Minimal transient switching of capacitors

Journal Article · Fri Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/61.248312· OSTI ID:5453943

Olivier, G; Mougharbel, I ^[1]; Dobson-Mack, G ^[2]

---

1. Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
2. British Columbia Hydro, Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)

Capacitor banks are used to compensate the reactive power demand of large commercial and industrial loads. When used to switch capacitor banks mechanical breakers generate large current transients. These transients may cause serious system disturbances, premature wear of the breaker contacts and, possibly, shorten the life of the capacitors. While thyristor switches are not new and industry has successfully used them to obtain transient-free switching of capacitor banks, there are very few papers describing this application. This paper tries to fill the void and presents a comparative study of various three-phase configurations of semiconductor switches intended for low voltage (600 V and less) distribution systems. Simple theoretical analysis enables the calculation of the optimal switching times to minimize transients. These calculations take into account the system impedance and the initial capacitor voltages.

• OSTI ID: 5453943
• Journal Information: IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States), Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States) Vol. 8:4; ISSN 0885-8977; ISSN ITPDE5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
240100* -- Power Systems-- (1990-)
CAPACITORS
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRICAL TRANSIENTS
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
EQUIPMENT
POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS
STABILIZATION
SWITCHING CIRCUITS
TRANSIENTS
VOLTAGE DROP