Fig. 3.1: Typical DVR circuit topology (single-phase representation).

3.2. Harmonic Filter

The main task of harmonic filter is to keep the harmonic voltage content generated by
the voltage source converters to the permissible level. It has a small rating approximately 2%
of the load MVA connected to delta-connected tertiary winding of the injection transformer.

3.3. Voltage Source Converter

A VSC is a power electronic system consists of a storage device and switching devices,
which can generate a sinusoidal voltage at any required frequency, magnitude, and phase
angle. In the DVR application, the VSC is used to temporarily replace the supply voltage or
to generate the part of the supply voltage which is missing. Numerous circuit topologies are
available for the VSC. A widely used method is the two level or multilevel three-phase
converters which shares a dc capacitor between all phases. The purpose of this capacitor is
mainly to absorb harmonic ripple and hence it has a relatively small energy storage
requirement, particularly when operating in balanced conditions. The size of this capacitor
has to be increased if needed to provide voltage support in unbalanced conditions. Also, as
the capacitor is shared between the three phases, sag on only one phase may cause a
distortion in the injected current waveforms on the other phases. Another popularly used
converter topology is the H-bridge cascade inverter. Converters with this topology are
suitable in high voltage and power system applications due to their ability to synthesize
waveforms with better harmonic spectrums, and attain higher voltages with a limited
maximum device rating. Some characteristics of this topology are:
1) Modularized circuit layout and packaging is possible because each level has the same
structure. Thus adapting the converter for use in various systems with different operating
voltages can be achieved by increasing or reducing the number of modules. This also permits
Transformer-free operation as the voltage of the converter can be matched to the system.
2) Each bridge can be controlled independently permitting efficient single phase voltage
compensation.
3) The inherent energy storage capability of the capacitors makes this topology ideal for
transient injection of real power.

Figure 3.2. DVR with supply rectified energy

3.3.1. Switching Devices

There are four main types of switching devices: Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field
Effect Transistors (MOSFET), Gate Turn-Off thyristors (GTO), Insulated Gate Bipolar
Transistors (IGBT), and Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristors (IGCT). Each type has its
own benefits and drawbacks. The MOSFET requires a high on-resistance and has fast
switching times. It is capable of working beyond the 20 kHz frequency. The limitations are
that the increasing on-resistance with increasing voltage limits the device to applications with
just a few hundred volts. The GTO is a latching device that can be turned off by a negative
pulse of current to its gate. The GTO is best suited for high voltage applications. The
disadvantages of the GTO are that GTO based devices are not able to meet the dynamic
requirements of a DVR.
The IGBT is considered to be a newer device compared to the MOSFET and GTO. It
was first introduced in the early 1980s and has become a popular device Fig. 1. DVR series
connected topology because of its superior characteristics. In essence, it is a three terminal
controllable switch that combines the fast switching times of the MOSFET with the high
voltage capabilities of the GTO. The result of this combination is a medium speed
controllable switch capable of supporting the medium power range. The IGCT is a recent
compact device with enhanced performance and reliability that allows building VSC with
very large power ratings. Because of the highly sophisticated converter design with IGCTs,
the DVR can compensate dips which are beyond the capability of the past DVRs using
conventional devices.

3.3.2. Storage Devices

The purpose is to supply the necessary energy to the VSC via a dc link for the
generation of injected voltages. The different kinds of energy storage devices are
superconductive magnetic energy storage (SMES), batteries, and capacitance. In fact, the
capacity of the stored energy directly determines the duration of the sag which can be
mitigating by the DVR. Batteries are the common choice and can be highly effective if a high
voltage battery configuration is used. This high voltage string of batteries can be placed
across the regulated dc bus with little or no additional circuitry. However, batteries in general
have a short lifetime and often require some type of battery management system, which can
be quite costly. An interesting alternative to batteries is the use of ultra-capacitors, which
have a wider voltage range than batteries and can
be directly paralleled across the input bus. Ultra capacitors have a specific energy density less
than that of a battery, but a specific power greater than a battery, making them ideal for short
(up to several seconds) pulses of power. Certain ultra-capacitors (unsymmetrical
electrochemical) can hold charge over extended periods of time, so as to act like a battery.
However, unlike batteries, these ultra-capacitors have a short charge time and much longer
lifetime.

3.4. DC Charging Circuit

The dc charging circuit has two main tasks. The first task is to charge the energy source
after a sag compensation event. The second task is to maintain dc link voltage at the nominal
dc link voltage. Different topologies are used to charge the dc-link such as an external power
supply or by connecting the dc side of the DVR to the controlled or uncontrolled rectifier to
maintain the dc voltage. The other side of the rectifier can be from a main power line or from
an auxiliary feeder.
3.5. Control and Protection
The control mechanism of the general configuration typically consists of hardware with
programmable logic. In past DVR development, this would normally consist of Digital Signal
Processing (DSP) boards. The software on the DSP board provides the controls such as
detection and correction. Filters are commonly used for these purposes. The type of filter
algorithm has varied. It ranges from the Fourier Transform (FT), the Phase-Locked Loop
(PLL), to the Wavelet Transform (WT), just to name a few. Although, the Fourier Transform
still remains the most common type. To maximize dynamic performance, a direct feed
forward type control architecture should be applied in the control concept of the DVR. With
this concept a fast response time (approximately 1ms) can be achieved to compensate voltage
sags. All protective functions of the DVR should be implemented in the software. Differential
current protection of the transformer, or short circuit current on the customer load side are
only two examples of many protection functions possibility. Depending on the particular fault
condition, the fast control and protection may switch the DVR into bypass if it becomes
inoperable, thus securing an uninterrupted energy flow to the customer’s plant.

3.6. Operating Principle of DVR

The basic function of the DVR is to inject a dynamically controlled voltage VDVR
generated by a forced commutated converter in series to the bus voltage by means of a
booster transformer. The momentary amplitudes of the three injected phase voltages are
controlled such as to eliminate any detrimental effects of a bus fault to the load voltage VL.
This means that any differential voltages caused by transient disturbances in the ac feeder
will be compensated by an equivalent voltage generated by the converter and injected on the
medium voltage level through the booster transformer. The DVR works independently of the
type of fault or any event that happens in the system, provided that the whole system remains
connected to the supply grid, i.e. the line breaker does not trip. For most practical cases, a
more economical design can be achieved by only compensating the positive and negative
sequence components of the voltage disturbance seen at the input of the DVR. This option is
Reasonable because for a typical distribution bus configuration, the zero sequence part of a
disturbance will not pass through the step down transformer because of infinite impedance
for this component. The DVR has two modes of operation which are: standby mode and
boost mode. In standby mode (VDVR=0), the booster transformer’s low voltage winding is
shorted through the converter. No switching of semiconductors occurs in this mode of
operation, because the individual converter legs are triggered such as to establish a short-
circuit path for the transformer connection. Therefore, only the comparatively low conduction
losses of the semiconductors in this current loop contribute to the losses. The DVR will be
most of the time in this mode. In boost mode (VDVR>0), the DVR is injecting a
compensation voltage through the booster transformer due to a detection of a supply voltage
disturbance.
The DVR has three modes of operation which are:
[Link] mode
[Link] mode
[Link]/boost mode.

[Link] Mode :
If the over current on the load side exceeds a permissible limit due to short circuit on the
load or large inrush current, the DVR will be isolated from the systems by using the bypass
switches (S2 and S3 will open) and supplying another path for current (S1 will be closed).