1.

Abstract
A trusted circuit breaker is a primary element for the protection of electrical system. There are
lots of circuit breakers and interruption schemes for high voltage alternating current (HVAC). In
contrary, it is difficult to design an interruption scheme for high voltage direct current system
(HVDC) because natural zero crossing of wave does not exist. The demand of HVDC circuit
breaker is critical with the evolution of distributed system. Moreover, unfortunately there is no
proper standard is present. Although some schemes are present to interrupt the fault but some
disadvantages are present in each scheme. Solid state scheme is one of the fastest schemes as a
protection purpose in HVDC but the energy loss in this scheme is too high. Mechanical circuit
breaker is also present but the tripping time is poor from other schemes but there are some
advantages also of this technique that the energy loss in this technique has minimum from all
other techniques. Hybrid scheme is a combination of above two techniques, the application of
hybrid scheme is in between the previous techniques but hybrid technique has also
disadvantages. Mechanical circuit breaker scheme is chosen for this thesis to improve the
performance of mechanical circuit breaker in terms of interruption time and energy absorption
wise. In this thesis an interruption scheme is designed using vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) based
on zero crossing creating through electromechanically for HVDC system. The propose scheme
consists of multiple modules connecting in series containing varistors, VCB and RC snubber
circuit. The commutation process is achieved through commutation branch containing L&C
connected through a switch. An inverse current is injected through commutation when fault
occurs in a system to interrupt the arcing process. This thesis is based on Simulation which is
performed on MATLAB and trying to invent better scheme from previous schemes and analyzed
the results. A back up circuit is necessary to eliminate the residual current. Therefore further
study can be carried on how to eliminate the usage of fault current. Moreover commutation
process can also be improved by improving the parameters and using new scheme for
commutation process.
 2. Introduction
The classical HVDC system relied on the point to point distribution technology. This technology
uses two terminal voltage systems. Current source converter technology (CSC) based on two
terminal voltage system. When there is a need of interconnection of multiple transmission system
than multiple HVDC transmission lines are needed. This will cause of to increase the
transmission and operating cost. In CSC system complex filters and further capacitors were
required to remove the harmonics of alternating current (AC) [1]. Moreover the flow of power
was unidirectional. The reversal of polarity in this technology was difficult while bidirectional
flow of power is the essential part of modern distribution system [1, 2].The evolution of HVDC
system transmission technology intensifies with extensive utilization of power electronic
devices. The solution of this problem is to use multiple high voltage dc (MHVDC) technology.
Voltage source converter (VSC) technology can be utilized in MHVDC transmission system.
Voltage and power in the VSC technology are controllable. Active and reactive power can
increase or decrease independently. There is high frequency harmonics in VSC technology,
therefore the size of filters are less than CSC system [1, 2]. There is lot of more applications of
VSC technology in multi terminal HVDC (MTDC) transmission system. In spite of, the rate of
change of short circuit current is very high because there is low inductance in the DC system [3,
4]. Therefore it is a need of reliable circuit breaker to interrupt the fault current in a devoted time
otherwise whole system will have to shut down [5]. So, to design a reliable interruption scheme
is the main issue. Nowadays, three interruption schemes are mostly used such as, solid state (SS)
DC interruption scheme; electromechanical scheme creates artificial zero crossing (AZC) of
current and lastly hybrid technique for interruption process. As a comparison of all three
schemes, electromechanical HVDC technique is better than other two schemes because the
propose scheme has powerful interruption capability and also the propose scheme is low cost.
That’s why the propose scheme is centre of attraction. The research work is performed utilizing
this scheme in this present thesis.
The proposed scheme for DC interruption which is based AZC is shown in fig 1. There are four
branches in this scheme for interruption of fault, vacuum circuit breaker (VCB), metal oxide
varistors and commutation branch consists of pre charge capacitor C in series with inductance L.
In the occurrence of fault, VCB is opened first. When impulse of current reaches a certain safe
value then contacts of VCB get open and switch S of commutation branch is closed. High
frequency arc is generated due to discharge of commutation capacitor through the inductance and
branch switch. These high frequency oscillations are overlapped on the VCB current. Thus,
artificial zero crossing scheme force the arc which is produced due to VCB to quench. There is a
high arc extinguish ability of vacuum due to perfect insulation.
The branch circuit breaker is used to eliminate the effect of residual current. Commutation
branch perform bidirectional interruption process however commutation switch has very low
capability to quench the arc. This is the reason residual current continues to flow from
commutation switch.
A significant research has been performed on HVDC circuit breakers. An important development
is attained by ABB. Modularized scheme is used by ABB for designing of HVDC circuit
breaker. Each module has 80KV capability. In this scheme mechanical switch and ultra fast
switch technique of power electronics is used. An experimental work is carried out for
verification of this scheme on 320KV with 2.6KA rated current [6]. Y. Niwa and fellows have
designed a dc circuit breaker using vacuum for arc quenching purpose. Commutation is created
by thyristor using as a switch. The rating of this breaker is 1500KV with 100KA. It is tested on
traffic power system railway track [7]. 3KV high speed DC vacuum circuit breaker is designed
by M. Batosik and fellows [8]. Shi et is performed an experiment using triggering gap on
voltage. In this scheme current was stressed to attain zero limits at 30KA while the voltage level
was about 3KV [9].
Artificial zero crossing scheme is proposed on the basis of previous research. This thesis
describes the modeling design and basic principle of interruption scheme. This thesis is based on
simulation which is performed in the MATLAB and results of simulation are analyzed and
parameters of commutation branch are carefully adjusted.

Fig. 1 Proposed Interruption Scheme

 3. Literature Review
This chapter describes the different types of HVDC circuit breakers and also discusses the
functionality of topologies of HVDC protection system. As discuss in the previous chapter, there
are two categories of HVDC circuit breaker.
(i) current source circuit breaker (CSC)
(ii) voltage source circuit breaker (VSC)
On the basis of these types, three different topologies are designed;
(i) Pure Mechanical HVDC circuit breakers
(ii) Hybrid Circuit Breakers
(iii) Solid State (SS) Circuit Breakers
Mechanical Circuit Breakers HVDC
There are two types of mechanical circuit breakers
(i) Passive Resonance Circuit Breaker
(ii) Active Resonance Circuit Breaker

A. Passive Resonance Circuit Breaker

Passive resonance circuit breaker is too used to zero the current for quenching the arc at lower
current. This is an old scheme which was designed for CSC high voltage DC system [10]. Block
diagram of passive resonance circuit breaker is given in fig 2 [11].

Fig.2 Pure mechanical HVDC circuit breaker [11]

In a passive resonance circuit air blast or SF6 circuit breaker is used. In this scheme, a circuit
breaker is parallel with the branch of series connected inductor and capacitor. This scheme can
be unstable in certain conditions due to increase oscillation until current comes to zero and
arcing process is quenched. Capacitor is charging during the quenching process. A non liner
resistance is necessary to limit the voltage [12]. Interruption process equation can be written in
the form of differential eq.
𝑑2𝑖𝑠 ʠ𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑠 1 𝐼𝑜
𝐿𝑐 𝑑𝑡2 + (𝑅𝑐 + ʠ𝑖𝑠) 𝑑𝑡 + 𝐶𝑐 𝑖𝑠 = 𝐶𝑐 (3.1)
In zero crossing method first zero crossing is sufficient to interrupt the current.

B. Active Resonance Circuit Breaker

In this scheme resonance is created by pre-charged capacitor Cc will raise rapidly. During the
commutation process the resonance created by LC branch opposes the main CB current. This
scheme can also be used hybrid interruption scheme.
In this scheme thyristors can be used as a switch. This scheme is a bidirectional technique. There
are different topologies in this concept [13, 14]. We discuss only two topologies. Fig 3 describes
the first topology [11].

Fig.3 First Topology of Active Resonance Mechanical Circuit Breaker [11]

In first topology only S1 switch is closed in normal operating condition while other three
switches are in open state. In commutation branch capacitor Cc is pre-charged with negative
voltage. When fault current occurs in a system S1 switch will get open while S2 and S3 are
closed. As soon as s2 and s3 are connected a reverse current will start to flow to create zero
crossing. When flow of current is zero in S2 then S2 will open and S4 is closed. Capacitor is
discharged through L, C&S4, and S3. When flow of current is zero in S3 branch then S3 open
and main current is commutated again through R, L, C & S4. When S4 gets open then capacitor
is charged again.
Shows the second variation of active resonance topology. This topology also shows hybrid
topology. In second variation of active resonance scheme only one circuit breaker will get open
to create zero crossing.

Fig.4. Second Topology of Active Resonance Mechanical Circuit Breaker [11]

Hybrid technology
Hybrid interruption topology is a combination of both solid state devices and mechanical circuit
breaker. In this scheme, solid state switches create commutation in the branch. Switches operate
only when fault occurs in a system. There is a rapid development in semiconductor switches e.g.
reduction in losses, reliability and improvement in switching timing. Hybrid circuit breaker
topology can also classified in many categories but only two are discuss here, i.e. switching for
zero current and switching for zero voltage.
 Fig.5 [15] Zero current switching technique
Fig. 5 [15] shows switching for zero current (SZC) circuit, under normal operating condition
current is flowing through switch S [16]. In the occurrence of fault, thyristor T1 gets open and
opposite current of S1 will flow through the switch due to already charged capacitor by
transformer. After a short time, zero current will flow through the switch and no arc will
produce. During the switching process a very high voltage will produce across the branch
therefore varistors are connected in parallel to limit the short circuit and voltage. This type of
technology based on (Thomson drive effect) and it is used for low voltage application [16].
In case of switch for zero voltage (SZV), semi conductor elements are connected with switches
so; it should take very care that voltage across the switch is very low. to prevent from arcing
process and to prevent the elements. Fig. 6 SZV circuit [17].

(a) (b)
Fig.6 Zero Voltage switching technique [17]
In Fig. 6(a) mechanical switch is connected with a RC snubber circuit [13]. To prevent the
arcing process capacitor size should be carefully calculated to prejudge the magnitude of fault
current. According to magnitude of fault the switching timing should be adjusted. In Fig. 6(b)
shows a revised circuit of SZC. In this topology IGBT is connected in parallel with mechanical
switch to enhance the voltage across the switch S. when IGBT is turned on then S gets open and
current commutates through RC snubber circuit [17]. Capacitor size will decrease and
interruption time will improve in this second topology.
Solid State (SS) circuit breaker
Solid state circuit breaker based on semiconductors and this circuit breaker performs very fast
switching. This technology can also be said ultra fast switching technology. There is the fastest
interruption process of SS circuit breaker compare to all other schemes. A lot of possible
combination can be made of SS switches. We discuss here only two topologies of SS circuit
breaker. IGBTs or different semiconductor based switches are mostly used in this type of circuit
breaker. These switches are used in series and parallel combination to control the circuit. Further
research is carried on to make better the circuit breaker [18, 19].
A. SS circuit breaker parallel with a surge arrestor
In this type of circuit breaker solid state semiconductor switch T plays a main circuit breaker
parallel with an arrestor as shown in fig. 7 [18]. In normal operating condition switch T is in on
state and current flows through the switch. When fault occurs in a system switch T will detect the
fault and gets open and load current will flow from surge arrestor. It increases the voltage across
surge arrestor. If we know the fault current, arrestor voltage and dc voltage then we can find the
opening time of circuit breaker and we can also find the absorbed energy by the arrestor.

Fig.7 SS CB with surge arrestor [18]

B. SS circuit breaker with freewheeling diode
In this type topology a freewheeling diode and surge arrestor are connected in a branch while this
branch is parallel across voltage dc source as shown in fig. 8. In normal operating condition
switch is closed and current flows through switch T. In the occurrence of fault switch gets open
and current flows through the diode. The inductance starts to demagnetize through the surge
arrestor and fault will go to decrease. The surge voltage can be expressed as a sum of arrestor
voltage and dc voltage source. If we know the inductance and fault current then we can find
1
absorbed energy during interruption process. 𝑊 = 2 ∗ 𝐿𝑖 2 .

Fig.8 SS CB with freewheeling diode [18]

3.1 Comparison of topologies
Compare these topologies with different respects such as switching time, loses of power and rate
of change of current voltage.
 (i) Switching time
Mechanical circuit breaker has slowest response in term of switching; it is up to 12ms while solid
state circuit breaker has time response then 1ms. The switching time of hybrid circuit breakers
lies in between solid state and mechanical circuit breaker [20, 30].

(ii) Power Loses

In terms of power losses mechanical and hybrid circuit breaker without semiconductors are
superior. These circuits have lowest power losses in all topologies because there is low voltage
drop in mechanical circuit breakers. In mechanical circuit breaker power lose is then 10−3 %
while in the hybrid circuit breaker with low rating electronic switches has 0.1% of voltage source
converter system. Contrary solid state circuit breaker has huge power losses because the voltage
drop across breaker is much high. The power lose in this technology is 30% as compare to other
topologies.
(iii) Voltage Rating
High voltage mechanical circuit breakers are designed up to 550KV presently. For experimental
purpose hybrid circuit breaker has been designed up to 120KV but now it is trying to increase its
rating. Pure solid state circuit breaker is not designed yet for high voltage rating and it is used for
medium voltage applications [20, 30].
(iv) Current Rating
Passive mechanical high voltage dc circuit breaker has interruption capability up to 4KA while
active resonance circuit breaker has switching capability up to 8KA. Experimentally in case of
hybrid circuit breaker topology current switching ability has 9KA while theoretically reach up to
16KA [20, 30].
Electro Magnetic Repulsion (EMR)
The principle EMR is shown in fig.9[31], a pulse of current in the coil is generated when a fault
occurred in the system. The alternating current creates magnetic field around the coil. The
magnetic field induces in the metal plate which produces eddy current in the plate because
repulsive force is generated between the coil and metal plate because current flows due to
changing magnetic field always flow in the direction so as to oppose his cause, according to
Lenz law. Therefore moving plate moves rapidly.

Fig.9 Structure diagram of VCB[31]

VCB circuit topology works on the principle of RLC oscillatory discharging mode. Current is
flowing in positive direction to avoid reverse charging of capacitor. This works in RL
discharging mode.
The equivalence of metal plate can be made by series inductance and resistance. As shown in fig.
10. The pulse of current during the process can be written such as,

Fig.10 The equivalent circuit of EMR [31]

𝑈𝑜
𝑖 = 𝜔𝐿𝑒𝑞 ∗ e−∝𝑡 sin(𝜔𝑡) (3.2)

1 𝑅
While α=R/2L and 𝜔=√𝐿𝑒𝑞∗𝐶 − (2𝐿)2
Where Uo represents the pre-charged voltage and Leq shows the equivalent inductance of metal
plate. According to law of conservation of energy [32], the power supply is the sum of heat loss,
magnetic energy and working process.
The electromagnetic force is calculated by using following eq.
𝑑𝑀 1 𝑑𝐿𝑒𝑞
𝐹 = 𝑖1𝑖2 ∗ 𝑑𝑠 = 2 ∗ 𝑖1 ∗ 𝑖1 ∗ 𝑑𝑠 (3.3)
Where, S shows the displacement of metal plates. The movement EMR can also be cal
calculated,
𝑑2 s
𝑚 ∗ d2 t = 𝐹 − 𝐹𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑝 − 𝐹ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 (3.4)
Fdamp represents the resistance between the movements of EMR, Fhold is the permanent
magnet force and m is the mass of moving part.
 4. Research methodology
The block diagram of proposed scheme is show in fig. 1. This scheme is divided into four pieces,
such as main VCB uses as central circuit breaker (CCB), secondly the varistors branch, thirdly
commutation branch for to create zero crossing in the scheme for interruption purpose and lastly
the backup circuit breaker for to eliminate the residual current. The monitoring and control
section is not given in fig.2.
This scheme based on the modular principle. Therefore CCB contains multiple modules in series
up to n number of module, which is based on the design of system voltage. Each module
comprises two parallel branches a low voltage designed VCB and varistor. The working
principle of VCB is based on repulsion by electromagnetism using permanent magnet. If fault
occurs in a system then electromagnetic repulsion system respond quickly. The detail of VCB
describes above.
The modularization of VCB has more benefit than single high voltage VCB. This technique has
two advantages over previous scheme. Firstly, if contact stroke is increased from 2mm than
dielectric strength between vacuum gaps increased nonlinearly [33]. The design of high voltage
VCB is difficult to design due to this behavior of vacuum gap. To eliminate this problem
multiple VCB are connected in series [33, 34]. The vacuum gap of multiple small VCB can be
equal or greater than main single circuit breaker with some factor. The enhancement factor of
breakdown voltage can be derived as follows. The breakdown voltage of vacuum gap can be
calculated [35],
𝑈𝑏 = 𝑘𝑑𝛼 (4.1)
Where Ub is break down voltage while the range of α is 0.4-0.7 and k is constant. Then n
vacuum gaps are connected in series to calculate breakdown voltage described in following eq.
[35].
𝑈𝑏𝑛 = 𝑛 ∗ 𝑘 ∗ 𝑑α (4.2)
The breakdown voltage Ubs for single vacuum gap and enhancement factor are given in below
equations.
𝑈𝑏𝑠 = 𝑘 ∗ (𝑛 ∗ 𝑑)𝛼
𝑈𝑏𝑛 𝑛∗𝑘∗𝑑 2
𝛽= = (4.3)
𝑈𝑏𝑠 k∗(𝑛∗𝑑)𝛼
In another respect, modularize scheme is more power efficient then single VCB gap due to small
axial dimension of vacuum circuit breaker at low voltage level. Therefore the opening speed of
circuit breaker will be increased during fault interruption. Moreover the bearing transient
recovery voltage is also on small scale as compared to single long vacuum gap. I t indicates that
commutation current is injected at small value after separation of contacts. It reflects that fault
current can interrupt rapidly due to high speed of contacts opening and small commutation
stroke.
The high increasing rate of fault current can be controlled by series RL snubber circuit before the
modules of VCB. The metal oxide varistor is designed to control the peak value of transient
recovery voltage. It is parallel connected with VCB while and inductor is also connected in series
to absorb the energy during the interruption process.
Commutation branch contains inductor L and capacitor C and their values can be designed on the
basis of desired frequency and magnitude of countercurrent, this single branch is paralleled to
multiple modules. To attain bi direction interruption a trigger sphere gap is adopted as a switch
S.
A back up circuit breaker is used on the left side of the main circuit breaker. The backup circuit
breaker has following functions,
As described above, the arc quenching capability of triggered sphere gap is very weak therefore
bi direction extinguish technique is used. There is some drawback of bi direction interruption of
triggered sphere gap. There might be some residual current is flowing due to long burning of arc
in triggered sphere gap after quenching of arc from main circuit breaker forcedly to zero. This
residual current can be eliminated by opening the main circuit breaker.
Secondly, in this scheme a commutation capacitor is pre-charged by this back up circuit breaker.
Lastly, the backup circuit breaker acts as an isolator. It isolates the electrical supply from the DC
circuit breaker.

Fig.9 Schematic diagram of proposed scheme

 5. Simulation of the interruption process
The propose scheme is designed and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink. Following
simplifications are made for DC circuit breaker scheme.
(1) The rated voltage for DC is 500 KV while the rated current is 2KA. As it is assumed that
CCB contains two modules in series while voltage source is on the left hand side and
short circuit fault occurs on the right side of CCB.
(2) A fault took place after the start of simulation with average rate of rise of 2KA/msec.
while circuit breaker is switched on at 4msec. At his time the fault current exceeds up to
8KA.
(3) All switches are assumed to be ideal switch while commutation switch is not included. It
means all the switches have negligible resistance in on state while has infinite resistance
in open circuit state. As far as commutation switch concern, it is considered that arc in the
switch S kept burning after combustion even at zero current until another switch cut off
the current. Although condition is tough to implement on triggered sphere gap switch S
while it is applicable for our simulation to determine the effect of residual of current.
The selected parameters for the scheme are given below,
(1) System Parameters
Vol. Source U=500 KV, short circuit resistance R0 =0.79 Ω, short circuit inductance
L0 =23 mH, load resistance RL=24.2 Ω, charging resistance Rc =3000 Ω.
(2) MCB Module
RC snubber branch: R1=R2=100 Ω, C1=C2=10 nF, MOV: Protection vol. = 50 KV.
(3) Commutation branch
Charging vol. of commutation capacitor Uco=50 KV, commutation frequency f=10 KHz,
peak current Ip= 12 KA, C=3.82 µF, L= 66.3 µH.
To explore the behavior of residual current due to weak arc quenching capability of trigger
sphere gap switch S simulation is performed. During the interruption process back up switches
are closed. The results of simulation are given in fig. 9. The interruption process is as follows.
t=0: The system is operating in normal state while 2KA current is flowing and commutation
capacitor is pre-charged up to 500KV.
T1: A short circuit fault takes place. The monitoring and control system detects the fault and
send it gives the opening signal to EMR system of every module of CCB. It starts operating to
open the contacts of breaker quickly due to this arc is formed.
T2: After reaching the short circuit current up to 8KA. Commutation switch is triggered a nd
injecting high frequency oscillating commutated current when CCB approaches a certain safe
limit to withstand the transient recovery voltage
T2-T3: During the first commutation process currents starts to shift from CCB to commutation
branch. In this process commutation capacitor starts to discharge and its voltage continuously
decreases.
 T3: At the end of first commutation process current is completely transferred to commutation
branch. The arc in CCB quenches due to forced the current zero as a result high energy is
generated. To absorb this energy an series inductor with metal oxide varistor is used.
T3-T4: The capacitor starts charging after discharging the capacitor during first commutation
process with positive voltage in reverse direction. Due to increase of voltage of commutation
capacitor, the CCB voltage also increases. Therefore current starts to move from commutation
branch to varistor branch.
T4: This is the second commutation process in which total current is shifted to arrestor
branch.
T5: The current through switch S crosses zero crossing after flowing current through varistor.
If a tripping command is given to switch S at the zero crossing moment then arc can be quenched
as experimental and simulation results shown [8, 9]. In spite of zero crossing there is no
guarantee that arc can be fully quenching. It is totally depend on the history of arc and geometry
of sphere gap. It concludes that only commutation switch S is incapable to cut off current by
itself in the simulation. As a result, residual current is still flowing in the commutation branch.
T5-T6: The current frequency of commutation and metal oxide varistor is about 10 kHz. This
current is decreasing gradually. In this process, the total current which is flowing is the sum of
commutation current, varistor branch current and charging resistor.
T6: The total flowing current will be zero after cut off the varistor branch.
In spite of the fact that the commutation switch can’t quench the arc itself. Due to long time arc
burning an oscillating current can flow in the DC system upto ----A. the oscillating frequency
can be calculated such as follows,
1
𝑓= =
2𝜋√(𝐿+𝐿𝑜)∗𝐶

The arc in the triggered sphere gap can quenched at certain current level. It is depend on many
factors as discussed above. Therefore, triggered sphere gap is not a dependable arc quenching
switch. To eliminate the residual current then backup circuit breaker is used and simulation is
shown in fig. If contacts of backup circuit breaker are opened at t6 then arc will be quenched and
current flow in through triggered sphere gap will also be zero.
At the end of process, the commutation capacitor starts to discharge from charging resistor after
that the second backup circuit breaker can also be opened to isolate the whole circuit.
It is to be noted that there is some current difference between flowing through first backup
circuit breaker and second backup circuit breaker due to little current flowing through charging
resistor. The zero crossing will not occur at the same time in both circuit breakers due to
difference in switching time. On the other hand, if arc in the second backup circuit breaker is
quenches first then a direct current flowing constantly through voltage source to ground and
charging resistor. This flowing direct current can’t be interrupted by either first backup circuit
breaker or commutation switch.
5.1 The influence of commutation current frequency on the interruption process
In the view of simulation results, current commutation technique has a favorable interruption.
Commutation process depends on commutation branch and mainly on frequency of commutation
current. If the frequency of commutation increases then the value of capacitor and inductor will
decrease for the same value of voltage and current. This indicates smaller volume and lower cost.
It is also to be noted that voltage across commutation capacitor and peak of desired
countercurrent should be greater than suddenly short circuit current.
As it is discussed above, triggered sphere gap has weak arc quenching capability to achieve bi-
direction interruption. In this method, commutation current will overlap with to increasing short
circuit current same direction in the first half cycle. The current is interrupted in the next half
cycle. More energy is decomposed when superimposition of currents occurred. This is a big
obstruction in the way of successful interruption. This drawback can be overcome by injecting
high frequency current. For example 50 KHz frequency is used [33].
 6. Results of simulation
The results of proposed scheme are shown in following figures. The following results describe
the effect of residual current and the significance of backup circuit breaker. Firstly, the results
are shown without use backup circuit breaker.

Fig.6.1 shows source of current

Fig.6.2 shows the commutation current

 Fig. 6.3 shows the commutation voltage

Fig.6.4 shows the metal oxide arrestor (MOV) current

The following figures show the results with backup circuit breakers.
7. Conclusion
The propose HVDC interruption scheme is based on artificial zero crossing. This thesis can be
compiled as follows.
To conclude the bi-directional interruption in HVDC system a triggered sphere gap can be
utilized as a switch S. Residual current can flow through the switch S due to feeble arc
quenching capability of triggered sphere gap after the commutation process. The residual can be
controlled by using backup circuit breaker.
According to simulation results the residual can be damped more rapidly by using high
frequency. Moreover, the thermal joule losses i.e. integral I2 *t created due to residual current
can be eliminated using high frequency. The value of commutation inductor and commutation
capacitor can be different from each other. According to simulation small inductance and large
capacitance with lower charging voltage can be controlled the increasing rate of change of
transient recovery voltage and interruption capability will become better.
The proposed interruption scheme is only implemented on simulation based on the above
designed circuit. Nevertheless, the practical implementation of this scheme is much more
complicated. The effect of commutation frequency during the arcing process is the point of
question. The difficulty in the scheme is the modularize design due to equal distribution of
voltage over the whole CCB module. There is a need to explore the above problems.
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