Date of Graduation

5-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Electrical Engineering

Advisor/Mentor

Juan C. Balda

Committee Member

Simon S. Ang

Second Committee Member

Yue Zhao

Keywords

Applied sciences

Abstract

Proper short-circuit protection in dc distribution systems has provided an austere challenge to researchers as the development of commercially-viable equipment providing fast operation, coordination and reliability still continues. The objective of this thesis is to analyze issues associated with short-circuit protection of low-voltage dc (LVDC) distribution systems and propose a short-circuit protection methodology based on solid-state circuit breakers (SSCBs) that provides fault-current limiting (FCL). Simulation results for a simplified notional 1-kVdc distribution system, performed in MATLAB/SIMULINKTM, would be presented to illustrate that SSCB solutions based on reverse-blocking integrated gate-commutated thyristors (RB-IGCT) are feasible for low-voltage dc distribution systems but requires connecting several devices in parallel to open fast-rising fault currents. To validate the implementation of the FCL function, the coordination between upstream and downstream SSCBs during a fault at different operating conditions of the system is presented. In addition, several fault-detection techniques would be compared by means of the let-through energies, and the impact of FCL on the thermal handling requirements of the RB-IGCT would also be discussed.

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