Solid-state circuit breakers for Medium Voltage DC power

Author

Kempkes, M. ; Roth, I. ; Gaudreau, M.

Author_Institution

Diversified Technol., Inc., Bedford, MA, USA

fYear

2011

fDate

10-13 April 2011

Firstpage

254

Lastpage

257

Abstract

How can the large power needs of future electric ships for propulsion, radar, and weapons systems be met given the prohibitive size and weight of the required number of standard 60 Hz AC generators and transformers? A solution may lie in a rugged, efficient, and compact solid-state, 10-20 kV Medium Voltage DC (MVDC) circuit breaker (Figure 1). In this paper, Diversified Technologies, Inc. will describe the architecture of a Medium Voltage DC (MVDC) circuit breaker. The solid-state, 10-20 kV class breaker is a breakthrough that establishes the viability of MVDC power distribution. It delivers extremely fast fault interruption, low peak currents, flexible and programmable coordination, and mechanical isolation; the keys to reliable and safe operation.

Keywords

AC generators; circuit breakers; distribution networks; electric vehicles; marine propulsion; power transformers; ships; weapons; AC generators; MVDC power distribution; electric ship propulsion; fault interruption; frequency 60 Hz; mechanical isolation; medium voltage DC power; peak current; prohibitive size; solid-state circuit breaker; voltage 10 kV to 20 kV; weapons system; Circuit breakers; Circuit faults; Cooling; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; Interrupters; Solid state circuits; Switches;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electric Ship Technologies Symposium (ESTS), 2011 IEEE

Conference_Location

Alexandria, VA

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-9272-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ESTS.2011.5770877

Filename

5770877