Series capacitors protection

Since the line impedance, R + J (Xl - Xc), will reduce with a series compensation, the fault level of the system will rise. It should not matter if the fault level of the system is determined by the impedance of the source of supply, ignoring any other impedance of the circuit (Section 13.4.1 (5)). Moreover, such a situation is automatically averted through the protection of the series capacitors, as discussed below, by which the capacitors are bypassed during a line fault, the line restoring its original impedance, hence the original fault level. Nevertheless, when it is required to limit the system fault level, inductive coupling circuits may be provided to reduce the fault to the desired level. This is also discussed below ... 

The following are a few common methods for the protection of series capacitors. 

There may be a number of ways by which the series capacitors can be protected against line faults. Commonly used methods are briefly discussed below. 

Series capacitors for power systems Protective equipment for series capacitor banks — BS EN 60143-2/1995... 

This part considers reactive power control with the use of shunt and series capacitors. The controls may be manual or automatic through electromagnetic or static devices. Protection of capacitors and capacitor banks as well as design, manufacturing and test requirements, installation and maintenance are also covered, the main thrust being on the application of power capacitors. 

Nevertheless, unbalance is a major occurrence in either case and an unbalanced protection, in addition to short-circuit protection is imperative in all types of capacitor units. Hence it is also possible to design series protected capacitor units in larger sizes and for higher voltages, which are more economical, compared to smaller units. 

For-della connected capacitor units In (his case, it will establish a line-to-line fault with a heavy fault current. Protection by HRC fuses would be more appropriate than for a grounded star or using an MCCB. For series-parallel connected units I his is applicable in HT capacitor banks comprising a number of small units arranged in series and parallel combinations. The fault current in such cases for an isolated neutral can be expressed by... 

This is applicable to both LT and HT capacitors. But it is more important in HT banks, which are relatively much larger and are built of a number of single units eonnected in series-parallel. These may encounter much higher fault currents in the event of a severe internal fault, even in one unit and are thus rendered more vulnerable to such ruptures. This phenomenon is more applicable to units that are externally protected w here (he intensity of fault may be more severe, than internally protected units. 

This method is applicable to single-star or delta-connected capacitor banks. Unbalance can be detected through the use of an RVT (residual voltage transformer) (Section 15.4.3). See Figure 26.4. The theory of operation is that any unbalance, of the system or the capacitor bank, will shift the neutral and reflect as the residual voltage across the open delta and can be used for the protective scheme. The unbalance voltage across the open delta in the event of failure of a unit in any series group can be expressed by... 

Battery, battery container - Lead-acid accumulators Rated capacity 2 x 600 Ah Rated voltage 2 x 108 V DC (connected in series) Type of protection EEx el DC-3 AC convertor- Input voltage 154-254V DC DC link capacitor ... 

FIGURE 10 Sketch of a 9000-MVA triggered vacuum gap used to protect the series-compensating capacitors on the 500-kV. Pacific intertie ac transmission line. Two communicating gaps in series with an interdigital paddle-wheel geometry were used to disperse the vacuum arc and avoid anode-spot formation. 

---