Design of arc fault detection system based on CAN bus

Arc fault detection system (AFDS) is a device intended to protect the power system against the arc fault that may cause fire. When there is an arc fault, the scale of fault current is lower than the initialization of most of the protection devices installed in the lowers, hence AFDS is an effective device to detect the arc fault successfully and interrupt the circuit in time. The characteristics of arc, how it ignites, and what losses it may cause were discussed. The basic structure of AFDS and the primary principles of that AFDS detect arc fault were proposed. For efficiently realizing the global optimization, the single function problem of conventional arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) was solved by setting up a detection system. Composed with detectors, controllers and host computer database, system achieved the automatic detection of arc fault, high temperature fault and leakage current fault to protect the conductors, the equipments and ensure human´s safety. Detectors, controllers and host computer database were communicated with CAN bus. Device realized the expectations of reducing the communication cost and improving the communication quality.