IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and S y s t e m , Vol. PAS-95, no.

2 , MarchfApril1976

HARMONIC REDUCTION IN THYRISTOR CONVERTERS

BY HARMONIC CURRENT INJECTION

A. hnetani
Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan

ABSTRACT Fig. 1.a shows the current waveform i a on a phase

of the d.c.windingsof a converter transformer for the
The paper describes analytical and experimental case of a 3-phase bridge converter or a double-star
results for a new method of current harmonic reduction converter. Assuming that the harmonic current i il-
in thyristor converters. The principle of the method lustrated in Fig. 1.b which is signified by eqn. ! is
is to modify the current waveforms ondc. thewindings injected to the d.c. windings, the waveform ia shown
of the converter transformer by injecting harmonic in Fig. 1.c is obtained.
currents at a particular frequency. In practice, third
harmonic currents of the power frequency is most effi-
cient. Experimental results carried out prove that the
method is effective in reducing the alternatingarrent The current waveformi a is expressed by the
harmonics, and that it is applicable to any type of equation
thyristor converters.
CL@<d' : i,= 0
C O S ~- COS e
INTRODUCTION .
S& 8 < d+LL id : 4&=
C C S d -L!JS(d+d)
+

ir
-

2
j
In the process of rectification and/or inversion
in a converter system, harmonics of the power frequen- d + u ~ ~ < 2d t 5 r i a = i d + 1,
cy are produced on both the a.c. and d.c. side of the
converter. Harmonic filters consistingof passive ele-
ments are used to reduce the undesirable current bar- s +32T n k 6 ( d L J + $ T : i,=il-COSd-COS(~-~:'jidt-
cO%-io$(pi+ J, L
monics. The filters, however, suffer from several dis- 2
advantages. Recent papers have dealt with solutions J -n
~ + I + 8 < : i , =2 I
tosome of thedisadvantages of thefilters used at 3
present. 1 - 4
1
The author has proposed a new methodof reducin
current harmonics on a.c. sideof a diode converter.9
The principle of the method is to modify the current la
waveform on the d.c. windingsof the converter trans-
former by injecting a harmonic current at a particular
frequency.Theinjectedcurrentsflowthroughthe 19
closed circuit which consists of the current source
and the d.c. windings, and thus the original current e
waveform
on
these
windings
is
deformed by the
injected
current. By deforming the current waveform to a suit-
0
CU-r -u '.-
>
able shape, the harmonic componentsof the current on -a. 2277 =
3
the a. c. system are reduced. (a)
In the present paper, the new method is applied 1
to a thyristor converter. The third harmonic currents
of the power frequency are used as injecting currents. 1.r
Experimental results carried out for a 3-phase bridge
converter and a double-star converter are shown which
corroborate the analytical results. 0
\
\
ANALYSIS THEORETICAL -. a -2
(h)
The fundamental principle and applicationsof the
new
method of reducing current
harmonics
have
been
ex- I
plained in a previous publi~ation.~ In the present
paper the theoretical analysis of the method for the
thyristor converter case is given.

--x L
3
(C)

Fig. 1 Principle of new method : current waveforms

Paper F 75 478-8, recommended and approved by the IEEE
Trans- on d.c. windingsof converter transformer
mission & Distribution Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering
Societv for mesentation at the IEEE PES Summer Meetine. San Fran- (a) Rectified current
cisco,-Calif., 'July 20-25, 1975. Manuscript submitted JmUa;j; 30, 1975; (b) Injected current
made available for printing April 30,1975. (c)
Current
waveform on d.c.
windings

441
 B e i n gs y m n e t r i c a lf o rt h ei n t e r v a l s 0 < e < a and
a s e < 2 ~ , t h ef o l l o w i n gF o u r i e rc o e f f i c i e n t sc a n be
r asobtained : 20

0
0

I I,=effectivevalueoffundametal
, component with p = O
I I I
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
P
Fig. 2 Calculatedresultsofnarmonic components
on d.c, windings
a = 1 5u' ,= 1 0 , k=3, B = O
C a l c u l a t e d r e s u l t s o f I n , when k = 3 and 6 = 0, a r e
shown i n Fig.2 as a f u n c t i o n o f p. It i s e v i d i e n t t h a t
thecurrentharmonics.arereducedwith some values o f
P from t h ef i g u r e .F i f t hh a r m o n i c becomes minimum a t
p 20.6. Harmoniccomponents h i g h e rt h a nf i f t h compo-
nentdecrease as p increases. More s i m p l i f i c a t i o n of
eqn. 7 c a nh e l pt ou n d e r s t a n dt h ee f f e c to ft h eh a r -
monicreduction. Ean. 7 canbe r e w r i t t e ni nt h ef o l -
lowing form for the condition in which a=u =B=O.

In G n Z P)&sinm.sinW
=T(l-n2_K
I 2 3
(n T k )
It i s easily observed from the avobe e q u a t i o n t h a t
The effective Of n-th Of harmonic
the component
reduced
becan zweitrtooh a
buagyei inv e ni s ia p , i f t h e harmonic
order i s I n o f
17 ={- c7 1 injecting
harmonic
the
cur-
the
higher
than
of
order

442
rent ir. Thus, it should be clear that current har-
monics produced from a converter canbe reduced by in-
jecting harmonic currents given by eqn. 1. In prac-
tice, third harmonic current of the power frequencyis
most effective as for the injecting currents.
harmonics on the a.c. windings, and current waveshape
on the a.c. windings is more simialr to a sinusoidal
waveform of the power frequency in practice. The rea-
son for this has been explained in a previous paper.*

Fig. 3 shows the calculated results of fifth har-

monic component as a function o f overlapping angle u.
When u is not very large, the fifth harmonic component
is reduced by injecting harmonic currents. When u is
very large, harmonic current injection withsmall val-
ues of % is no more effective in reducing harmonic
componetns of currents on the d.c. windings.
The above explanation is for the current waveform
on the d.c. windings of a converter transformer.
Nevertheless, similar results is obtained fundamental-
ly as for the current waveform on the a.c. windings
because only phase angle and amplitude are different a' converter
between current waveforms on the a.c. and d.c. windings primary 1 : 1 secondary
of a converter transformer. Attention should be paid
to the fact that current injection causes generation Fig. 4 Experimental circuit
of the current harmonics of which harmonic order is L=sroothing reactor
the same as the injecting currenton the d.c.winding, N=neutral point of d.c. windings
as shown in eqn. 6. There are, however, small such S=injected current source
C =cutoff circuit of direct current

( i ) current
on a.c. windings

(i i ) current
on d.c. windings

(in) d.c. current

(i v) vol tage
across thyristor

(a) No current
injection (b) Current
injection p =0.7
Fig. 5 Photographs of current and voltage waveforms

443
 EXPERIMENTALRESULTS photographs t h a tt h ei n j e c t e dc u r r e n t does n o t a f f e c t
t h y r i s t oor p e r a t i o n andd.c. current. The measured
Thenew method o f harmonic r e d u c t i o n hasbeenap- r e s u l t so f harmonic reductionbychanging p f o r each
p l i e d t o 3-phase b r i d g e and d o u b l e - s t a r t h y r i s t o r con- componenton t h e a . c . w i n d i n g s a r e g i v e n i n F i g . 6.
verters. A s i n g l e - p h a sset a b i l i s e d power source o f The r e s u l t si nF i g . 6 areobservedto be b e t t e rt h a n
330 VA, c o n s i s t i n g o f apower a m p l i f i e r andan o s c i l - a n a l y t i c a l r e s u l t s shown i n Fig.2. The reason f o r t h i s
l a t o r , was adapted t o behave as
a constantcurrent i st h a tt h ee x p e r i m e n t a lr e s u l t sa r e on t h e a.c. wind-
source f o rt h ei n j e c t e dc u r r e n t .T h i r d harmonic c u r - ings of the converter transformer, while the analytical
r e n t s were used as t h ei n j e c t i n gc u r r e n t s . The con- r e s u l t sa r e on t h e d.c.windings. As e x p l a i n e di n a
v e r t e trr a n s f o r m e irs t a r - s t a cr o n n e c t i o nf o r easy previouspaper5,harmonic components on t h e a.c.wind-
c o m p a r i s o nw i t ht h ea n a l y t i c a lr e s u l t s . ingsarelessthanthose on thed.c.windings. No 3 r d
harmonic was measuredon t h e a.c.windings,although
t h e r e was t h i r d harmonic componenton t h e d.c windings
3-Phase Bridge Converter of the transformer.'

The e x p e r i m e n t a lc i r c u i ti s shown i n Fig. 4 , i n The above e x p e r i m e n t a lr e s u l t sa r es a t i s f a c t o r y ,

whichcapacitorsareused as t h ec u t - o f fc i r c u i tf o r and canprovetheeffectivenessofthe new method of
d i r e c t c u r r e n t s . When t h y r i s t o r 1 and diode 5 conduct, h a m n i c r e d u c t i o n f o r a3-phase b r i d g e c o n v e r t e r w t t h
i n w h i ccha stehree c t i f i ecdu r r e nf lt o wtsh r o u g h t h y r i s t o r e c t i f i e r sI.nt h ee x p e r i m e ntth e optimum
phasesaandb o f t h e d.c.windings,theinjectedcur- v a l u e o f p seems t o be about0.7. I f it i s n o t neces-
r e n t ir flows back throughthetwoclosedloops : the s a r yt or e d u c ea l lt h eh a r m o n i c st ol e s st h a n 5 %, it
current source S - t h e n e u t r a l p o i n t o f t h e d.c.wind- i s enough f o r p t o be 0.4 t o 0.5.
ings N - phasea - t h y r i s t o r 1 - c u t o f f c i r c u i t C1- s,
and S - N - phase b - diode 5 - C P - S. When diode 5
stopsconducting and diode 6 beginstoconduct,the Doubl e-Star Converter
current which has f l o w e dt h r o u g ht h el a t t ecr l o s e d
loop begins to flow back through the closed loop :S-N The e x p e r i m e n t a cl i r c u i ti s shown i nF i g . 7. In
- phase C -diode 6 - CP - S. Thus t h ei n j e c t e dc u r -

A
r e n t f l o w s back automatically through each closed loop
i n whichthecorrespondingrectifierelementsconduct
w i t h no c o n t r o l system f o tr h ei n j e c t e dc u r r e n t . It
appears as t h o u g ht h ei n j e c t e dc u r r e n tf l o w si n t ot h e
d . c .l o a dc i r c u i t ,b u tt h e d.c. reactancebeinglarge,
i t s inductance behaves f o r t h e a l t e r n a t i n g c u r r e n t s as

1
a h i g h impedanceand no i n f l u e n c e on t h ed . c .c i r c u i t
from the injected current appears.

Fig. 5 shows thephotographs o ft h ec u r r e n t and

v o l t a g e waveforms. I n t h e f i g u r e ( a ) i s t h e c a s e ofno
currentinjectiohand(b)the case o f harmonic c u r r e n t
i n j e c t i o nw i t h p 0.7. It should be c l e a rf r o mt h e

20 I 1

f\ Fig. 7 Experimental c i r c u i t

/
/
/

P P
Fig. 6 Measured r e s u l t so f harmonic r e d u c t i o n Fig. 8 Measured r e s u l t s o f harmonic r e d u c t i o n
on age. windings ona.c, windings
a=5 , u . 5k,= 3 , B=O u = 3 0 u, = 5 , k=3, B = O
o 5th 0 7th x 11th e 13th o 1 7 t h o 5th 0 7th x 11t h o 13th o 17th
4144
thedouble-starconvertercase,theinjectedcurrent Discussion
flows back through the closed loop of S - NI - phasea
- t h y r i s t o r 1 - t h y r i s t o r 5 - phase b ' - NP - S, when
t h y r i s t o r s 1 and 5 conduct. Thus t h ei n j e c t e dc u r r e n t M. S. Sachdev and M. G . Bennett (University of Saskatchewan, Saska-
needed i n t h e case i s h a l f t h e case o f a3-phase b r i d g e toon, Sask., Canada): T h e author previously proposed the injection of
c o n v e r t e ri,. e . harmonic r e d u c t i o nb yc u r r e nitn j e c - harmonic currents into the dc side winding of a converter transformer
t i o ni s more e f f i c i e n it nt h ed o u b l e - s t a ct o n v e r t e r for reducing harmonics which are normally injected by converters into
casethan i n t h e 3-phase bridgeconvertercase. the ac systems.5 In this paper, a theoretical analysis of this approach,
applied to a thyristor converter, and some test results are presented. We
Fig.8 shows t h e measured r e s u l t s o f harmonicre- compliment the author fora well prepared paper on an interesting topic
and for proposing a novel approach to the reduction of harmonics in ac
d u c t i o n bychanging p f o r eachcomponent on t h e a.c. to dc conversion and vice versa. We will appreciate the author's discuss-
windings. It i s observedfromthe fiyrethatallthe ing the following comments and questions.
harmonic components arereduced t o l e s s t h a n 2% by p = 1. A few typographical and drafting errors in this paper have been
0. 22 Thus, t h eh i g he f f i c i e n c yo ft h ep r e s e n t method noticed. For example, two primary windings of the convertertrans-
o f harmonic reduction in the double-star converter case former are shown as short circuited in Fig. 4. The 5th harmonic con-
is quite clear. tents given by Figs. 2 for a=1S0, u=lOo,and p=Oo and corresponding
to p=O and p=0.07 do not match the results given in Fig. 3. It seems
that the value of p used in Fig. 3 is not 0.07.
2. Equations 1and 2 and Fig. 2 indicate that current in a valve
CONCLUSION will assume finite value at the commencement of commutation. In most
cases, for p=O or so, this current will be negative (Fig. 1) which is not
A new method o f harmonicreduction hasbeende- possible. Also there will be a ste. chan%e of current at the completion
s c r i b e d f o r t h e case o f a t h y r i s t o r c o n v e r t e r , and ex- of commutation (consider ~ 1 , u=10 0 ,P=O" and p = 0 . 7 ) . Due to the
p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l t s havebeen g i v e n f o r i t s a p p l i c a t i o n presence of reactance in the system these step changes are not possible.
Our interpretation is that in practice the harmonic current andd.c.
t o 3-phase
a b r i d g ec o n v e r t e r and t o a double-star current will commutate from one valve to the next and Eq. 2 has been
converter. These experimentalresults show t h ee f f e c - used for convenience in analysis.
t i v e n e s s o f t h e new method f o r t h e t h y r i s t o r c o n v e r t e r 3. T h e author has discussed the case of a converter which is ex-
case. The method i s h i g h l y e f f i c i e n t i n a double-star citedfroma wye-wye transformer. In practice, the neutrals of the
converter. primary winding of converter transformers are grounded. It seems that
the author's approach will not work in such a case.
T k new method o f harmonic r e d u c t i o n i s a p p l i c a b l e 4. The rating of the harmonic current generator has been indicat-
t o any t y p e o f c o n v e r t e r . The arrangement o f a c i r c u i t ed in the paper. Will the author state theratings of the converter and the
b a s i c a l l y depends o n l y on t h e t y p e o f c o n v e r t e r t r a n s = converter transformer used during experimentation? Was a strong a.c.
former. The optimum i n j e c t i n gc u r r e n ti s ,i np r a c t i c e system used (Le. low source impedance)? Will the author identify volt-
thethirdharmoniccurrentofthe power frequency. age and current levels for the waveforms shown in Fig. 5?
5 . In Fig. 5(b) oscillograms of currents in the converter transform-
er windings are shown. Current in the d.c. winding is triangular in form
Although apower a m p l i f i e r was used asa c u r r e n t whereas the current in the a.c. winding is much closer to being sinu-
source i nt h e experiment, a t h i r d harmonicgenerator soidal. A few observations in this resuect are in order.
synchronizedwith apower generator i s s u i t a b l e f o r a T h e modification ofwave formoccurs because the trans-
h i g h power converter. former core is saturated. Will, in the author's opinion, power
system engineers acceptoperation of transformerswith
saturated core? As well, associated with saturated cores will
be an increase of core losses. Additional facilities will, there-
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS fore, be required for cooling of these transformers.
In the author's system, harmonic current, ir, is injected in
The authorwould l i k e t o thank Mr. K. Kamatsugi two phases of the d.c. side winding of the converter trans-
formermost of the time.Theoretically,harmonic current
and M r . N. M o r i w i t h whose assistancetheexperimental corresponding to 2ir will flow in the ax. winding phase cou-
i n v e s t i g a t i o n s were acomplished.Gratefulacknowledg- pled with the d.c. winding which is not carrying any current.
ments are made t oP r o f . K. Tominaga f o rh i si n t e r e s t In the author's previous publication it was stated that har-
i n t h i s workand f o r h e l p f u l a d v i c e . monic current up to 50% of the theoretical value was measur-
ed in the lab. In a power system application this harmonic
current will flow in the a.c.system and it will show up in
generator windings. This component of harmonic current is
in phase in two phases and phase opposition in thethird.
REFERENCES Space flux set up in a generator by this harmonic current will
be pulsating. The forces set up by the pulsating flux will be
T. Gilsi!, "An interconn$cteda.c. filterforhigh unbalanced in machines with odd number of pairs of poles
voltage.c.converters, I E E E Trans. (Power Appa- i.e. 2, 6, 10 etc., poles.
r a t u s and Systems), v o l . PAS-88, pp.989-994,1969 6.The approach suggested by the author appears to reduce the
harmonics of all orders. The reduction depends on the magnitude of the
injected harmonic current. In a system application the value of p will
B. M. B i r d , J . F. Marshand P.
R. McLellan,"Har- have to be selected in the neighborhood of 0.7. For a 150 kV, 1800A
monic r e d u c t i o n i n m u l t i p l e x c o n v e r t o r s by t r i p l e - bridge, 2520A rms thirdharmoniccurrent (1260A per winding) will
f r e q u e n c yc u r r e n ti n j e c t i o n , '' Proc. IEE, v o l . 116 have to be injected. T h e capacitors C1 and C2 of Fig. 4 will have t o be
pp.1730-1734,1969 rated to carry 1260 Amperes each. Assuming that capacitor units are
rated at 7500 volts and 30 amperes (at 180 Hz), 42 units will have to
H. Sasaki and T. Machida, "A new method t o e l i m i - be used in parallel to satisfy the current flow requirements. These
natea.c.harmoniccurrentsbymagneticflux com- capacitors are subjected to voltage output of the converter.Vdo for
pensation - c o n s i d e r a t i o n s on basicdesign," IEEE a 150 kV bridge can be as high as 180 kV. This means that capaciton
C1 and C2 should be able to withstand 90 kV d.c. in addition to the
Trans. (Power Apparatus and Systems), v o l . PAS-90,
pp.2009-2019,1971 voltage drop due to the flow of third harmonic current. A series parallel
combination of capacitor units will have to be used to satisfy the volt-
L. L . F r e r i s and J . Nunes de Carval ho, "An e l e c t r o - age and current ratings simultaneously. One possible combination is to
use 18 capacitor units in series and 80 units in parallel each for C1 and
mechanicalharmonic f i l t e r , " I E E ConferencePubli- C2. This is equivalent to a total of 216 MVAr at 60 Hz. The harmonic
c a t i o n , No. 107,pp.11-15, 1973 current generator will have to inject current against a third harmonic
voltage of approximately7 0 kV which requires that the harmonic source
A. Ametani , "General ised method o f harmonic reduc- capacity be of the order of 175 MVA. Have the economics of the sug-
t i o ni n a.c.-d.c.convertersbyharmoniccurrent
i n j e c t i o n , " Proc. IEE, v o l . 119,
pp.857-864,1972 Manuscript received July 14,1975.

445
gested approach been examined? If s o , the details will be of consider-
able interest to thereaders.
We once again congratulate the author for a very interesting paper.
M. T. Murray (General ElectricCompany, IntSD, New York, N.Y.):
The author is to be congratulated for a very interesting article which
has intriguing possibilities.
The paper refers t o thyrister converters in general. This discussion
refers only to high voltage DC (HVDC) converters, and to the injection
method of Fig. 4.
The capacitors, C1 and C2, which form a complete path for the
injection current also form a direct capacitor path across the six pulse
bridge. What effect will the capacitors have on the valve damping
circuitry, bridge currentsduringtransients,and on the DC side har-
monics? The capacitors would have to be rated for DC harmonic cur-
rents; 6, 12, 18etc., as well as the injection current.
The current waveforms in Fig. 5b indicate cyclic periods of zero
current in the transformer DC winding while there are no zero periods
in the AC side transformer windings. Presumably this is caused by trans-
former saturation. Does this cyclic saturation cause any difficulties?
From general converter theory it is known that if the overlap angle
increases the AC harmonics tend to decrease. the DC side the 12th
harmonic, for example,tends to decrease w t h overlap angle out to
about 15" and then increase to about 30". Also as the overlap angle
increases the converter power factor decreases. A r e there any plans to
optimize the angle of the injection current with respect to the above
factors?Intuitively it appears that 3rd harmonicinjection, solid line
shown in Fig. A, would tend to increase each overlap angle, while a
180" phase shift (dotted line) would tend to decrease each overlap
angle. It also appears that the phase of the injected harmonics would
have to be changed with changes in the converter firing angle. The cur-
rent direction is taken as positive from the transformerneutral out.
Valve Firing Points
tt-
-Decrease
Increase Overlap
Overlap
Fig. A 3rd HarmonicInjectionCurrents to Increase And Decrease
Overlap
Will the third harmonic currents that flow in the AC system cause
variation in the AC voltage zero crossovers? If so there should be no
problemwith current controls because of the integrating type fiing
systems used in modem convertercontrols. However zero crossover
variations could cause some difficulties with margin angle controls since
the margin angles are generally measured directly. Are there any plan-
ned investigations in this area?
Is it likely that all future HVDC links will operate 12 pulse only.
The 3rd harmonicinjection decreases the 11th and 13th harmonic
much less than it does the 5th and 7th.Does the author plan any future
investigation with say 9th harmonic injection to gain larger decreases in
the 1 1th and 13th harmonics?
Manuscript received August 5,1975.
A. Ametani: The author wishes to thank the discussers for their interest
in the paper and for the comments.
Before answering discussers' comments, it seems to be necessary t o
make clear that the experimental circuit shown in Fig. 4 is only an ap-
446
plication example of the method of harmonic reduction proposed by
the author. Because no control system for the injected current is neces-
sary for the circuit shown in Fig. 4, the circuit is chosen in the experi-
ments for convenience to investigate possibilities of harmonic reduction
by the proposed approach. On the other hand, it causes some problems
aspointed out by discussers because of the injected current flowing
through rectifier elements and of auxialy circuitry such as C1 and C2.
The fundamental principle of themethod is to modifycurrent
waveforms which comprise many kinds of current harmonics on d.c.
windings ofaconvertertransformer by injecting harmoniccurrents.
Thus, basically it needs to inject the harmonic currents only into the
d.c. windings. The injected currents shouldflow each phase of the wind-
ings during the time periods of the correspondingrectifierelements
being conducting. This could be achieved using some control circuits
which cause no effect on the converter circuitry. Such a circuit compo-
sition would be much better than that shown in Fig. 4 from the view
point of an actual application and economics. This is a future subject.
The author appreciates Messrs Sachdev and Bennett for indicating
adraftingerror in Fig. 4,p=0.07 in Fig. 3 is correct, but the figure
should be replaced by Fig. I which matchesthe investigations in the
paper. The author agrees the second comment by them. The theoretical
analysis has beeen done under the assumption that the injected currents
cause no effect on commutation. This is physically not correct. Further
analysis of the effects of the injected currents on commutation and
overlap angle is required.
20 R
I I 1 I
lo u .deg. 20 30 40
Fig. I Calculated results of 5th harmonic component as a function
of overlapping angle
The discussers said in the third comment that the method seemed
not to work in the case of the primary-windings neutral being grounded.
The method, however, works in the case of the neutral of the primary
windings being grounded without any difficulties, since the method is
applicable to any type ofconverterindependentlyof types of valve
arrangements and of primary windings arrangements. The experimental
results are given in Fig. 11 and Fig. 111. No differerence in the waveforms
between the isolated and grounded cases is observed. In Fig. 11, there is
no high frequency oscillation, which appears in Fig. 5. This is because
of series resistors to capacitors C1 and C2 being installed to damp the
oscillation.
Concerning the fourth comment: converter 30Ov 10A, converter
transformer 3q5 500VA, nearly infinite bus for a.c. system, voltage and
current levels of Fig. 5 (a) and (b); (i) 0.8A/div. (ii) 1.OA/div. (iii) 0.77A/
div. (iv) 50V/div.
Although in the fifth comment the discussers and also Mr. Murray
in his second comment mention transformer saturation, the transformer
was not saturated. The capacity of the transformer was 500VA with an
iron core. The line voltage of the secondary windings was IOOV and the
current on a phase was less than 2A when p=0.7. Thus, the modifica-
tion of the current waveform on the a.c. windings was not caused by
transformersaturation. The reason forthe modification will be ex-
plained later.
Messrs. Sachdev and Bennett discuss the effect of third harmonic
currents on generator windings. However, there is no thirdharmonic
currents on the a.c. side. It was stated in the previous publication5 that
harmonic current up to 50% of the theoretical value was measured. This
is only for the interval of 2 r / 3 a < n . The injected third harmonic cur-
rents appear with different amplitudes and phase angles for different
time periods, i.e. for KKa,cKO<cu+u, ... on the a.c. windings. (See
Eq. (d).) These modify a.c. side currents, and the waveforms become
 (a) p=O (O.dA/div.) (b) p=0.7

Fig. I1 Photographs of a.c. current waveforms for the case of the a.c.
windings neutral grounded (~0')

25

20 \
\
\
\
\
\
\

t
\~
\
15 \? \
O*
0
\
\
\
l5 \e \
0
4 \ \
\

-
0 \
H 0 \
\ \
c \
10 \

\ \

5 9'

I I I I I I I
.
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
P P
(a) a=Oo a=3Oo (b)
Fig. 111 Measured results of harmonicreduction on ax. windings for
the case of the a.c. windings neutral grounded.
o 5th 0 7th X 11th o 13th o 17th

much closer to being sinusoidal, but do not appear as the completewave- The author agrees the capacitors should be rated not only for the
forms of third harmonic currents. injected current but also for the d.c. voltage and currents. Mr. Murray
The discussers asks the economics of the approach. In the present also asks optimization of the angle of the injection current with respect
paper, only possibilities of reducing harmonic currents by the proposed to the effect of the overlap angle of the d.c. harmonics. The author
method is discussed. From the economical view point there would be a agrees his indication shown in Fig. A. The effects of current injection
better circuitcomposition than that shown in Fig. 4. Therefore, the on the overlap angle and the d.c. harmonics have not yet been investi-
author does not intend to discuss economics of the approach at the gated. These are planned to be analysed in future.
present stage. The injected current causes no variation in the a.c. voltage zero
Mr. Murray asks the effect of capacitors C1 and C2 on the valve crossovers. At present there is no plan of investigations on the current
dampingcircuitry, bridge currents duringtransients, and on the d.c. and margin angle controlsmentioned by Mr. Murray because of no
side harmonics. Fig. IV shows the voltage across a damping circuit, i.e. facility.
across a thyristor, and the current on the damping circuit. From the ' Mr. Murray's last comment concernsharmonic reductionbythe
figure, it is clear that the capacitors and the injected currents cause no 9th harmonic current injection for the case of a 12 pulse converter. Ex-
significant effect on the valve damping circuit. perimental results of harmonic reduction by the 9th harmonic injection
Fig. V shows the d.c. voltage. No difference is observed between for the 6 pulse converter case are given in Fig. VI. It is obvious that the
the cases of no capacitor and of capacitors. Thus, the capacitors seems harmoniccurrents higher than the 9th, suchas1 l t h and 13th, are
not to cause significant effects on the d.c. side harmonics. Effects of reduced much more efficiently for the case of the 9th harmonic injec-
the capacitors on the converter circuitry during transients have not yet tion than for the 3rd harmonic case. (See Fig. 6 in the paper.) Unfortu-
been investigated. nately there is no 12 pulse converter in the author's laboratory at pres-

44 7
 (i) No capacitor (ii)Capacitors, p=0.7
Fig. IV Photographs of voltage and currents waveforms on a damping
circuit ( ~ ~ 3 0 ' )
(a) Voltage across damping
a circuit (SOV/div.)
(b) Current on a damping circuit(6.667 mA/div.)

(a) No Capacitor (ZOV/div.) (b) Capacitors

Fig. V. Photographs of d.c. voltage waveforms (a=30)

Fig. VI Measured resultsofharmonicreduction on a.c. windings by

the 9thharmonic injection
o 5th 0 7th X 11th o 13th o 17th A 19th

448
 i +1
2i -id-ic)
A 3 a 1

Using the equation, current waveforms on the a.c. Windings are

determined from the currents on the d.c. windings. For example, iA'is
~~~
given by ,
Fig. VI1 Photographs of an a.c. current waveform ((u=30, 0.2Aldiv.)

TC2
c1

i
I
i
t
i
A B C
Fig. VI11 Currents on transformer windings

ent, but it is planned to investigate the 12 pulse converter case with the
9th harmonic injection in future.
Both Messrs Sachdev and Bennett, and Mr. Murray raise questions
regarding transformer saturation which seems to be the cause of the
modification of current waveform on the a.c. windings. Theauthor
once thought the non-zero periods of a.c. currents were caused by the
transformersaturation.5 But this was not correct. Fig. VI1 showsan
oscillogram of an a.c. current waveform. It is observed that there is no
period of zero current. The capacity of the transformer was 3@5WVA,

--EL+-&
and the line voltage was 1WV on the d.c, side in the experiment. The
d.c. current was 0.3A, and the injected current was 0.2A. Under the
conditions, the transformer was not saturated. Thus, it should be clear
that the modification of the current is not caused by the transformer
saturation. Further analysis has been carried out to explain the non-
zero periods of the a.c. side currents. In Fig. VIII, at the neutral of the I 9
a.c. windings of the transformer,

i +i + i = O
A B C (a)

Assume that the transformer is not saturated. Then ampare-turn of Fig. IX Analytical waveforms of a.c. and d.c. side currents on trans-
each core being the same, former windings (a=3Oo,u=Oo,p z 0 . 7 )

This is shown in Fig. IX for the case of u=O. The waveform is

quite similar to the measured result shown in Fig. 5(b-i). Eq. (d) and
where Ro : magnetic reluctance, $0 : flux Fig. IX clearly indicate that there are no period of zero current while
From the above equations, iA, ig and ic on the a.c windings are there exist cyclic periods of zero current on the d.c. windings of the
given in the following form. transformer.

449