Control Techniques and Design of Load-Side Controls for the Mitigation of Late-Time High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2026

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel control archetype designed to mitigate high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) (Formula presented.) disturbances on the power grid, as well as information on performance and specifications of different control laws for the controller archetype. This method of protection has been overlooked in the literature until now. A controlled voltage supply is placed on the load-side of a transformer, diverting unwanted power from the transformer core to prevent saturation. The controlled voltage source is modeled using four control laws: an integral controller (capacitor), Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR), an energy storage minimized feedforward control law, and a Hamiltonian feedback law. Results show that the Hamiltonian feedback law and the energy storage minimization feedforward control law both flat-line magnetic flux with similar actuator requirements. The LQR approach requires less energy storage than the other two laws, depending on control tuning, as it allows greater exogenous current flow through the neutral path to ground. This leads to further optimization opportunities based on acceptable exogenous current levels. A sweep of different LQR gains revealed a reduction of approximately (Formula presented.) in minimum control effort, (Formula presented.) in minimum power to maintain saturation bounds, (Formula presented.) in energy storage requirements, and (Formula presented.) in required controller bandwidth. Voltage and bandwidth requirements of the load-side controller are comparable to neutral blocking requirements with energy and power requirements being higher for the load-side controller. This, however, comes with the benefit of being able to use pre-existing assets—neutral blocking devices have not been deployed. Additionally, the load-side blocking capacitor degrades transformer performance compared to the unmitigated system.

Publication Title

Energies

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS