Research on Overvoltage Suppression by Blocking Diode and DC Circuit Breaker in LCC-VSC Hybrid HVDC System

Abstract

In this study, a LCC-VSC hybrid HVDC transmission system was taken as an example. The valve and neutral overvoltage of the hybrid HVDC system were simulated and then calculated at the VSC converter station by installing a blocking diode and a DC circuit breaker, as well as by grounding after neutral bus outage. The isolation effect of the blocking diode and the DC circuit breaker on the VSC converter station in the protection and the effect on the DC overvoltage were compared, and the difference was analyzed by complying with the mechanism of overvoltage. The effect of different locations of the blocking diode on the overvoltage suppression was compared, and it was concluded that different locations of blocking diode could raise different requirements for the insulation coordination of the converter valve. By analyzing energy sources of the neutral bus overvoltage at different stages, it was further concluded that the energy stored in the distributed inductance of the metal return line could be a vital source of neutral bus overvoltage energy. On that basis, an overvoltage suppression strategy for grounding neutral bus directly after the stop of the converter station was proposed.

Keywords

• Hybrid HVDC
• blocking diode
• DC~breaker
• switching overvoltage