A DC Hybrid Circuit Breaker With Ultra-Fast Contact Opening and Integrated Gate-Commutated Thyristors (IGCTs)
Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: 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.
Authors: J.-M. Meyer, A. Rufer
Institutions: ABB (Switzerland), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2110081403