Requirements for functional testing of HVDC protection IEDs

• Development of Intelligent Electronic Devices (IED) for HVDC protection is underway, driven in part by the prospective demands of future multiterminal HVDC systems. There is, however, no consensus on how to test the functionality of an HVDC protection IED. Successful operation of a future multivendor HVDC protection system requires functional specifications and harmonised test procedures for protection system components, including the protection IED. This paper presents an introduction to functional testing methods for HVDC protection IEDs. Evaluating the protection algorithm characteristic using synthetic waveforms is first performed, i.e. ’functional type testing’. Given that test procedures are in part dependent on the protection algorithm, tests are developed and presented for several algorithms. The behaviour of the IED in a power system simulation is then examined during generalised yet representative fault transients, i.e. equivalent to ’dynamic validation type testing’ of AC protection algorithms. The combination of functional and dynamic validation type testing allows the generalised functionality of the IED to be evaluated - testing the algorithm, hardware and software implementation, and overall performance. To provide examples of test procedures, an open-source HVDC IED prototype is tested in a hardware-in-the-loop configuration using a real-time simulator. The operation and accuracy of the protection characteristics are first examined, before the IED performance under representative waveforms is determined. Through tests of several non-unit line protection algorithms, it is shown that, depending on the algorithm applied, the IED is dependable for simulated faults within the protection zone, and secure during external faults. Moreover,the test configurations and procedures required to evaluate the functionality and the criteria for success are developed.

Keyword

HVDC protection

Functional type testing

Dynamic validation type testing

Real-time simulation

HVDC relaying

HVDC protection IED

Hardware in the loop

Standardisation

Harmonisation.

Publication and Content Type

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