Abstract
Circuit breakers (CBs) are the main protection devices for both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) power systems, ranging from tens of watts up to megawatts. This paper reviews the current status for solid-state circuit breakers (SSCBs) as well as hybrid circuit breakers (HCBs) with semiconductor power devices. A few novel SSCB and HCB concepts are described in this paper, including advantage and limitation discussions of wide-band-gap (WBG) devices in basic SSCB/HCB configuration by simulation and 360 V/150 A experimental verifications. Novel SSCB/HCB configurations combining ultra-fast switching and high efficiency at normal operation are proposed. Different types of power devices are installed in these circuit breakers to achieve adequate performance. Challenges and future trends of semiconductor power devices in SSCB/HCB with different voltage/power levels and special performance requirements are clarified.
Highlights
In electric transmission, distribution systems and industrial fields, sensitive equipment must be protected from long-period overload and instant short-circuit conditions
CL-CBhas has really high power power dissipation, used forfor short-term limiting; (e)(e) really dissipation,ititmight mightbebeonly only used short-term limiting; butResistive their reliability must be high taken into account; (f) are sensitive to frequency changes, so the robustness is is (f) are sensitive to frequency changes, so the robustness (e) Resistive CL-Circuit breakers (CBs) has really high power dissipation, it might be only used for short-term limiting; not perfect
Active CL-CB with synchronous series compensators (SSSC) may be a good solution for direct current (DC)/alternating current (AC) systems for its controllable reactive power generation capability and its multi-function of short-circuit protection; Wide-band-gap (WBG) devices e.g., silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFETs) are recommended for fast breaking as well as current limiting, but the overall cost should be taken into consideration
Summary
Distribution systems and industrial fields, sensitive equipment must be protected from long-period overload and instant short-circuit conditions. By applying next-generation wide bandgap devices e.g., silicon carbide (SiC) or gallium nitride (GaN), the performance of SSCBs may be improved because of lower power loss, higher junction temperature, better avalanche breakdown capability and so on. Another main category of CB with semiconductor devices is a combination of SSCB and MCB in a proper way to configure a new family, which is named “hybrid circuit breaker (HCB)” [7]. Dynamic voltage balancing may be achieved by gate control, paralleled resistors or arrestors
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