A Voltage Balancing Method for Series-Connected IGBTs Operating as a Fault Current Limiter in High-Voltage DC Power Supplies

This article proposes a high-voltage fault current limiter (HVFCL) for high-voltage dc power supplies (HVdcPSs) which limits the current of the power supply automatically in the short-circuit fault (SCF). The proposed HVFCL is based on the series-connected insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). The main achievements of this article are the balanced voltage sharing and a very low value of the short-circuit current near to the load nominal current for the series-connected IGBTs during the SCF. These achievements result in a longer maximum permissible short-circuit time. These achievements are obtained by a control strategy that puts the series-connected IGBTs in a specific operating point in the active region during the SCF. Based on the proposed master-slave control strategy, one of the IGBTs is current controlled and rolls as the master. The other IGBTs are voltage controlled and imitate the master IGBT voltage. Consequently, a balanced voltage sharing is guaranteed for the series-connected IGBTs in the SCF. PSPICE simulations and experimental results are provided to verify the proper performance of the proposed HVFCL.

Automated summary

This article proposes a high-voltage fault current limiter (HVFCL) for high-voltage dc power supplies (HVdcPSs) which limits the current of the power supply automatically in the short-circuit fault (SCF). The proposed HVFCL achieves balanced voltage sharing and a very low value of the short-circuit current near to the load nominal current for the series-connected IGBTs during the SCF, resulting in a longer maximum permissible short-circuit time. This is achieved through a control strategy that puts the series-connected IGBTs in a specific operating point in the active region during the SCF.