Special applications of power reactors in HV power systems

Power reactors find wide application in modern power systems. They have been used as shunt devices for reactive line compensation and voltage control; as series devices to limit short-circuit currents in busbars, cables and overhead lines; to reduce transient inrush currents that flow when large paralleled shunt capacitor banks are switched on; and as part of tuned filtering devices to reduce harmonic currents and voltages. The author examines some special applications of thyristor-controlled power reactors in HV power systems. He describes their principle of operation, the problems of harmonics and their suppression