Proposal of rectifier type superconducting fault current limiter with non-inductive reactor (SFCL)

A rectifier type superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) with non-inductive reactor has been proposed. The concept behind this SFCL is the appearance of high impedance during non-superconducting state of the coil. In a hybrid bridge circuit, two superconducting coils connected in anti-parallel: a trigger coil and a limiting coil. Both the coils are magnetically coupled with each other and have same number of turns. There is almost zero flux inside the core and therefore the total inductance is small during normal operation. At fault time when the trigger coil current reaches to a certain level, the trigger coil changes from superconducting state to normal state. This super-to-normal transition of the trigger coil changes the current ratio of the coils and therefore the flux inside the reactor is no longer zero. So, the equivalent impedance of both the coils increased thus limits the fault current. We have carried out computer simulation using EMTDC and observed the results. A preliminary experiment has already been performed using copper wired reactor with simulated super-to-normal transition resistance and magnetic switches. Both the simulation and preliminary experiment shows good results. The advantage of using hybrid bridge circuit is that the SFCL can also be used as circuit breaker. Two separate bridge circuit can be used for both trigger coil and the limiter coil. In such a case, the trigger coil can be shutdown immediately after the fault to reduce heat and thus reduce the recovery time. Again, at the end of fault when the SFCL needs to re-enter to the grid, turning off the trigger circuit in the two-bridge configuration the inrush current can be reduced. This is because the current only flows through the limiting coil. Another advantage of this type of SFCL is that no voltage sag will appear during load increasing time as long as the load current stays below the trigger current level.     

Analysis on the Fusion Technology of a Commercial Transformer and an SFCL

In this study, a new concept is proposed on a combination device with functions of a commercial transformer and a superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL). This device serves as a transformer by stepping the voltage up or down in normal condition. When a transient phenomenon occurs in the power system, it serves as an SFCL to limit the fault current. The device quickly detects the line current using a current transformer (CT), and is based on the high-speed, silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) interrupter operation. This is done by identifying the fault using an SCR switching control system. The test results showed that the fault current was limited by the impedance of the superconducting element a half cycle after a fault occurred. An SCR that initially had a normally open contact was turned on within a half cycle. However, an SCR with a normally close contact was turned off after a half cycle because the current dropped below the holding current after a half cycle. The voltage of the superconducting element was low in the step-down turn ratio condition of the transformer. This was because the secondary and tertiary windings were connected in series due to the SCR-1 turn-off condition, and the sum of voltages on each winding appeared on the superconducting element. By combining the existing power device technology and an SFCL technology, it is expected that the existing problems of an SFCL can be addressed to construct a smart power system.     

Analysis of a flux-coupling type superconductor fault current limiter with pancake coils

The characteristics of a flux-coupling type superconductor fault current limiter (SFCL) with pancake coils are investigated in this paper. The conventional double-wound non-inductive pancake coil used in AC power systems has an inevitable defect in Voltage Sourced Converter Based High Voltage DC (VSC-HVDC) power systems. Due to its special structure, flashover would occur easily during the fault in high voltage environment. Considering the shortcomings of conventional resistive SFCLs with non-inductive coils, a novel flux-coupling type SFCL with pancake coils is carried out. The module connections of pancake coils are performed. The electromagnetic field and force analysis of the module are contrasted under different parameters. To ensure proper operation of the module, the impedance of the module under representative operating conditions is calculated. Finally, the feasibility of the flux-coupling type SFCL in VSC-HVDC power systems is discussed.     

Modeling of Shield-Type Superconducting Fault-Current-Limiter Operation Considering Flux Pinning Effect on Flux and Supercurrent Density in High-Temperature Superconductor Cylinders

Superconducting fault current limiter, SFCL, forms an important category of fault-current-limiting devices which limit the short-circuit current levels in electrical networks. Therefore, modeling its operation and anticipating its characteristic parameters are too important in its design and optimization process. In this paper a novel integrative method has been proposed which predicts, with a good accuracy, the behavior of inductive shield-type SFCL in different circumstances and approximates its main operational characteristics, as the through current, the inductance and the voltage-current characteristics. An algorithm is presented to calculate the exact distribution of magnetic flux and supercurrent density inside the superconductor bulk in different operational conditions using the well-known Bean model and for the first time the flux pinning effect has been taken into account in SFCL operation modeling. For estimation of flux density distribution outside the superconductor bulk, the FEM analysis has been utilized. An iterative method has been used, based on the numerical solution of differential equations, to calculate the instant value of the SFCL through-current and inductance. The proposed method of modeling has been studied on a specific design of shield-type SFCL and its through current in normal and fault conditions of a test circuit, variation of its inductance with time and its voltage-current characteristic are calculated theoretically. A prototype has been fabricated based on the studied SFCL design and has been tested experimentally. The comparison of the experimental and theoretical results shows that this modeling predicts the SFCL operation with a good accuracy.     

Transformer design for reducing the inrush current by asymmetrical winding

Abstract

This study proposes a novel approach for designing transformers to reduce the inrush current using asymmetrical winding. Differently from traditional methods, the inrush current was reduced based on increasing the inrush equivalent inductance by changing the proportion of inner layer to outer layer in coil winding. To estimate the distributive ratio of winding, the formulae of the inrush equivalent inductance and the leakage inductance are calculated from the structural parameters of the transformer. By theoretical analyses, an optimum distributive ratio of coil winding is presented. Experimental results confirm that inrush current can be reduced concurrently with appropriate voltage regulation and short‐circuit current in transformer.     

Experimental analysis of AC loss and recovery characteristics for proposal of effective thickness of spacers in pancake type

For the design of superconducting fault current limiter, the research about recovery time and AC loss is essential issue because this characteristic is closely related to stability and efficiency. In general, superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) modules can be made into pancake or solenoid type coil. While the pancake type coil has smaller AC loss, it has longer recovery time compared with the solenoid type coil. In this paper, a new pancake type coil was proposed to decrease recovery time by improving their cryogenic condition. A new pancake type coil is made with spacers between adjacent superconducting tapes. However, as the thickness of the spacer was increased, the AC loss was increased unlike the recovery characteristic. From the experimental results, our group confirmed that the pancake type coil with the spacer has trade-off relationship between AC loss and recovery characteristics with the spacer thickness.The proposed results in this paper would be utilized to design superconducting fault current limiters.     

Development of a superconducting fault current limiter using various high-speed circuit breakers

The authors constructed and tested a model superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) using a high-temperature superconducting film according to a design that includes a vacuum interrupter with an electromagnetic repulsion mechanism. The superconductor and the vacuum interrupter are connected in parallel with a bypass coil. If a fault occurs and current flows through the system, the superconductor is quenched and the current is transferred to the parallel coil because of the voltage drop in the superconductor. This large current in the parallel coil actuates the magnetic repulsion mechanism of the vacuum interrupter. On opening the vacuum interrupter, the current in the superconductor is interrupted. This model is expected to exhibit very low-energy consumption by the superconductor. The authors succeeded in interrupting the current flowing in the superconductor within a half-cycle using a prototype SFCL. An improved SFCL with higher voltage and current ranges was used to carry out current-limiting tests and to investigate the possibility of adapting our SFCL in a power system. The authors also carried out a currentlimiting test using a conventional high-speed vacuum circuit breaker (HSVCB) as a new method for realising our concept.     

基于SQUID的直流电阻电桥指零仪设计

设计了一款基于超导量子干涉仪(SQUID)的直流电阻电桥指零仪电路,该电路可用作高精度电阻电桥中低值电阻(0.1~100Ω)测量的指零仪电路。通过自制SQUID外围电路并优化电路其输入耦合线圈的互感值,实现微弱电桥不平衡电流的精密测量。与传统电阻电桥基于测量不平衡电压的纳伏计指零仪相比,其检测灵敏度在中低值电阻测量范围有数量级的提升。设计的作为指零仪的SQUID磁通锁定环1/f转折频率在2Hz左右,磁通白噪声水平在3.5μΦ₀/左右,并且输入线圈与SQUID互感系数高达10nH,其等效的电流白噪声密度0.7pA/。将其用作电阻电桥指零仪测量100Ω标准电阻(工作电流为10mA)的分辨率可达到10^-11量级。     

Development,Updating and Long-Term Operations of a 10.5 kV HTS Fault Current Limiter

There are many irreplaceable advantages of high temperature superconducting (HTS) fault current limiter, applying in electric utilities. It is expected to be able to solve excessive fault current problems and to enhance safety and stability of power systems. In this paper, the R and D of an improved bridge-type 10.5 kV three-phase superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) was present. Each phase adopted a HTS coil with inductance of 6.2 mH. The three coils wound with 8,571 m Bi2223/Ag tapes totally. After installation at a 110 kV/10.5 kV substation in Hunan Province of China, the performances of the whole SFCL were tested, including a three-phase-to-ground short circuit experiment at the pre-setup short circuit point. And then, the SFCL was put into operations in the 10.5 kV power grids for more than 11000 h. About 3 years later, the SFCL was moved, reinstalled, and put into operation again since February 16 of 2011 at a 10.5-kV superconducting power substation located in Baiyin, Gansu Province of China. In this paper, the redesigned and manufactured cryostats with nonmagnetic stainless steel, tests, and long-term operations of the SFCL in 10.5 kV power grids were also described in detail.     

Design and performance of compensator for decremental persistent current in HTS magnets using linear type magnetic flux pump

This paper has described the characteristics of a stationary linear type magnetic flux pump newly developed this time. The linear type flux pump aims to compensate a little decremental persistent current of the HTS magnet in NMR and MRI systems. The flux pump mainly consists of DC bias coil, 3-phase AC coil and Nb foil. Analytical results by the FEM are proved to nearly agree with experimental ones. In the experiment, it has been investigated that the flux pump can effectively charge the current in the load coil of 1.3 mH for various frequencies in 150 s under two following conditions: (1) DC bias of 10 A and AC of 4 A_rms, (2) DC bias of 10 A and AC of 5 A_rms. The maximum magnitudes of initial increasing rate of pumping current and load magnet voltage are: (1) 0.2 A/s and 25 mV and (2) 0.22 A/s and 34 mV, respectively.     

Transient eddy current distribution in the shield of the passively compensated compulsator-air-core machines

The eddy current distribution in the shield of an air-core passively compensated pulsed alternator (compulsator) is discussed. The action of the shield reduces the inductance of the armature winding considerably, thus enabling it to deliver high-power pulse to low-impedance loads. By virtue of its function, the shield is stressed mechanically as well as thermally. An analytical solution of the 2-D diffusion and convective diffusion equations is obtained. The solution is obtained by the extraction of the poles and corresponding residues of the transformed equations. The theory was developed specifically for the shield of an air-core compulsator, which is a single-phase alternator. By using superposition, the results can also be applied to determine the transient eddy current distribution in the shield of superconducting synchronous generators.<>     

Research on resistance characteristics of YBCO tape under short-time DC large current impact

Research of the resistance characteristics of YBCO tape under short-time DC large current impact is the foundation of the developing DC superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) for voltage source converter-based high voltage direct current system (VSC-HVDC), which is one of the valid approaches to solve the problems of renewable energy integration. SFCL can limit DC short-circuit and enhance the interrupting capabilities of DC circuit breakers. In this paper, under short-time DC large current impacts, the resistance features of naked tape of YBCO tape are studied to find the resistance – temperature change rule and the maximum impact current. The influence of insulation for the resistance – temperature characteristics of YBCO tape is studied by comparison tests with naked tape and insulating tape in 77 K. The influence of operating temperature on the tape is also studied under subcooled liquid nitrogen condition. For the current impact security of YBCO tape, the critical current degradation and top temperature are analyzed and worked as judgment standards. The testing results is helpful for in developing SFCL in VSC-HVDC.     

Influence of self-magnetic field on a.c. quench current level of superconducting coils

The a.c. quench current level of a superconducting cable when formed into a coil is, in general, lower than that of a short sample. The current in the coil induces a self-magnetic field on the superconducting winding. It was found from our experiments that the transition from the superconducting state to the normal one in a superconducting coil originates in that part of the winding where the self-magnetic flux density is estimated to be the largest. It is concluded that degradation of the a.c. quench current level in the superconducting coil is mainly brought about by the influence of the self-magnetic field.     

The study of transient electromagnetic fields in a multi-turn,voltage-excited laminated core reactor

A combined explicit and implicit finite-different scheme is used for analyzing transient electromagnetic fields in a multiturn, voltage-excited reactor with a laminated core of nonlinear magnetic property. In the analysis, the reactor is divided into iron, air and winding regions. By applying a step function and a time-variant sinusoidal voltage source, the time-dependent magnetic vector potential function is obtained with the aid of B-μ table. The transient responses of the current and inductance are given. The computed results are compared with those of an ideal R-L circuit, and an excellent agreement between the light-load result and the ideal value is found. The nonlinear effects on currents, flux distributions, inductances, and magnetic vector potentials due to the saturated iron core can be found in a heavy load condition     

Comparative Study of Resistive and Inductive Superconducting Fault Current Limiters SFCL for Power System Transient Stability Improvement

This paper presents a comparative study of resistive and inductive superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) for power systems transient stability improvement. Two applications of transient stability assessment are presented in this paper: The first shows the efficiency of the resistive and inductive SFCL in series with a generator, the second uses SFCL installed in series with a transmission line. SFCL can just be operated during the period from the fault occurrence to the fault clearing; the modeling and the effect of SFCL has been investigated to have higher benefits for the power system. In the present work, modification of the admittance matrix method is used for modeling of SFCL; Critical Clearing Time (CCT) has been used as an index for evaluated transient stability. The transient stability is assessed by the criterion of relative rotor angles, using the Runge–Kutta method. The effectiveness of the proposed method is tested on the WSCC3 nine-bus system applied to the case of three-phase short circuit fault in one transmission line. A simulation and comparison are presented in this document.     

Development of an Impedance Matching Program for Balancing the Current Distribution in a Tri-axial HTS Power Cable

The tri-axial high temperature superconducting (HTS) power cable design has several advantages when compared with other HTS power cables. However, this design has an imbalance in the three phase currents, as the phase conductors of the tri-axial HTS power cable have different radii. The radii of the phase conductors impact the value of inductance and capacitance for the cable, and the values are determined by the winding pitch length and the winding direction. Thus, the current imbalance can be minimized through the adjustment of the winding pitch length, the radius of each layer, and the winding direction. It takes a lot of time to manually calculate an impedance and to find a matched impedance. So the impedance of the tri-axial HTS power cable, according to its shape, was analyzed and the impedance matching program (IMP) was developed using LabVIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench) to solve this problem. IMP finds the matching impedance automatically by calculating the impedance according to the tri-axial HTS cable dimension. Consequently, this could save a lot of time, and so this program will be applied to the design of the tri-axial HTS power cable effectively.     

Propagation velocity of normal zones in a SC braid

Propagation velocities of normal zones are obtained experimentally in a superconducting (SC) braid which is wound into a coil to simulate the SC pulsed dipole magnet for a synchrotron from the viewpoint of cooling. A numerical calculation to determine this velocity is carried out by using a modified thermal conduction equation. The equation eliminates a troublesome problem on the boundary condition reported previously by defining a new variable of the square of the heat flux along the conductor. A velocity dependent correction factor is used for cooling to take account of the transient effect. The values calculated are a representation of the experimental dependence of the velocity on both current and magnetic field and this indicates that the correction factor is applicable to the winding of the braid if modified properly. Discussion is also made on the transient cooling in the coil.     

Prediction of magnetising current waveform in a single-phase power transformer under DC bias

Direct current (DC) flowing through the earthed neutrals of transformer windings causes a DC component in the magnetising current. Owing to non-linearity, the waveform of this current is strongly distorted. A method based on the finite element analysis of a transformer is presented that is capable of predicting the waveform of the magnetising current with the voltage of the winding as well as the magnitude of the DC bias given. The relationship between the flux linkage of the winding and the value of the magnetising current is determined, with static conditions assumed. With the aid of this flux-current curve, the dependence of the waveform and thus of the DC component of the magnetising current upon the bias flux is established. Hence, the flux bias yielding the given DC component is obtained by suitable iterative techniques, arriving at the waveform of the magnetising current with the prescribed DC value. Measurement of the current waveform at various voltages and DC bias has been carried out on a single phase transformer. The computed waveforms agree well with the measured ones     

Hybrid finite difference/finite element solution method development for non-linear superconducting magnet and electrical circuit breakdown transient analysis

The problem of non-linear superconducting magnet and electrical protection circuit system transients is formulated. To enable studying the effects of coil normalization transients, coil distortion (due to imbalanced magnetic forces), internal coil arcs and shorts, and other normal and off-normal circuit element responses, the following capabilities are included: temporal, voltage and current-dependent voltage sources, current sources, resistors, capacitors and inductors. The concept of self-mutual inductance, and the form of the associated inductance matrix, is discussed for internally shorted coils. This is a Kirchhoff's voltage loop law and Kirchhoff's current node law formulation. The non-linear integrodifferential equation set is solved via a unique hybrid finite difference/integral finite element technique.     

Sweeping a persisting superconducting magnet with a transformer

A method for sweeping a persisting superconducting magnet is described. The field sweep is achieved by including in the superconducting loop of the magnet a coil which acts as the secondary coil of a transformer. Variation of the current in the primary coil of the transformer, controlled from outside the cryostat, causes the field-sweeping action through flux-linking with the superconducting loop. Compared by the ratio of the magnet's inductance to the transformer's inductance. The advantages of using an all-metal vacuum-tight superconducting feedthrough are discussed.