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Enhanced active resonant (EAR) dc circuit breakers (DCCBs) are a promising set of recently proposed DCCB concepts. As other DCCBs, EAR DCCBs still require a fast mechanical switch. The requirements on the actuator of the mechanical switch depend on the DCCB concept and the dc grid and are derived here for an EAR DCCB. Thomson-coil actuators (TCAs) can open and close mechanical switches sufficiently fast to satisfy the requirements. This work studies experimentally a TCA system with active damping for an off-the-shelf industrial vacuum interrupter used as mechanical switch in an EAR DCCB. The prototype is explained in detail, and extensive measurement results are presented, showing that active damping must be perfectly timed to be effective. A novel Thomson-coil (TC) driver is proposed and studied experimentally, which operates the TCA more efficiently by recycling energy during the actuation. Moreover, the novel TC driver reduces the capacitive storage by 50% and allows for faster recharging with lower charging current. Finally, the autoreclosing and proactive commutation operation of the TCA system and the interruption capability of the prototype EAR DCCB are demonstrated experimentally., QC 20220322

A mechanical switch can be used instead of a power electronic load commutation switch to reduce losses during normal power flow in standard hybrid DC breakers. The success of current commutation in such hybrid breakers depends on the arc voltage across the contacts of the mechanical switch. The behaviour of rapidly elongated arcs generated during the opening of an ultra-fast mechanical switch in the air is studied here. The voltage-current characteristics of the generated arcs are obtained for contact opening velocities of 6, 11 and 21 m/s. It is found that the arc voltage at a given current and contact separation increases with contact opening velocity. It is shown that stationary, zero-contact-velocity characteristics can not be used to accurately quantify the voltage build-up in fast elongating arcs in hybrid breakers. A best-fitting black-box the equation for the dynamic arc characteristics is presented for the tested velocities. The obtained voltage-current characteristics are used as input to simulate the current commutation process in a 12 kV hybrid DC circuit breaker case-study. Different scenarios of current commutation failure related to the arc voltage build-up are identified. It is shown that these failures scenarios can be avoided by increasing the contact opening velocity., QC 20211011

Measurements of medium and high voltages in a power grid are normally performed with large and bulky voltage transformers or capacitive dividers. Besides installation problems, these devices operate in a relatively narrow frequency band, which limits their usability in modern systems that are saturated with power electronic devices. A sensor that can be installed directly on a wire and can operate without a galvanic connection to the ground may be used as an alternative voltage measurement device. This type of voltage sensor can complement current sensors installed on a wire, forming a complete power acquisition system. This paper presents such a sensor. Our sensor is built using two dielectric elements with different permeability coefficients. A finite element method simulation is used to estimate the parameters of a constructed sensor. Besides simulations, a laboratory model of a sensor was built and tested in a medium-voltage substation. Our results provide a proof of concept for the presented sensor. Some errors in voltage reconstruction have been traced to an oversimplified data acquisition and transmission system, which has to be improved during the further development of the sensor., QC 20210825

One of the major challenges of DC circuit breakers is the required fast mechanical actuator. In this paper, a Thomson coil actuator system for a vacuum interrupter is designed. Active damping is used to decelerate the moving contacts. Challenges are discussed, especially concerning the power supply needed for the Thomson coil actuator. The design philosophy is explained and FEM simulation results are presented. The results indicate that a wide range of combinations of drive circuit capacitance and voltage fulfill the requirements for armature acceleration. However, active damping requires a very careful selection of drive circuit voltage and timing of applied damping., QC 20211025

Hybrid direct current circuit breaker (HDCCB) consists of an ultra-fast electromechanical switch combined with power semiconductors to interrupt fault currents. When the ultra-fast electromechanical switch opens, arc plasma is generated between its contacts that commutate the fault current to the auxiliary circuit consisting of power semiconductors. Understanding of the arc behaviour due to the ultra-fast contact opening is necessary as the current commutation is driven by the arc voltage. This paper presents experimental results of a dynamic voltage-current (V-I) characteristics of a decaying arc plasma in air having contact opening velocities from 5 to 15 m/s. A pair of hemispherically capped copper contacts was used for the experiments. The contacts were covered by a glass tube, open from one end which makes the arc partially wall constricted. The contacts were opened with a dedicated Thomson coil based electromagnetic actuator. A computer controlled test system was used that allowed controlling the shape of the current pulse and the time instant of the contact opening on the current waveform. The conductance of the arc was calculated for different contact opening velocities. It was observed that the conductance decreased with an increase of the contact opening velocity. High speed imaging was performed to observe the physical behaviour of arcs having different contact opening speeds., QC 20190320QC 20191015

Ultra-fast circuit breakers are operated with fast electromagnetic actuators. They can generate a sufficient impulse force to swiftly open electrical contacts in a couple of milliseconds. Opening of the contacts with high velocities implies a need for a timely and controllable damping. An efficient damping mechanism then is crucial to attain an appropriate actuation performance and secure a long lifetime. In this paper a finite element model of a Halbach magnet array based magnetic damper and a corresponding experimental prototype is described. A parametric study is performed to understand the effect of load mass and incoming velocities. It was found that the magnetic field modulation plays an important role on the damping performance. A uniform and high radial component of the magnetic flux density is necessary in order to achieve high damping force. The radial magnetic field can be controlled via thickness and magnetization direction of the ring magnets that are used to create the Halbach magnet array., QC 20190128

Current commutation switches for HVDC devices are operated with Ultra-fast electromagnetic actuators. They can generate hundreds of kilo-newton force and swiftly open electrical contacts in a couple of milliseconds. An efficient damping mechanism then is crucial to attain an appropriate actuation performance and secure a long lifetime. In this article an electromagnetic Halbach damping actuator was studied. A numerical model based on FEA is used to calculate its damping constant and retardation time down to stand still velocity., QC 20181002

High voltage ultra-fast circuit breakers are operated with fast actuators. They are capable of generating impulsive force to swiftly open electrical contacts in a couple of milliseconds. Opening of the contacts with high velocities implies a need for a timely and controllable damping. An efficient damping mechanism then is crucial to attain an appropriate actuation performance and secure a long lifetime. In this paper a finite element model of a Halbach magnet array based magnetic damper and a corresponding experimental prototype is described. It was found that a uniform and high radial component of the magnetic flux density is necessary in order to achieve high damping force. The radial magnetic field can be controlled via thickness and magnetization direction of the ring magnets which are used to create the Halbach magnet array. Finally, it is also shown that the concept provides a frictionless collision free damping demonstrating its potential to be used in fast circuit breakers., QC 20170918