Fault Current Limiters in Industrial Power Systems

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The concept of saturable core fault current limiter (FCL) is relatively known nowadays. It usually consists of two reversely magnetized cores per phase to effectively limit the fault current passively and immediately upon its inception. In this paper prospects of application of fault current limiters in industrial power systems will be considered. Industrial power systems (distribution networks) are widespread and include a number of various electrical appliances. The power systems development (addition of new power plants, interconnections, etc.) may lead to more intense short circuit currents at the fault location. Furthermore, industrial systems may possess on-site generation which can increase fault current levels as well. All these factors might require appropriate upgrades of industrial system electrical equipment (especially switchgear) or special operating procedures (for instance avoiding parallel operation). Another alternative is the installation of fault current limiters. In this light, a series of simulations were carried out in order to observe the impact of fault current limiters on short circuit currents in an industrial power system using the EMTP-RV software program.

Keywords: saturable core fault current limiter (FCL), industrial power system, induction machine, EMTP; fault current analysis, medium voltage