Application of high-power semiconductor technology in DC traction circuitbreakers

HVDC Circuit Breakers: A Review Identifying Future Research Needs

“…This is particularly important for circuit breakers and their interfaces to the network and protection system. 4) Solid-State DC breakers: Also discussed are pure semiconductor switches [35], [83]- [85], not only for HVDC, but also for low and medium voltage DC and AC. The clear advantage is that the switching time can be as low as a few µs, compared to a few (ten) ms of a mechanical switch with separating metal contacts.…”

“…When the current is transferred and the dielectric strength between the metallic contacts has recovered, the semiconductor switch is operated. Schemes are proposed for AC circuit breakers [86], [87], [93], AC capacitor switches [94], Fault Current Limiting Units [95] and also for DC circuit breakers [85], [96].…”

Topologies of multiterminal HVDC-VSC transmission for large offshore wind farms

“…Example applications include pulsed power [28] and traction [29]. Solid-state circuit breakers are suitable and able to interrupt current within a couple of milliseconds [28,30].…”

“…The main disadvantages of the solid-state circuit breakers are their high on-state losses and capital costs. Typical ratings of solid-state circuit breakers in operation are 4 kV, 2 kA [28,29], although in [30] ratings of up to 150 kV, 2 kA were considered.…”

Reverse blocking IGCT optimised for 1 kV DC bi‐directional solid state circuit breaker

“…The classical electromechanical low-voltage circuit breakers are a mature technology with a proven record of cost effectiveness, reliability and long lifetime but there are two main drawbacks: the slow breaking action and the limited number of switching operations [1]. The solid state circuit breaker (SSCB), that is, the circuit breaker based on power electronic switch, eliminates these drawbacks but suffers from excessive power-losses due to the conduction losses of the semiconductors available today [2][3][4]. Not only SSCB demand devices with low conduction losses: the modern trends towards operating at lower switching frequencies in many power electronics applications adopting multi-level topologies, along with special demands for high current carrying capabilities and/or high efficiency, is forcing the development of application-specific semiconductor devices.…”