Thyristor Arc Eliminator for Protection of Low Voltage Electrical Equipment

Abstract

The paper presents the layout of two opposing thyristors working as an Arc Eliminator (AE). The presented solution makes it possible to protect an electrical apparatus against the effects of an arcing fault. An Arc Eliminator is assumed to be a device cooperating with the protected apparatus. Thyristors were used because of their speed of operation and a relatively lower cost compared to other semiconductors with the same current-carrying capacity. The proposed solution, as one of the few currently available, makes it possible to eliminate the fault arc—both at short-circuit currents and current values to which overcurrent protections do not react. A test circuit was designed and made to study the effectiveness of the thyristor arc eliminator. A series of tests was carried out with variable impedance in the arc branch, including the influence of circuit inductance on arc time. It was found that the thyristor arc eliminator effectively protects devices powered from a low voltage power network against the effects of a fault or arc fault. The correctness of system operation for a wide range of impedance changes in the circuit feeding the arc location was demonstrated.

A Multi-Sectional Arc Eliminator for Protection of Low Voltage Electrical Equipment

“…The thyristor multi-sectional arc eliminator (MSAE) presented in this paper is a way to solve this problem. A number of experiments described in publications [15,16] confirm the justifiability of using two counter-connected thyristors as an AE. This current research has been carried out for a multi-sectional semiconductor module, which is an improved version of the AE presented in paper [15].…”

“…A number of experiments described in publications [15,16] confirm the justifiability of using two counter-connected thyristors as an AE. This current research has been carried out for a multi-sectional semiconductor module, which is an improved version of the AE presented in paper [15]. This solution significantly extends the usability of the version presented in [15].…”

“…They can be found, for example, in motor-drive systems exposed to arcuate interference [2], reactive power compensation devices [3], photovoltaic panel protection systems [4], hybrid circuit breakers [5,6], electric vehicle protection systems [7], and circuit breaker systems used to prevent electric fires [8]. Bypassing circuits are built based on Thomson's electromagnetic coil [9,10], spring mechanisms accelerated by electromagnetic systems [11,12], circuits interrupted by an explosive charge [13] or containing compressed gas [14], and also on semiconductor devices [15,16].…”

“…This effect can be achieved by bypassing the damaged circuit with semiconductor short circuiting elements. The use of a thyristor arc eliminator causes a virtually instantaneous elimination of the arc fault in the affected circuit [15,16]. An additional advantage of the arc eliminator (AE) is arc-free short-circuit current commutation in AE branches and a shorter duration of thermal effects in the protected circuit.…”

“…This current research has been carried out for a multi-sectional semiconductor module, which is an improved version of the AE presented in paper [15]. This solution significantly extends the usability of the version presented in [15]. Ultimately, the multi-sectional semiconductor module can work in the hybrid short-circuiting switch, a subject of an original solution submitted in a patent application [24,25].…”