Short-Circuit Protection in a Converter-Fed Low-Voltage Distribution Network

Nuutinen, Pasi; Peltoniemi, Pasi; Silventoinen, Pertti

doi:10.1109/tpel.2012.2213845

Cited by 84 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Flexible in their operation as they may be, converters have poor overcurrent capabilities compared to their AC counterparts. IGBT manufacturers tend to place their overcurrent capability around two to three times their nominal current, with only a few milliseconds of allowed overcurrent duration [22]. This is very small compared to the 400 ms, the minimum short circuit current supply time, which means that the protection has to operate close to the nominal current of the IGBTs, as they cannot withstand the overcurrent for such a long time.…”

Section: Protection Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transient analysis of DC distribution grids

Petropoulos

Mackay

Ramírez-Elizondo

et al. 2017

2017 IEEE Second International Conference on DC Microgrids (ICDCM)

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The latest developments in power electronics along with the increased generation from Renewable Energy Sources (RES), the new prosumers who both generate and consume electricity and the rapid adoption of DC loads in the household are forcing us to rethink the manner with which power is distributed and consumed. The proposal to make DC technology an integral part of the distribution network seems to have more merit. This change would lead to energy savings in power conversion and enable the creation of meshed DC grids, highly controllable and flexible networks which will be able to facilitate the more sustainable energy future towards which we strive. To build such a system, however, a different approach than the one used in AC systems is needed, due to the peculiarities of DC technology. In our research for the best possible way to protect these systems, it is imperative to constantly test the protection circuit not only as a standalone, but also incorporate it in the systems that will be built and test them together. In other words, transient analysis of the systems with the proposed protection included is an integral part in gauging the impact of the latter on the former during operation, and therefore in assessing and improving the protection for this specific application.This thesis presents such a transient analysis of various configurations of DC distribution systems. A combination of theoretical and practical methods were used to investigate the behavior of the systems' variables after the occurrence of faults and current interruption. A number of networks of varying complexity were built with detailed cable models using the EMTP/ATP software package in order to simulate a multitude of faults and assess each network's response at various positions and most crucially, the effectiveness of the protection scheme in reducing the impact of the transients after the fault. The travel speed of the transients was also investigated. At the same time, a set of measurements was conducted on a DC street lighting network to study the transient behavior of a real system. A separate model was built to resemble the measured system, in order to compare between the simulations and the measurements. The evaluation of the measurement and simulation results led to conclusions that will contribute to the creation of better, safer and more versatile DC distribution grids. The comparison showed that the models used can approach the behavior of the real system to a reasonable degree. The other simulations indicated that the transient impact is significantly smaller in locations far from the fault, but continued operation of the healthy pole cannot be guaranteed, especially after earth faults. Dimitrios Petropoulos Delft, September 2016iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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Section: Protection Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another possible solution is presented in the article by Nuutinen et al [22]. This publication is based on the argument that protection is closely connected with the control scheme of the system.…”

Section: Ieds Communication and Differential Protectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transient analysis of DC distribution grids

Petropoulos

Mackay

Ramírez-Elizondo

et al. 2017

2017 IEEE Second International Conference on DC Microgrids (ICDCM)

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“…As a result, the current rating is higher than what is required for the 10 kVA or 16 kVA nominal power of the CEI. The short-circuit behaviour of CEI has been studied in previous publications [25], [26]; based on the results, the switches in this paper are not dimensioned for short-circuit current supply, and other protection methods will be used. The power electronics losses consist of conduction and switching losses of the transistor and the diode.…”

Section: Power Electronics Lossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power electronic losses of a customer-end inverter in low-voltage direct current distribution

Nuutinen

Mattsson

Kaipia

et al. 2014

2014 16th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications

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A low-voltage direct current (LVDC) distribution system comprises a rectifier, a DC network, and customer-end inverters (CEI) responsible for the AC supply to the electricity end-users. The CEIs can be implemented as single-phase or three-phase ones; in this paper, feasible single-and three-phase topologies are introduced and their losses are calculated using nine different power switches. Three commercially available IGBT, MOSFET, and SiC MOSFET power switches are selected for comparison. In this application, a galvanic isolation between the DC network and the customer is required. The isolation is implemented by using an isolating DC/DC converter at the CEI supply, and therefore, the input voltage of the CEI can be different from the DC network voltage. In this paper, the effect of the supply voltage level on the losses of the CEI is calculated for the nine power transistors in single-and three-phase topologies.

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“…Therefore, studying the fault characteristics of grid-connected PV systems and their impact on grid protection is of great significance [6][7][8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ground-Fault Characteristic Analysis of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Stations with Neutral Grounding Resistance

et al. 2017

Energies

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Abstract:A centralized grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) station is a widely adopted method of neutral grounding using resistance, which can potentially make pre-existing protection systems invalid and threaten the safety of power grids. Therefore, studying the fault characteristics of grid-connected PV systems and their impact on power-grid protection is of great importance. Based on an analysis of the grid structure of a grid-connected PV system and of the low-voltage ride-through control characteristics of a photovoltaic power supply, this paper proposes a short-circuit calculation model and a fault-calculation method for this kind of system. With respect to the change of system parameters, particularly the resistance connected to the neutral point, and the possible impact on protective actions, this paper achieves the general rule of short-circuit current characteristics through a simulation, which provides a reference for devising protection configurations.

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Short-Circuit Protection in a Converter-Fed Low-Voltage Distribution Network

Cited by 84 publications

References 22 publications

Transient analysis of DC distribution grids

Transient analysis of DC distribution grids

Power electronic losses of a customer-end inverter in low-voltage direct current distribution

Ground-Fault Characteristic Analysis of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Stations with Neutral Grounding Resistance

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