946 IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 11, No.

2, April 1996

COMMUTATION FAILURES IN HVDC TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS

C.V.Thio, Senior Member J.B. Davies, Non-Member K.L. Kent, Member
Manitoba Hydro
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

ABSTRACT ways of decreasing the commutation failure frequency

This paper provides a formulation for the initiation or onset
mechanism of commutation failures in line-commutated
thyristor converters, assuming infinite (zero impedance) ac
systems. A theoretical development and a parametric analysis
is given. Theory validation by simulation and comparison to
actual field experieiice data is also given.
Keywords: HVDC transmission, commutation failures,
simulation
INTRODUCTION
A paradox of life is effectively conveyed in a
philosophers [l] saying, Life can only be understood
backwards; but it must be lived forwards. A similar
paradox seems to be associated with commutation failures
in HVDC systems.
Commutation failures are a very frequent dynamic event
in HVdc systems. When they occur, the cause and system
responses are usually explainable and understood. But
prediction of their occurrence with any accuracy in terms of
the level or magnitude of system disturbances which will,
or will not, cause them in various schemes has not been
found in publications.
A phenomenon in thyristor valves is that the internal
stored charges produced during a forward conduction
interval must be removed before the valve can establish a
forward voltage blocking capability. A dc inverter
therefore requires a certain minimum negative voltage-time
area, where time is the dominant factor, provided by a
commutation margin angle. Most commutation failures are
caused by voltage disturbances due to ac system faults and
they can never be completely avoided. The incidence or
onset of failures depends on the electrical proximity
(distance away) of ac faults to the inverter, which in turn
determines the magnitude of the sudden ac voltage
depression and phase shift. But very little is presently
documented on the ac undervoltage magnitudes which first
cause the onset of failures and what system parameters
most affect these onset levels.
There are questions as to why some faults cause
commutation failures and others do not. What ac voltage
disturbance levels will not initiate failures? Is this random
or are there some well defined sensitivities? What ac or dcvolt-time area for commutation must remain the same
system parameters affect these sensitivities? Are there
95 SM 377-2 PWRD A paper recommended and approved
by the IEEE Transmission and Distribution Committee
of the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presentat-
ion at the 1995 IEEE/PES Summer Meeting, July 23-27,
1995: Portland, OR. Manuscript submitted December
19, 1994; made available for printing April 27,1995.
0885-8977/96/$05 .OO 0 1995 IEEE
other than by simply increasing the commutation margin
angle which has other negative side effects? What is the
optimum angle increase? Can the ac and d$ system or
control designs significantly affect the probability of
commutation failures?
Very little research has been reported on this subject.
The emphasis has been to optimize dc controls to
efficiently recover from commutation failures and
minimize energy loss to systems. However, a better
understanding of this phenomena is becoming increasingly
important for accurately representing dc systems in various
simulation programs, for solving operating problems, for
system designs and specifications, and also for certain
aspects of multi-terminal dc systems.
THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT
Symmetrical Three-phase Conditions
This theoretical development relates to the voltage and
phase effects at an ideal ac commutating voltage point
referred to the dc side of converter transformers, and where
any healthy phases remain stable or unchanged at fault
incidence. For the present, infinite (zero impedance) ac
systems are assumed.
Fig. 1 shows the inverter commutation process and the
effect of a sudden commutating voltage reduction. The
initial theoretical development is based on symmetrical
three-phase considerations.
The volt-time area, A, required for the commutation
process for the normal condition is given by:
where the symbols are defined in Fig. 1 and also, a+p=x-y
.*. A =-E (COSa+COSy). (1)
E
If the three-phase commutating voltages were to
suddenly and symmetrically decrease, and assuming that
the dc current and the firing angle temporarily remain
constant (assume the controls do not move) in a
theoretically ideal situation, then the requirement that the
means that the end of commutation will extend into the
time period of the normal commutation margin, say to a
point where the margin remaining is y. Then, equating
volt-time areas for the two conditions gives:
-(cosa+cosy)
E = -(cosc~+cosy),
E E-COSa+cOSy . (2)
or -
E E E -cosa+cosy
This equation basically determines (by calculating y) the
infringement on the commutation margin as a result of a
given, per unit, reduced commutating voltage (E/E).
A further expression can be derived assuming that,
besides the voltage reduction, a dc current increase also
 947

Now substituting this equation into (2) to eliminate cosy,

results in the following:

-.
e
________-- L-I-
a) Three Phase Fault
_ _ _ _ _ _-
, ,
- - - - --
--- - .
voltage, due to-
Equation
b) Single Phase Fault
states that the per unit commutating
(4)
a symmetrical three-phase voltage reduction
\ \
, (balanced three-phase ground fault), required to extend the
I commutation time interval to the critical point beyond
I
which commutation failure is defined, is proportional to the
8
per unit dc current and the angle-function ratio (cosa+cosy)l
(cosa+cosyo).
In order to utilize (4) for practical cases, the normal
inverter firing angle (or cosa) must be known or
determined for specific given conditions.
From (3):
cosa = EIdxc - cosy .
I
I
, - E
- _ _ _ - - - - _ _ - - - - .-,- .- _ _:+p+y-b:
-----___----- The commutating reactance, Xc, is usually expressed in per
E = line-to-line rms commutating voltage unit on the converter transformer full load, or nominal,
E = reduced line-to-line rms commutating voltage due to a fault
J = firing angle of the valves
rating base:
.t = commutation overlap angle
y = nominal commutation margin angle
y = commutation margin angle following a voltage reduction
yo = critical commutation margin angle corresponding to required Substituting into the above equation:
turn-off time of the valves
A = volt-time area required for the commutation process EFL I d
cosa = --xcpu- cosy.
Q = zero-crossing phase shift angle due to possible unsymmetrical E IdFL
voltage reduction from, for example, a single-phase fault Except perhaps for lower load levels, the ratio of
Inverter Commutation Process Showing the Effect of commutating Voltages (EFL/E) will usually be very close to
Sudden Commutating Voltage Reductions unity. Then:
I
occurs for or during the total commutation process, and cosa =
Id,
xcp-cosy. (5)
again assuming that the firing angle (controls) remains
constan t . And (4) can then be rewritten as:
From the basic dc current equation:
E [cosa-cos(a+p)], X, = commutating reactance,
Id =r=, E [COS~+COS~] Expressing this equation in terms of the inverter sudden
and a+p = Z-Y. .*.I - - .
-axc (3) CommutatinP voltage reduction. AV. reauired to oroduce
the theoretical onset of commutation failure:
For the condition without a dc current increase, but with

Id =ac
a voltage reduction, (3) gives:
[cosa+cosy]
For the condition with both a dc current increase and a
AV=l--d I (ldhdFL)Xcpu
I, (I~/I~L>XCPU+ cosy, -cosy +
The usual condition of most interest, and the worst
condition for commutation failures, excluding overloads,
voltage reduction, . and further assuming that the will be at full load where Id/IdFL=l.O.Equation ( 5 ) then
combination of these two parameter changes extends the reduces to:
end of commutation just to the critical point where cosa = xcpu- cosy, (7)
commutation failure may occur, that is, at yo, ( 3 ) gives:
and (6) becomes:
Id = mE y a + cosy()];
A V = l - - Id xcpu
where I, is the new, larger dc current. Id xcpu + cosyo-cosy .
It should be noted that the effective value of yo in
Equations (6) and (8) give the maximum inverter voltage
thyristor valves may be dictated by forward recovery
reduction which will not, in theory, cause commutation
protection, with a setting selected as the safe value for the failure or, as a corollary, it gives the minimum voltage
actual thyristors. reduction required to produce the onset of commutation
The above two expressions lead to the equation: failures for a balanced three-phase ground fault in the ac
--- COSa+cOSyo .
Id system, without consideration of any possible fundamental
Id COSa+COSy wave distortions or phase angle shifts.
Solving for cosy,
Unsymmetrical Three-phase Conditions
cosy
I
=+(cosa+cosy,) - cosa.
d As depicted in Fig. la, the fundamental sine wave
948
crossings do not shift in time with symmetrical three-phase
voltage reductions. But for a system single-phase line-to-
ground fault, the voltage reduction in one phase at the
inverter will cause a reduction in two line-to-line voltages
and a resultant phase shift in the zero crossings of the
commutating voltages. These phase shifts cause a decrease
in the commutation margin for some of the valve
commutations in the cycle, and cause an increase for
others. Then, the onset or probability of commutation
failures depends on both the voltage reduction magnitude
and the zero-crossing phase shift.
This phase shift, designated Cp, is depicted in Fig. lb. It
infringes upon the allocated time or angle required for the
critical commutation margin yo. If the onset of failure is
then to be made exactly equivalent to the condition without
the shift, then the critical margin must be effectively
recaptured by adding the phase shift to the margin angle yo.
The theoretical effect of this is therefore to alter ( 6 ) and (8)
to the following:
(9)
In comparing symmetrical three-phase with single-phase
faults, besides the effect of the phase shift, there is a subtle
point to be made about the voltage reduction itself, not the
phase shift caused by the voltage reduction. As shown in
Fig. 1, a reduction in any phase voltage will extend the total
time required for the commutation process. But the
decrease in the line-to-line voltage is almost totally
dominated by one phase voltage only. In Fig. 1, this is the
bottom wave. This is because the other phase will always
be near its zero-crossing throughout the commutation
process in most dc schemes using normal parameters and
significant per-unit loadings. Near its zero-crossing, this
phase will not vary significantly for voltage reductions
considered in this context. Therefore, because a sudden
change in the line-to-line commutating voltage is mainly
determined by the change in only one phase voltage, it is of
little significance whether the voltage reduction takes place
only in that one phase or in all three phases, as far as the
first critical commutation process is concerned. Therefore,
in terms of the voltage reduction itself affecting the
commutation, in theory, it turns out that there is very little
difference between a symmetrical three-phase reduction
and a single-phase reduction.
A rather extensive treatise, beyond the scope of this
paper, was done, both mathematically and by simulations,
to prove this particular concept and to determine the extent
of the potential error involved. It turns out that the error is,
at most, a few percentage points of AV, depending on the
range of conditions; and that the probability of
commutation failures is very slightly greater than that
predicted by theory for single-phase faults.
It was concluded that (9) can be considered as the
generalized equation where the phase shift 4) would go to
zero for the case of a symmetrical three-phase voltage
reduction. Therefore, the Ifiain difference, in theory, in the
commutation failure probability between three-phase and
single-phase faults must be mainly attributed to the zero-
crossing phase shifts for single-phase faults, ignoring non-
power frequency distortions and assuming infinite ac
systems.
In (9), the AV refers to the phase voltage for single-phase
faults, specifically on the faulted phase. For symmetrical
three-phase reductions, the per unit AV is the same for
phase and line quantities.
As shown in Fig. 1, the phase shift Cp is a function of the
AV and this relationship can be derived.
The zero reference in Fig. 1 can be conveniently shifted
30" to correspond to the a-phase voltage zero. The three
phase voltages are then given by:
DE DE
$5 sin(ot); Eb=-sin(ot+1200);
E,= - $5 E,= DE.
-
$5 sin(wt-120").
The normal crossover points between a-phase and b-
phase are then at 30" and 210". However, if the b-phase
magnitude is reduced to some per unit value, which gives
the AV value, then the crossover can be found from:
sin at = (1- AV) sin(ot+12O0)
= (1- AV){cosl20" sinwt + sinl20" cosot)
1
= (1- AV)(- Sinat +~n
1
COSOt)
The line-to-line commutating voltage zero crossing
phase shift is then given by:
Equations (9) and (10) contain the two dependent factors
AV and Cp. Iterative solutions are the best solution
technique.
Equation (10) shows that the phase shift can vary
between 0" (for AV=O) and 30" (for AV=l). Fig. 2 shows a
plot of the phase shift for the AV range of interest in this
study.
0 00 0 10 0 20 0 30 0 40
Voltage Reduction @erunit) - AV (phase-to-ground)
Theoretical Commutating Voltage Zero-Crossing Phase Shift
Versus Phase Voltage Reduction for System Single-phase to Ground
Faults
PARAMETRIC BEHAVIOR OF COMMUTATION FAILURES
Considering Sytnmetrical Three-phase Conditions
A practical example will demonstrate the use of the
equations.
For the Nelson River HVdc scheme, which is a large,
bulk power, long overhead line system, Xqu=20%, y=18",
az138.7" (from (7)). Considering a constant dc current and
an impractical limit-case of yO=O"(perfect ideal valves):
AV = 1 - O.U(O.2 + 1 - ~ 0 ~ 1E820%.
~)
That is, a voltage reduction of 20% would be required to

produce a commutation failure. If a more realistic valve
turn-off of 'y0=8' is assumed, the voltage reduction would
have to be:
AV = 1 - 0.2/(0.2 + cos8O - cosl8") z 16.4%.
If a dc current increase of 5% occurred due to the reduced
ac voltage, then the voltage reduction required to produce
commutation failure would only have to be:
AV = 1 - 1.05 x 0.240.2 + cos8' - cosl8") E 12.2%.
The corresponding AV for a 10% current increase would
be about 8%.
The above demonstrates that any dc current increase,
dynamically created, is critical for commutation failures,
even for relatively minor disturbances due to very remote
ac system faults, if the control system (firing angle a)does
not move (a condition of (8)). In a real system, at least for
the first few commutations immediately following the fault
initiation and corresponding voltage reduction, and
assuming that no commutation failure has occurred, the dc
current may not have time to rise significantly. This is a
function of the time constant of the main dc circuit which
often contains significant reactance (smoothing reactor,
commutating reactance, and line reactance). This means
that the I'& term in (6) and (8) may often tend to unity, or
be quite small, for the time frame of interest in this treatise.
After the first few commutations following the fault, if
commutation failures have still not occurred, fast dc
controls then have some time to react to a rising dc current
and somewhat counteract this effect on subsequent
commutations. However, as soon as the first commutation
failure occurs, the driving voltage is greatly increased
because the inverter back voltage collapses. At this point,
the current rise can be dramatic.
In (6), (8), or (9), the power frequency is indirectly
reflected in the critical commutation margin angle y' o
corresponding to the required turn-off time of the valves.
Other than this small indirect effect of frequency, the basic
equations are frequency invariant. This means that, if the
per unit parameters and the angles, including yoyo, are
selected the same, then the performance is theoretically
identical for 60 Hz and 50 Hz systems. Therefore, a 50 Hz
system trying to employ a 15' margin may experience
unsatisfactory performance compared to 60 Hz systems
using 18'.
Fig. 3 shows some plots of (6) for various parameter
changes.
A significant improvement due to utilization of a lower
commutating reactance can be seen in Fig. 3. In fact, it is
one of the most dominant parameters affecting onset.
Therefore, systems with lower commutating reactances
may show a significantly lower incidence of commutation
failures due to remote ac system faults.
In dc schemes, there is an increasing use of a temporary
resetting of the commutation margin angle for conditions or
switchings which are known to frequently cause
commutation failures. The most common resetting value is
about a 10' increase above the normal y, or about 28' [21.
However, this aspect of dc operation does not appear to be
well researched and resetting values seem to be mainly
from trial-and-error experience.
Fig. 3 shows that the improvement in failure onset is
approximately linear with increasing gamma. For lower
949
UT I I
14 16 18 20 22 24 26
Commutation Margin Angle - y (degrees)
28
Curves of Sudden Ac Voltage Reduction Required to Produce
I
Onset of Commutation Failures for a Balanced Three-phase Ground
Fault
commutating reactances, the improvement is somewhat
greater - note the higher slope on the corresponding lines.
For a system design, in comparing the relative merits of
reducing commutation failure risk via increased margin
angle setting versus decreased commutating reactance, it is
important to note that increased margin increases the valve
voltage stresses and also the reactive power consumption,
whereas lower commutating reactance decreases both of
these.
Considering Unsymmetrical Three-phase Conditions
Ac networks, where phase voltages during faults depend
on the fault location and system grounding, can be
mathematically solved by using symmetrical components.
This analysis cannot be used to determine any exact
quantities on the valve side of converter transformers
because it does not consider the existence and effects of the
valves, the commutation process and the dc current.
Notwithstanding this fact, it can be used to visualize a few
conceptual issues within this context [31.
For a single-phase fault, it can be shown that two line-to-
line voltages experience significant voltage magnitude
reductions on the wye transformer and one of these
voltages also has associated with It an unfavorable phase
shift for commutation because its zero crossing advances.
In contrast, only one line-to-line voltage on the delta
transformer experiences a significant voltage reduction and
also its phase shift will be near zero. The phase shifts in the
wye are also larger than in the delta. Fig. 4 shows the above
effects for a remote single-phase fault causing a phase
voltage reduction to 0.8 per unit at the ac bus, and with the
valve groups blocked and open circuited. At the critical
point where commutation failures first start occurring in an
inverter, the combination of voltage magnitude and phase
shift is such that the wye group has less area in which to
commutate as compared to the delta group. Because of
these effects, it could be expected that the wye group may
be more prone to commutation failures. In a real system,
this is unlikely to be very apparent. It may show up in a
statistical analysis of many fault cases where the valves in
a wye group are the first to fail commutation more often
than the delta group valves in a 12-pulse pair. An important
side benefit of this for checking the theory is that the
950

Reduction of Inverter Bus Phase A to 0.8 p.u. (Remote S-L-G fault) at 0.01 sec.
to produce onset would be 16.4%. Therefore, the equivalent
effect of the phase shift in this case is to reduce the onset
AV from 16.4% to about 14% (from Fig. 5 ) . It follows that
the voltage reduction itself, not the corresponding phase
shift, remains the most dominant factor determining onset.
The basic reason for this is that the critical onset occurs
under conditions corresponding to faults significantly
isolated from the inverter bus, resulting in the phase shifts
being quite small as shown in Fig. 2.
The importance of the AV fundamentally relates back to
the fact that the most dominant factor is the commutation
area requirement identified by the overlap angle p. That is
why a reduction of the commutating reactance or the load
current has such a significant effect on commutation
failures.
Fig. 6 contains a family of curves showing the
parametric sensitivities of the generalized commutation
failure theory and equations.
'
4 0 h
3

Line-to-Line Voltages on the Inverter AC Bus and on the DC

Side of the Converter Transformers with the Valve Groups Blocked, for
3. Single-phase Fault at a Remote Location from the Inverter

inverter ac bus provides the normal and convenient

measuring point for the phase voltages and corresponding
AV magnitudes which are then retained across the wye-wye
transformer to the valve side.
From the solution of (9) and (lo), Fig. 5 shows the ac
voltage reductions required to produce onset of
commutation failures for single-phase to ground faults. For
comparison of the three-phase and single-phase faults, two
curves from Fig. 3 (for the cases of 'yo=8" plus Xc .=0.2 pu
and 0.1 pu, respectively) are repeated in Fig. 5. T h s shows
that single-phase faults are somewhat more onerous for the
onset or probability of commutation failures than three-
phase faults. The difference is due to the phase shift, most
critical in the wye connected group, for single-phase faults.

-0

50
H8 40
e
5 30
fi
.-
4 20
B
!z
$10 nominal values: y=18", y,=Xo, I,=l Opu, X,F,=O 2pu, @=OO
r=:
Family of Curves Showing the Parametric Sensitivity of thi

' 18 20 22
%ommutation Margin Angle - y (degrees)
24 26 28
Generalized Commutation Failure Theory and Equations

SIMULATION AND THEORY VALIDATION

Comparative Curves of Sudden AC Voltage Reducuon
Required to Produce Onset of Commutation Failures for Single Phase- Simulation
to-Ground and Balanced Three-phase Ground Faults.

To understand the relative importance of the voltage
reduction versus the phase shift, it is possible to compare
the results in Fig. 5 to equivalent and hypothetical single-
phase faults that do not cause any phase shift. To do this, it
is only necessary to solve (9) with +O". For the case of
p18", y,,=8", and XWu=0.2pu, the phase voltage reduction
The CIGRE dc Benchmark Model has been described in
various references [4][5] and was modeled in the EMTDC
(Electromagnetic Transients DC) program. The Benchmark
model is a 50 Hz, monopolar cable system rated at 1000
MW and 500 kV. It has a commutating reactance of 0.18 pu
on transformer rating base. It has a low reactance in the dc

circuit (no defined smoothing reactor) and a large dc cable
capacitance. For this study, an arbitrarily large smoothing
reactor was placed at the inverter to mitigate for the
otherwise large dc current rise that this Benchmark circuit
would produce. The inverter compensation is made up of
shunt capacitors and ac filters, including a low order
damped filter. The ac systems were made infinite for these
simulations (no regulation or distortion). The simulation
results are obtained by reductions of phase voltages at the
inverter commutating bus.
To accurately study commutation failures with
simulation, special techniques were devised to determine
the fault AV, to establish the cause of the inception or start
of commutation failures as being attributable to the AV or
phase shift, and to be able to discriminate from, or identify
those, commutation failures which could be influenced by
dc current rise, control movement or other effects.
Once the AV for a particular fault was established, the
same fault was then applied 100 times with an equal 0.2
millisecond time-on-wave distribution over one cycle (20
ms at 50Hz), to obtain a curve of the probability of
commutation failure versus the AV for each circuit
condition considered.
Validation of Symmetrical Three-phase Theory
Fig. 7, similar to Fig. 3, shows curves for three-phase
faults on the Benchmark circuit. The theoretical curves are
obtained from (8).
n
$40
2i 30
t decrease above about 80% probability. This effect is due to
8 faults applied during or after a successful commutation but
'5
.g 20
dQ
310
* -X, .=O.l8pu, Id=l.Opu (from theory)
2 1 % I
4 16 18 20 22 24 26
Commutation Margin Angle - y (degrees)
Curves of Sudden AC Voltage Reduction Required to Produce
Onset of Commutation Failures for Balanced Three-phase to Ground
Faults on the CIGRE DC Benchmark Model
Fig. 8, representing 400 separate fault applications,
shows a typical curve of the commutation failure
probability versus three-phase voltage reduction AV. Each
curve like this was used to obtain one point on the
corresponding Fig. 7 curve. Since the probability curves
rise so sharply, the onset of commutation failure can fairly
accurately be taken as the AV at the lower knee-point of the
curve. In Fig. 8, this would be at AV=33%.
Three Phase Reduction (y;24", yo=Oo)
Typical Curve of Commutation Failure Probability Due to
Time-on-Wave of Fault Inception Versus Voltage Reduction AV for a
Three-phase Fault on the Benchmark Model
The points from a few of the simulations that were run
95 1
are plotted on Fig. 7 to demonstrate the very close
agreement between the system simulations and the
theoretical equation curves.
Validation of Unsymmetrical Three-Phnse Theory
Fig. 9, similar to Fig. 5, shows curves for single-phase
faults on the Benchmark circuit. The theoretical curves are
obtained from the solutions of (9) and (10).
Note that the system simulations plotted on Fig. 9 give a
slightly higher probability of commutation failure (lower
onset AV) than the equation curves. This is consistent with,
and due to, the small error that was previously explained in
conjunction with (9). Note also that the error is smaller for
the more practical cases with y0=8" and also for high y
values. This is as predicted by the theory.
'
y/!
y(j=OO
40
30 1 ; i ;.
........... .............. ..........................
/
::......... .' ...............
A*,--!
.............. ............ ...............
/
20 i ........................... i i I........... ,......
i
I o n -
X, ,=O. 1 Spu, I,=l .Opu (from theory)
x and. inicate resaectwe simulahon results 13
14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
Commutation Margin Angle - y (degrees)
Curves of Sudden AC Voltage Reduction Required to Produce
Onset of Commutation Failures for Single-phase to Ground Faults on
the CIGRE DC Benchmark Model
Fig. 10 shows a typical probability curve for single-
phase voltage reductions which show a significant slope
before the zero crossing. For these events, the gamma
measurement detects a change early enough for the controls
to have time to react before the next critical commutation,
which turns out to be the third one later (the first one to
have an unfavorable phase shift). To make these particular
28
fault events fail commutation, a higher AV (as much as
35%) was required, hence the slope reduction on the
probability curves.
Single Phase Reduction (y=lSO,yo=Oo)
Fig. 10: Typical Curve of Commutation Failure Probabilit Due to Time
on-Wave of Fault Inception Versus Voltage Reduction A+ for a Single
Phase Fault on the Benchmark Model
This slope effect is real and it will exist in most systems
with modern controls. What this means is that,
occasionally, a single-phase system fault may occur which
results in quite a large phase voltage reduction at the
inverter bus but without causing commutation failures. It
could therefore be quite misleading to jump to general
conclusions about system faults on the basis of such an
event. Other than this particular low probability event, the
time-on-wave of the fault occurrence is generally not very
952
influential to the onset or probability of commutation
failures.
It was also observed in the simulations that, around the
onset AV, the wye group would fail commutation first,
virtually 100% of the time, just as the theory predicts. It
was not until the AV was increased beyond onset that the
delta group would begin to fail first. Once the AV is made
large enough to ensure failure in either group, regardless of
other conditions, the division of probability between groups
eventually settles out to be about 50150. This is logical
because at this point the first group to fail commutation
would be dictated by the first commutation to be
encountered in either group following the fault time-on-
wave.
Double line-to-ground faults were also studied and
simulated. These faults are of less interest because they are
rare and they will not be reported on here. Suffice it to say
that the associated fault transfonnation from the ac to dc
side is such that the delta group dominates in failures and
the fault becomes worse than either three-phase or single-
phase faults for equivalent phase voltage reductions on the
ac side. For example, for a particular single-phase case
which has a AV onset of 14%,a double line-to-ground fault
has a AV onset of 11%, with all other circuit conditions the
same.
Effects of DG Current Rise
In Fig. 6, it is shown that, along with %he commutating
reactance, if a significant dc current rise occurs in a
particular dc scheme, then it is one of the most important
par meters.
For the short duration from fault initiation to the time of
first commutation failure, the dc current rise is very nearly
linear. This has been confirmed by simulation runs with
different conditions. Therefore, adhering to the basis of the
theory derivation, the current rise term in (9) should
be taken as the average of the total dc current, including
any rise, at the start of the critical commutation and the
total dc current at the end of that commutation when the
first failure actually occurs. This average value represents
the equivalent current that must be commutated during that
critical process which dictates whether a commutation
failure will occur in accordance with the theory. The dc
current rise can be obtained from the dc current traces for a
fault event which gives a AV near or at the onset level.
Two dc systems are interesting in this context because
they have very different parameters. The New Zealand
Expansion scheme [2] experiences large dc current rise
because it has a low commutation reactance (11.8%), a
small smoothing reactor (160 mH) and a large capacitance
associated with the underwater cable. On the other hand,
Nelson River Bipole-I1 [2] has a large commutating
reactance (20%), a large smoothing reactor (750 mH) and a
large inductance associated with the long dc line.
Fig. 11 shows theoretical and simulation results for
commutation failure onset for the above schemes.
It is seen that current rise effects tend to decrease the
difference in the onset AV between single-phase and three-
phase faults. Compared to three-phase faults, single-phase
faults produce the disadvantage of a phase shift but they
produce the advantage of a lesser dc current rise. The latter
results because the inverter dc back voltage is a function of
Fig. 11;Curves of Sudden AC Voltage Reduction for Onset of
Commutation Failures for Single-phase and Three-phase Faults on
New Zealand Expansion and Nelson River-I1 Systems Showing
Effects of,dc Current Rise
the three-phase ac voltages and is therefore more impacted
by a three-phase reduction.
Fig. 11 also shows that, considering all parameters
discussed so far, two very different systems end up with
commutation failure onset voltages quite close to each
other for both single-phase and three-phase faults. At the
normal operating point of p18", the onset AV's all fall
within a range of about 10% to 14%.Increasing gamma to
only 24" provides a significant advantage by increasing the
AV onset by at least 10% in all cases.
As a test case to show the value of a low commutating
reactance and large smoothing reactor, a Nelson River
Bipole-I1 simulation was run with a modified design. The
commutating reactance was decreased from 20% to 11.8%
and the smoothing reactor inductance was doubled, as if a
spare smoothing reactor was placed in line. For this system,
the onset A V was increased to about 20% (shown in Fig. 11
as "N.R. modified" point), giving a performance
improvement approximately equivalent to operating at
~ 2 4 in" the present system. To put this improvement in
perspective, it was estimated that of the 128 actual system
faults and disturbances that caused commutation failures,
as reported in the next section, 85, or about 67%, of these
would probably not have caused any failures with the
modified system because the voltage reductions would not
have been large enough. The dc system would have been
effectively "blind folded" to many of the more remote
faults occurring out in the ac system.
Commutation Failure Experience On an Actual System
Commutation failures at the inverter of the Nelson River
system over a recent span of six years have been analyzed
[ 6 ] [ 7 ] .The result is shown in Fig. 12 for Bipole-11. The
onset AV is about 10% and this point is placed in Fig. 11
for comparison to the theory and simulation results.
Although this field result is quite close to the other
results, this is not a completely appropriate comparison.

50
O5 7 9 15 17 19 25
1 1 13 21 23
Dorsey Inverter AC Phase Voltage Reduction - AV (%)
Nelson River Bipole-I1 Commutation Failure Probability
Versus Inverter AC Bus Voltage Reduction from Field Results of AC
System Faults
With the field results, not all the system disturbances
occurred at or near full dc loading. This is one reason why
the field result curve does not have as sharp a rise as the
simulation curves. This should also make the field results
optimistic (higher AV onset) compared to theory and
simulation, which were determined at full load for Fig. 11.
On the other hand, the field results include possible effects
from any distortions on the ac bus voltage waveforms. This
could make the field results pessimistic (lower AV onset)
compared to theory and simulation. The extent to which
these opposite effects might trade each other off has not yet
been determined.
CONCLUSIONS
1. A theoretical formulation, including a parametric
analysis, has been developed for the initiation or onset of
commutation failures in HVdc systems, assuming infinite
(zero impedance) ac systems. The theory has been validated
by simulation and compared to some actual field
experience data.
2. The theory shows that ac system single-phase faults
electrically remote from the inverter cause the onset of
commutation failures by a combination of the ac voltage
reduction magnitude and a phase angle shift. However, the
voltage reduction, not the phase shift, is significantly the
most dominant factor.
3. The parametric sensitivity analysis shows that the
most important equipment parameter affecting the
commutation failure onset voltage level is the commutating
reactance. Low commutating reactances can produce a
significant advantage. A transient dc current rise during ac
system faults is a systemic response having significant
influence. A large smoothing reactor can thus act as a
catalyst for a low commutating reactance to produce its
fundamentally large performance advantage. Possible
variations in valve designs and valve turn-off times (critical
commutation margin angle) are not likely to have a large
effect. The studies done to date generally indicate that,
other than the y setting, any other dc control parameters or
strategies, including predictive-type controls, will not
significantly affect the onset of initial commutation
failures. The role of dc controls is therefore seen as an
optimization to prevent subsequent failures and to
efficiently recover the system after faults.
953
4. For many dc systems, the onset of failures should
occur for inverter ac bus phase voltage depressions (AVs)
of about 10% to 14% for both single-phase and three-phase
ac system faults, for a normal commutation margin angle
setting of 18.
FUTURE WORK
As a forward to future work, some preliminary
investigation has been done on the effects that a non-
infinite ac system could have on the theory and results. In
this case, the phase voltage zero-crossings could
theoretically shift, that is, a shift in the ac bus voltage
angle. This must be reconciled through consideration of the
dynamics in the real and complex power flows and balance
immediately following the fault application. This may
result in unfavorable voltage phase angle shifts with
respect to commutation. But any angle change should be
very small because the voltage change, and corresponding
power change, required to produce onset of commutation
failures is small.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank Dr. M.M. Rashwan for providing Nelson River
Bipole-I1 commutation failure data, and Mr. P. Kuffel for
producing the Nelson River EMTDC Results.
REFERENCES
[ 11Saying attributed to Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.
[2] Survey of Controls and Control Performance in HVdc Schemes,
CIGRE Publication, 1994, CIGRE WG 14-02 Report.
[3] C.V. Thio, L.E. Midford, Commutation Failures as a Function of
Various Control and Valve Parameters, Report Presented to CIGRE
WG 14-02, August, 1992.
[4] M. Szechtman, T. Wess, C.V. Thio, First Benchmark Model for
HVDC Control Studies, Electra, No. 135, April 1991.
151 T. Wess, H. Ring, FGH Controls for the HVdc Benchmark Model
Study, Report Presented to CIGRE WG 14-02, October, 1988.
[6] C.V. Thio, L.E. Midford, Commutation Failures on the Nelson
River HVdc System, Report Presented to CIGRE WG 14-02 & 14-
05, August, 1992 and February, 1994.
[7] L.E. Midford, HVdc Commutation Failures, Thesis submitted to
Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Manitoba, August, 1991.
[8] C.V. Thio, Recovery from Commutation Failures, Report
presented to CIGRE WG 14-05 for inclusion in CIGRE paper on
Commutation Failures, February, 1994.
BIOGRAPHIES
C.V. Thio obtained B.Sc. (EE) and M.Sc. degrees from the University of
Manitoba in 1961 and 1964 respectively. Since 1964 he has been with
Manitoba Hydro and is presently Manager of Major Transmission
Planning.
obtained B.Sc. (EE) and M. Eng. degrees from the University
of Manitoba in 1973 and 1977 respectively. Since 1975 he has been with
Manitoba Hydro where he works on control problems related to ac and dc
transmission. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the province of
Manitoba.
K.L. Kent obtained B.Sc. (EE) and M. Eng. degrees from the University of
Manitoba in 1986 and 1994 respectively. Since 1986 he has been working
a t . Manitoba Hydro and is presently an HVDC Planning Engineer in
System Planning. His interests include power system simulation and
harmonic analysis.
 954

Discussion quantities as (9), but a little more complicated. It should be noted

that the numerical difference between the expression suggested
Goran Andersson (ABB Power Systems AB, Box 703, S-771 80 here and the one given in the paper is rather small for typical data.
Ludvika, Sweden.) : 5. In the paper SLGFs are simulated by a reduction in the magni-
The authors are to be congratulatedfor an interestingpaper which tude of the phase-to-ground voltage in one phase (no phase shifts
provides some very illustrative results. The analytical approach on the a.c. side of the convertor transformers). The good agreement
combined with siimulations results is very powerful in gaining between the simulations and the analytical results indicates that the
insight into the problem dealt with. The discusser want to make approach taken is reasonable. However, it would be interesting to
some comments and would appreciate the response from the see an analysis where actual SLGFs were introduced in the system,
authors. as close-by high impedance faults or as remote faults. Such faults
1. An efficient way to get an estimate of the relative importance of would then also introduce phase shifts in a.c. voltages at the con-
various parameters is to calculate the sensitivity of the quantity vertor bus. Such an analysis must be performed before it could be
under study with irespect to small variations of these parameters. concluded in general that reductions in voltage magnitude are dom-
This is easily done for AV in eqs. (8) and (9) of the paper by differ- inating over voltage phase shifts as cause for onsets of commuta-
entiation with respect to Zd, X,,, yo and y, respectively. By tion failures. Thus the work proposed under FUTURE WORK in
doing this, the findings of the importanceof these parameters stated the paper is strongly encouraged.
in the paper are easily verified. Particularly, it can be seen that for 6. It should be remembered that the analysis presented does not
the parameter values used in the paper, an increase of y with one take distortions on the voltage wave form into account. Such distor-
degree is roughly twice as efficient as a decrease of yo with one tions could be as important for the onset of commutation failures,
degree. but this aspect is much more complicated to analyse.
2. An change of Xcpu has two effects: An increase of Xcpu will The authors have shown that it is possible to successfully analyse
increase the risk of commutation failures as directly seen from eq. commutation failures with quite simple models. Their analysis has
(9). On the other hand, an increase of X,, will most probably increased the understanding of the phenomena and I believe that
reduce the increasie of the direct current, resulting in a lower value many more conclusions can be drawn from analyses of this kind.
of I, as comparcd with a smaller value of X,,, resulting in a Once more, the authors are congratulatedfor a very fine paper.
lower risk for a commutation failure. Which of these two effects
that will be largest one depends on the specific system, and it is Manuscript received August 25, 1995.
hard to draw any general conclusions.
3. The required turn-off time of an thyristor is 400 - 500 p,
which corresponds to a yo of typically 8 for a 50 Hz system and a C.V. Thio, J.B. Davies, K.L. Kent: The authors thank Mr.
yo of 10for a 60 Hz system. From the equations in the paper it is Andersson for his very appropriate observations and
then easily seen thiat y = 17 in a 50 Hz systems and y = 18 in comments. Our response to his points are as follows:
a 60 Hz system should give similar performance with regard to
commutation failures.
1. We agree with this comment. The relative efficiency
4. As mentioned in the paper the analysis conceming a single- of a change in y compared to yo can also be shown by
line-to-ground fault, (SLGF), is much more complicated than the simple value substitution in equations (9) and (lo), and this
symmetrical fault case. The discusser is somewhat confused about
is effectively shown in Figure 6. An increase of one degree
the derivation of equations (9) and (10). In (9), AV is the reduction of y is at least twice as efficient as a one degree decrease
of the commutating voltage on the valve side of the convertor trans- of yi Here, twice as efficient means that the increase in
former, whereas A V in eq. (10) is the reduction in the phase volt- the AV required to produce commutation failure onset for a
age of the faulty ]phase. It is straightforwardto show that a phase one degree increase in y (about 2% AV increase) is twice as
voltage reduction (of AV (P.u.) results in a commutatingvoltage of much as the corresponding AV increase required for a one
P degree decrease in yo(about 1%AV increase). Furthermore,
I

E , = 4 1 - AVp + AVp/3 (P.u.) it should be noted that the turn-off time of most modern
valves is not likely to vary over a si,gnificant range,
for two of the commutating voltages of a Y-Y connected trans- accordingly indicating that the valve design affecting yois
former. (One commutating voltage is unaffected by this distur- not likely to be a significant variable in comparing the
bance. Similar expressions could be derived for the Y-A relative performance of different dc schemes.
transformer.) This is illustrated by Figure 4 of the paper, where a 2. We concur that a change of , ,X (commutating
phase voltage red1,iction of 0.2 gives rise to voltage reductions on reactance) has the two effects stated by Mr. Andersson.
the valve side of 0.10 (Y-Y transformer) and 0.13 (Y-A trans- However, we would have said that an increase of X , will
former). most certainly (not most probably) reduce the increase of
Furthermore, the inclusion of the phase shift, 0, in (9) is not obvi- the direct current (Id term), assuming all other parameters
ous. Assuming that the control system orders firing of the valve at the same. We believe that at least some general conclusions
the time instant corresponding to the angle a of the undisturbed can be drawn about the relative importance of Id and X
commutating volt,ige, this would mean that the phase angle of the in different systems. This relates back to why
disturbed commutating voltage would be a + I$, but the critical smoothing reactance can be so important, as noted in the
commutation margin, yo, would be the same. Thus equation (4) paper. A large dc smoothing reactor will tend to dictate the
* should be time constant of the dc circuit, hence the dc current
increase, and will significantly diminish the proportional
A? -
.- -.
- Id C O S a + COSY
effect of any commutating reactance variations on this
E I d cos ( a + 0) + cosyo
current increase. Any effective blocking of the dc current
The angle a c m now be eliminated from this equation in the increase by the smoothing reactor allows a small
same way as done in the paper resulting in a equation with the same commutating reactance to produce its fundamentally large
 955

------

0 Simulation

$i
23
22
21
1
--
-e 20 --
5 --
8A 19
18 --
4 17 --
--
16
+ --
7 15
-214 --
3 13 --
3 12 --
3 11 --
--
2 lo
--
2 9

1
0 -
(11 (21 (31 (41 I51 (61
( 1) 341Faults, I'@d = 1.0, yo=Oo.infinite ac systems
(2) 3$ Faults, r d d = 1.0, yo=8" (NR,Nz)or 7.5" (CEPEL), infinite ac systems
(3) 39 Faults, I'd/& = 1.05 (NR) or 1.24 (NZ) or 1.15 (CEPEL). ~ 0 = 8 "(NR)or 0" (NZ) or 7.5" (CEPEL), infinite ac systems
(4) 19 Faults, Pd/ld = 1.03 (NR) or 1.24 (NZ)or 1.13 (CEPEL). 'yo=8" (NR)or 0" (NZ) or 7.5" (CEPEL), infinite ac systems
(5) 3+ Faults, ~ 0 = 8 "(NR) or 7.5" (CEPEL), simulatednon-infinite ac systems
(6) 1$ Faults, ~ 0 = 8 "(NR) or 0" (NZ),simulated non-infinite ac systems (NR.Nz)and real system (NR)
Graph Showing Range and Trend of Sudden AC-Fault Voltage Reductions Required to Produce Onset of Commutation
Failures for Various Conditions on the Nelson River, New Zealand Expansion, and CEPEL Simulator Model (Approximate
Itaipu) Systems

commutation performance advantage in accordance with
the basic equations with an I'& term tending toward unity.
On the other hand, it has been found from calculations and
simulations of different systems that where both a small
smoothing reactor and a small commutating reactance is
used, and especially for systems with underwater cables,
then the dc current increase, not the,,
X tends to dominate
the commutation performance. In other words, the
advantage of the low commutating reactance in this context
is lost due to the counter effect of the large dc current
increase. Figure A shows the results of more recent
calculations and simulations on three different systems [a].
The relative variation and importance of different
parameters on these systems is illustrated. The largest
variation in the AV onset levels occurs over the first three
points which correspond to variations of the basic
parameters contained in the theoretical equations. The first
point gives the maximum theoretical condition with a
symmetrical three-phase reduction, no dc current rise and
with an ideal valve. The fourth point gives the theoretical
956
and simulation equivalents close to the more realistic real
system condition of a single-phase fault, the appropriate dc
current rise and with the valve critical turn-off time
represented. For the Nelson River system, this last point
gives a result very close to what is known to occur in the
real system, in spite of the fact that infinite ac systems are
still assumed at this point.
3. The observation given is correct. By substituting the yo
for each system in equation (9) and setting the AV onset
values equal in both systems, the margin angle in the 50 Hz
system more accurately comes to 17.2 for the same
theoretical commutation performance as 18 in the 60 Hz
system, with all other parameters the same on a per unit
basis. An important note that follows from this is that the
CIGRE dc Benchmark Model, referenced in the paper and
used for many different studies nowadays, was originally
designed as a 50 Hz system with a nominal commutation
margin angle of 1 5 O . Operating it this way, or with any y,
will not affect its validity with respect to the commutation
failure theory. The theory is generally valid for any circuit
and for any operating angle setting on that circuit.
However, sometimes the Benchmark is converted to an
equivalent 60 Mz system and then operated with ~ 1 8 .If
this is done, it is important to realize that this system will
then not be equivalent in performance to its 50 Hz
counterpart.
4. The comments here raise two seemingly confusing
points about the derivation of equations (9) and (10). This
is very interesting because these are some of the subtle
points that we also wrestled with for considerable time in
developing the basic theory for single-phase faults.
The first point relates to the treatment of AV in
equations (9) and (10) and the reconciliation of phase and
line-to-line quantities on the ac and dc sides of the
converter transformer. It is true that AV in equation (9) is
derived out of consideration of the commutating voltage on
the valve side of the converter transformer. However, for
the generalized application of this equation, that is, for
application to both three-phase and single-phase faults, the
AV in the equation was effectively converted so that it
refers to the voltage reduction of the phase voltage on the
faulted phase. For small AV values, there is an approximate
difference of a factor of two between the phase and line-to-
line quantities for a wye-wye transformer (the most critical
for commutation failures, as explained in the paper), as
illustrated by h4r. Anderssons equation, his wye-wye
transformer values, and also by Figure 4 in the paper. But
these quantities relate only to the steady-state vector
magnitudes of the sinusoidal voltages; they do not explain
the instantaneous voltages that are actually existing during
the critical commutation process. During this process, the
instantaneous commutating voltage is dominated by one
phase voltage only, because the other phase will be near its
zero-crossing under normal circumstances and parameters.
This concept of instantaneous voltages allows the
effective conversion, as stated above, of AV in equation
(9) from a line quantity to a phase quantity with only small
error as explained in the paper text just below equation (9).
As a phase voltage, the AV in equation (9) can then be
equated to the AV in equation (10).
The second point relates to the inclusion of the phase
shift 4 in equation (9). As indicated in equation (9), a
change in 4 produces the same result as an equivalent
change in yo, if everything else remains the same. This
would be intuitively expected because both parameters
simply subtract from the time available between the
upcoming and critical commutation completion and the
zero-crossing. Equation (4) cannot, strictly speaking,
contain a phase shift 4 as suggested because this part of the
theory is based on symmetrical three-phase conditions.
However, if it is meant to derive all the equations from the
start based on single-phase only, instead of the treatment in
the paper, then this might be a different matter. In this case,
the use of a cos(a + 4) term presents some conceptual
difficulties because it implies a shift in the firing angle
relative to a fixed reference point in time. Such a fixed
reference point is implicit in the theory and equation (9)
development. During the initial and very short transient
time that includes the sudden voltage reduction and the
immediately following critical commutation (the only time
that the equation applies), the firing angle (or control) does
not move because it is assumed that there is insufficient
time. In the longer term steady-state following this initial
transient, still with the voltage reduction and assuming no
commutation failure, a cos(a + 4) term could be realizable
but this is not within the assumed time frame of
application. It can be said, therefore, that the theory as
developed for single-phase faults is a rather odd and unique
combination of both steady-state and transient
considerations and quantities - but it works quite
effectively as shown by simulations.
5. As indicated in Figure A by the horizontal axis points
5 and 6, further simulations have been conducted on
different systems to determine the effects that varying ac
systems (as opposed to infinite) may have on the onset of
commutation failures. For these tests, ac system faults were
simulated on remote ac system busses. In these systems, for
the time frame immediately following fault application, a
small shift in the ac bus voltage angle could be detected
which was attributable to the dynamics and balance of the
real and complex power flows. However, in conducting
these tests, in contrast to determining angle shifts, there
ultimately appeared to be more questions and doubt about
how to accurately model systems and apply single-phase
remote faults to reflect the real system conditions. The
simulation results on the axis points 5 and 6 seem to be
lower than generally experienced on real systems. Only
some of this difference was explainable from model tests.
Meanwhile, the real systems seem to conform more to the
theory result with infinite ac systems. It is suspected that
there are some small secondary effects coming into play
which are trading each other off in the non-infinite real
systems. It is recognized that it may be useful to test other
configurations and varying ac/dc systems.
6. There seems to be a long standing perception by many
that harmonic distortions in general are perhaps the most
dominant factor causing the onset or start of commutation
failures. They are certainly the domin factor for failures
due to some major switching actions at the inverter bus,
such as energizing a l&ge transformer. However, after all
the theoretical development, simulations and study of real
system events, the authors now believe that the actual
effects of distortions may have been significantly
exaggerated for the case of remote ac system faults. The
perception was that distortions would always cause or at

least make worse, the number of commutation failures but,
in fact, based only on their possible effect of shifting the
zero-crossing, there appears to be at least as much potential
for distortions to improve the probability of failures as
there is to make it worse. If a particular system at an
inverter is highly distortable due to a low order harmonic
resonance, then that system will probably have to be
corrected for other reasons. Furthermore, if distortions
were a significant causal factor, it would be expected to see
more commutation failures on actual systems for ac system
faults producing only small voltage reductions, that is, for
faults even more remote from the inverter. But this does not
seem to be the case in real systems. The theory, with
957
sudden voltage reductions on otherwise perfectly
sinusoidal waveforms, already predicts the onset of failures
for voltage reductions as low as 10% to 14% on many
systems. If distortions were significantly lowering this
value, the commutation performance of many existing dc
systems would probably make their operation
unacceptable.
REFERENCE
[a] C.V. Thio, M. Szechtman. R. de Silva, "Simulation Tests On
Commutation Failure Theory In HVDC Systems". paper presented at
CIGRE SC14 Colloquium, Sept., 1995. Montreal, Canada.
Manuscript received October 9, 1995.