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As the capacity of power facilities increases with the power demand, the fault current also increases in the case of a power system fault. Many studies are underway to limit the increasing fault current. They especially include superconducting fault current limiters (SFCLs). The existing SFCLs operate almost without loss because of their zero resistance characteristic in the normal condition, but limit the fault current by generating impedance in the event of a fault. However, this mechanism gives a significant burden on the SFCL. In this study, a high-speed interrupter and a normal conduction current-limiting unit were applied to the SFCL. In this structure, the current flows through the b-switch of a high-speed interrupter and the current-limiting element in the normal condition, but in the event of a fault, the current was bypassed to the current-limiting unit by the quench of superconducting units and interrupter switching operations. In this case, the magnitude of the fault current was covered by the SFCL, and after the switching operation, the current was limited by the normal conduction current-limiting unit. The results of this study showed that this structure reduced the power burden on the expensive superconducting element, and limited a high fault current that was initially generated from the fault. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The power demand is rapidly increasing in Korea, especially in the urban areas that include the metropolitan area. In addition, the transmission system in Korea is a network structure that ensures the high reliability and stability of power supply. Accordingly, the fault current rapidly increases in the case of a power system fault, due to the decrease in the line impedance. The superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) was devised to address these existing problems refid="ref1"/refid="ref2"/refid="ref3"/ refid="ref4"/. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We propose a new structure of superconducting fault current limiters (SFCLs) coupled with a conventional transformer. The proposed SFCL systems have structures that the primary winding and the secondary winding of a transformer are connected with normal power grids and the tertiary winding of a transformer is connected with superconductors. These structures have advantages of both a transformer type SFCL and a resistive type SFCL. Therefore our SFCL can easily control the current limiting ratio by variation of the turn number of a transformer and minimize quantity of superconductors. Also it can be invisible in normal power grids and not bulky structure unlike a transformer type SFCL or a flux-lock type SFCL. Experimental results are reported in terms of current limiting properties, fault voltages and quench characteristics of superconductors in this system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The flux-coupling type superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) is made by using the transformer. The flux-coupling type SFCL consists of the primary and the secondary coils connected in series, and the secondary coil has a superconducting unit connected in parallel. Before the fault occurrence in power system, the SFCL is operated without power loss (12R) because of the zero impedance behavior of the superconducting unit. When the fault occurs and the short-circuit current exceeds the critical current in the superconducting unit, the superconducting unit is quenched, and the short-circuit current is limited. The flux-coupling type SFCL could be divided into the additive and the subtractive polarity windings according to winding direction. The short-circuit current of the flux-coupling type SFCL with the additive polarity winding was limited more effectively than that of the subtractive polarity winding. It was because the direction of current according to the winding direction of a secondary coil was reversed. In the case of the voltage generated in the superconducting unit, the voltage in additive polarity winding was generated more than in the subtractive polarity winding. Consequently, we found that the additive polarity winding could reduce the power burden of the superconducting unit in the comparison with the subtractive polarity winding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]