662 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON APPLIED SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, VOL. 16, NO.

2, JUNE 2006

Behavior Investigations of Superconducting Fault

Current Limiters in Power Systems
Lin Ye, Member, IEEE, and Archie Campbell

Abstract—When electric power systems are interconnected in normal operations. Under fault conditions, a certain value of
operation, the fault current levels increase. This problem can a nonlinear resistance is automatically inserted into the power
be solved by deploying a bus-tie Superconducting Fault Current grid to limit the short circuit current by its transition from the
Limiter (SFCL) in distribution substations which allows two buses
to be tied without significantly raising fault current levels. The superconducting state to the normal state, the so-called quench.
Alternative Transient Program (ATP) version of Electromagnetic The apparatus is self triggering without either detecting or active
Transient Program (EMTP), ATPDraw and The Output Pro- triggering mechanisms. The SFCL is a fast-operating device that
cessor (TOP) are applied to investigate the operational behavior commences operation within the first few milliseconds after a
of the SFCL in a parallel connection of radial supply systems. fault, and limits the first peak of the fault current to an acceptable
The case study showed that an SFCL on bus tie location can not
only suppress the fault current levels effectively but also improve level.
the power quality and the reliability of the supply network. The The SFCL can offer a cost-effective means to limit the high
simulation results will be presented and discussed in detail. level short-circuit currents to lower levels which allow circuit
Index Terms—Alternative transient program (ATP), bus tie lo- breakers open quickly and safely. This innovating device gives
cation, electric power systems, electromagnetic transient program new functions which can not be achieved by conventional tech-
(EMTP), operational behavior, superconducting fault current lim- niques (circuit breaker, fuse). It could reduce the stresses on the
iter (SFCL). network and improve the quality of supply since it enables a
larger interconnection. In addition, possible concomitant ben-
I. INTRODUCTION efits by using SFCLs include: (1) Increasing the transformer
life and capacity by limiting let-through fault currents and al-
lowing parallel operation during normal or contingency periods.
(2) Enhancing the operational flexibility by adjusting the max-
HE GROWTH of electric power systems has resulted in
T a corresponding increasing in the fault current levels. At
some points, the available short-circuit current may exceed the
imum power flow. (3) Improving the customer power quality by
reducing voltage sags on nonfaulted buses fed from the same
source as the faulted bus. (4) Reducing needs for system up-
maximum short circuit ratings of the switchgear. Devices and
grades.
techniques such as circuit breakers, fuses, air-core reactors,
Buses are generally interconnected to increase the voltage
employing high-impedance transformers, bus-splitting (system
stability and the service reliability without increasing the short
reconfiguration) and fault current limiters (FCLs) have been
circuit stress of the network elements such as circuit breakers
used to limit the available short circuit currents, so that the
and busbars etc [2]. The fault current typically doubles when
underrated switchgear can be operated safely. The candidate
two buses are tied together. However, this problem is elimi-
FCLs being investigated are solid state (power electronics
nated when applying a bus-tie SFCL in the distribution sub-
based) fault current limiters and superconducting fault current
station which allows two buses to be tied without significantly
limiters (SFCLs). With the development of superconducting
raising the fault current level of the system.
materials, the superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL)
The paper introduces the operating principles of the resis-
could provide an attractive solution to the problem of fault
tive type superconducting fault current limiters and modeling
currents in electric power systems [1].
aspects using the Alternative Transient Program (ATP) version
The SFCL, unlike reactors or high impedance transformers
of Electromagnetic Transient Program (EMTP) and ATPDraw
which lead to degradations of voltage regulation, limits fault
for Windows [3], [4]. In case studies the operating characteris-
currents without adding any impedance to the system during
tics of the resistive SFCL has been investigated in a real size
power network, and application guidelines also developed for
superconducting fault current limiters.
Manuscript received September 18, 2005. This work was supported in part
by the Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation of Ministry of Education, P. R.
China, under Grant 91059.
L. Ye was with the Department of Electric Power Systems, China Agric. Uni-
II. APPLICATION OF AN SFCL IN A BUS-TIE LOCATION
versity, Beijing 100083, P. R. China and is now with the Interdisciplinary Re-
search Center (IRC) in the Superconductivity/Cavendish Laboratory, Depart- A. Bus-Tie Location
ment of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, U.K.
(e-mail: [email protected]). The superconducting fault current limiter could be applied in
A. Campbell is with the Interdisciplinary Research Center (IRC) in the Su- coupling two buses. A typical application is shown in Fig. 1. The
perconductivity/Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Engineering, University
of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, U.K. (e-mail: [email protected]). original system (system 1) is expanded and tied together with
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TASC.2006.870526 the new system (system 2) through an SFCL. Loads on 10 kV
1051-8223/$20.00 © 2006 IEEE
YE AND CAMPBELL: BEHAVIOR INVESTIGATIONS OF SFCLS IN POWER SYSTEMS 663

The network was modeled using standard ATP components.

The upstream 110 KV system was modeled as an infinite bus
and a RLC source impedance connected to the local transmis-
sion substations via overhead transmission lines. The buses are
supplied by two connected substation transformers with
and X/R ratio of 10 delivering energy from 110 kV
utility network. Each substation transformer has been repre-
sented by a three phase general saturation transformer model,
however the magnetizing branch has been neglected. Feeder
loads on two buses are 20 MVA with power factor (PF) of 0.85.
To account for the linear load damping, Y coupling loads were
simulated by 3 phase series R and L branches. Reactors were
modeled by lumped RLC branches. Since the distribution ca-
bles for each phase are individually shielded, there is no mutual
impedance or capacitance between phases assumably, which
means that the positive sequence impedance and capacitance
are the same as the self impedance and capacitance per phase.
Fig. 1. Two radial distribution substations coupled with an SFCL.
So we can use Pi circuit to represent the short length cable in
this case. The circuit breaker was modeled as an ideal time-con-
trolled switch. We assumed that the current in the ideal switch
side are fed through two 20 MVA 110/10 kV substation trans-
was definitely cut and re-strike procedure was also neglected.
formers with a lower short-circuit-voltage percentage (8%). The
The transient behavior of the superconducting device can be
short-circuit power of each substation transformer is 250 MVA.
described by its E-J characteristic which is believed to be the
B. SFCL Operation on Bus-Tie most important physical property dominating the current lim-
iting behavior of the superconductor [6]. A general-purpose de-
In normal operation, both busbars are well fed and a very scription language and algorithmic model and simulation tool
small current passes through the bus tie. If a short-circuit fault called MODELS in ATP allows users to define arbitrary control
occurs in one of the two load feeders, the bus tie becomes the and circuit components, providing an interface to connect other
main path of the fault current, in which the SFCL could perform models/programs to ATP. Making the resistive SFCL used the
most effectively. Further, the bus tie SFCL only passes fault MODELS language in ATP, and further, ATPDraw assisted to
current from one of the two transformers, not the combined fault create the resistive SFCL circuit and icon which can be used as
current which could lead to an economical solution to the future a component interactively. The circuit current flow was an input
design and manufacture of the SFCL. The bus tie SFCL can signal to the SFCL model and the output was controlled by a
be realized to reduce the fault current by almost half. Detailed TACS-controlled time-dependent resistance. In general, the re-
discussions will be available in the case study section. Another sistive type SFCL was programmed to be a nonlinear resistance
benefit is that the new busbar coupling can be achieved without evaluation as a function of time [7].
changing the rating of the protection devices. Due to the resistive power dissipation in the flux flow and
In particular, the recovery time is not crucial because the normal state, the energy in the current limiting element is trans-
SFCL could be taken off-line to cool down back to its super- ferred into heat energy. The heat produced and subsequent rise
conducting state. It is acceptable to open the coupling for a few in temperature of the element will greatly vary the current lim-
seconds after the limitation action until a bus-tie breaker closes. itation properties. Under the hypothesis of a massive transition
in adiabatic and isotherm condition, heat dissipated in the su-
C. More Reliable Power Supply
perconducting element will not be transferred to the cryogen,
The radial supply systems could operate independently where so the refrigeration of the coolant can be neglected.
there is no interaction between system 1 and system 2. But in
case of emergency, the interconnection of the two systems via IV. CASE STUDY-SIMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
a bus tie SFCL, would provide a more reliable supply system.
A closed bus tie will eliminate the flop-over outrage that oc- A. Simulation Approach
curs when one substation source fails due to a transmission The Alternative Transient Program (ATP) version of Elec-
system breaker opening or a transformer failure. The motor in- troMagnetic Transient Program (EMTP), ATPDraw and The
rush current is split among two substation transformers, cutting Output Processor (TOP) [8] were chosen to carry out the case
the motor inrush voltage drop by half [5]. study simulations. The basic computation method used is Trape-
zoidal Rule of Integration. ATP/EMTP is a program used world-
III. SYSTEM MODELING wide for simulations of electromagnetic transient phenomena as
The power grid is fed via two transformers connected to a well as electromechanical nature in power systems.
two-busbar transfer substation as shown in Fig. 1. The two radial Simulations were carried out with the three-phase short cir-
systems can be interconnected in operation by an SFCL which cuit created at 20 ms ( at the beginning of the simula-
is used to manage excessive fault current levels. tion), and the circuit breaker opened after 3 cycles at 80 ms. The
664 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON APPLIED SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, VOL. 16, NO. 2, JUNE 2006

Fig. 4. Temperature rises of the SFCL with and without the shunt (R =
Fig. 2. Nonlinear limitation resistance of the SFCL.
9
).

Fig. 3. Currents on bus tie with and without the SFCL.

Fig. 5. Short circuit currents at the fault point.

total simulation time was 100 ms according to the circuit breaker

opening time, and the simulation step was 10 which is suf- normal state value of 10 after three cycles of the fault (Fig. 2),
ficient to see the transient. For simplicity, two systems are as- as well as the temperature increased to about 300 K (Fig. 4).
sumed to have the same capacity. The operation current during As shown in Fig. 5 (solid line), the momentary peak short
normal operation is 500 A. The initial operation temperature circuit current at the fault point reached 58 kA which might
is 77 K and critical temperature is 90 K. All the calculations exceed the switchgear rating without any limitations. If an SFCL
were carried out for simple superconductors without any sup- was deployed at the bus tie location which is the main routeway
port materials. The superconductor is assumed to be homoge- of the short circuit current, the peak value of short circuit current
neous along its length. could be limited to be 28 kA, which is within the switchgear
rating.
B. Current Limitation Behavior
In the event of a three phase short circuit at the load feeder 2, C. Power Quality Issues
a large fault current will pass through the bus tie SFCL. Fig. 2, In case of a short circuit at the load side (system 2), the fault
Fig. 3 to Fig. 4 hereafter show variations of resistance and tem- busbar voltage dropped sharply to a very low level which caused
perature rise of the SFCL, as well as bus tie currents (compared the voltage collapse without the SFCL [Fig. 6(c)]. If an SFCL is
with and without the SFCL). After the fault occurred, without installed on the bus tie, it can not only decrease the magnitude
the SFCL, the peak value of the fault current on the bus tie fed by of the fault current but also restore the nonfaulted bus voltage to
transformer T2 reached 28 kA in the first half cycle. With SFCL a normal level.
installed on bus tie location, the maximum fault current was lim- Figs. 6(a) and 6(b) showed the evolution of the bus tie
ited to 2.5 kA, only five times the normal operation current of voltage. Nonfaulted bus voltage can be recovered when the
the SFCL and the fault current was further reduced to 1.2 kA limitation resistance of the SFCL was in the circuit, although
in the second cycle (Fig. 3). The short circuit current reduction a moderate transient overvoltage incurred at the beginning of
ratio in the first half cycle was 90%. The limiting resistance of the fault. However, the normal value was resumed after 10 ms
the SFCL went up to 5 in the first half cycle and reached its or so.
YE AND CAMPBELL: BEHAVIOR INVESTIGATIONS OF SFCLS IN POWER SYSTEMS 665

the transient overvoltage can also be mitigated by a fact of 1.3,

just slightly above the normal voltage level [Fig. 6(b)].
With the SFCL and the shunt element, the peak value of the
fault current at the short circuit point was limited to 33 kA (Fig.
5, dotted), whereas 28 kA without the shunt (Fig. 5, dashed).
This behavior is due to the shunt element in parallel with the
SFCL which decreases the overall limitation resistance. There-
fore the current limitation is less effective.

V. CONCLUSION
Parallel connection of radial feeders via a bus tie SFCL could
enhance the power voltage of the system and reliability of ser-
vice without increasing the short circuit stress on the network
elements, as well as avoiding incurring the major capital cost of
upgrading the switchgear.
The transient overvoltage and temperature rise of the SFCL
can be mitigated by applying a shunt element in parallel with the
SFCL. In order to keep the current limitation ability, the shunt
needs to be chosen carefully so as to have the same level as that
of the normal resistance of the SFCL.
For busbar coupling or shipboard systems, the SFCL could
work effectively, however the recovery time is not critical. It is
allowable to open the coupling for some seconds and re-couple
the busbar after the limitation action.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Fig. 6. Compared voltages on the bus tie. The author would like to acknowledge the Interdisciplinary
Research Center (IRC) in Superconductivity of Cavendish Lab-
oratory and the Department of Engineering, Cambridge Univer-
In fact, during a short circuit, the voltage drop causes a corre- sity, U.K.
sponding drop of the power transmission to the networks. Par-
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