Analysis and design of three-level, 24-pulse double bridge Voltage Source Converter based HVDC system for active and reactive power control

This paper deals with the analysis, design and control of a three-level 24-pulse Voltage Source Converter (VSC) based High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) system. A three level VSC operating at fundamental frequency switching (FFS) is proposed with 24-pulse VSC structure to improve the power quality and reduce the converter switching losses for high power applications. The design of three-level VSC converter and system parameters such as ac inductor and dc capacitor is presented for the proposed VSC based HVDC system. It consists of two converter stations fed from two different ac systems. The active power is transferred between the stations either way. The reactive power is independently controlled in each converter station. The three-level VSC is operated at optimized dead angle (β). A coordinated control algorithm for both the rectifier and an inverter stations for bidirectional active power flow is developed based on FFS and local reactive power generation. This results in a substantial reduction in switching losses and avoiding the reactive power plant. Simulation is carried to verify the performance of the proposed control algorithm of the VSC based HVDC system for bidirectional active power flow and their independent reactive power control.