A methodology to coordinate solid-state fault current limiters with conventional protective devices

Abstract

High short-circuit currents can cause equipment failures that conventional protective devices may not avoid. Alternatively, solid-state fault current limiters (SSFCL) are designed to limit high levels of short circuit currents, in particular, within quarter cycle. However, the SSFCL may cause sensor and protection equipment malfunction; this may lead to mis-coordination and false tripping between existing protective devices, and thus reduce system reliability. This paper addresses a methodology to coordinate conventional protective devices and a thyristor-based SSFCL in a distribution system, and analyzes potential coordination issues and effectiveness of the proposed method. It also describes an approach to produce SSFCL time-current characteristic curves (TCC) and their use in protection coordination studies. Lastly, the analysis includes SSFCL to recloser and SSFCL to fuse coordination cases and includes simulation results of several fault scenarios. Lastly, the paper describes.