Cost-effective power quality improvement for industrial plants

Disturbances in the voltage supply, especially voltage dips and short interruptions, can cause tripping of sensitive electronic equipment and cause production stops in many industries. This paper proposes a power-electronics based device, obtained by a combination of a static transfer switch (STS) in series with a static series compensator (SSC) for protection of large industrial distribution systems against voltage dips and short interruptions in a cost-effective way. The hybrid compensator is modeled and simulated with different types of dips using the simulation tool PSCAD/EMTDC. Design of the device and control strategies are discussed. An economic evaluation of the device is carried out.