
two operation regions were defined using line current, (a)
Variable capacitance impedance mode during the over
loading condition where current is varying from normal

152

i~ ~ . 1

First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 - 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka

~ ~ ./ _

through the reactor is shown in graph 2. The waveforms of

the load voltage with and without the TCSC are given in
the graph 3 and 4 respectively. The expected performance
of the device can be observed from the graph 1-4. The
application of TCSC improves the load end voltage from
50.6 V to 52.8 V.

current to allowable over load, and (b) variable inductive

impedance mode (as FCL) during fault condition where
current is varying from minimum fault current to maximum
fault current.
According to the selected load the rated current is 1 A. In
order to define the operating modes the allowable
maximum over loading current was selected as 125 % of
the rated current and the minimum fault current was
selected as 200 % of the rated current The maximum fault
current was selected as 4 A due limitations of testing.
During the minimum capacitive impedance mode, the
TCSC impedance is same as capacitor impedance. Thus
the capacitor was selected as 1200 iF to maintain the
voltage at both end of the line in the allowable range of
105 % to 95 % of rated voltage. By considering both ,res
and required current limiting a 3 mH inductor was
selected. The network with the full TCSC module was
modeled in PSACD/EMTDC simulation package to select
the suitable firing angles for each operating regions. In the
modeling a hysterisis was added to avoid the
malfunctioning of the controller during the transition
between capacitive and inductive regions. The amount of
hysterisis was decided by considering the change of
current during a transition from inductive to capacitive and
vice versa.

Gp2a(5Afdiv)

Glraph l.b,, lVfdiv)

.............

raph 3 a (2 Adiv)

If

(bSimlaio

~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Graph' 4 (2 A dv)

C Performance as Fault Current Limiter

Fault current limiting performance of the implemented
prototype was tested for the total current range of 2 A to 4
A. Fig. 4 shows few important wave foams obtained during
the operation of TCSC in variable inductive impedance
mode. The two set of graphs are corresponds to experiment
and simulation results. The hardware results are compared
with the simulation result to verify the performance of the
hardware. Graph 1 shows the waveforms of synchronized
triangular signal and the firing angle control signal
obtained according to the measured current. Current flow
through the reactor is shown in graph 2. The current
waveforms with and without the TCSC are given in the
graph 3 and 4 respectively. The operation of the device in
correct operation mode can be observed from the graph 1.
From the graph 3 and 4, it can be observed that the
application of TCSC reduces the current from 3.00 A to
2.75 A. The discrepancy between the experimental and
simulated results shown in graph 2 is due to neglecting the
resistance of the inductors and capacitors, which are not
considered in the model.

(a) Experimental

Fig. 4 Experimental and simulation waveforms when TCSC working as

FCL in the variable inductive impedance mode

1n

n2aC

Gr
(lIciv

GIaph 2.b
(lAIciv)1

Graph 3.a i

\VdivI
fY.

Performance as Series Compensator

The performance of the device as a series compensator
was tested in the current range of 0.75 A to 1.25 A. Both
simulation and experimental waveforms are shown in Fig.
5. The waveforms were obtained when device is working
in the variable capacitive impedance mode at load current
of 1.25 A. Graph 1 shows the waveforms of synchronized
triangular signal and the firing angle control signal
obtained according to the measured current. Current flow

I4

Grph3b
...2.0V1icv)

1-4244-0322- 7/06/$20. 00 C2006 IEEE

Graph 4.a,7

\ (20 Vliv)

Graph4.b

V >
(20idiv)

I
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l "Il ,"'

(a) Experimental

(b) Simulation

Fig. 5 Experimental and simulation waveforms when TCSC working as a

series compensator

153

First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 - 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka

IV

studies were carried out to investigate the performance of

the TCSC as an FCL and as a series compensator.

CASE STUDY

A Network Configuration and modeling

An application study of TCSC for distribution network
was carried out using PSCAD/EMTDC simulation
package. Connection of a DG to a real distribution network
through TCSC was studied to investigate the performance
of the proposed TCSC model. A Part of a 33 kV three
phase distribution network, where fault current levels are
very closer to the switchgear rating, was selected for the
case study [6]. The short circuit level at the grid substation
on 33 kV bus is 625 MVA. As shown in Fig. 6 the grid
supply point was modeled as a source with the impedance
corresponding to the short circuit level. The grid substation
is supplying three loads connected at bus 2, 3 and 4 which
are rated at 15 MW, 40 MW and 5 MW respectively. All
three loads are having a lagging power factor of 0.90. All
three distribution lines 1-2, 1-3 and 2-4 are 33 kV overhead
line which has positive sequence resistance and reactance
of 0.177 Q/km and 0.313 Q/km respectively. Circuit
breaker A located at upstream end of the line 1-3 is having
a short circuit rating of 13.1 kA. As shown in dashed line
A, 27 MVA, 18.7 MW, 12.5 kV DG is connected to the
original network at bus 2 using 25 MVA, 12.5/33 kV
transformer. The transformer leakage reactance is 10 %
from its own base and X/R ratio is 10. Full data of the DG
is tabulated in Table. 1. In order to investigate the
performance of the TCSC in distribution system, proposed
TCSC is connected in serried with the DG.

8 Gf
Gid itifee d
%0
Shott circuit
level 625 MVA

Bus 1

I I Circuit

Breaker A

Dus 3

25 MVA
12.5/33kV

40 MW
0.90 PF

lagging

21 4 MVA,
12.5 kV DG

i-z-!

Bus 2

TCSC
33 kV Lynx
Over head line
5 km

15 MW
0.90 PF

Bus 4

lagging

5 Mw
0.90 PF lagpgng

Fig. 6 single line diagram of the real scale network

TABLE I
Data of Distributed Generator
Parameter
Rated Short circuit level
Rated apparent power/ MVA
Rated Active power / MW
Rated Voltage / kV
Armature Time constant (Ta) / sec
Sub transitent Reactance (X"d)/ pu
Transient Reactance ( X'd )/ pu
Synchronous Reactance (Xd )/ pu
Sub transient time constant ( Tdo ) /sec
Transient time constant ( Tdoj) sec

B Application of TCSC
In the original network before connect a DG maximum
fault current through Circuit Breaker A was about 12.05
kA. Connection of the DG to bus 2 increases the fault level
at bus 1, thus exceeding the short circuit rating of the
Circuit Breaker A. The voltage profile at bus 2 was poor as
it is located far from the grid substation. Connection of DG
improves the voltage profile up to some level. The fault
current limiting performance and voltage compensation
performance of the TCSC was investigated. According to
the required current limiting capability, compensation
capability and the resonance angle of the TCSC the values
of the capacitor and the inductor were selected as 450 iF
and 16 mH respectively. The operating modes were
selected using current and voltage feedbacks as explained
in section Il-C. If the current is exceeds the rated short
circuit of the generator, it goes to FCL operation. In this
mode TCSC is increasing the inductive impedance from its
minimum value to high value as current increasing from
the rated short circuit current to the maximum fault
current. The current flow at sub transient region during a
sudden short circuit at TCSC upstream terminal was
selected as the maximum fault current. Under normal
operation, the TCSC was used as a voltage regulator to
regulate the voltage at bus 2. The PI controller was tuned
to maintain the voltage at 1.01 pu. Two separate simulation

1-4244-0322- 7/06/$20. 00 C2006 IEEE

33 kV Lynx
Over head line
10 km

33 kV Lynx
Over head liine
5 km

Value
27
21.4
18.7
12.5
0.128
0.233
0.351
1.287
0.055
7.93

C Performance as FCL
The fault current limiting performance was studied by
considering the fault current through circuit breaker A
during three phase balance fault at faults in line 1-3. Three
different network configurations were considered: (a)
before connecting the DG, (b) after connecting the DG and
(c) after connecting the DG in series with the TCSC. For
each case the fault was created at 1 km span of line length
starting from bus 1. As circuit breakers are more stressd on
the sub transient period, symmetrical values of the current
at sub transient period were taken as the fault current to
compare with the CB ratings. Fig. 7 illustrates the results
of the simulation study. The results show that application
of DG increase the fault current for all faults and it exceeds
the CB rating in the case of terminal fault. Application of
TCSC reduces the fault current to an acceptable level
which is lower than the circuit breaker rating. As TCSC is
only limiting the current from DG, percentage of total
current reduction is less. In the point of view of overcurrent protection, low current reduction is important as it
will ensure that the existing protection coordination will
not be affected [7].

154

First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 - 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka
14

V CONCLUSION
The application of a TCSC for distribution network was
studied. A simple power system was modeled with the
proposed TCSC circuitry and its control. The simulation
results were validated experimentally with the laboratory
prototype. Both studies confirm possibility of using the
TCSC both as an FCL and as a series compensator. An
application study was carried out with real scale distribution
network in PSCAD/EMTDC simulation package. The
TCSC connected in series with the DG solved the problems
associated with the fault current increasing while working
as a voltage compensator. As TCSC used as a voltage
regulator it allows to pump more DG power to the grid
without violating the voltage limits.
This research will be extended to investigate the feasibility
of the TCSC for all issues in the power systems, which are
related on connecting distributed generators to the
distribution network.

B efore C oret DG

X
2
X
O -

- -- - - Afterc
~~~~~~~ret ]DC; with TCSC

' <

CB -hr
icit 'Atig
~~~~~~~~~~-

08-

O 15

1 .1

2.5

3.6

4.15

Fig. 7 Variation of fault current through circuit breaker during fault in line
1-3

Performance as Series Compensator

The voltage compensation capability was studied by
monitoring the voltage profile at bus 2. In this study, the
voltage at bus 2 was monitored by varying the load
connected to the bus 4 from 0 to 15 MW, which
corresponds to the thermal limit of the line. Power factor of
the load was kept at 0.9 lagging for all loading conditions.
The power output of the DG was kept constant at rated of
18.7 MW. This study was repeated for three different
network configurations: (a) before connecting DG, (b)
after connecting DG and (c) after connecting DG with the
TCSC. Variation of the voltage in per unit with load at bus
2 is shown in Fig. 8 for all three cases. From the result it
can be observed that the voltage is increasing with the
connection of DG. The TCSC regulates the voltage at bus
2. The variations of the voltage from its set point at low
loads and high loads are due to limitations of the inductive
and capacitive impedance of the device. As the maximum
variation is about 1% from the reference it is acceptable.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author wishes to acknowledge the National Science
Foundation for supplying all the electronic components for
the experiment setup.
REFERENCES
C. Gama and R. Tenorio, "Improvements for power System
Performance: Modeling, Analysis and Benefits of TCSCs", Power
Engineering Society Winter Meeting, Vol 2, pp1462-1467, Jan 2000.
[2] M.N.Moschakis,, E.A Leonidaki, and N.D Hatziargyriou, "
Considerations for the application of Thyristor controlled series
capacitors to radial power distribution circuits" Power Tech
Conference Proceedings, 2003 IEEE Bologna, Vol. 3, pp 23-26
'June 2003

[1]

[3] M. Khederzadeh and T.S. Sidhu,

" Impact of TCSC on Protection

Coordination of Transmission Lines" IEEE transactions on Power
Delivery, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp 80-87, January 2006.
[4] N. Jenkins, "Embedded Generation Part 2", Power Engineering
Journal. October 1996, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 233-239
[5] Narain G. Hingorani and Laszlo Gyugryi, Understanding FACTS,
New York, IEEE Press, 2000, Chapter 6.

1.1

1.05

[6] Long term Transmission Development Studies 2004-2013, Ceylon

Electricity Board, Chapter 5, October 2004.
[7] J R S S Kumara, A Atputharajah, J.B. Ekanayake and Frank
Mumford, "Over Current Protection Coordination of Distribution

1-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Networks with Fault Current Limiters", IEEE Power Engineering

Society General meeting 2006, June 2006.

= 06.9 0 .9 -

0.85 0.8 -

-9
A

EIf comect

--

After corect DG withotTES C

After coriect DG with TCS C

10

Load at bus 4 (MW)

15

Fig. 8 Variation of voltage at bus 2 with different loading condition at bus

4

1-4244-0322- 7/06/$20. 00 C2006 IEEE

155