Capacitor bank failure observations:

1. Bank Rating:

4100 kVAR, 12 kV Internal Fuse Protection, Double star connected, Plinth mounted
capacitor bank with 0.2 % Series Reactor

Capacitor Unit Rating: 341.67 kVAr, 6.93 kV, Single Phase, Internal Fuse
P.O. No.: NBC /M03/23072948. Dt. 20/03/2014

2. Location of Capacitor bank:

Capacitor bank is connected to Indoor VCB (Switch No. 3122), which is connected to LV
(i.e. LV) side of 35 MVA-T2 transformers.

3. Occurrence of Fault:

As per fault record and discussion with AEML’s team, previous as well as current faults had
been occurred at the time of capacitor bank switch ON.

Failure Event Details:

Date: 13/06/2019 Time: 09.26 Interrupted Relay: OC+E/F Relay

This is very important observation that VCB of capacitor bank tripped on OC+EF relay instead
of NCT or Neutral current displacement relay. If there is any internal fault occurs in
capacitor unit then it should have resulted in unbalancing of capacitor bank and that fault
might have occurred on Neutral current displacement relay.

4. Condition of faulty capacitor unit after failure:

One number of capacitor unit in B phase found burst from bottom side, fire captured by
capacitor bank and Unit oil spilled out and internal element of capacitor unit pushed out of
unit container.

Methodology to find out root cause of capacitor unit failure

Capacitor unit failure may be due to any of the following reasons

2 x 4100kVAR capacitor bank, 12kV rating are connected in parallel on the 11kV Side of the
35MVA Transformer. 1 x 4100kVAR capacitor bank is connected on each bus (BUS-A and
BUS-B) with bus-coupler in normally OPEN condition. However, there may be situation
wherein the bus-coupler may be CLOSE condition and simultaneously switching of capacitor
bank may take place resulting the parallel switching.

As per clause no. 27.6.2 of IS 13925 (Part 1): 2012. Transient overcurrent or inrush current
of high amplitude and high frequency may occur when capacitors are switched ON and
especially when a section of capacitor bank is switched in parallel with other capacitor bank
or sections which are already energized. The peak value of the overcurrents due to switching
operations should be limited to a maximum of 100 times of rated current of capacitor bank.

If several capacitors are used in parallel for compensation and they are switched on and off
separately, the permissible capacitive making current must be observed. If a capacitor is
connected to a power system followed by another capacitor, very high peak making currents
can arise depending on the capacitor size and the inductance of the switchgear. When the
switching contacts approach each other, pre-arcing arises across the open contact gap before
the contacts experience galvanic contact. At this instant, a transient phenomenon arises
between the power system and the capacitor. Making current values of up to several tens of
kilo-amps can arise at frequencies up to several kilohertz. As pre-arcing occurs about 1 to 2
ms before galvanic contact is made, the entire compensation current (2) flows through the
arc when the capacitors are switched on. By contrast, the instantaneous current value when
energizing onto a (50 Hz) short-circuit (1) is significantly less. This means that, given
equivalent current amplitude values, switching capacitors on is much harder than energizing
onto a short-circuit

We have checked the possible effects due to parallel switching of two or more capacitor
bank connected on same bus by PSCAD software and results are attached in Appendix-A
As per attached annexure (Appendix-A), It is found that maximum switching current
observed at the time of single capacitor bank switching is 6.7 times of nominal capacitor
bank
current and at the time of second bank switching when first bank already in circuit is 11
times of nominal current. Hence, Inrush current generated due to parallel switching of
capacitor banks are very less and within limit.

Restriking of VCB

Capacitor banks are connected on outgoing side of Schneider make 12 kV, 1250 Amp Indoor
VCB for isolation and switching of capacitor bank. As per clause no. 27.5.1 and 27.7.2 of IS
13925 (Part 1): 2012. Switchgear suitable for capacitor switching should be used. Restriking
during switching of capacitor bank may result in excessive overvoltage.

As per your test report of 'Voltage surge measurement during breaker close / open condition'
VCB’s connected to the incoming of capacitor bank is restriking free. Hence, this possibility
can be ignored.

Effects of dv/dt

High rate of rise voltage peaks during any kind of switching operation over the bus where
capacitors are connected, results in overstress on insulation of the series reactor and
capacitor over the period of operation and hence resulting in failure, which need to be check
for possible reduction of dv/dt with addition of Surge Suppressor device connected at
incoming point of capacitor bank.

It is highly recommended to the Surge Suppressor connected at the incoming point of

Overstressing and overheating of Capacitor:

As per clause no. 27.1 of IS 13925 (Part 1): 2012. Overstressing and overheating shorten the
life of a capacitor and therefore the operating conditions (i.e. temperature, voltage and
current) should be strictly controlled and specified.

Overstressing and overheating effects are occurring due to internal as well as external faults.
Possible causes of capacitor unit failure due to external faults are like Over voltages, faults
due to back to back switching of capacitor bank, restriking of Circuit breaker, lightening effects
and faults due to improper maintenance are seems to be overruled. Hence possibility of
internal fault needs to be checked.

Based on the above possibilities, it seems the Capacitor Unit in B phase was having
problem due to the internal fault and parallel switching of capacitor bank are within the
acceptable limits as specified in IS standard and IEC Standard.