Design and Development of the First Polish Superconducting Fault Current Limiter For MV Distribution Systems

Abstract

Abstract Superconducting fault current limiters (SFCL) are designed to protect the electrical grid from faults. The rapid increase of impedance of the SFCL reduces the short current in the circuit. In this paper, we present the design and development of coreless inductive SFCL for MV distribution systems. It is a very attractive design which reduces the weight of the device thanks to the coreless construction and the size of primary winding, reduced thanks to cryogenic cooling. The primary 2G HTS and secondary 2G HTS windings are magnetically coupled to one another. Copper primary winding connected parallely to the HTS primary winding is magnetically coupled to HTS windings and ensure that in cases of lack of cooling or superconductor failure, the protected circuit will not be disrupted. Tests performed at high power test facility shows the limiting performance of the coreless inductive SFCL.