Design-Oriented Transient Stability Analysis of Grid-Connected Converters with Power Synchronization Control

The power synchronization control (PSC) has been increasingly used with voltage-source converters (VSCs) connected to the weak ac grid. This paper presents an in-depth analysis on the transient stability of the PSC-VSC by means of the phase portrait. It is revealed that the PSC-VSC will maintain synchronization with the grid as long as there are equilibrium points after the transient disturbance. In contrast, during grid faults without any equilibrium points, the critical clearing angle (CCA) for the PSC-VSC is identified, which is found equal to the power angle at the unstable equilibrium point of the post-fault operation. This fixed CCA facilitates the design of power system protection. Moreover, it is also found that the PSC-VSC can still re-synchronize with the grid after around one cycle of oscillation, even if the fault-clearing angle is beyond the CCA. This feature reduces the risk of system collapse caused by the delayed fault clearance. These findings are corroborated by simulations and experimental tests

Design-Oriented Transient Stability Analysis of PLL-Synchronized Voltage-Source Converters

Differing from synchronous generators, there are lack of physical laws governing the synchronization dynamics of voltage-source converters (VSCs). The widely used phase-locked loop (PLL) plays a critical role in maintaining the synchronism of current-controlled VSCs, whose dynamics are highly affected by the power exchange between VSCs and the grid. This paper presents a design-oriented analysis on the transient stability of PLL-synchronized VSCs, i.e., the synchronization stability of VSCs under large disturbances, by employing the phase portrait approach. Insights into the stabilizing effects of the first- and second-order PLLs are provided with the quantitative analysis. It is revealed that simply increasing the damping ratio of the second-order PLL may fail to stabilize VSCs during severe grid faults, while the first-order PLL can always guarantee the transient stability of VSCs when equilibrium operation points exist. An adaptive PLL that switches between the second-order and the first-order PLL during the fault-occurring/-clearing transient is proposed for preserving both the transient stability and the phase tracking accuracy. Time-domain simulations and experimental tests, considering both the grid fault and the fault recovery, are performed, and the obtained results validate the theoretical findings