Multifaceted Functionalities of Bridge-Type DC Reactor Fault Current Limiters: An Experimentally Validated Investigation

Behdani, B.; Moghim, Ali; Mousavi, Sheyda; Soltanfar, Mostafa; Hojabri, Mojgan

doi:10.3390/en17040975

Multifaceted Functionalities of Bridge-Type DC Reactor Fault Current Limiters

Title

Multifaceted Functionalities of Bridge-Type DC Reactor Fault Current Limiters: An Experimentally Validated Investigation

Author

Behdani, B. (TU Delft Intelligent Electrical Power Grids)
Moghim, Ali (Islamic Azad University)
Mousavi, Sheyda (Zanjan University)
Soltanfar, Mostafa (University of Kashan)
Hojabri, Mojgan (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts)

Date

2024

Abstract

With the ongoing expansion and interconnection of electrical power systems, alongside the rapid proliferation of renewable distributed generations (DGs), the short-circuit extent in the power grid is experiencing a significant rise. Fault current limiters (FCLs) have been introduced in an effort to address this issue, ensuring the robustness and sustainability of expensive power system components when confronted with short-circuit faults. Among the various types of FCLs, bridge-type DC reactor fault current limiters (BDCR-FCLs) have emerged as one of the most promising options. While BDCR-FCLs have shown excellent properties in limiting harmful short-circuit currents, they are also advantageous in other respects. This paper investigates the supplementary functionalities of BDCR-FCLs as a multifaceted device towards the enhancement of the quality of supplied energy in terms of total harmonic distortion (THD) reduction, power factor (PF) correction, peak current reduction for nonlinear loads, and soft load variation effects, as well as their capability to limit fault current. To this aim, the capabilities of BDCR-FCLs have been studied through various simulated case studies in PSCAD/EMTDC software V5.0.1, in addition to experimental tests considering an AC microgrid connected to a DC system. The experimental and simulation investigations verify the superior multifaceted functionalities BDCR-FCLs introduce in addition to their excellent fault current-limiting capabilities. The results show that PF improved by 6.7% and 7%, respectively, in simulation and experimental tests. Furthermore, the current THD decreased by 20% and 18% in the simulation and experiment, respectively.

Subject

AC/DC microgrid
bridge-type DC reactor
fault current limiter

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d631ea6e-254a-4b40-906e-1687c076a1d9

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/en17040975

ISSN

1996-1073

Source

Energies, 17 (4)

Part of collection

Institutional Repository