A New Multifunctional Protection System for Reducing Fault Current, Ferroresonance Overvoltage, and Voltage Fluctuations in Power Networks

Abstract

This paper introduces a multifunctional protective system to mitigate more likely threats in power networks. The proposed device can cope with short circuit current, voltage sag, or swell and dangerous overvoltages due to ferroresonance by elaborate switching in its unified structure. The switching is in fact the main key for playing among the functions and altering the structure. Since the switches receive the control system’s commands based on what happens in the network, an intelligent controller has to be designed to interpret four operating modes and activate the correct function. Following the activation command, the structure is customized through switching action and the network is equipped with the corresponding protection function. The proposed scheme by employing minimum components and therefore achieving significant saving in costs can meet all expectations satisfactorily. Moreover, the control system’s performance is examined by a set of numerical simulations in a Matlab/Simulink environment. The obtained results show that the proposed device is feasible and successfully performs all three functions independently.