Control and Protection of MMC-Based HVDC Systems: A Review

The voltage source converter (VSC) based HVDC (high voltage direct current system) offers the possibility to integrate other renewable energy sources (RES) into the electrical grid, and allows power flow reversal capability. These appealing features of VSC technology led to the further development of multi-terminal direct current (MTDC) systems. MTDC grids provide the possibility of interconnection between conventional power systems and other large-scale offshore sources like wind and solar systems. The modular multilevel converter (MMC) has become a popular technology in the development of the VSC-MTDC system due to its salient features such as modularity and scalability. Although, the employment of MMC converter in the MTDC system improves the overall system performance. However, there are some technical challenges related to its operation, control, modeling and protection that need to be addressed. This paper mainly provides a comprehensive review and investigation of the control and protection of the MMC-based MTDC system. In addition, the issues and challenges associated with the development of the MMC-MTDC system have been discussed in this paper. It majorly covers the control schemes that provide the AC system support and state-of-the-art relaying algorithm/ dc fault detection and location algorithms. Different types of dc fault detection and location algorithms presented in the literature have been reviewed, such as local measurement-based, communication-based, traveling wave-based and artificial intelligence-based. Characteristics of the protection techniques are compared and analyzed in terms of various scenarios such as implementation in CBs, system configuration, selectivity, and robustness. Finally, future challenges and issues regarding the development of the MTDC system have been discussed in detail

A Study of the Structural and Surface Morphology and Photoluminescence of Ni-Doped AlN Thin Films Grown by Co-Sputtering

Aluminum nitride (AlN) is a semiconductor material possessing a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure with a large band gap of 6.2 eV. AlN thin films have several potential applications and areas for study, particularly in optoelectronics. This research study focused on the preparation of Ni-doped AlN thin films by using DC and RF magnetron sputtering for optoelectronic applications. Additionally, a comparative analysis was also carried out on the as-deposited and annealed thin films. Several spectroscopy and microscopy techniques were considered for the characterization of structural (X-ray diffraction), morphological (SEM), chemical bonding (FTIR), and emission (PL spectroscopy) properties. The XRD results show that the thin films have an oriented c-axis hexagonal structure. SEM analysis validated the granular-like morphology of the deposited sample, and FTIR results confirm the presence of chemical bonding in deposited thin films. The photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra exhibit different peaks in the visible region when excited at different wavelengths. A sharp and intense photoluminescence peak was observed at 426 nm in the violet-blue region, which can be attributed to inter-band transitions due to the incorporation of Ni in AlN. Most of the peaks in the PL spectra occurred due to direct-band recombination and indirect impurity-band recombination. After annealing, the intensity of all observed peaks increases drastically due to the development of new phases, resulting in a decrease in defects and a corresponding increase in the crystallinity of the thin film. The observed structural, morphological, and photoluminescence results suggest that Ni: AlN is a promising candidate to be used in optoelectronics applications, specifically in photovoltaic devices and lasers