Analysis of a Liquid Metal Current Limiter

A liquid metal fault current limiter (LMFCL) was investigated as a tool for improving the power quality and reliability of power service. The LMFCL is a newly developed current limiter for low-voltage power systems. It can effectively limit the fault current by taking advantage of the pinch effect and arcs in the LMFCL. A multiphysics simulation of magneto-fluid in the LMFCL was performed based on the 3-D finite element method for analysis of the pinch effect. The magnetic forces were calculated, and the turbulence driven by the magnetic forces was simulated. The results of the turbulent simulation coincide with those of the experiments. Several characteristics of the LMFCL are described based on analysis of the results of experiments with single-phase power sources of 253, 440, and 725-V.