Section 5.
2 t Methods of Controllable VAR Generation 151
harmonics, such as the 5th, 7th, and occasionally, the lLth and 13th, usually with an
additional high-pass branch. The high-pass filter is sometimes implemented by shunting
the reactor of one of the LC filter branches with a resistor in order to maintain
reasonable attenuation at higher frequencies where tuned filters are not effective. In
many practical applications, due to unbalances, resonant conditions in the ac system
network, or independent (single-phase) control of the three TCRs, a tuned filter branch
at the third harmonic frequency may also be required.
5.2.1.2 The Thyristor-Switched Capacitor (TSC). A single-phase thyristor-
switched capacitor (TSC) is shown in Figure 5.13(a). It consists of a capacitor, a
bidirectional thyristor valve, and a relatively small surge current limiting reactor. This
reactor is needed primarily to limit the surge current in the thyristor valve under
abnormal operating conditions (e.g., control malfunction causing capacitor switching
at a "wrong time," when transient free switching conditions are not satisfied); it may
also be used to avoid resonances with the ac system impedance at particular fre-
quencies.
Under steady-state conditions, when the thyristor valve is closed and the TSC
branch is connected to a sinusoidal ac voltase source. u : V sin orf. the current in the
branch is given by
n
i(at)-V ;ft .@Ccosol (s.7)
n-- L
where
XC
(5.8)
\/ az LC XL
i
---
1",
VL
Figure 5.13 Basic thyristor-switched capacitor (a) and associated waveforms (b).