A novel current limitation principle basedon application of liquid metals

Author

Niayesh, Kaveh ; Tepper, Jens ; König, Friedrich

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Tehran

Volume

29

Issue

2

fYear

2006

fDate

6/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

303

Lastpage

309

Abstract

In this paper, a new current limiting principle based on the application of liquid metals is proposed. This principle takes advantage of the arcless commutation of currents to a gradually increasing parallel resistance and makes it possible to realize a current-controlled resistor for very high currents, which can be used to limit the fault currents in power networks. The conditions for the arcless current commutation are investigated theoretically and the optimum profile for the parallel resistor is derived. An experimental setup is constructed to investigate the behavior of the separating contacts under different current amplitudes, different current steepnesses, and different resistance profiles. The experimental results relating to the commutation phase are compared to the theoretical limits

Keywords

commutation; fault current limiters; liquid metals; resistors; arcless current commutation; current limitation principle; current-controlled resistor; fault currents; liquid metals; parallel resistance; power networks; very high currents; Automation; Contact resistance; Current density; Current limiters; Fault currents; Fuses; Impedance; Low voltage; Resistors; Superconducting materials; Arcless current commutation; current limitation; fault currents;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Components and Packaging Technologies, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1521-3331

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TCAPT.2006.875880

Filename

1637763