Evaluation of Electrical and Thermal Stresses in Conventional and Solid-State Fault Current Limiter-Based Hybrid HVDC Circuit Breaker

This paper presents a comparative study of the electrical and thermal stresses on ABB’s conventional hybrid type HVDC circuit breaker (CH-DCCB) and a novel integrated topology of solid-state fault current limiter (SSFCL) based H-DCCB in a multi-terminal voltage-source converter HVDC system. The study focuses on the evaluation of the electrical and thermal stresses on the fundamental components of this class of circuit breakers, including the IGBT valves and metal oxide surge arrestors (MOSA). The performance of both CH-DCCB and SSFCL-based H-DCCB is evaluated under different DC-side fault conditions, such as low impedance fault as well as high impedance fault conditions. The results of the study indicate that the Hybrid-DCCB with fault current limiters offers better electrical and thermal stress management compared to ABB’s CH-DCCB alone. This is due to the incorporation of a thyristor-based SSFCL, which restirct the DC fault current magnitude and duration, thereby reducing the electrical as well as thermal stresses on the components of H-DCCB. The study provides valuable insights into the design and development of high-performance SSFCLH-DCCB for future multi-terminal HVDC systems.