Voltage Control:

A power system is said to be well designed if it gives a good quality of reliable supply. By good
quality is meant the voltage levels within in the reasonable limits. Practically all the equipment
on the power systems are designed to operate satisfactorily only when the voltage levels on the
system correspond to their rated voltages or at the most the variations are within say 5%. If the
rated voltage variation is more than a pre specified value, the performance of the equipment
suffers and the life of most of the equipment also is sacrificed. The picture on a television set
starts rolling if the voltage is below a certain level, the fluorescent tube refuses to glow if the
voltage is below a certain level. The torque of Induction motor( which forma about 70% of the
total load on the system ) varies as square of the terminal voltage and so on. Thus the necessity
of controlling the voltage on the system is very much strong.

When power is supplied to a load through a transmission line keeping the sending end voltage
constant, the receiving end or load voltage undergoes variation depending upon the magnitude
of the load and the power factor of the load. The higher the load with smaller power factor the
greater is the voltage variation. The voltage variation at a node is an indication of the unbalance
between the reactive power generated and consumed by that node. If the reactive power
generated is greater than consumed, the voltage goes up and vice versa. Whenever the voltage
level of a particular bus undergoes variation this is due to unbalance between the two vars at
that bus.

To understand this problem let us consider the figure shown below. Where node is a generator
node with reference voltage V1 and node two is the load node with voltage V2. The two bus
bars are interconnected through a short line.

Fig 1. Load connected to the source through a line.

Assuming the interconnector to be lossless (R=0) and the voltage V1 constant by adjusting the
excitation of the generator, the following relations hold good:
 Vector diagram for system shown in fig 1.

From the above it is clear that the load voltage V2 is not affected much due to the real
component of the load P as it is normal to the vector V1 whereas the drop due to reactive
component of load is directly subtracted from the voltage V1. Assuming the voltage drop due to
real power negligible, the voltage drop is directly proportional to the reactive power Q. The
relation is given by

In order to keep the receiving end voltage V2 fixed for a particular sending end voltage V1, the
drop ( Q/V1)X must remain constant. Since, in this the only variable is Q, it is this reactive vars
which must be locally adjusted to keep this quantity fixed i.e. let Q be the value of reactive vars
which keeps V2 to a specified value, any deviation in Q at node 2 must be locally adjusted. The
local generation can be obtained by connecting shunt capacitors or synchronous capacitors
and/or shunt inductors (for light loads or capacitive loads).

Referring again to equation (4) in order to keep V2 constant for fixed V1, another possibility is
that the product Q.X be kept constant. This achieved by introducing series capacitors which will
reduce the net reactance of the system. Since the voltage variation will be more for larger loads
(larger reactive power), the variation could be controlled by switching in suitable series
capacitors.

Methods of Voltage Control:

The methods of voltage control are the use of

(i) Shunt capacitors;

(ii) Series capacitors;
(iii) Synchronous capacitors;
(iv) Tap changing transformers; and
(v) Booster transformers.

(i) Shunt Capacitors :

 Shunt Capacitors are used across an inductive load so as to supply part of the
reactive vars required by the load so that the voltage across the load is
maintained within certain desirable limits.

 Shunt Reactors are used across capacitive loads or lightly loaded lines to absorb
some of the leading vars again to control the voltage across load to desirable
limits.

 The disadvantage of the use of shunt capacitor or reactor is that with fall of
voltage at a particular node the correction vars are also reduced i.e. when it is
most needed its effectiveness falls.

(ii) Series Capacitors:

 A static capacitor is connected in series with the line, it reduces the inductive reactance
between the load and the supply.
o IRcos Φ+ I ( Xl− Xc ) sin Φ
 Xc is chosen such that factor ( Xl− Xc ) sin ΦBecomes negative and numerically equal to
Rcos Φ so that the voltage drop becomes zero.
 Drawback of series capacitors is the high overvoltage produced across the capacitor
terminals under short circuit conditions. The drop across the capacitor is IfXc where If is
the fault current which is of the order of 20 times the full load current under certain
circuit conditions.
 A spark gap with a high speed is used to protect these conditions.
Comparison between Shunt Capacitors and Series Capacitors:
 The voltage boost due to a shunt capacitor is evenly distributed over the transmission
line whereas the change in voltage between the two ends of the capacitor where it is
connected is sudden. The voltage drop along the line is unaffected.

 For the same voltage boost the reactive power capacity of a shunt capacitor is greater
than that of a series capacitor.

 The shunt capacitor improves the pf of the load whereas the series capacitor has little
effect on the pf.

 For long transmission lines where the total reactance is high, series capacitors are
effective for improvement of system stability.

Synchronous Capacitors:
It is known that the power transmitted from a generator bus to an infinite bus bar is given by

Similar relation for the reactive power for a round rotor machine is given by

The above formula tells that if

Then Q>0 and the generator produces reactive power i.e. it acts as a capacitor. This inequality is
generally satisfied when the generator is over excited. Since cosδ=cos(-δ) the inequality is true
for both as when machine is working as a generator or as a motor. Therefore, it can be said that
an over-excited synchronous machine produces reactive power and acts as a shunt capacitor.
Similarly when

i.e. negative and the machine consumes reactive power from the system. Consequently an
under-excited machine acts as a shunt coil. This characteristic of the machine i.e. it draws
leading or lagging current depending upon the excitation is nicely shown as V curve.

V curves for synchronous machine

 The great advantage of the synchronous capacitor is that it supplies vars when over
excited i.e. during peak load condition and it consumes vars when under excited during
light load condition.

 Smooth variation of reactive vars, overloaded for short periods, for large outputs they
are much better from economic viewpoint and also the control is smooth.

 Disadvantage is the possibility of its falling out of step which will thus produce a large
sudden change in voltage. Also these machines add to the short circuit of the system
during fault condition.

Tap Changing Transformers:

The main job of a transformer is to transform electric energy from one voltage level to another.
Almost all power transformers on transmission lines are provided with taps for ration control
i.e. control of secondary voltage. The tap changing transformers controls the voltage by
changing the transformation ratio.

Off-Load tap changing transformers:

Requires disconnection of t/f when the tap setting is to be changed .

 On-Load(under-load) tap changing T/F:
 (i) open Q1 (ii) move selector S1 to next contact (iii) close Q1 (iv) open Q2 (v) move S2 to
next contact and (vi) close Q2.

 The voltage change between taps is often 1.25 percent of the nominal voltage.

 Actual voltages are tsv1 and trv2 .

Off Load and On load Tap changing transformers

Booster Transformers:
 Booster t/f performs the bucking or boosting of the voltage.

 It can be installed as a substation or as a separate piece of equipment at any

intermediate point in the line (desirable on the basis of economical or technical grounds
to increase the voltage at an intermediate pt rather than at the end as with tap changing
t/f)

 For small outputs and voltages (2000v) it consists of an auto t/f with necessary tappings
whereas for higher voltages and larger sizes we utilize on load tap changing gear and
also perform the switching in an isolated circuit.

 Energize primary of boosting t/f by means of a regulating t/f, the secondary is provided
with tappings along with tap changing gear.
  The voltages changes are made by mean of a motor operated controller and
arrangements are made to reverse the connections to the primaries of the regulating
t/fs so that both buck and boost can be obtained.

 The sensing device for voltage variation should be sensitive to current rahter than
voltage as the current varies 100% from no load to full load whereas the voltage varies
only by 100% or so.

Booster Transformer

Advantages:
 T/f can be used at any intermediate pt in the system

 When used with a fixed ratio t/f it can be taken out for inspection or overhaul w/o
affecting much the system

 Rating=Current*injected voltage hence only about 10% of that of a main t/f

Disadvantages:
When it is used in conjunction with the main transformer.

 More expensive than a t/f with on load tap changing gear.

 Less efficient due to losses in the booster.

 Takes more floor space.

Conclusion:
Various methods for voltage control in a system are studied.

Reference:
Electrical Power Systems by C..L. Wadhwa.