Abstract
This paper assesses the advantages, drawbacks, and overall suitability of different soft-stop techniques to provide smooth deceleration of ultra-fast linear actuators used in hybrid HVDC breaker designs, with the help of FEA simulations. The paper compares active and passive damping techniques in terms of efficacy, energy consumption, and interference with the ultra-fast operation needed from the actuator. The possibility of combining active and passive damping techniques is discussed.
Highlights
Owing to the inherent low impedance and poor over-current capability of VSC based HVDC networks, fast acting breakers are required for their protection
In this paper active and passive damping mechanisms for the soft-stop of ultra-fast linear actuators used in hybrid HVDC breakers are investigated
It is found that the active damping concept is an effective damping technique for the investigated Thomson Coil (TC) and DD-Moving Coil (MC) actuator designs
Summary
Owing to the inherent low impedance and poor over-current capability of VSC based HVDC networks, fast acting breakers are required for their protection. A hybrid breaker combines mechanical and semiconductor components to achieve low conduction losses under normal operation while enabling short interruption times under fault conditions [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Recent research has shown that the Moving Coil (MC) actuator is suitable for ultra-fast operation when a long stroke is required [16, 17] In both cases, the kinetic energy stored in the actuator-switch moving components must be rapidly dissipated, ideally with no bouncing or high speed contact between hard surfaces; this in order to avoid excessive mechanical stress, accelerated aging, dielectric breakdown or destruction of the actuator-switch pair. Active and passive soft-stop techniques are initially considered separately in the simulations and combined use of both techniques is discussed
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