HIGH VOLTAGE d.c.

TRANSMISSION 121

With this the p.f. of the converter is high and if small change in voltage is required, it is
obtained very fast through firing angle control over this small interval.
So far we have considered the behaviour of the controls for slow changes of voltage. We
now consider the rapid reduction in voltage due to shunt faults on a.c. system. Consider Fig.
5.17. Let the inverter voltage reduce. As a result the inverter characteristic is shifted downward
from CD to EF and the new operating point is H. The system, thus operates at the same
current but at reduced voltage. As a result the power transmitted is reduced in proportion to
voltage. If the dip in voltage is momentary due to a transient shunt fault, the initial conditions
would be restored soon, otherwise, the inverter tap changer is operated to increase the voltage
to normal value.
In order to ensure that the d.c. line current does not go below a certain predetermined
value, it is generally desirable to provide constant current control for the inverter as well. For
a system in which power is reversible, converters have to be provided with both C.E.A. and
constant current controls. The combination of C.E.A. and Constant Current Controls can be
represented by the block diagram in Fig. 5.18 (a) and the operating characteristic of the converter
provided with such a control is shown in Fig. 5.18 (b). Let the current setting of this Constant
Current Control Output be Ids. If the line current measured is more than Ids, the Constant
Current Control output will be zero and the inverter advance angle will correspond to the
output from the C.E.A. Control only i.e., the inverter will operate at the minimum required
angle of advance .

Rectifier
operation
CC
Id
C.E.A. Phase Pulse output
VL control advance circuit Id
Ids

Inverter
C.C. operation
b increases with
control increased input CEA

(a) (b)

Fig. 5.18 (a) Block diagram of CC and CEA Controls.

(b) Characteristics of system as in (a).

The output voltage is then given by

3 2 3X
Vd = VL cos Id (5.18)

If the measured current is less than the setting of the converter, the constant current
control will provide some output in order to increase the angle more than the required
minimum which increases the voltage Vd and brings the current back to its set value Ids.
Consider Fig. 5.19. Suppose the rectifier and the inverter are associated with both the
Constant Current Control and Constant ignition/extinction angle controls. Characteristics ABC