A Fault Current Limiting Hybrid DC Circuit Breaker

Due to the low impedance characteristic of the high voltage direct current(HVDC)grid,the fault current rises extremely fast after a DC-side fault occurs,and this phenomenon seriously endangers the safety of the HVDC grid.In order to suppress the rising speed of the fault current and reduce the current interruption requirements of the main breaker(MB),a fault current limiting hybrid DC circuit breaker(FCL-HCB)has been proposed in this paper,and it has the capability of bidirectional fault current limiting and fault current interruption.After the occurrence of the overcurrent in the HVDC grid,the current limiting circuit(CLC)of FCL-HCB is put into operation immediately,and whether the protected line is cut off or resumed to normal operation is decided according to the fault detection result.Compared with the traditional hybrid DC circuit breaker(HCB),the required number of semiconductor switches and the peak value of fault current after fault occurs are greatly reduced by adopting the proposed device.Extensive simulations also verify the effectiveness of the proposed FCL-HCB.

Key stress extraction and equivalent test method for hybrid DC circuit breaker

Firstly, relevant stress properties of millisecond level breaking process and microsecond level commutation process of hybrid HVDC circuit breaker are studied in detail on the basis of the analysis for the application environment and topological structure and operating principles of hybrid circuit breakers, and key stress parameters in transient state process of two time dimensions are extracted. The established digital simulation circuit for PSCAD/EMTDC device-level operation of the circuit breaker has verified the stress properties of millisecond level breaking process and microsecond level commutation process. Then, equivalent test method, circuits and parameters based on LC power supply are proposed on the basis of stress extraction. Finally, the results of implemented breaking tests for complete 200 kV circuit breaker, 100 kV and 50 kV circuit breaker units, as well as single power electronic module have verified the accuracy of the simulation circuit and mathematical analysis. The result of this paper can be a guide to electrical structure and test system design of hybrid HVDC circuit breaker.

Research on Parameter Collaborative Configuration of DC Circuit Breaker and DC Fault Current Limiter

Fault current suppression is the key technology to ensure the safe operation of the DC power distribution system. In order to realize the parameter collabora-tive configuration of the DC circuit breaker and the DC current limiter and improve the fault current suppression capability, the fault current suppression mechanism of the DC power distribution system is revealed based on the circuit model. Then, based on the mathematical model of the DC breaker, the characteristic parameters of DC breaking are extracted, and then the influence of different characteristic parameters on the breaking characteristics of fault current is studied. Finally, the mathematical model of the collaborative process between DC circuit breaker and DC current limiter is established. The charac-teristic parameters of fault current collaborative suppression are extracted. The coupling effects of different characteristic parameters on the fault current col-laborative suppression are studied. The principle of collaborative configuration of DC circuit breaker and DC current limiter is proposed, and the collaborative suppression ability of DC circuit breaker and DC current limiter to fault current is fully exploited to ensure the safe and reliable operation of the DC power distribution system.

Fluid-chemical modeling of the near-cathode sheath formation process in a high current broken in DC air circuit breaker

When the contacts of a medium-voltage DC air circuit breaker(DCCB) are separated, the energy distribution of the arc is determined by the formation process of the near-electrode sheath. Therefore, the voltage drop through the near-electrode sheath is an important means to build up the arc voltage, which directly determines the current-limiting performance of the DCCB. A numerical model to describe the near-electrode sheath formation process can provide insight into the physical mechanism of the arc formation, and thus provide a method for arc energy regulation. In this work, we establish a two-dimensional axisymmetric time-varying model of a medium-voltage DCCB arc when interrupted by high current based on a fluid-chemical model involving 16 kinds of species and 46 collision reactions. The transient distributions of electron number density, positive and negative ion number density, net space charge density, axial electric field, axial potential between electrodes, and near-cathode sheath are obtained from the numerical model. The computational results show that the electron density in the arc column increases, then decreases, and then stabilizes during the near-cathode sheath formation process, and the arc column's diameter gradually becomes wider. The 11.14 V–12.33 V drops along the17 μm space charge layer away from the cathode(65.5 k V/m–72.5 k V/m) when the current varies from 20 k A–80 k A.The homogeneous external magnetic field has little effect on the distribution of particles in the near-cathode sheath core,but the electron number density at the near-cathode sheath periphery can increase as the magnetic field increases and the homogeneous external magnetic field will lead to arc diffusion. The validity of the numerical model can be proven by comparison with the experiment.

Low-loss and Compact Hybrid DC Circuit Breaker Scheme Using Self-commutated Semiconductor Switch Module

In traditional hybrid DC circuit breakers(HCBs)schemes,complex equipment is usually required to ensure current commutation from mechanical to semiconductor switches,which cause not only additional construction costs and volume but also additional losses and maintenance work.Different from this condition,a low-loss and compact HCB scheme that does not use separate current commutation equipment is proposed in this study.By rationally using the charge and discharge of the snubber capacitor,the self-commutated semiconductor switch(SCS)module can integrate both the current commutation and shutdown functions,thereby greatly reducing cost and volume.The working process is discussed and analyzed in detail,and then a 10-kA prototype is developed and tested,which verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed scheme.Index Terms-HVDC circuit breakers,hybrid DC circuit breakers(HCBs),self-commutated semiconductor switch(SCS).

Coordination Control of Power Flow Controller and Hybrid DC Circuit Breaker in MVDC Distribution Networks

The two main challenges of medium voltage direct current(MVDC)distribution network are the flexible control of power flow(PF)and fault protection.In this paper,the power flow controller(PFC)is introduced to regulate the PF and inhibit the fault current during the DC fault.The coordination strategy of series-parallel PFC(SP-PFC)and hybrid DC circuit breaker(DCCB)is proposed.By regulating the polarity and magnitude of SP-PFC output voltage during the fault,the rising speed of fault current can be suppressed so as to reduce the breaking current of hybrid DCCB.The access mode of SP-PFC to the MVDC distribution network and its topology are analyzed,and the coordination strategy between SP-PFC and hybrid DCCB is investigated.Moreover,the emergency control and bypass control strategies of SP-PFC are developed.On this basis,the mathematical model of SP-PFC in different fault stages is derived.With the equivalent model of SP-PFC,the fault current of the MVDC distribution network can be calculated accurately.A simulation model of the MVDC distribution network containing SP-PFC is established in MATLAB/Simulink.The fault current calculation result is compared with the simulation result,and the effectiveness of the proposed coordination strategy is verified.

Topology of Current-limiting and Energy-transferring DC Circuit Breaker for DC Distribution Networks

With the development of power electronic technologies and distributed power generation,DC distribution networks attract increasing attention due to their various advantages compared with traditional AC distribution networks.However,DC fault protection is one of the major issues in DC distribution networks.To improve their reliability and protect the semiconductor devices under DC faults,a current-limiting and energy-transferring DC circuit breaker topology is proposed in this paper.By applying passive components and thyristors,the proposed topology is capable of quickly limiting the fault current and transferring the faulty energy.The working principle,mathematical model and parameter designing method of the proposed topology are presented in this paper.The simulation results verify that the proposed DC circuit breaker could effectively limit the fault current and quickly interrupt the fault current.Cost and conduction power loss evaluation proves the practicality of the proposed topology in medium-voltage DC distribution networks.

Coordinated Control of DC Circuit Breakers in Multilink HVDC Grids

High voltage DC grids are developing in more terminals and with larger transmission capacity,thus the re-quirements for DC circuit breakers(DCCB)will continue to rise.Conventional methods only use the faulty line DCCB to withstand the fault stress,and therefore this paper presents a coordination method of multiple DCCBs to protect the system.As many adjacent DCCBs are tripped to interrupt the fault current,the fault energy is shared,and the requirement for the faulty line DCCB is reduced.Moreover,the adjacent DCCBs are actively controlled to help system recovery.The primary protection,backup protection,and reclosing logic of multiple DCCBs are studied.Simulations confirm that the proposed control reduces the energy dissipation requirement of faulty line DCCB by approximately 30%-42%,the required current rating for IGBTs is reduced,and the system recovery time is also reduced by 20-40 ms.

Novel Fast Operating Moving Coil Actuator with Compensation Coil for HVDC Circuit Breakers

DC circuit breakers are major enabling components for multi-terminal HVDC systems.Their key design targets are operating speed and efficiency.This paper proposes a novel moving coil actuator using a compensation coil topology to operate mechanical circuit breakers.This topology aims to significantly improve the magnetic field saturation and reduce the system inductance,so that the operating speed is increased.Four possible connection methods for the compensation coils are proposed and analyzed using finite element modeling,ensuing simulation results are compared and discussed.The operating speed of the moving coil actuator with compensation coils is significantly improved compared with the original moving coil actuator.The moving coil actuator with compensation coils can open a distance of 5 mm within 2.8 ms and the peak efficiency is 47%.

Study on Clamping Type DC Circuit Breaker with Short Fault Isolation Time and Low Energy Dissipation

The development of DC grids faces challenges from DC fault protection.The conventional DC circuit breaker(DCCB)employs metal-oxide varistor(MOV)to isolate the faulted line,in which the fault isolation process is coupled with the energy dissipation process.In this study,a clamping type DCCB(CTCB)using internal capacitors to clamp the converter voltage is proposed.Thanks to the proposed configuration,fault isolation and energy dissipation are decoupled,resulting in a fast fault isolation and low energy dissipation compared to the conventional DCCB.The working principle of the proposed CTCB is presented and verified in a DC grid simulation model.A comparison is made with the traditional DCCB.The fault isolation time can be reduced by 34.5%.The dissipated energy can be reduced by 17.4%.The energy dissipation power can be reduced by 76.2%.

Circuit Model with Current Interruption for Hybrid High Voltage DC Circuit Breakers to Achieve Precise Current Experiments

The current interruption test based on an LC resonance circuit for hybrid DC circuit breakers(HVDC CBs)is widely employed to characterize the current interruption capability of CBs.In order to ensure a high-fidelity replica of the fault current in a high voltage application,this paper first proposes an equivalent model of the test circuit,where not only parasitic resistances but also the threshold voltages and on-state resistances of various semiconductor devices are considered.Moreover,the analytical formula of the test current is derived by including the working principle of the HVDC CB.Secondly,the parameter extraction method,which combines finite element analysis and measurements by an impedance analyzer,is given in this paper.The extracted result implies that,in current interruption transients,equivalent resistances of 500 kV CB are as large as 535 mS,which have a significant influence on current waveforms.Thirdly,the 34 kV/25 kA current interruption test for the 500 kV CB is conducted.The measured results are proved to be consistent with the analytical results obtained from the proposed model,and the relative error is less than 2%.

Influence of dc Component during Inadvertent Operation of the High Voltage Generator Circuit Breaker during Mis-Synchronization

This paper analyses the synchronization problem of a generator onto power system without satisfying synchronization condition. The main focus of the paper is on the impact of the dc component of the current in the high voltage circuit breaker during its close-open operating cycle. Using real time measurements of currents/voltages and angles during the close-opening cycle of high voltage generator circuit breaker and the impact of the dc component of current in context of interrupting large magnitude of current from the circuit breaker. In addition, the paper describes a study case model and the results of simulations performed using the software EMTP-ATP of an actual incident that occurred during the inadvertent synchronization of a large 339 MW, 24 kV generator to the grid.

Numerical Study on Arc Plasma Behavior During Arc Commutation Process in Direct Current Circuit Breaker

This paper focuses on the numerical investigation of arc plasma behavior during arc commutation process in a medium-voltage direct current circuit breaker （DCCB） contact system. A three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） model of air arc plasma in the contact system of a DCCB is developed, based on commercial software FLUENT. Coupled electromagnetic and gas dynamic interactions are considered as usual, and a thin layer of nonlinear electrical resistance elements is used to represent the voltage drop of plasma sheath and the formation of new arc root. The distributions of pressure, temperature, gas flow and current density of arc plasma in arc region are calculated. The simulation results indicate that the pressure distribution related to the contact system has a strong effect on the arc commutation process, arising from the change of electrical conductivity in the arc root region. In DCCB contact system, the pressure of arc root region will be concentrated and higher if the space above the moving contact is enclosed, which is not good for arc root commutation. However, when the region is opened, the pressure distribution would be lower and more evenly, which is favorable for the arc root commutation.

Magneto-hydrodynamic simulation study of direct current multi-contact circuit breaker for equalizing breaking arc

This work is based on a direct current(DC)natural current commutation topology,which uses load-carrying branch contacts carrying rated current and multiple sets of series arcing branch contacts in parallel to achieve circuit breaking.The proposed topology can meet the new requirements of higher voltage DC switches in aviation,aerospace,energy and other fields.First,a magneto-hydrodynamic arc model is built using COMSOL Multiphysics,and the different arc breaking characteristics of the arcing branch contacts in different gas environments are simulated.Then,a voltage uniformity coefficient is used to measure the voltage sharing effect in the process of dynamic interruption.In order to solve the dispersion of arcing contact action,a structural control method is adopted to improve the voltage uniformity coefficient.The uniform voltage distribution can improve the breaking capacity and electrical life of the series connection structure.

Vacuum Dielectric Recovery Characteristics of a Novel Current Limiting Circuit Breaker Base on Artificial Current Zero

为了保证新型强迫换流型真空直流限流断路器关断短路电流的可靠性，对该型断路器分断过程的真空介质恢复特性进行研究。设计了与断路器关断过程等效的介质恢复试验方案，通过等效试验结果和理论推演公式的拟合，得到了新型强迫换流型限流断路器真空灭弧室触头打开过程的动态介质强度恢复规律。研究结果表明：减小燃弧能量、提高触头运动速度可提高真空灭弧室介质的临界击穿电压；综合考虑燃弧时间与燃弧能量及触头开距的关系，随着燃弧时间的增加，真空灭弧室临界击穿电压先减小后增大。所得介质恢复规律可以作为新型断路器优化设计的参考依据。

Research on arc root stagnation when small current is interrupted in self-excited circuit breaker

The self-excited DC air circuit breaker(SE-DCCB)has been widely used in urban rail transit due to its excellent stability.It can realize forward and reverse interruption,but has difficulty interrupting small currents due to the phenomenon of arc root sticking at the entrance of the arc chamber in the splitting process,which is known as arc root stagnation.A coupling model of the self-excited magnetic field and magnetohydrodynamics is established for the SE-DCCB with the traditional structure.The magnetic field,temperature and airflow distribution in the arc chamber are investigated with an interrupting current of 150 A.The simulation results show that the direction and magnitude of the magnetic blowout force are the dominant factors in the arc root stagnation.The local high temperature of the arc chamber due to arc root stagnation increases the obstruction effect of the airflow vortex on the arc root movement,which significantly increases the arc duration time of small current interruption.Based on the research,the structure of the magnetic conductance plate of the actual product is improved,which can improve the direction and magnitude of the magnetic blowout force at the arc root so as to restrain the development of the airflow vortex effectively and solve the problem of arc root stagnation when the small current is interrupted.The simulation results show that the circuit breaker with improved structure has a better performance for a small current interruption range from 100 A to 350 A.

多端VSC-HVDC直流线路故障限流及限流特性分析

基于电压源型换流器(voltage source converters,VSC)的多端柔性直流系统中直流线路的故障电流上升速度快、电流峰值大。然而具有大容量、快切断能力的高压直流断路器正在研制中。结合目前直流断路器开断容量水平,该文提出通过在直流线路两端串入限流电路的方法来限制故障电流的峰值和电流的上升速度率,并给出相关参数的理论计算方法。对该电路的限流特性进行分析与对比,结果表明,该限流电路能有效抑制故障电流,降低了对直流断路器开断容量和开断速度的要求。在该限流电路的基础上,提出一种多端VSC-HVDC直流线路故障处理方案。仿真分析表明,该故障处理方案能够有效抑制直流线路故障电流以及IGBT并联二极管电流,故障切除后非故障系统能保持正常运行,可以有效地增强多端VSC-HVDC系统对直流线路故障的处理能力。

考虑直流断路器的MMC-HVDC系统直流电压保护误动分析

随着柔性直流输电技术的不断发展以及直流断路器研究的不断突破,直流断路器的逐渐应用将对MMC-HVDC系统的继电保护产生重要的影响.在含直流断路器的MMC-HVDC交直流混合系统中,一些原本由交流断路器跳闸的直流侧故障将修改为动作于直流断路器跳闸.在此背景下,交流故障和直流故障时反映在直流侧的暂态响应具有相似性,可能造成直流保护发生误动.通过研究各种交、直流系统故障时直流系统的暂态响应,分析MMC-HVDC直流侧在交流系统故障和直流系统故障下的暂态响应的相似性,研究有可能造成的直流电压保护误动,并针对引起误动的保护特征给出避免保护误动的改进建议.在PSCAD/EMTDC仿真平台中,搭建含MMC-HVDC的交直流混合系统,仿真验证所作分析的正确性.

Adaptive Reclosing Scheme Based on Traveling Wave Injection For Multi-Terminal dc Grids

The hybrid dc circuit breaker(HCB)has the advantages of fast action speed and low operating loss,which is an idealmethod for fault isolation ofmulti-terminal dc grids.Formulti-terminal dc grids that transmit power through overhead lines,HCBs are required to have reclosing capability due to the high fault probability and the fact that most of the faults are temporary faults.To avoid the secondary fault strike and equipment damage that may be caused by the reclosing of the HCB when the permanent fault occurs,an adaptive reclosing scheme based on traveling wave injection is proposed in this paper.The scheme injects traveling wave signal into the fault dc line through the additionally configured auxiliary discharge branch in the HCB,and then uses the reflection characteristic of the traveling wave signal on the dc line to identify temporary and permanent faults,to be able to realize fast reclosing when the temporary fault occurs and reliably avoid reclosing after the permanent fault occurs.The test results in the simulation model of the four-terminal dc grid show that the proposed adaptive reclosing scheme can quickly and reliably identify temporary and permanent faults,greatly shorten the power outage time of temporary faults.In addition,it has the advantages of easiness to implement,high reliability,robustness to high-resistance fault and no dead zone,etc.

基于单端高频电流量的MMC-MTDC输电线路保护方案

为克服传统高压直流输电线路保护利用单端电气量无法可靠区分区内、外故障的缺陷,提出一种通过广义S变换提取直流线路故障电流高频频带幅值特征的单端量保护新方法。该方法在配备有混合直流断路器的直流线路发生故障时,利用1000~2500 Hz各采样频率电流横差值在区外明显小于区内的特征,构造了区内、外故障判据。利用300~1000 Hz的特征频率在单极接地故障时故障极特征频率电流幅值比非故障极大,以及两极短路故障时两极的特征频率电流幅值近似相等的特征,构造了故障启动判据和选极判据。在RTDS仿真平台搭建了风光储联合发电站经高压直流外送的三端柔性直流输电系统模型。仿真结果表明,所提方法能快速、可靠地识别故障类型和故障范围。同时,仿真验证了基于混合直流断路器的直流故障穿越方案的有效性。