P OWER Q U ALIT Y STUDIE S

Modelling an
Industrial Power Network

A PPLICA TI O N NO TES

The network shown illustrates a model of an industrial power

network used to analyse certain power quality issues. Some of
the issues addressed are:
Voltage amplication problems due to capacitor bank switching
Performance of an industrial drive
Modelling of motor start up
Modelling of motor loads and normal industrial loads
Transformer saturation issues
Harmonics and icker
Methods to reduce transients.

Figure 1 Single line view of the

PSCAD model of an industrial
power network.

Figure 2 Voltage Source Parameters.

Figure 3 11 kV System Bus.

The single line view of the PSCAD model of this network is shown in
Figure 1. The main distribution network is modelled as an impedance
behind a voltage source. For the study concerned, a simple representation as shown in Figure 3 was identied as sufcient. If the study
required a more accurate representation of the network frequency
response, more buses behind the 11 kV system bus must be added to
the model.
The source impedance can be determined from the short circuit level
at this bus.
The user may select a more detailed representation for the system
equivalent where a combination of L-R-C elements can be used to
represent the impedance. The zero sequence can be dened to be
different from the positive sequence impedance. The data can be
entered as R, L and C values or in the more common impedance/
phase angle format.

PSCAD simulations can be used to design

the optimum value of the insertion resistor.

Figure 4 Utility Capacitor Bank.

Figure 5 Single and double circuit pi

section models.

Figure 4 shows the arrangement of the utility side capacitors. If

there is more than a single bank, more parallel units are
to be added to the model. The short line connecting the capacitors
to the system bus at the substation is represented using series R-L
elements. The user may decide to represent this as a coupled PI
section where the mutual effects between the phases are included.
The utility side capacitors used for voltage support of the bus
also include a 400 Ohm damping resistor. PSCAD simulations can
be used to design the optimum value of the resistor. The capacitor
breaker is controlled by Timed Breaker Logic unit but the user may
design the breaker on/off signals using many different arrangements.

Figure 6 Industrial Loads

The transformer at the customer location is modelled as a

Delta-wye unit made up of single phase banks. PSCAD includes
models for three-limbed cores as well as ve-limbed cores.
The appropriate model should be selected depending on the actual
arrangement of the unit under study. The following standard data are
required to model the transformer:
MVA rating and the winding voltage ratings
Impedance
Percentage no load current
Losses.
The transformer model takes into account the non-linear
behaviour of the core. Additional data pertaining to the
non-linear no-load characteristics needs to be entered if
saturation is to be included in the solution. Some studies
that would require the inclusion of saturation effects include:
Harmonic distortion issues at the bus
Inrush current and protection issues
Ferro-resonance investigation.

High frequency transients, a serious power

quality issue, can lead to production line
shutdown and unplanned down time.

Figure 7 PF unit off, PF unit on and

PF unit on and with no
damping resistor on main caps.

Figure 8 Synchronized Switching Control.

Figure 6 shows the model of the industrial load. The power factor
correcting capacitors and the motor drive units are modelled along
with the rest of the loads. The loads can be represented as R-L-C
combinations, constant P-Q load, constant current load or any other
method. The power factor correcting capacitor breaker is manually
controlled to easily simulate the switching of the utility capacitors
when this power factor correcting unit is in service and out of service.
The main capacitor bank was turned on at 0.5 s in the
simulation results shown in Figure 7. When the PF correcting unit is
on, there is energy exchange between the two capacitors and the
result is an amplied voltage at the customer low
voltage bus. Inclusion of properly sized damping resistors
in parallel with the main capacitors will help reduce the
transient peaks.
The high frequency voltage transients can charge the DC link
capacitor of the machine drive converter. The power electronic
devices are quite susceptible to excessive voltage and the protection is
designed so that the drive will be disconnected in the event of excessive DC link voltage. This is a serious power quality issue as production
lines associated with the drive will undergo unplanned down time.
The capacitor energizing transient can be suppressed using different
strategies.
Synchronized Switching of Breaker Poles
The individual poles of the breaker are closed at corresponding voltage
zero points. A separate control unit is required to issue the synchronized breaker signals (Figure 8).

Figure 14 Load torque as a function of speed.

The Multiple Run component of PSCAD

can be used to run a number of simulations,
with selected parameters changed
in a controlled manner for each run.
Figure 9 Machine drive arrangment.

Pre-Insertion Resistance
The breaker model in PSCAD allows the user to select
the pre-insertion option and the option to close individual poles
separately.
The detailed model of the Induction motor drive
(arranged in a PSCAD page module) is shown in Figure 9.
The overvoltage at the DC link capacitor bank can be limited
by the proper design of the capacitor size and the use of
a series inductor in the DC link to limit the rate of charging
of the capacitor.
The Multiple Run component of PSCAD can be used to
run a number of simulations, with selected parameters changed in a
controlled manner for each run. The application note on the use of
multiple run component lays out the steps involved in detail.
In the drive example shown in Figure 9, the system side converter
is modelled as an uncontrolled diode bridge. The machine side is a
controlled bridge using IGBT units. The ring pulses are generated
using the control model shown in Figure 11. The control system
blocks required to drive the ring pulses are found in the CSMF
part of the master library. Some useful blocks in designing a more
complex ring control system are shown in Figure 12. These include
the PLL, VCO, Interpolated ring pusle module, comparators and
signal generators.
The control blocks can be used to model the load torque prole.
This is an input to the machine model (Figure 14).
The drive converters produce harmonics. It is necessary to analyse
harmonics produced by the non-linear loads and determine if ltering is required. Figure 13 shows the FFT module that can be used.
Polymeters can be used to display the harmonic prole. This model
can be extended to study the following without much modication
and effort:
Motor starting transients
MOV duty during switching events
Breaker Transient Recovery Voltage issues.

Figure 10 Multiple Run component.

Figure 11 Firing pulses generated using the control model.

Figure 12 Blocks in the CSMF library.

Prepared by Dr. Dharshana Muthumuni. Please email

info@pscad.com if you have an article you would like
to submit on the use of PSCAD.

Figure 13 FFT module.

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