Combined Operation Analysis of a Saturated Iron-Core Superconducting Fault Current Limiter and Circuit Breaker for an HVDC System Protection

Abstract

Recently, in order to overcome the difficulties of interrupting fault currents in multi-terminal direct current systems (MTDC), studies combining a saturated iron-core type superconducting current limiter (SFCL) and a direct current circuit breaker (DCCB) have been conducted. However, the effect of inductance change of the SI-SFCL on the interrupting time of the DCCB during fault has not been studied yet. In this paper, the interrupting time delay caused by the dynamic behavior of the inductance change during the fault current blocking process of the SI-SFCL combined with a DCCB was analyzed through experiments and a new fault detection method considering this phenomenon was proposed. After designing and manufacturing the laboratory-scale SI-SFCL and DCCB, a fault current interrupting test was performed and the inductance change pattern of the SI-SFCL was analyzed. Based on the analysis results, a new fault detection technique was proposed to alleviate the interruption time delay that occurs when applying the combined protection system to a MTDC, and its effectiveness was verified through a simulation. These results will be useful for planning protection coordination strategies when introducing a SI-SFCL in combination with a DCCB in actual MTDC systems.

Keywords

• HVDC fault current detection
• HVDC protection equipment
• mechanical DC circuit breaker
• nonlinear impedance dynamic behavior of SI-SFCL
• protection coordination between DC circuit breaker and SFCL
• saturated iron core type SFCL