Fault Location Method for STATCOM Connected Transmission Lines Using CCM

Determining the fault location using conventional impedance based distance relay in the presence of FACTS controllers is a challenging task in a transmission line. A new distance protection method is developed to locate the fault in a transmission line compensated with STATCOM with simple calculations. The proposed protection method considers the STATCOM injected/absorbed current to correct the fault loop apparent impedance and accordingly calculates the actual distance to the fault location. The comprehensive equations needed for apparent impedance calculation are also outlined and the performance is evaluated and tested with a typical 400 KV transmission system for different fault types and locations using MATLAB/SIMULINK software. The evaluation results indicate that the new protection method effectively estimates the exact fault location by mitigating the impact of STATCOM on distance relay performance with error less than 0.3%.

Press-pack IGBTs for HVDC and FACTS

The popularity of insulated gate bipolar transistors(IGBTs)for use in high-voltage direct current(HVDC)transmission and flexible AC transmission systems(FACTS)is increasing.Unfortunately,for these applications wire-bond IGBT technology has a number of shortcomings,such as insufficient current ratings for the most powerful schemes,and inability to fail to short-circuit.Press-pack IGBT technology,conversely,offers increased current ratings,and an inherent short-circuit failure mode,making it a more attractive choice for HVDC and FACTS.However,the design and manufacture of these devices requires a comprehensive understanding of the unique technical challenges,which differ markedly from those for wirebond modules or traditional pressure contact devices.Specific challenges include providing a high degree of mechanical protection for the IGBT chip against normal operating stresses.Furthermore,it is essential to achieve uniform contact pressure across each chip surface to ensure optimum performance.To achieve this,manufacturers have designed products that use rigid copper electrodes manufactured to tighter tolerances than for other pressure contact devices,such as thyristors,and products that use compliant electrodes,incorporating spring assemblies.Dynex is in the advanced stages of development of press-pack IGBT technology with demonstrated robust solutions for the technical challenges outlined in this paper.Design success has been achieved through the use of state-of-the-art simulations in conjunction with a long history of manufacturing expertise for bipolar and IGBT products.Finally,multiple press-pack IGBT variants are currently undergoing evaluation tests prior to product release.

Interactive DE for solving combined security environmental economic dispatch considering FACTS technology

This paper presents an efficient interactive differential evolution ODE） to solve the multi-objective security environmental/economic dispatch （SEED） pro- blem considering multi shunt flexible AC transmission system （FACTS） devices. Two sub problems are proposed. The first one is related to the active power planning to minimize the combined total fuel cost and emissions, while the second is a reactive power planning （RPP） using multi shunt FACTS device based static VAR compensator （SVC） installed at specified buses to make fine corrections to the voltage deviation, voltage phase profiles and reactive power violation. The migration operation inspired from biogeography-based optimization （BBO） algorithm is newly introduced in the proposed approach, thereby effectively exploring and exploiting promising regions in a space search by creating dynamically new efficient partitions. This new mechanism based migration between individuals from different subsystems makes the initial partitions to react more by changing experiences. To validate the robustness of the proposed approach, the proposed algorithm is tested on the Algerian 59-bus electrical network and on a large system, 40 generating units considering valve-point loading effect. Comparison of the results with recent global optimization methods show the superiority of the proposed IDE approach and confirm its potential for solving practical optimal power flow in terms of solution quality and convergence characteristics.