A DC hybrid circuit breaker with ultra-fast contact opening and integrated gate-commutated thyristors (IGCTs)

• Published in: IEEE transactions on power delivery Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 646 - 651
• Main Authors: Meyer, J.-M., Rufer, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01-04-2006; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Arcless interruption; Assembly; Bidirectional control; Circuit breakers; Connection and protection apparatus; Contact; Costs; Direct current; Electric power generation; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Exact sciences and technology; fault current limiter; hybrid high-speed circuit breaker; Industrial plants; integrated gate-controlled thyristor (IGCT); Maintenance costs; Manufacturing engineering; mechanical switch; metal-oxide varistor; Power semiconductor switches; Protection; Prototypes; Rail transportation; Semiconductors; Thyristors; hybrid high-speed circuit breaker; Switchgear; Mechanical component; Thyristor; integrated gate-controlled thyristor (IGCT); Metal oxide contact; Fault current limiters; Fast circuit; Varistance; Circuit breaker; Semiconductor device; Experimental result; Direct current; Hybrid circuit; Integrated circuit; mechanical switch; metal-oxide varistor; Arcless interruption; fault current limiter
• ISSN: 0885-8977; 1937-4208
• DOI: 10.1109/TPWRD.2006.870981

Air-magnetic circuit breakers are widely used for short-circuit protection in dc electric railways or industrial plants. The well-known drawbacks of these breakers are mainly a slow breaking action, a short lifetime, and high maintenance costs due to the destructive effects of the arc. The use of power semiconductors in a full-static circuit breaker configuration allows the elimination of these disadvantages but is limited by excessive conduction losses. The paper will present the study of a so-called hybrid breaker, drawing its name from the combination of a high-speed mechanical switch and a bi-directional integrated gate-controlled thyristor assembly connected in parallel. The paper also includes experimental results from a prototype real scale.