Appropriate Protection Scheme for DC Grid Based on the Half Bridge Modular Multilevel Converter System

Abstract

The half bridge (HB) modular multilevel converter (MMC) technology is considered a breakthrough to mitigate the shortcomings of the conventional voltage source converter (VSC) in high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) grid application. However, interruption of the DC fault is still a challenge due to fast di/dt and extremely high levels of DC fault current. The fault interruption using a DC circuit breaker (DCCB) causes enormous energy dissipation and voltage stress across the DCCB. Therefore, the use of a fault current limiter is essential, and the superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) is the most promising choice. Past literature has focused on the operating characteristics of DCCB or limiting characteristics of the SFCL. However, there is little understanding about the fault interruption and system recovery characteristics considering both DCCB and SFCL. In this paper, we have presented a comparative study on fault interruption and system recovery characteristics considering three types of fault limiting devices in combination with circuit breaker. The transient analyses of AC and DC system have been performed, to suggest the most preferable protection scheme. It has been concluded that, amongst the three fault limiting devices, the Hybrid SFCL in combination with circuit breaker, delivers the most desirable performance in terms of interruption time, recovery time, energy dissipation and voltage transients.