A superconducting direct-current limiter with a power of up to 8 MVA

Abstract

A resistive switching superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) for DC networks with a nominal voltage of 3.5 kV and a nominal current of 2 kA was developed, produced, and tested. The SFCL has two main units—an assembly of superconducting modules and a high-speed vacuum circuit breaker. The assembly of superconducting modules consists of nine (3 × 3) parallel–series connected modules. Each module contains four parallel-connected 2G high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes. The results of SFCL tests in the short-circuit emulation mode with a maximum current rise rate of 1300 A/ms are presented. The SFCL is capable of limiting the current at a level of 7 kA and break it 8 ms after the current-limiting mode begins. The average temperature of HTS tapes during the current-limiting mode increases to 210 K. After the current is interrupted, the superconductivity recovery time does not exceed 1 s.