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6 comments
Associate

Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 35

Power Co. Capacitors Cause VFD's to Kick Out

05/27/2012 7:58 AM

I have many 480V variable frequency drives that kick out whenever a 69KV capacitor bank comes online. We have installed 480V line reactors ahead of this equipment but the problem persists. We record our 13kV bus voltage and have found that typically the power company's 69kV capacitor bank will go online when our voltage gets below 12900. The capacitors add about 300V to the 13kV bus and in turn raises our usable power from 480V to 489V.

Our drives reset at the instant when the capacitor bank comes online, but there is no effect when they go off line.

What could be the problem/solution?


Thanks!

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Guru
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#1

Re: Power Co. capacitors cause vfd's to kick out.

05/27/2012 10:37 AM

What do you mean by "go out"? Surely there is some sort of trip code isn't there? Also describe your power system, i.e wye, delta, open delta, corner grounded etc. Depending on these answers it could be very simple.

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Guru
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#2

Re: Power Co. Capacitors Cause VFD's to Kick Out

05/27/2012 2:54 PM

I had the exact problem only the voltage was 12.46 kv. The capacitors were on a timer and when they came on line the customers drives would trip off. I had the utility take out the timer so that the capacitors remained on line all the time and no more trouble. The capacitors cause a voltage rise then they are energized and the substation regulator can not lower the voltage quick enough to keep the drives from tripping off. Another solution is to install a 480/460 volt transformer and the voltage rise will not be enough to trip the drives.

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Guru
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#3

Re: Power Co. Capacitors Cause VFD's to Kick Out

05/27/2012 3:13 PM

Similar problem a few years back. VSD's being left on "stop" all weekend. Monday morning they were toast. After a lot of head scratching we found that one of our on load tap changers had tripped on O/L. Reset, end of problem.

A quick fix could be to isolate the drives on the Friday and power up ready for Monday morning.

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Associate

Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 25
#4

Re: Power Co. Capacitors Cause VFD's to Kick Out

05/27/2012 5:14 PM

Hi,

This is a typical capacitor switching event.

Am I correct in assuming that the VSDs lockout when the caps are ON then you need to manually reset them and they run normal.If this is what's happening then you need to capture the event.Have you measured the transient at 480V.VSDs are deisgned to tolerate voltages with +/-10% 480V henec,you may be measuring the voltage in steady state but the transient voltage may be higher .Pending the findings of the waveform capture there may be a requirement to install a surge arrestor around 20 m of the VSD . You may need to use surge arrestors dedicacted for sensitive devices so they can trigger earlier than standard surge arrestors. You also mentioned you have used reactors on your VSDs, How much the impedance .At least you need 3% and maybe 5% ( try on VSD which locks out most ) since the line voltage increases by 2%. Also do you have any tuned filters at 480Bus if yes then they may have magnified the problem. This can be confirmed by capturing the event using a smart meter .

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#5

Re: Power Co. Capacitors Cause VFD's to Kick Out

05/29/2012 12:41 PM

It may be that your line reactors are undersized or too far away. It is hard to tell from here. Ideally, they should be within every cabinet that contains VFD's. One set for the whole power distribution system will not compensate for ringing on the power network very well.

Frequently, when the VFD's are on standby, the DC power supply is fully charged so that the slightest impulse above nominal voltage also gets added and an over-voltage will cause trips. A line reactor will suppress a fast (high frequency) change in voltage but a slower change in voltage level (greater than 50 mSec) may be long enough to over charge the DC supply in the VFD's.

You may be able to simply change the tap on your substation so that you are running at 460 instead of 480. This is certainly within tolerance and may be the easiest solution. If you can monitor the voltage during switching of the capacitor bank, you may have a clearer understanding of the problem.

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Participant

Join Date: Apr 2012
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#6

Re: Power Co. Capacitors Cause VFD's to Kick Out

05/30/2012 4:20 PM

The most likely reason is that your DC bus is experiencing an overvoltage fault, but you should check your fault log to be sure. If you can't change the power feed, you may be able to stop the fault by adding a breaking resistor to the VFD (assuming of course, that it is an overvoltage problem, and your VFD can accept a resistor).

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