Series arc extinction in DC microgrids using load side voltage drop detection

Abstract

Due to the absence of current zero crossing, dc arcs do not extinguish as easily as ac ones. It is essential to detect and eliminate series arc faults in dc microgrids in order to ensure safety, particularly while unplugging loads. Several detection and extinction methods using various means are known in literature. In this paper a novel arc detection method is proposed. It detects the load side input voltage drop due to the initial electrode specific minimum arc voltage. Only the local input voltage has to be measured and selectivity is given. The arc can be extinguished by shutting down the load's power electronics converter. The proposed method is elaborated through simulation of arc behaviour for constant resistor and constant power loads with input capacitors. First experimental results correspond with the theoretical analysis.