Prediction of First Commutation Failure and Dynamic Start-Up Threshold Tuning in LCC-HVDC Systems Considering Commutation-Voltage Phase Variation

Commutation failure is likely to occur when an AC fault occurs at the receiving end of an LCC-HVDC system. This threatens transient stability. Conventional commutation failure prevention (CFPREV) control mainly responds to commutation-voltage magnitude variation. However, commutation-voltage phase variation is not fully considered. Its fixed start-up threshold also makes it difficult to adapt to different fault severities. To address these problems, this paper establishes a transient nonlinear large-signal model of the inverter. The model incorporates power angle variation and describes the coupled effects of DC current rise, commutation-voltage drop, and power angle deviation on the extinction angle. Phase-portrait analysis is then used to illustrate the transient evolution and critical characteristics of first commutation failure (FCF). The critical commutation voltage is predicted under different fault severities and further converted into a dynamic CFPREV start-up threshold. Simulations based on the CIGRE LCC-HVDC benchmark model verify the prediction accuracy. They also show that the improved CFPREV strategy suppresses FCF mainly by starting up at an appropriate instant rather than increased compensation strength.