STUDY OF STATIC SYNCHRONOUS SERIES COMPENSATOR
AND ITS PERFORMANCE DURING SYSTEM FAULT CONDITION
NRaghavan Vasudev Kataria
Department of Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Chennai -600036
Abstract: This paper presents the modeling and
simulation of Static Synchronous Series Compensator
(SSSC) using MA TLAB® -Simulink-Power System
Blockset. Static Synchronous Series compensator is
an alternative to conventional series capacitor
compensation. The SSSC consist of solid-state voltage
source inverter and is connected to the transmission
line through a series transformer. An SSSC can be
thought as a synchronous voltage source of variable
magnitude in series with the transmission line. SSSC
provides a controllable compensating voltage in
quadrature with line current thereby influencing
power flow in the transmission line. In addition to
series compensation, a new operating practice is
suggested for SSSC to limit the fault current under
symmetrical three-phase external fault. Some aspects
of change in control strategy from capacitive to
inductive compensation is also dealt with.
Keywords: FACTS, SSSC, Fault Simulation.
I INTRODUCTION
In an AC transmission line, the power flow through it
is a function of line impedance, the magnitude of the
sending and receiving end voltages and the phase
angle between them. The use of power electronics
systems for high-speed control of one or more of these
parameters is the basis of the Flexible AC
transmission system (FACTS) concept [I]. Most
FACTS devices generally consist of a solid-state
voltage source inverter with controlled switches and a
DC link capacitor, a magnetic circuit and a controller
[4].
Traditionally, the effective line impedance is
controlled in order to control the power flow in the
transmission line by using fixed or thyristor controlled
series capacitors or inductors [2]. Of late, solid - state
voltage source inverter is being used to control the
impedance of the line. Such a compensator is called
static synchronous series compensator (SSSC), which
injects an almost sinusoidal voltage, of variable
magnitude, in series with the transmission line [3].
The injected voltage is nearly in quadrature with the
line current. This emulates a capacitive or an
inductive reactance in series with the transmission line
KShanthi Swarup Krishna Vasudevan
thereby influencing the power flow in the line. When
the injected voltage is lagging and quadrature with the
line current then it behaves as capacitive reactance in
series with the transmission line thereby causing the
line current and power flow to increase. When SSSC
injects an voltage leading and quadrature to the line
current it behaves as an inductive reactance in series
with the transmission line thereby decreasing the
current flow as well as power flow in the transmission
line.
The objective of this paper is to describe the
fundamentals of an SSSC and to implement the
operation of an SSSC using MA TLAB - Simulink
Power System Toolbox simulation package. The
simulation results show the basic functions of an
SSSC in terms of controlling the power flow in the
transmission line. Its effects on external system fault
is also discussed .
. II THEORY OF SERIES COMPENSATION
A two-machine system is shown in fig. 1 where X is
the inductive reactance of the transmission line and
Vs. V R are the sending and receiving end voltages
respectively. The idea behind series capacitive
compensation is to decrease the overall effective
transmission impedance Xeff from the sending end to
the receiving end thereby increasing the amount of
real power flow in the line.
X
0+-~
Fig. 1 Simple two machine system.
The effective transmission impedance Xeff with the
series capacitive compensation is given by
XeJJ = X -Xc (1)
If k is defined as degree of series compensation
k = Xc / X 0~k ~1 (2)
then eqn. (1) becomes
XeJJ = (1- k)X (3)
The line current in the compensated line and the real
power transmitted can be derived as follows.
 shown in fig 3 [3][6]. The effective reactance of the
1=( V) sino (4) line after including the voltage source is given by
l-k X

P = VsV, sin 0 ( 5) X eff = XL + X q I Ie +

J
'90'
(7)
(1- k)X The real and reactive power (P and Q) flow at the
The reactive power supplied by the series capacitor receiving-end are given by the expressions
can be expressed as VsV,.;:
P =--smu (8)
Qc=I2Xc=I2kX (6) q X
eff

III STATIC SYNCHRONOUS SERIES COMPENSATOR: VV

MODELING, PRINCIPLE AND CHARACTERISTICS.
Qq = _S_' (1 - cos 0) (9)
Xeff
A SSSC consist of voltage source inverter, which can
produce an alternating (almost sinusoidal) voltage at
the desired frequency (50 Hz) with controllable VV
P = s, sin 0 (10)
amplitude and phase angle. The inverter is based on q XL(I-k)
sine triangle PWM .The inverter is interfaced to the
line through magnetic circuit as shown in the fig.2. where k=X!xL
....--
r----~~----_r-----.
Xi.
~-....., ~-----)
y Vr
v,

Inverter

Fig.3 SSSC modeled as synchronous voltage source.

Debus
C. Characteristic of SSSC
Fig. 2: Two machine system with SSSc.
Let Pm be the max power that could be transmitted in
A SSSC, limited by its voltage and current ratings is the line then the normalized power Pqn versus the
capable of emulating a compensating reactance, angle e plots are 'shown in the fig 4 as function of
X a. (both i~ductive and capacitive) in series with the degree of compensation k. For comparison the
normalized injected voltage Vq is chosen to give the
transmission line inductive reactance. The Volt-
same maximum power as the series capacitor with
ampere rating of the SSSC is simply the product of the
corresponding k. Fig 4 shows power angle curve for
maximum injected voltage and maximum line current,
capacitive and as well as for inductive compensation
VA = I m3JYqmax [5]. of50%.
k=0.5
A. Principle of Operation 2.0
VV
When a series capacitance IS introduced in the P. = 'T sin <5
1.5 • XL(1-k)
transmission line to reduce line reactance and to
increase power flow, the voltage across the reactance k=O
-- -
'is given by Vc = - jX c I. If a voltage source inverter
k= -0.5
(SSSC) connected in series with the line, is able to
inject the same voltage Vc' then the steady state
0.5

0~
o
~ -2~_
1110
power flow can be established as if an equivalent 90'

series capacitor is connected. This voltage to be

injected is proportional to line current magnitude and
is in phase quadrature with it.
B. Modeling ofSSSC
SSSC can be modeled as a synchronous voltage
source in series with transmission line reactance as
Fig 4 Normalized Transmitted power Pqn versus 0 as a function
of degree of series compensation.
Also from the fig 4 it is evident that the SSSC
increases the transmitted power by a fixed fraction of
the maximum power Pm of the uncompensated line,
independently of the power angle 0 . It can be inferred
 from the curves that the transmitted power reduces and power flow are shown in figs 7b and 8b
when SSSC provides series inductive compensation of respectively.
50%. This is done in SSSC by simply reversing the
polarity of the injected voltage thereby emulating an
VI OBSERVATIONS

increase in the impedance of the line. • From the figs 5a and 6a it can be observed that
under normal system operation the peak line current is
D. SSSC performance under 3-Phase Fault 0.6 p.u and real and reactive power flow in line are
One of the suggested application of SSSC is its ability 0.412 p.u. and 0.166 p.u.
to limit the short circuit current during external faults.
. This is a sure advantage of SSSC compared to series • Under series capacitive compensation the peak line
capacitor compensation wherein the capacitor is cut- current has increased to 0.95 p.u, as well as real and
off on fault and the system fault current depends only reactive power flow are increased to 0.66 p.u. and
on the impedance of uncompensated line. In many 0.24 p.u. as shown in the figs 5b and 6b.
: practical applications as of now, only the capacitive • Under 3-phase fault, the fault current (peak) is 1.95
compensation characteristic of SSSC is used and it is p.u. and when inductive compensation is introduced, it
not operated in the inductive portion of its V-I reduces to 1.45 p.u., after 10 cycles from fault
characteristic in the compensating mode [5]. But the initiation time as shown in figs 7a and 7b.
useful property of limiting fault current can be
attained when the SSSC is operated in the inductive VII CONCLUSION
portion of its V-I characteristics when an external An SSSC has been modeled using MA TLAB -
fault occurs. When SSSC is used for series Simulink Simulation package. The SSSC injects
compensation, on occurrence of fault, the control synchronous sinusoidal voltage almost in quadrature
action of SSSC is changed such that it operates on the with the line current. The power flow in the
inductive compensation portion of its V-I transmission line increases when the injected voltage
characteristics in the reactance control mode as if by the SSSC emulates a capacitive reactance in series
introducing series inductive impedance in the line with the transmission line. A novel operating practice
thereby limiting the fault current flowing through the to limit fault current under external fault condition by
system. This proposed operating practice of using making SSSC to emulate an inductive compensation
SSSC to limit fault current under external fault is suggested in this paper. The operation of model is
condition is simulated. verified by simulation studies of introducing SSSC in
series with a simple transmission line connecting two
IV SIMULATION machines. This can be extended for more complex
To obtain the performance of SSSC under normal as power system networks.
well as under external 3-phase short circuit of the
system, the simulation is carried out on the test system VIII REFERENCES
shown in fig 2. The two machine system as bus 1. N.Hingorani,'FACTS- Flexible AC Transmission
Systems', lEE Inter. Conf. on AC-DC Power
voltage VI = 1.05 L12" and V2 = 0.963 L - 6.31" and
Transmission, 1991 ,pp.I-7.
connected by a transmission line of reactance XL = 0.8
2. J.Urbank et al.,'Thyristor controlled series
on a 100 MY A base. The supply freq is 50Hz. The
compensation prototype installation at the Slatt
SSSC is modeled in MA TLAB - Simulink using
500 kV substation', IEEE Trans on Power
Power system blocksets. The SSSC is introduced at
Delivery,VoI.8, No.3, July 1993,pp.1460-1469.
middle of the transmission line.
3. L.Gyugyi, C.Schauder and K.Sen,'Static
V RESULTS
synchronous series compensator: A solid state
Under Normal conditions the line current and power
approach to the series compensation of
flow are shown in figs 5a and 6a respectively. When
transmission lines', IEEE Trans on Power
degree of compensation is 50% the current and power
Delivery, Vol. 12, No.l,July 1997,pp.406-417.
flow are shown in figs 5b and 6b. Under a 3-phase
4. K.R.Padiyar, A.M.Kulkarni, 'Flexible AC
symmetrical fault at bus 2, without compensation the
Transmission Systems: A status review'
voltage and current waveform is shown in fig 7a. The
Sadhana,Vo1.22, Part 6, Dec. 1997, pp.781-796. '
real and reactive power flow in the line under this
5. N.G.Hingorani and L.Gyugyi, 'Understanding
condition is shown fig 8a. The next case is when a 3-
FACTS- Concepts and Technology of Flexible AC
phase fault at bus 2 occurs and inductive
transmission Systems', IEEE Press, 2000.
compensation is introduced after two cycles with
6. Vasudev K 'Modelling and Simulation of Static
respect to fault initiation time, then the line current
Synchronous Series Compensator' B.Tech.
Thesis, EE Dept. IITM, May 2002.
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compensation b) with series capacitor compensation. circuit fault initiated at bus 2 after 0.2 seconds and lasting for 10
cycles a) without compensation b) with inductive compensation
introduced at 0.24 second so as to reduce the fault current level.

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Fig.6 Active and Reactive power flow in line at bus 2 a) without Fig.8 Active and reactive power flow under 3-phase short circuit
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