Behavior Investigations of Superconducting Fault Current Limiters in Power Systems

When electric power systems are interconnected in operation, the fault current levels increase. This problem can be solved by deploying a bus-tie Superconducting Fault Current Limiter (SFCL) in distribution substations which allows two buses to be tied without significantly raising fault current levels. The Alternative Transient Program (ATP) version of Electromagnetic Transient Program (EMTP), ATPDraw and The Output Processor (TOP) are applied to investigate the operational behavior of the SFCL in a parallel connection of radial supply systems. The case study showed that an SFCL on bus tie location can not only suppress the fault current levels effectively but also improve the power quality and the reliability of the supply network. The simulation results will be presented and discussed in detail.