A novel air core electromagnetic fault current limiter with rotational motion

Abstract

Abstract The authors deal with design and analysis of an air‐core electromagnetic fault current limiter (FCL) with rotary motion. The proposed device is characterised by a simple structure, fast operating speed and reversible operation. It consists of two movable concentric air core spherical reactor rings (i.e. inner and outer rings) with variable mutual angular displacement. At normal condition, reactors are approximately aligned, and subsequently, the effective inductance/impedance of the equipment and the respective voltage drop are low. At faulty conditions, the short circuit current exerts a repulsive rotary electromagnetic torque on the reactors, which results in a fast and steady increase of the reactors angular displacement. During this process, the effective inductance of the equipment rapidly rises up to a level that effectively limits the short circuit current. To determine the effectiveness of the proposed topology in limiting the network's fault current, the inductance profile of the proposed rotary FCL and the respective fault current characteristic are compared with similar case studies (a) with linear FCL and (b) without FCL. The analysis is carried out via a finite element (FE) and supported via analytical and theoretical discussion. Finally, a down‐scale prototype of the proposed FCL was built and tested to verify the functionality of the device in the lab environment.

Keywords

• fault current limiters
• finite element analysis