Nowadays power transmission networks are capable of delivering contracted power from any supplier to any consumer over a large geographic area under market control, and thus transmission lines are incorporated with FACTs series compensated devices to increase the power transfer capability with improvement to system integrity. Conventional fault location methods developed in the past many years are not suitable for FACTs transmission networks. The obvious reason is that FACTs devices in transmission networks introduce non-linearity in the system and hence linear fault detection methods are no longer valid. Therefore, it is still a matter of research to investigate developing new fault detection techniques to cater for modern transmission network configurations and solve implementation issues maintaining required accuracy. This PhD research work is based on developing an accurate and robust new fault location algorithm for series compensated high voltage transmission lines, considering many issues such as transmission line models, configurations with series compensation features. Building on the existing knowledge, a new algorithm has been developed for the estimation of fault location using the time domain approach. In this algorithm, instantaneous fault signals from the transmission line ends are measured and applied to the algorithm to calculate the distance to fault. The new algorithm was tested on two port transmission line model developed using EMTP/ATP software and measured fault data from the simulations are exported to the MATLAB space to run the algorithm. Broad range of faults has been simulated considering various fault cases to test the algorithm and statistical results obtained. It was observed that the accuracy of location of fault on series compensated transmission line using this algorithm is in the range from 99.7 % to 99.9% in 90% of fault cases. In addition, this algorithm was further improved considering many practical issues related to modern series compensated transmission lines (with TCSC var compensators) achieving similar accuracies in the estimation of fault location.

Advancements in power semiconductor and power converter technology have enabled new low-voltage (LV) and medium-voltage (MV) direct current (DC) distribution systems for a variety of applications. Power electronics converters and DC circuit breakers (DCCBs) are the key components of a DC system and are hence the focus of this work. The combination of growing power density requirements and higher voltages can result in enhanced electric field (E-field) intensities, leaving the system vulnerable to partial discharges (PDs). The manifestation of such PD events gradually degrades the insulation system of the equipment, reducing its lifetime and ultimately leading to total insulation failure. Therefore, inception E-field based insulation design guidelines are developed to help achieve zero-PD operation of power electronics systems with considerations for internal as well as external (surface) E-field distribution. Additionally, surface E-field mitigation methods are experimentally investigated using representative PCB coupons to provide suitable solutions for low air pressure applications. Consequently, E-field management methods consisting of geometry-based techniques are proposed for PCB-based systems to mitigate E-field magnitudes in areas of the system that are prone to peak stresses (e.g. surface interconnections and triple junctions, conductor discontinuities, critical airgaps etc.). Successful design examples are provided including that of a 16 kV rated PCB-based DC bus and a 540 V, 100 kW aircraft generator rectifier unit operating at up to 50,000 ft cruising altitudes. DC circuit breaker (DCCB) technology, though crucial to ensure the safety of DC systems, is still in the early stages of development. As protection devices, their reliable operation is paramount and the selection and sizing of their components are not trivial. In this regard, comprehensive design guidelines are developed for the DC solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) to ensure that its functional requirements can be met. System analyses and modeling are performed to understand the interactions between the various components, i.e. solid-state device, metal oxide varistor (MOV), and their impact on the breaker operation. A 2.5 kV, 400 A SSCB prototype is designed and verified with experimental results to validate the design approach. Traditional MOV based voltage clamping circuits (VCC) used in solid-state circuit breakers (SSCBs) impose a high interruption voltage on the main solid-state device. The voltage burden arises from the material properties of the MOV which fixes its clamping voltage at a value more than twice its maximum continuous dc voltage rating. A novel and reliable VCC termed as the electronic MOV (eMOV) is proposed to decouple the peak clamping voltage of the MOV from the nominal dc voltage of the system aiming to improve the voltage suppression index (V SI = Vpk/Vdc) of the VCC, thereby reducing the peak system voltage and allowing easier insulation design. By virtue of the proposed circuit, a lower voltage rated device can be used for the main switch enabling higher system efficiency and power density. In all, this work aims to address insulation system design for power electronics converters and systems, ultimately to eliminate PD under specified working voltage conditions for improved electrical safety and insulation lifetime. The implications of high-density integration, unsuitable ambient conditions and higher system voltages are considered to develop a suitable design and assessment methodology for practicing engineers. Techniques to mitigate/ manage E-Field inside and outside (surface) solid dielectric are proposed to attain the above goal. Additionally, design guidelines are formulated for DC SSCBs which are essential to the safety of DC distribution systems and an enhanced VCC is proposed for the same to limit its clamping voltage for easier insulation design. / Doctor of Philosophy / The recent advancements in power conversion technology have promoted the development and use of DC distribution networks for a variety of applications (e.g. electric ships, aircrafts, electric vehicle charging stations etc.). The insulation system of typical power electronics equipment consists of multiple solid insulating media (e.g. PCB dielectric, potting material, conformal coat etc.) separated by air gaps in the assembly. The combination of higher operating voltages, power density targets and unfavorable ambient conditions (e.g. low air pressure) can pose a risk to the insulation system of the equipment, if not addressed. The electric field (E-Field) stresses at certain vulnerable areas can exceed breakdown values of the corresponding media, initiating localized electrical discharge events also called as partial discharges (PD). Internal discharges generally occur in the vicinity of material defects, conductor discontinuities or sharp geometric features, while surface discharges may occur along exposed conductor metallizations on insulator surfaces (at the interface of multiple media) or critical air gaps in the assembly. PD events, while not posing any imminent threat, can degrade the surrounding area over time to reduce the operating life of the system and in some cases may cause catastrophic failures. Therefore, irrespective of location, such PD events must be eliminated to improve the overall system lifetime and reliability. Therefore, the main focus of this work is to develop insulation design guidelines and methodologies to achieve zero-PD operation of power converters and DC circuit breakers (DCCBs), both of which are key components of DC systems. A generalized design guideline is proposed to help with the insulation design of power electronics systems. Design techniques are developed to reduce E-field magnitude at critical areas to avoid over-designing the insulation system. Successful converter-level design examples are provided to validate the proposed approaches. DCCB technology is still in the early stages of development. As a protection device, its reliable operation is paramount and the selection and sizing of its components are not trivial. Therefore, in addition to the above insulation design methodology, comprehensive design guidelines are developed for the solid-state device and voltage clamping circuit (VCC) of the DC solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB), to ensure that its functional requirements can be met. Additionally, a novel VCC is proposed for the same to limit its fault interruption voltage for easier insulation design. Both SSCB and VCC prototypes are built and successfully demonstrated in a fault current breaking application. Overall, this dissertation provides a reference for the design and assessment of next generation power electronics converters and DC circuit breakers, to address, specifically, the challenges to their insulation systems.

In order to meet the high demand for power transmission capacity, some power companies have installed series capacitors on power transmission lines. This allows the impedance of the line to be lowered, thus yielding increased transmission capability. The series capacitor makes sense because it's simple and could be installed for 15 to 30% of the cost of installing a new line, and it can provide the benefits of increased system stability, reduced system losses, and better voltage regulation.1 Protective distance relays, which make use of impedance measurements in order to determine the presence and location of faults, are "fooled" by installed series capacitance on the line when the presence or absence of the capacitor in the fault circuit is not known a priori. This is because the capacitance cancels or compensates some of the inductance of the line and therefore the relay may perceive a fault to be in its first zone when the fault is actually in the second or third zone of protection. Similarly, first zone faults can be perceived to be reverse faults! Clearly this can cause some costly operating errors. The general approach of interest is a method leading to the determination of the values of series L and C of the line at the time of the fault. This is done by analyzing the synchronous and subsynchronous content of the V and I signals seperately which provides adequate information to compute the series L and C of the line. / Master of Science

Series compensation is extensively applied to the transmission lines to increase the power transfer capability of transmission lines, reduce transmission losses, improve voltage profiles, and improve power oscillation damping and transient stability of power systems. But it modifies the apparent impedance of the transmission lines during fault conditions and might cause the distance protection of transmission lines to encounter directional discrimination issues and reach problems. The non-linear characteristic of metal oxide varistor in series compensation model creates further complexity to the fault analysis and might affects the performance of conventional distance protection scheme. The distance protection issues in the series compensated lines need to be addressed for the reliable and sustainable operation of power system.The directional discrimination issues related to current inversion and voltage inversion phenomenon, and reach problems related to sub-synchronous oscillation phenomenon are addressed in this thesis report. This report aims to analyse the impacts of series compensation on the performance of conventional distance relays, and proposes a new protection solution to mitigate the shortcomings of distance relays in the series compensated lines. The proposed new protection solution includes: new tripping characteristic of quadrilateral distance relays to cope with the steady-state reach problems due to current or voltage inversion, and a new high-pass filtering technique to handle the transient reach problems due to SSO.The proposed new protection algorithm is developed in MATLAB. The performance of new protection algorithm is evaluated by simulating a 500 kV two-source power system with a 200 km series compensated line in EMTDC/ PSCAD (Manitoba Hydro). The proposed new protection solution is found to be beneficial. / Seriekompensation tillämpas i stor utsträckning på överföringsledningarna för att öka överföringsförmågan hos överföringsledningar, minska överföringsförluster, förbättra spänningsprofiler och förbättra effektdämpning och övergående stabilitet hos elsystem. Men det ändrar transmissionslinjernas uppenbara impedans under felförhållanden och kan orsaka att distansskydd för överföringsledningarna stöter på diskrimineringsproblem och uppnår problem. Den icke-linjära egenskapen hos metalloxidvaristor i seriekompensationsmodell skapar ytterligare komplexitet för felanalysen och kan påverka prestandan hos konventionella distansskyddssystem. Distansskydd problemen i seriekompenserade linjer måste lösas för en pålitlig och hållbar drift av elsystemet. De riktningsdiskrimineringsproblem som är relaterade till det aktuella inversions- och spänningsinversionsfenomenet och uppnår problem relaterade till subsynkron oscillationsfenomen tas upp i denna avhandlingsrapport. Denna rapport syftar till att analysera effekterna av seriekompensation för prestanda hos konventionella distansreläer och föreslår en ny skyddslösning för att mildra bristerna i distansreläerna i seriekompenserade linjer. Den föreslagna nya skyddslösningen innefattar: Ny utlösningskaraktäristik för fyrsidig distansreläer för att klara avståndet med stillastående / räckvidden på grund av ström- eller spänningsinversion och en ny högpassfiltreringsteknik för hantering av övergående över- Nå problem på grund av SSO. Den föreslagna nya skyddsalgoritmen har utvecklats i MATLAB. Utförandet av den nya skyddsalgoritmen utvärderas genom simulering av ett 500 kV två-källa kraftverk med en 200 km serie kompenserad linje i EMTDC / PSCAD (Manitoba Hydro). Den föreslagna nya skyddslösningen har visat sig vara fördelaktig.

Roslagsbanans signalanläggningar har flera olika lösningar för dess strömförsörjning i form av standarder för batterier och likriktare. Denna lösningsvariation har försvårat för underhållspersonalen att åtgärda de fel som uppstått och därmed fördröjt trafiken, dvs trafikstörningar. Roslagsbanan försörjs delvis av lokala elnät där avbrott emellanåt förekommer. Dessa avbrott inträffar ofta när elnätsleverantörerna underhåller sitt ortnät vilket kan ske även under rusningstrafik. Avbrotten kan även orsakas inom signalanläggningarna när stora spänningsvariationer förekommer, t.ex. när stora induktiva- eller kapacitiva laster slås av. Dessa problem analyseras och åtgärdsförslag tas fram i denna rapport. De befintliga likriktarna och batterierna samt förslag till ersättningsprodukter som behövs för detta säkerhetssystem har sammanställts i denna rapport. För att skapa en hållbar, robust och miljövänlig strömförsörjning till Roslagsbanans signalanläggningar undersöktes i detta arbete strömspikar, avbrottsfri kraftförsörjning samt dessutom möjligheten att ansluta solceller som kompletterande åtgärd. I signalutrustningen vid Roslags Näsby stationsområde detekterades och undersöktes förekomsten av strömspikar. Två åtgärdsförslag för att komma till rätta med dessa strömspikar togs fram. Förslagen var ett lågpassfilter och en metalloxidvaristor som båda var för sig reducerar strömspikarna. Lågpassfiltret dämpar insignalernas spänning och strömförsörjning vid kraftiga förändringar i frekvensen och metalloxidvaristorn reducerar strömflödet vid överspänningar. Ytterligare undersökningar av transienterna i Roslags Näsbys och de övriga signalanläggningarna på Roslagsbanan bör utföras. Resultaten av de genomförda undersökningarna om avbrottsfri kraftförsörjning och solceller visade däremot att utrustningarna inte bör installeras i de nuvarande signalanläggningarna. Solceller var inte implementerbara eftersom effektbehovet av signalanläggningarna var större än den takyta som fanns tillgänglig för solcellerna. Arbete och investeringar för ett avbrottsfritt kraftförsörjningsunderhåll och installation av denna utrustning var mer krävande i jämförelse med dess nytta för signalanläggningarnas tillförlitlighet, dvs ingen åtgärd i nuläget. Förslag på ersättningsprodukter i form av likriktare och batterier lades fram till arbetsgivarna för att skapa en standard för Roslagbanans kraftförsörjning framåt. / Roslagsbanan's signal systems have several different solutions for its power supply in the form of several standards for batteries and rectifiers. This solution variation has made it difficult for maintenance staff to correct the errors that occurred and thus delayed traffic, i.e. traffic disturbances. Roslagsbanan is partly supplied by local power grids where interruptions occur occasionally. These interruptions often occur when the network service providers maintain their home network, which may also occur during rush hour traffic. The interruptions can also be caused by the signal systems them self when large voltage variations occur, e.g. when large inductive or capacitive loads are switched off. These problems are analysed, and action proposals are presented in this report. The existing rectifiers and batteries as well as proposals for replacement products that are needed for this safety system have been compiled in this report. To create a sustainable, robust and environmentally friendly power supply to Roslagsbanan’s signal systems, this work investigated transients, uninterruptible power supply, as well as the possibility of connecting solar cells as a complementary arrangement. An investigation of the signal equipment at Roslags Näsby station area showed presence of transients. Two proposals to reduce these transients were presented. The proposals were a low pass filter and a metal oxide varistor, both individually reduces transients. The low pass filter attenuates the voltage and current of the signal when the strong frequency changes occurs and the metal oxide varistor reduces the current flow at overvoltages. Further investigations of the transients in Roslags Näsbys and the other signal facilities on the Roslagsbanan should be performed. On the other hand, the results of the investigations on uninterruptible power and solar cells showed that the equipment should not be installed in the current signal systems. Solar cells were not implementable because the power requirement of the signal systems was greater than the current ceiling area for the solar cells. The work and investment for uninterruptible power supply maintenance and installation were more demanding in comparison to its usefulness for the reliability of the signal systems. Proposals for replacement products were submitted to employers to create a standard for Roslagbanan's power supply onwards. / Сигнални систем на железници која се зове Рослагсбана садржи више различитих решења за своје напајање у облику неколико стандарда за батерије и исправљаче. Варијација различитих решења проузроковала je потешкоће у отклањању новонасталих грешака служби које се баве одржавањем и изазвала је застој у железничком саобраћају. Рослагсбана се напаја електричном енергијом из локалних мрежа на којима може доћи до прекида. Прекид напајања електричном енергијом може бити изазван наглим променама напона у сигналним системима и уколико локални дистрибутер изводи радове на одржавању електричне мреже. Проблеми који могу настати променама напона се анализирају и испитују у овом извештају. Попис исправљача и батерија као и њихова стандардна решења су обрађени и представљени у циљу стварања одрживог и дугорочног решења за системску сигнализацију. Анализирани су високонапонски шпицеви, системи за непрекидно напајање електричном енергијом (УПС) и могућност прикључивања соларних панела. У сигналном систему на станици Рослас Насби измерени су високонапонски шпицеви. Како би се дошло до најбољег и најповољнијег решења анализирана су два предлога за њихово уклањање. Један предлог за уклањање био је ниско пропусни филтер док је за редукцију предложен метал- оксидни одводник пре напона (МОВ). Ниско пропусни филтер смањује јачину струје и напона уколико фреквенција пређе одређену претходно утврђену границу, док МОВ редукује ток струје уколико дође до скока напона. Пре имплементације било ког од наведених решења треба извршити накнадна испитивања у вези са напонским шпицевима. Резултати указују да имплементација УПС-а и соларних панела није могућа. Могућност соларних панела да произведу довољну количину енергије која је потребна за одређени систем није сразмерна површини система која би могла да се прекрије соларним панелима. Трошкови одржавања и прикључивања УПС система су већи у поређењу са значајем које би систем имао од самог УПС система. Предлог стандардних батерија и исправљача који је представљен послодавцу коригован је како би се дошло до стандардног решења за све предстојеће пројекте.