Small-Scale HVDC Circuit Breaker

Circuit breakers are anticipated for fault isolation in multiterminal HVdc networks. However, there are remaining challenges concerning the circuit breaker topology and operation. The passive oscillation principle circuit breaker is one of the topologies under consideration, the design of which requires examination of the arc characteristics. The design process is therefore presented, with the aim of constructing a small-scale prototype. First, a horizontal nozzle constricted arc setup with a blowing capability is built in order to study the stationary and transient arc characteristics P(g) and τ(g), which are essential for the design of this type of breaker. Second, after their extraction from measurements, these two arc parameters are inserted into a simulation model based on the Mayr-Schwarz arc equation, which predicts an effective breaker operation. Finally, a passive oscillation principle breaker is constructed and successfully tested with both an arbitrary current source and on a scaled voltage source converter network.