Proposal of flux‐lock‐type fault current limiter with high‐TC superconducting element

This paper proposes a new type of fault current limiter (FCL), which consists of a high‐T_C superconducting (HTS) element and two coils wound on the same core without any leakage magnetic flux. In this FCL, either the limiting impedance or the initial limiting current level can be controlled by adjusting the inductances and the winding direction of the coils. Therefore, this FCL could relax the material restrictions on high‐T_C superconducting FCL. A current‐limiting experiment by a model FCL was carried out, and the limiting performance was observed. The initial limiting current level of the model FCL was 1.7 times higher than the critical current of the HTS element, and the fault current is suppressed to 52% immediately after the short‐circuit in the test. Considering voltage–current characteristics of a high‐T_C superconductor in a computer simulation, the calculated results almost agreed with the experimental results. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 127(1): 31–38, 1999     

Increase of inductance ratio of flat type fault current limiter with high‐Tc superconducting disk

Fault current limiters (FCLs) are expected to reduce fault current and improve stability of power systems. A flat type fault current limiter consisting of the pancake primary winding and a high‐T_c superconducting (HTS) disk was proposed as a modified version of a conventional magnetic shield type of the FCL with the superconducting cylinder. The flat type FCL has the advantage of being manufactured smaller than the cylinder type FCL. It is pointed out, from a magnetic field analysis, that the volume of the flat type FCL is smaller than that of the cylinder type FCL with same magnitude of the limiting inductance. Further, the magnetic field analysis suggests that a high inductance ratio can be realized by radially enlarging both the primary winding and the HTS disk, stacking the FCL modules in layers and sandwiching the primary winding with superconducting disks. © 2006 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Fundamental performance of superconducting fault current limiter with two air core coils

In this paper, we theoretically compared the fundamental characteristics of fault current limiter (FCL) with high‐Tc superconductor (HTS) and two coaxial air‐core coils based on steady‐state analysis. Two types of FCL are possible. One is parallel type and the other is transformer type. The parallel type can be divided into two types according to the combination of the winding direction of coils. That is, there are two cases that the coils are wound so that the magnetic fluxes induced by coils reduce and increase each other. In this paper, we called them parallel type 1 and 2, respectively. There is no significant difference in the HTS volume required to satisfy both the specified limiting impedance Z_FCL and initial current I_ini in limiting operation among those three FCLs although the HTS in each type of FCL has different length and cross‐sectional area. In the cases of those FCLs, we can improve the current limiting performance by arranging the HTS in the coils and applying the magnetic flux to the HTS in the limiting operation. The magnitudes of the magnetic flux density are almost the same. From the viewpoint of the FCL impedance in normal operation, parallel type 1 has the most desirable structure. On the other hand, transformer type is the best to eliminate the magnetic flux applied to the HTS in the normal operation. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 165(3): 29–36, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20477     

Operating tests with a 6.6‐kV reduced model of rectifying‐type fault current limiter system

Fault current limiters (FCL) are extensively needed to suppress fault currents, particularly for trunk power systems heavily connected to high‐voltage transmission lines, such as the 500‐kV‐class power system which constitutes the nucleus of the electric power system. In this paper, we propose a new FCL system, consisting of solid‐state diodes, a dc coil, and a bypass ac coil, and describe the specifications of the trunk electric power system and the 6.6‐kV reduction model. Also we propose a 6.6‐kV trial model and describe an efficiency test with a short circuit generator, which we have trial produced for the new FCL system. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 137(3): 29–36, 2001     

Fault current limiting system for 500‐kV power systems

Recently, expansion in the scale of power systems and development of localized power sources are leading to an increase in fault current of 500‐kV systems. In the future, it is quite likely that the fault current at the interconnection of such power systems may exceed the rated short‐time current of existing electric power facilities. As one of the solutions of this problem, a thyristor‐controlled series‐resonant‐type fault current limiter (FCL) is proposed to restrain the fault current. This paper deals with the FCL system configuration, the placement method of the FCL in power systems, the outline of the FCL's specification, and the operation method of the protective relay in the multimachine system. Finally, the effectiveness of the FCL is evaluated from the viewpoints of limiting the fault current by simulation analysis. The FCL is shown to be a useful protection device for large, high‐capacity power systems. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 127(1): 11–22, 1999     

High‐efficiency,low‐torque ripple control of a permanent magnet synchronous motor based on current tracking vector of electromotive force

Since ordinary magnetic field poles of a PM (permanent magnet) motor generate higher harmonic flux, sinusoidal current will cause torque ripple. This is usually removed by short pitch winding, skew slot method, and so on. These methods have a drawback in terms of lower efficiency. Recently, new current control methods have been proposed to realize zero‐torque ripple and high‐efficiency drive at the same time. However, because the optimized reference current waveform obtained by these methods includes zero phase component, normal three‐phase full bridge inverter and d–q coordinate control method cannot be used. This paper proposes a new current control method that can achieve zero‐torque ripple and maximum efficiency by using a normal three‐phase inverter. The three‐phase optimum current can be derived by satisfying the following conditions: (1) the direction of the current resultant vector always agrees with that of the electromotive force resultant vector, and (2) the scalar product of the two vectors is held constant. By means of modifying the coordinate transformation angle, this method can also make it possible to compensate torque pulsation error with maximum efficiency using general d–q coordinate control method. The proposed method has been verified by experiments. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 136(1): 57–64, 2001     

直流SMC铁心高温超导故障限流器的研究

分析了直流电力系统保护的发展现状,设计了一种铁心型高温超导故障限流器。为了尽量延长限流的时间,限流器的铁心采用软磁复合材料(SMC)。限流器在系统正常工作时对电力系统影响很小,当短路故障发生时,它会很快表现为大阻抗以限制短路电流。基于磁场有限元与电路耦合的计算方法,首先对限流线圈在短路过程中的非线性电感进行精确计算,然后结合计算结果,在电路仿真程序中计算短路电流。通过对比SMC与硅钢铁心材料限流器的限流情况,可以看出SMC铁心限流器对于直流电力系统短路故障的限流效果更好。在短路故障发生后8 ms时,该限流器能将短路电流限制到最大值的12%。     

Development of new conductors of the cable‐in‐conduit type for HTS coils with high performance

A new type of cable‐in‐conduit conductor composed of HTS tapes was proposed as a winding for high‐performance HTS coils with high current capacities and low AC losses. In the fabrication of the conductor, the twist of stacked tapes around their axes was made before inserting them inside conduits. The twist angle should be changed continuously along the axis to reduce face‐on oriented magnetic fields applied to the tape in the winding conductor during coil operation. In order to confirm the high current capacity of this type conductor, two single‐layered solenoidal coils wound with sample conductors composed of five stacked Bi‐2223 tapes with bias angles of 20 and 0° were fabricated and tested in liquid nitrogen. A copper magnet system was used in this experiment to generate the spread magnetic field with a spread angle of 20° from the coil axis to the radial direction, which simulates the profile of magnetic fields near the edge windings of practical coils. A large improvement on critical‐current degradation affected by spread magnetic fields was successfully observed for the test coil wound with the 20° bias conductor. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 153(4): 12–19, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20218     

Development of a high‐pressure air‐insulated 72/84‐kV disconnecting switch corresponding to bus‐transfer current switching

SF₆ gas has excellent dielectric strength and current interruption performance. For these reasons, it has been widely used for gas‐insulated switchgear (GIS). Today, such global environmental problems as global warming are important issues of concern. SF₆ gas is known as a greenhouse gas with a long atmospheric lifetime, and has global warming potential of 23,900. SF₆‐free 72‐kV GIS was recently developed by using high‐pressure air and a gas/solid hybrid structure. But an alternating current disconnecting switch (DS) has yet to be developed thus making this type of SF₆‐free 72‐kV GIS unsuitable for double bus‐bar application. Consequently, the development of a high‐pressure air‐insulated DS corresponding to bus‐transfer current switching has been expected. The bus‐transfer current is the highest among all current interruption requirements for the DS. To develop an alternating current DS, efforts must be made to reduce arcing damage to the electrode. This paper describes the fundamental characteristics of current interruption in the plain break type and the magnetic field driven type. Then, average arcing time of the magnetic field driven type was estimated by magnetic flux density. Finally, two types of DS, which were a high‐speed plain break and a low‐speed magnetic field driven, were confirmed to comply with bus‐transfer current switching requirements on JEC standard. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 167(2): 48–55, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20595     

Recovery time to superconducting state after quench in superconducting fault‐current limiter

Since fault current tends to increase with electrical power demand, current‐limiting technology for overcurrents has been investigated. As a promising candidate, the superconducting fault‐current limiter (SC‐FCL) is expected to be introduced into power systems. One of the most important features of the SC‐FCL is recovery to a normal operating mode, that is, superconducting state rapidly after current interruption. In this paper, the recovery time of an SC‐FCL introduced into a distribution power system is discussed. To obtain the fundamental data, the recovery time of short Nb‐Ti superconducting cables was measured. We developed a method of calculation of the recovery time and it was confirmed that the calculated results agree with the measured ones. We studied the recovery characteristics of an SC‐FCL in a 6.6‐kV distribution system for the short‐circuit fault near the substation. We considered 3 and 17 cycles as the period from fault occurrence until current interruption. As a result, the superconducting cable length required to recover within the high‐speed reclosing time of 0.3 s are more that 270 and 480 m for 3 and 17 cycles, respectively. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 132(4): 34–44, 2000     

短路限流技术的研究与发展

综述了国内外限流技术研究与发展状况,概述了各种短路故障限流器(如超导限流器、磁元件限流器、PTC电阻限流器、固态限流器)的特点;详细介绍了固态限流器的工作原理和样机研制、试验情况,为限流技术及新型限流装置的研发提供了参考。     

A power decoupling control method for an isolated single‐phase AC‐to‐DC converter based on a high‐frequency cycloconverter

This paper proposes a new power decoupling method for a high‐frequency cycloconverter which converts the single‐phase line‐frequency ac input to the high‐frequency ac output directly. The cycloconverter consists of two half‐bridge inverters, two input filter capacitors, and a series‐resonant circuit. The proposed power decoupling method stores the input power ripple at double the line frequency in the filter capacitors. Therefore, the proposed method achieves a unity power factor in ac input and a constant current amplitude in the high‐frequency output without any additional switching device or energy storage element. This paper theoretically discusses the principle and operating performance of the proposed power decoupling method, and the viability is confirmed by using an experimental isolated ac‐to‐dc converter based on the high‐frequency cycloconverter. As a result, the proposed power decoupling method effectively improved the displacement power factor in the line current to more than 0.99 and reduced the output voltage ripple to 4% without any electrolytic capacitor.     

Required limiting impedance and capacity of fault current limiter installed in customer system with synchronous generator

We investigated the required limiting impedance and capacity of a fault current limiter (FCL) installed at an incoming feeder of a customer system with a synchronous generator in a utility distribution system. It was assumed that two types of FCL were installed, i.e. a resistive type (R‐type) FCL and an inductive type (L‐type) FCL. A fault current out of the customer system and a voltage in the customer system were calculated following a three‐phase, short‐circuit fault occurrence. It was found that the required type of FCL and the required limiting impedance depended on the rated capacity of the generator in order to obtain the suppression of the fault current under 0.1 kA_S and to maintain of customer voltage between 85 and 100% of the nominal voltage (6.6 kV). The capacity of FCL consisting of the smallest limiting impedance is discussed. © 2006 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Current Control Method of Achieving Wide‐Range Power Driving for Linear Synchronous Motor with Half‐Wave‐Rectified Self‐Excitation

In a previous paper, we proposed a novel linear synchronous motor with half‐wave‐rectified self‐excitation. A long‐stator‐type linear synchronous motor was built and its performance was verified by experiments. This paper presents a new current control method for the linear synchronous motor in order to achieve a wide range of speeds and high‐power operations. First, we propose a current control method for high‐thrust operation in the constant‐thrust region. This operation is realized by using the reluctance thrust resulting from the saliency of the linear synchronous motor. We also propose a control method that maximizes the ratio of the thrust to the voltage; this method can be used to expand the operating range. Wide‐range‐speed operation can be achieved by applying this new control method along with field‐weakening control. The thrust and operating characteristics of the proposed control methods are estimated by performing experiments and coupled electric and magnetic analysis.     

Influence of output power out of a synchronous generator installed in a customer system on current limiting effects due to a fault current limiter

In this paper, it was assumed that a synchronous generator in a customer system was connected to a distribution system via the fault current limiter (FCL). We theoretically investigated the influence of the output power of the generator on the limiting effect of the fault current when a three‐phase short‐circuit fault occurs. It was shown that the fault current out of the customer system, limited by the FCL, rises with the output power of the generator. It was found that the larger the output, the higher the fault current at the fault point is when the limiting resistance is less than 15 Ω in the case of the resistive‐type FCL. On the other hand, the fault current at the fault point decreases with an increase in the output power for a limiting resistance more than 15 Ω. In contrast, it was found that the suppressing effect on the fault current at the fault point due to the inductive‐type FCL hardly depends on the output power. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 148(3): 15–24, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10357     

Design study of a high‐temperature superconducting transformer

Many research and development projects on high‐temperature superconducting apparatus such as a transformer, fault current limiter, and cable are being actively pursued in the power field as a result of performance improvement of Bi silver sheath high‐temperature superconducting (HTS) wire. HTS transformers are considered to be among the most promising applications in view of efficiency improvement, the interface with cryogenic cable and normal temperature devices, incombustibility, overload capability, the function as a reactor, and the possibility of use as a fault current limiter. The necessary technical development items of an HTS transformer in order to achieve performance superior to conventional devices are examined. For this purpose, three‐phase 66‐kV 100‐MVA transformers were designed for the comparison of an HTS transformer and a conventional one with oil cooling. The desirable development items are an HTS wire current density of about 40 A/mm², an allowable winding strain of about 0.5%, a percent impedance of 7.5%, an air gap flux density of about 0.3 T, and AC losses of about 0.3 W/km‐A. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 142(1): 25–31, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10087     

Hybrid‐type immittance converter

The immittance converter has an input impedance that is proportional to the admittance of a load connected across output terminals. Therefore, in this converter, the output current is proportional to the input voltage and the input current is proportional to the output voltage. Consequently, it converts a constant‐voltage source into a constant‐current source and a constant‐current source into a constant‐voltage source. It is well know that the quarter‐wavelength transmission line shows immittance conversion characteristics. However, it has a very long line length for the switching frequency of converters and is not suitable for power electronics application. Thus, we proposed five types of immittance converters that consist of lumped elements L and C and showed improved immittance conversion characteristics at a resonant frequency. The output characteristics and efficiency characteristics of an immittance converter are the most important parameter when it is used in practical applications in a high‐frequency link. In this paper, we show voltage–current transformation characteristics, current–voltage transformation characteristics, and efficiency characteristics of a hybrid‐type immittance converter which consist of L and C elements with losses. The excellent characteristics were confirmed analytically and experimentally. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 138(3): 80–86, 2002     

CMOS‐controlled inverting CDBA with a new all‐pass filter application

In this study, new active elements called inverting current differencing buffered amplifier (ICDBA) and current‐controlled ICDBA (C‐ICDBA) are presented. Unlike current differencing buffered amplifier (CDBA), their voltage transfer ratio between the Z and W terminals are equal to minus one. Furthermore, CMOS implementations of the C‐ICDBA and current‐controlled CDBA (C‐CDBA) are shown. Moreover, a novel first‐order all‐pass filter is proposed to show advantages and new circuit producing capability of the ICDBA/C‐ICDBA. Lastly, an electronically tunable band‐pass filter is given as an application example using the presented all‐pass filter. The measured and simulation results are in good agreement with the theoretical ones. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation by numerical analysis of magnetic shielding characteristics of bulk high‐Tc superconductor containing weak links

High‐T_c superconductors (HTS), which have the characteristics of critical current density over 3 × 10⁴ A/cm² at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K) and 1 T, can be produced. Thus, they are promising for many practical applications such as a magnetic bearing, magnetic levitation, flywheel, and magnetic shielding. Since the HTS characteristics are not homogeneous in some specimens due to grain boundaries and cracks, the distribution of magnetic characteristics should be assessed. Thus, we have measured the distribution of the magnetic flux density on the surface of the HTS using a Hall element, and have evaluated its magnetic characteristics. The measurement of magnetic characteristics using a Hall element is difficult regarding the distribution of the magnetic flux density on the actual surface and inside of the HTS sample. In this research, we conducted a quantitative evaluation of the magnetic shielding characteristics of the HTS including weak links under a static magnetic field with the three‐dimensional finite element method analysis. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 146(1): 9–17, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10209     

Sinusoidal oscillators with explicit current output employing current‐feedback op‐amps

Employing a state‐variable synthesis, a number of new current‐mode oscillators with explicit current output have been derived, which can be practically implemented from commercially available current‐feedback op‐amps (CFOA). The workability of the proposed structures has been confirmed by experimental results using AD844‐type CFOAs and some sample results have been presented. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.