Experimental results from a Thomson-coil actuator for a vacuum interrupter in an HVDC breaker

Abstract

Recent developments in high-voltage direct current transmission technology and the plans for multi-terminals motivate research efforts on the fast DC breaker. A novel concept to interrupt current up to several kiloamperes within a few milliseconds is presently under development, using a vacuum interrupter together with power electronics to create an artificial zero-crossing in the current through the switch. To achieve this objective, one critical component in the concept is an ultra-fast linear mechanical actuator. A prototype has been developed based on a Thomson coil. The experimental results are presented and show how a contact gap in a vacuum interrupter was effectively created in a controlled manner. Current of several kiloamperes was successfully interrupted within 3 ms, thanks to the high-speed operation of the linear actuator.

Keywords

• vacuum interrupters
• HVDC power transmission
• experimental results
• Thomson-coil actuator
• vacuum interrupter
• HVDC breaker
• high-voltage direct current transmission technology
• fast DC breaker
• linear actuator
• ultrafast linear mechanical actuator