Abstract

Fused contactors and thermal magnetic circuit breakers are commonly applied protective devices in power distribution systems to protect the circuits when short-circuit faults occur. A power distribution system may contain various makes and models of protective devices, as a result, customizable simulation models for protective devices are demanded to effectively conduct system-level reliable analyses. To build the models, thermal energy-based data analysis methodologies are first applied to the protective devices’ physical properties, based on the manufacturer’s time/current data sheet. The models are further enhanced by integrating probability tools to simulate uncertainties in real-world application facts, for example, fortuity, variance, and failure rate. The customizable models are expected to aid the system-level reliability analysis, especially for the microgrid power systems.

Highlights

  • Protective devices prevent power devices in modern power generation, transmission, and distribution systems from thermal damage caused by overcurrent situations

  • The energy that heats up the fuse and/or the Thermal magnetic circuit breakers (TMCB) is known as the integral energy, which can be calculated using the following equation: E = t1 i2(t)dt t0 where t0, t1 are the time stamps when the current exceeds the rated current and when the integral energy calculation stops, respectively

  • EC is known as the catalog energy of melting the fuse and the thermal tripping of the TMCB, which could be calculated by the following equation

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Summary

Introduction

Protective devices prevent power devices in modern power generation, transmission, and distribution systems from thermal damage caused by overcurrent situations. Thermal magnetic circuit breakers (TMCB) and fused-contactors are the most commonly seen protective devices in medium–low-voltage level power distribution systems. Reference [11] used the finite element analysis method to simulate the heating process of the fuses, and reference [12] used the I2t relationship to model, the time/current curve (TCC) provided by the manufacturer. As can be found from the manufacturer’s data, for example, references [13,18], two TCCs (sometimes known as minimum and maximum or total clearing time) are usually provided This implies that, for a same make and model fuse, or TMCB, under a same current level, the reacting time may vary from time-to-time. We are interested in building simulation models for the protective devices in power distribution systems This thermal energy-based analysis methodology is built on the basis of the TCC from the fuse/TMCB manufacturers.

Fused Contactors
Thermal-Magnetic Circuit Breakers
Probability-Based Modeling of Protective Devices
Probability-Based Thermal-Energy Analysis
Probability Integrated Modeling
Customizable Fuse Modeling
Customized Simulation Model of “Square D QOB-3100” Circuit Breaker
Findings
Conclusions and Future Work

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