1.

INTRODUCTION

DC Electric Power Is Seen As Beneficial In A Host Of Modern Applications,

Such As Electric Ships, Data Centers, Micro Grids With Renewable Energy, And Future
Applications Such As The DC Home. As Researchers Consider Design Of DC Power
Systems, Fault Protection, And The Circuit Breaker Are Of Significant Interest. Along
These Lines Mechanical Breakers For Ac Systems Can Be Used, But With Limited
Range. Hybrid Mechanical/Solid-State Breakers Have Been Introduced With The
Benefit Of Low Losses. Another Protection Method That Has Been Suggested Is To
Utilize Converters And Associated Control. Alternatively, Solid-State DC Circuit
Breakers Have Been Considered [. These Breakers Offer Rapid Response To Faults, But
Tend To Have Higher Power Losses. The Z-Source Breaker Is A Recently Developed
Type Of Solid-State Breaker That Automatically Responds To Faults.

It Has Advantages Of Very Rapid Operation And Automatic Disconnection Of

Faulty Loads. This Paper Presents A New Concept In DC Circuit Breakers Which Is
Closely Related To The Z-Source DC Breaker, But With Utilization Of Transformer
Coupling. Only Recently Have Researchers Suggested Coupled Inductors Not Only For
Fault Detection, But For Automatic Isolation. As Shown Below, The Breaker
Introduced Herein Has Advantages Over The Z-Source Breaker In Terms Of Requiring
Fewer Components. It Also Has A Settable Level For Fault Current; That Is Through
Breaker Design The Transformer Turns Ratio Can Be Selected To Specify How Much
Fault Current Is Needed For The Breaker To Operate

Fig 1.1. Fault Sensing Using A Path From The Source.

1
 Fig 1.2.Fault Sensing Using A Path From The Breaker

Fig. 1(A) Shows A Typical Arrangement Of A Circuit Breaker Inserted Between

A Source And Load. In This Circuit, The Source Current Is Monitored For Fault Current
Detection. Alternatively, A Capacitor Can Be Connected To Ground Within The
Breaker As Shown In Fig. 1(B). This Method Is Good For Detecting Transient Currents
And Is Used In Motor Drives For Detection Of Shoot Through. That Is, A Small
Capacitor In Series With Some Type Of Current Sensor Can Be Connected To The DC
Bus Of A Drive. Shootthrough Faults Create An Impulse Of Current In This Capacitor
And The Detection Can Immediately Switch Off The Drive’s Gate Signals. Likewise, A
Short Path Could Be Added To Any Type Of DC Circuit Breaker For Fast Detection Of
Faults. Instead Of Monitoring The Main Path Current (Between Source And Load) And
Allowing The Source To Experience The Fault Current For A While, The Short Path
Between The Added Capacitor And Load Readily Indicates The Fault

1.1.Resistor
The resistor is a passive electrical component to create resistance in the flow of
electric current. In almost all electrical networks and electronic circuits they can be
found. The resistance is measured in ohms. An ohm is the resistance that occurs when a
current of one ampere passes through a resistor with a one volt drop across its terminals.
The current is proportional to the voltage across the terminal ends. This ratio is
represented by Ohm’s law:

Fig 1.3.Typical Resistor

2
 Resistors are used for many purposes. A few examples include delimit electric
current, voltage division, heat generation, matching and loading circuits, control gain,
and fix time constants. They are commercially available with resistance values over a
range of more than nine orders of magnitude. They can be used to as electric brakes to
dissipate kinetic energy from trains, or be smaller than a square millimeter for
electronics.
1.1.1 Resistance
Resistance is a measure of the opposition to current flow in an electrical circuit
All materials resist current flow to some degree. They fall into one of two broad
categories:
 Conductors: Materials that offer very little resistance where electrons can move
easily. Examples: silver, copper, gold and aluminum.
 Insulators: Materials that present high resistance and restrict the flow of
electrons. Examples: Rubber, paper, glass, wood and plastic.

Resistance measurements are normally taken to indicate the condition of a

component or a circuit.

 The higher the resistance, the lower the current flow. If abnormally high, one
possible cause (among many) could be damaged conductors due to burning or
corrosion. All conductors give off some degree of heat, so overheating is an
issue often associated with resistance.
 The lower the resistance, the higher the current flow. Possible causes: insulators
damaged by moisture or overheating.

Many components, such as heating elements and resistors, have a fixed-

resistance value. These values are often printed on the components' nameplates or in
manuals for reference.

When a tolerance is indicated, the measured resistance value should be within

the specified resistance range. Any significant change in a fixed-resistance value usually
indicates a problem.

"Resistance" may sound negative, but in electricity it can be used beneficially.

3
 Examples: Current must struggle to flow through the small coils of a toaster,
enough to generate heat that browns bread. Old-style incandescent light bulbs force
current to flow through filaments so thin that light is generated.

Resistance cannot be measured in an operating circuit. Accordingly,

troubleshooting technicians often determine resistance by taking voltage and current
measurements and applying Ohm's Law:

E=IxR

That is, volts = amps x ohms. R stands for resistance in this formula. If
resistance is unknown, the formula can be converted to R = E/I (ohms = volts divided by
amps).

1.2.Capacitor

Capacitors are energy-storing devices available in many sizes and shapes. They

consist of two plates of conducting material (usually a thin metal) sandwiched between
an insulator made of ceramic, film, glass or other materials, even air.

The insulator is also known as a dielectric, and it boosts a capacitor's charging

capacity. Capacitors are sometimes called condensers in the automotive, marine and
aviation industries.

The internal plates are wired to two external terminals, which sometimes are
long and thin and can resemble tiny metallic antennae or legs. These terminals can be
plugged into a circuit.

Capacitors and batteries both store energy. While batteries release energy
gradually, capacitors discharge it quickly.

Working principle of capacitor

A capacitor collects energy (voltage) as current flows through an electrical

circuit. Both plates hold equal charges, and as the positive plate collects a charge, an
equal charge flows off the negative plate.

When the circuit is switched off, a capacitor retains the energy it has gathered,
though slight leakage usually occurs.

4
 Fig 1.4.A variety of capacitors
1.2.1.Capacitance
Capacitance is the ability of a component or circuit to collect and store energy in
the form of an electrical charge.

Capacitance is expressed as the ratio of the electric charge on each conductor to

the potential difference (i.e., voltage) between them.

The capacitance value of a capacitor is measured in farads (F), units named for

English physicist Michael Faraday (1791–1867).

A farad is a large quantity of capacitance. Most household electrical devices

include capacitors that produce only a fraction of a farad, often a thousandth of a farad
(or microfarad, µF) or as small as a picofarad (a trillionth, pF).

Supercapacitors, meanwhile, can store very large electrical charges of thousands

of farads.

Capacitance can be increased when:

 A capacitor's plates (conductors) are positioned closer together.
 Larger plates offer more surface area.
 The dielectric is the best possible insulator for the application.

5
 Fig 1.5. Capacitors come in various shapes.
1.3.Inductor

If a time varying current flowing through a coil there is an emf induced in it. The
induced emf across the coil is directly proportional to the rate of change of current with
respect to time. Due to the property inducing emf, all types of electrical coil can be
referred as inductor. An inductor is an energy storage device which stores energy in
form of magnetic field.

Inductance
As we already told, the induced emf across a coil is directly proportional to the
rate of change of current through it. The proportionality constant in that relation is
known as inductance.

Theory of Inductor

A current through a conductor produces a magnetic field surround it. The

strength of this field depends upon the value of current passing through the conductor.
The direction of the magnetic field is found using the right hand grip rule, which shown.
The flux pattern for this magnetic field would be number of concentric circle
perpendicular to the detection of current.

6
 Fig 1.6. Current Carrying Coil
Now if we wound the conductor in the form of a coil or solenoid, it can be
assumed that there will be concentric circular flux lines for each turn of the coil as
shown. But it is not possible practically, as if concentric circular flux lines for each turn
exist, they will intersect each other. However, since lines of flux cannot intersect, the
flux lines for an individual turn will distort to form complete flux loops around the
whole coil as shown. This flux pattern of a current carrying coil is similar to a flux
pattern of a bar magnet as shown current carrying coil is similar to a flux pattern of a bar
magnet Now if the current through the coil gets changed, the magnetic flux produced by
it will also get changed at the same rate. As the flux already surrounds the coil, this
changing flux obviously links the coil. Now according to faradays law of electro
magnetic induction, if changing flux links with a coil, there would be an induced emf in
it. Again as per lenz law, this induced emf opposes every cause of producing it. Hence,
the induced emf is in opposite of the applied voltage across the coil.

Fig 1.7. Flux pattern of a bar magnet

Types of Induction
There are two types of Induction self induction and mutual induction.
Self Induction
When time varying current flows in a coil the time varying flux is produced and
this varying flux will link with that coil itself and as a result there will be emf induced in
the coil itself. This type of Induction is called self induction.

7
Mutual Induction
When time varying current flows in a coil it produces time varying flux as we
have already told. This time varying flux may link with another nearby coil. Due to this
flux linkage there will be an induced emf in the second coil. This type of electrical
induction is called mutual induction. Hence mutual induction can be defined as the
induction of emf in one coil due to time varying current flowing in any other nearby
coil.
Mutual Inductance
The inductance of a coil due to current in another nearby coil is called mutual
inductance
Self Inductance
The inductance of a coil or inductor due to its own current is called self
inductance

8
 2. CIRCUIT BREAKER

A Miniature Or Molded - Case Circuit Breaker Is An Automatically Operated

Electrical Switch Designed To Protect An Electrical Circuit From Damage Caused By
Overcurrent Or Overload Or Short Circuit. Its Basic Function Is To Interrupt Current
Flow After Protective Relays Detect A Fault. Unlike A Fuse, Which Operates Once And
Then Must Be Replaced, A Circuit Breaker Can Be Reset (Either Manually Or
Automatically) To Resume Normal Operation. Circuit Breakers Are Made In Varying
Sizes, From Small Devices That Protect An Individual Household Appliance Up To
Large Switchgear Designed To Protect High Voltage Circuits Feeding An Entire City.
The Generic Function Of A Circuit Breaker, Rcd Or A Fuse, As An Automatic Means
Of Removing Power From A Faulty System Is Often Abbreviated To Ads (Automatic
Disconnection Of Supply)

Fig 2.0 Circuit Breaker Electronic Symbol

2.1.Operation
All Circuit Breaker Systems Have Common Features In Their Operation, But
Details Vary Substantially Depending On The Voltage Class, Current Rating And Type
Of The Circuit Breaker. The Circuit Breaker Must Detect A Fault Condition; In
Common Mains And Low Voltage Circuit Breakers, This Is Usually Done Within The
Breaker Itself. Circuit Breakers For Large Currents Or High Voltages Are Usually
Arranged With A Protective Relay Pilot Devices To Sense A Fault Condition And To
Operate The Trip Opening Mechanism. The Trip Solenoid That Releases The Latch Is
Usually Energized By A Separate Power Source, Such As A Battery, Although Some
High-Voltage Circuit Breakers Are Self-Contained With Current Transformers,

9
Protective Relays, And An Internal Control Power Source. Once A Fault Is Detected,
The Circuit Breaker Contacts Must Open To Interrupt The Circuit; This Is Commonly
Done Using Mechanically Stored Energy Contained Within The Breaker, Such As A
Spring Or Compressed Air To Separate The Contacts. An Air Circuit Breaker For Low-
Voltage (Less Than 1,000 Volt) Power Distribution Switchgear
Circuit Breakers May Also Use The Higher Current Caused By The Fault To
Separate The Contacts, Such As Thermal Expansion Or A Magnetic Field. Small Circuit
Breakers Typically Have A Manual Control Lever To Switch Off The Load Or Reset A
Tripped Breaker, While Larger Units Use Solenoids To Trip The Mechanism, And
Electric Motors To Restore Energy To The Springs. The Circuit Breaker Contacts Must
Carry The Load Current Without Excessive Heating, And Must Also Withstand The
Heat Of The Arc Produced When Interrupting (Opening) The Circuit. Contacts Are
Made Of Copper Or Copper Alloys, Silver Alloys And Other Highly Conductive
Materials. Service Life Of The Contacts Is Limited By The Erosion Of Contact Material
Due To Arcing While Interrupting The Current. Miniature And Molded-Case Circuit
Breakers Are Usually Discarded When The Contacts Have Worn, But Power Circuit
Breakers And High-Voltage Circuit Breakers Have Replaceable Contacts.
When A High Current Or Voltage Is Interrupted, An Arc Is Generated. The
Length Of The Arc Is Generally Proportional To The Voltage While The Intensity (Or
Heat) Is Proportional To The Current. This Arc Must Be Contained, Cooled And
Extinguished In A Controlled Way, So That The Gap Between The Contacts Can Again
Withstand The Voltage In The Circuit. Different Circuit Breakers Use Vacuum, Air,
Insulating Gas, Or Oil As The Medium The Arc Forms In.
Different Techniques Are Used To Extinguish The Arc Including:
 Lengthening Or Deflecting The Arc
 Intensive Cooling (In Jet Chambers)
 Division Into Partial Arcs
 Zero Point Quenching (Contacts Open At The Zero Current Time Crossing Of
The Ac Waveform, Effectively Breaking No Load Current At The Time Of
Opening. The Zero Crossing Occurs At Twice The Line Frequency; I.E., 100
Times Per Second For 50 Hz And 120 Times Per Second For 60 Hz Ac.)
 Connecting Capacitors In Parallel With Contacts In DC Circuits.

10
 Finally, Once The Fault Condition Has Been Cleared, The Contacts Must Again
Be Closed To Restore Power To The Interrupted Circuit.

Fig 2.1 A Two-Pole Miniature Circuit Breaker

Fig 2.2 Four One-Pole Miniature Circuit Breakers

2.2 ARC Interruption
Low-Voltage Miniature Circuit Breaker (Mcb) Uses Air Alone To Extinguish
The Arc. These Circuit Breakers Contain So-Called Arc Chutes, A Stack Of Mutually
Insulated Parallel Metal Plates Which Divide And Cool The Arc. By Splitting The Arc
Into Smaller Arcs The Arc Is Cooled Down While The Arc Voltage Is Increased And
Serves As An Additional Impedance Which Limits The Current Through The Circuit
Breaker. The Current-Carrying Parts Near The Contacts Provide Easy Deflection Of
The Arc Into The Arc Chutes By A Magnetic Force Of A Current Path, Although
Magnetic Blowout Coils Or Permanent Magnets Could Also Deflect The Arc Into The
Arc Chute (Used On Circuit Breakers For Higher Ratings).

11
 The Number Of Plates In The Arc Chute Is Dependent On The Short-Circuit
Rating And Nominal Voltage Of The Circuit Breaker. In Larger Ratings, Oil Circuit
Breakers Rely Upon Vaporization Of Some Of The Oil To Blast A Jet Of Oil Through
The Arc.[4] Gas (Usually Sulfur Hexafluoride) Circuit Breakers Sometimes Stretch The
Arc Using A Magnetic Field, And Then Rely Upon The Dielectric Strength Of The
Sulfur Hexafluoride (Sf6) To Quench The Stretched Arc. Vacuum Circuit Breakers
Have Minimal Arcing (As There Is Nothing To Ionize Other Than The Contact
Material), So The Arc Quenches When It Is Stretched A Very Small Amount (Less
Than 2–3 Mm (0.079–0.118 In)). Vacuum Circuit Breakers Are Frequently Used In
Modern Medium-Voltage Switchgear To 38,000 Volts.
Air Circuit Breakers May Use Compressed Air To Blow Out The Arc, Or
Alternatively, The Contacts Are Rapidly Swung Into A Small Sealed Chamber, The
Escaping Of The Displaced Air Thus Blowing Out The Arc. Circuit Breakers Are
Usually Able To Terminate All Current Very Quickly: Typically The Arc Is
Extinguished Between 30 Ms And 150 Ms After The Mechanism Has Been Tripped,
Depending Upon Age And Construction Of The Device. The Maximum Current Value
And Let-Through Energy Determine The Quality Of The Circuit Breakers.
2.3 Short-Circuit
Circuit Breakers Are Rated Both By The Normal Current That They Are
Expected To Carry, And The Maximum Short-Circuit Current That They Can Safely
Interrupt. This Latter Figure Is The Ampere Interrupting Capacity (Aic) Of The Breaker.
Under Short-Circuit Conditions, The Calculated Maximum Prospective Short Circuit
Current May Be Many Times The Normal, Rated Current Of The Circuit. When
Electrical Contacts Open To Interrupt A Large Current, There Is A Tendency For An
Arc To Form Between The Opened Contacts, Which Would Allow The Current To
Continue. This Condition Can Create Conductive Ionized Gases And Molten Or
Vaporized Metal, Which Can Cause Further Continuation Of The Arc, Or Creation Of
Additional Short Circuits, Potentially Resulting In The Explosion Of The Circuit
Breaker And The Equipment That It Is Installed In.
Therefore, Circuit Breakers Must Incorporate Various Features To Divide And
Extinguish The Arc. The Maximum Short-Circuit Current That A Breaker Can Interrupt
Is Determined By Testing.

12
 Application Of A Breaker In A Circuit With A Prospective Short-Circuit Current
Higher Than The Breaker's Interrupting Capacity Rating May Result In Failure Of The
Breaker To Safely Interrupt A Fault. In A Worst-Case Scenario The Breaker May
Successfully Interrupt The Fault, Only To Explode When Reset. Typical Domestic
Panel Circuit Breakers Are Rated To Interrupt 10 Ka (10000 A) Short-Circuit Current.
Miniature Circuit Breakers Used To Protect Control Circuits Or Small Appliances May
Not Have Sufficient Interrupting Capacity To Use At A Panel Board; These Circuit
Breakers Are Called "Supplemental Circuit Protectors" To Distinguish Them From
Distribution-Type Circuit Breakers.
2.4 Types Of Circuit Breakers
Front Panel Of A 1250 A Air Circuit Breaker Manufactured By Abb. This Low
Voltage Power Circuit Breaker Can Be Withdrawn From Its Housing For Servicing.
Trip Characteristics Are Configurable Via Dip Switches On The Front Panel. Many
Classifications Of Circuit Breakers Can Be Made, Based On Their Features Such As
Voltage Class, Construction Type, Interrupting Type, And Structural Features.
2.4.1 Low-Voltage Circuit Breakers
Low-Voltage (Less Than 1,000 Vac) Types Are Common In Domestic,
Commercial And Industrial Application, And Include:
Miniature Circuit Breaker (Mcb)—Rated Current Not More Than 100 A. Trip
Characteristics Normally Not Adjustable. Thermal Or Thermal-Magnetic Operation.
Breakers Illustrated Above Are In This Category.
There Are Four Main Types Of Mcbs:
 Type B - Trips Between 3 And 5 Times Full Load Current;
 Type C - Trips Between 5 And 10 Times Full Load Current;
 Type D - Trips Between 10 And 20 Times Full Load Current.
The Characteristics Of Low-Voltage Circuit Breakers Are Given By
International Standards Such As Iec 947. These Circuit Breakers Are Often Installed In
Draw-Out Enclosures That Allow Removal And Interchange Without Dismantling The
Switchgear.
Large Low-Voltage Molded Case And Power Circuit Breakers May Have
Electric Motor Operators So They Can Open And Close Under Remote Control.

13
 These May Form Part Of An Automatic Transfer Switch System For Standby
Power. Low-Voltage Circuit Breakers Are Also Made For Direct-Current (DC)
Applications, Such As DC For Subway Lines.
Direct Current Requires Special Breakers Because The Arc Is Continuous—
Unlike An Ac Arc, Which Tends To Go Out On Each Half Cycle. A Direct Current
Circuit Breaker Has Blow-Out Coils That Generate A Magnetic Field That Rapidly
Stretches The Arc. Small Circuit Breakers Are Either Installed Directly In Equipment,
Or Are Arranged In A Breaker Panel. Inside Of A Circuit Breaker The Din Rail-
Mounted Thermal-Magnetic Miniature Circuit Breaker Is The Most Common Style In
Modern Domestic Consumer Units And Commercial Electrical Distribution Boards
Throughout Europe.

The Design Includes The Following Components:

Fig 2.3 Inside Of A Circuit Breaker

 Actuator Lever - Used To Manually Trip And Reset The Circuit Breaker. Also
Indicates The Status Of The Circuit Breaker (On Or Off/Tripped). Most
Breakers Are Designed So They Can Still Trip Even If The Lever Is Held Or
Locked In The "On" Position. This Is Sometimes Referred To As "Free Trip" Or
"Positive Trip" Operation.
 Actuator Mechanism - Forces The Contacts Together Or Apart.
 Contacts - Allow Current When Touching And Break The Current When Moved
Apart.
 Terminals

14
  Bimetallic Strip - Separates Contacts In Response To Smaller, Longer-Term
Overcurrents
 Calibration SCRew - Allows The Manufacturer To Precisely Adjust The Trip
Current Of The Device After Assembly.
 Solenoid - Separates Contacts Rapidly In Response To High Overcurrents
 Arc Divider/Extinguisher

2.4.2 Magnetic Circuit Breakers

Magnetic Circuit Breakers Use A Solenoid (Electromagnet) Whose Pulling
Force Increases With The Current. Certain Designs Utilize Electromagnetic Forces In
Addition To Those Of The Solenoid. The Circuit Breaker Contacts Are Held Closed By
A Latch. As The Current In The Solenoid Increases Beyond The Rating Of The Circuit
Breaker, The Solenoid's Pull Releases The Latch, Which Lets The Contacts Open By
Spring Action.

Some Magnetic Breakers Incorporate A Hydraulic Time Delay Feature Using A

Viscous Fluid. A Spring Restrains The Core Until The Current Exceeds The Breaker
Rating. During An Overload, The Speed Of The Solenoid Motion Is Restricted By The
Fluid. The Delay Permits Brief Current Surges Beyond Normal Running Current For
Motor Starting, Energizing Equipment, Etc. Short Circuit Currents Provide Sufficient
Solenoid Force To Release The Latch Regardless Of Core Position Thus Bypassing The
Delay Feature. Ambient Temperature Affects The Time Delay But Does Not Affect The
Current Rating Of A Magnetic Breaker

2.4.3 Thermal Magnetic Circuit Breakers

Thermal Magnetic Circuit Breakers, Which Are The Type Found In Most
Distribution Boards, Incorporate Both Techniques With The Electromagnet Responding
Instantaneously To Large Surges In Current (Short Circuits) And The Bimetallic Strip
Responding To Less Extreme But Longer-Term Over-Current Conditions. The Thermal
Portion Of The Circuit Breaker Provides A Time Response Feature, That Trips The
Circuit Breaker Sooner For Larger Overcurrents But Allows Smaller Overloads To
Persist For A Longer Time. This Allows Short Current Spikes Such As Are Produced
When A Motor Or Other Non-Resistive Load Is Switched On. With Very Large Over-
Currents During A Short-Circuit, The Magnetic Element Trips The Circuit Breaker
With No Intentional Additional Delay.

15
2.4.4 Common Trip Breakers
Three-Pole Common Trip Breaker For Supplying A Three-Phase Device. This
Breaker Has A 2 A Rating When Supplying A Branch Circuit With More Than One
Live Conductor, Each Live Conductor Must Be Protected By A Breaker Pole. To
Ensure That All Live Conductors Are Interrupted When Any Pole Trips, A "Common
Trip" Breaker Must Be Used. These May Either Contain Two Or Three Tripping
Mechanisms Within One Case, Or For Small Breakers, May Externally Tie The Poles
Together Via Their Operating Handles. Two-Pole Common Trip Breakers Are Common
On 120/240-Volt Systems Where 240 Volt Loads (Including Major Appliances Or
Further Distribution Boards) Span The Two Live Wires. Three-Pole Common Trip
Breakers Are Typically Used To Supply Three-Phase Electric Power To Large Motors
Or Further Distribution Boards.

Two- And Four-Pole Breakers Are Used When There Is A Need To Disconnect
Multiple Phase Ac, Or To Disconnect The Neutral Wire To Ensure That No Current
Flows Through The Neutral Wire From Other Loads Connected To The Same Network
When Workers May Touch The Wires During Maintenance. Separate Circuit Breakers
Must Never Be Used For Live And Neutral, Because If The Neutral Is Disconnected
While The Live Conductor Stays Connected, A Dangerous Condition Arises: The
Circuit Appears De-Energized (Appliances Don't Work), But Wires Remain Live And
Some Rcds May Not Trip If Someone Touches The Live Wire (Because Some Rcds
Need Power To Trip). This Is Why Only Common Trip Breakers Must Be Used When
Neutral Wire Switching Is Needed.

2.4.5 Medium-Voltage Circuit Breakers

Medium-Voltage Circuit Breakers Rated Between 1 And 72 Kv May Be
Assembled Into Metal-Enclosed Switchgear Line Ups For Indoor Use, Or May Be
Individual Components Installed Outdoors In A Substation. Air-Break Circuit Breakers
Replaced Oil-Filled Units For Indoor Applications, But Are Now Themselves Being
Replaced By Vacuum Circuit Breakers (Up To About 40.5 Kv). Like The High Voltage
Circuit Breakers DeSCRibed Below, These Are Also Operated By Current Sensing
Protective Relays Operated Through Current Transformers.

16
 The Characteristics Of Mv Breakers Are Given By International Standards Such
As Iec 62271. Medium-Voltage Circuit Breakers Nearly Always Use Separate Current
Sensors And Protective Relays, Instead Of Relying On Built-In Thermal Or Magnetic
Overcurrent Sensors. Medium-Voltage Circuit Breakers Can Be Classified By The
Medium Used To Extinguish The Arc:

 Vacuum Circuit Breakers-With Rated Current Up To 6,300 A, And Higher For

Generator Circuit Breakers. These Breakers Interrupt The Current By Creating
And Extinguishing The Arc In A Vacuum Container - Aka "Bottle". Long Life
Bellows Are Designed To Travel The 6–10 Mm The Contacts Must Part. These
Are Generally Applied For Voltages Up To About 40,500 V,[7] Which
Corresponds Roughly To The Medium-Voltage Range Of Power Systems.
 Vacuum Circuit Breakers Tend To Have Longer Life Expectancies Between
Overhaul Than Do Air Circuit Breakers.
 Air Circuit Breakers—Rated Current Up To 6,300 A And Higher For Generator
Circuit Breakers. Trip Characteristics Are Often Fully Adjustable Including
Configurable Trip Thresholds And Delays. Usually Electronically Controlled,
Though Some Models Are Microprocessor Controlled Via An Integral
Electronic Trip Unit. Often Used For Main Power Distribution In Large
Industrial Plant, Where The Breakers Are Arranged In Draw-Out Enclosures For
Ease Of Maintenance.
 Sf6 Circuit Breakers Extinguish The Arc In A Chamber Filled With Sulfur
Hexafluoride Gas.
Medium-Voltage Circuit Breakers May Be Connected Into The Circuit By
Bolted Connections To Bus Bars Or Wires, Especially In Outdoor Switchyards.
Medium-Voltage Circuit Breakers In Switchgear Line-Ups Are Often Built With Draw-
Out Construction, Allowing Breaker Removal Without Disturbing Power Circuit
Connections, Using A Motor-Operated Or Hand-Cranked Mechanism To Separate The
Breaker From Its Enclosure. Some Important Manufacturer Of Vcb From 3.3 Kv To 38
Kv Are Abb, Eaton, Siemens, Hhi(Hyundai Heavy Industry), S&C Electric Company,
Jyoti And Bhel.

17
2.4.6 High-Voltage Circuit Breakers

High-Voltage Switchgear Three Single Phase Russian 110 Kv Oil Circuit

Breakers 400 Kv Sf6 Live Tank Circuit Breakers 72.5 Kv Hybrid Switchgear Module
Electrical Power Transmission Networks Are Protected And Controlled By High-
Voltage Breakers. The Definition Of High Voltage Varies But In Power Transmission
Work Is Usually Thought To Be 72.5 Kv Or Higher, According To A Recent Definition
By The International Electrotechnical Commission (Iec). High-Voltage Breakers Are
Nearly Always Solenoid-Operated, With Current Sensing Protective Relays Operated
Through Current Transformers. In Substations The Protective Relay Scheme Can Be
Complex, Protecting Equipment And Buses From Various Types Of Overload Or
Ground/Earth Fault.

High-Voltage Breakers Are Broadly Classified By The Medium Used To

Extinguish The Arc.

 Bulk Oil Minimum Oil

 Air Blast
 Vacuum
 Sf6
 Co2

Due To Environmental And Cost Concerns Over Insulating Oil Spills, Most
New Breakers Use Sf6 Gas To Quench The Arc. Circuit Breakers Can Be Classified As
Live Tank, Where The Enclosure That Contains The Breaking Mechanism Is At Line
Potential, Or Dead Tank With The Enclosure At Earth Potential. High-Voltage Ac
Circuit Breakers Are Routinely Available With Ratings Up To 765 Kv. 1,200 Kv
Breakers Were Launched By Siemens In November 2011,[8] Followed By Abb In April
The Following Year.[9]

High-Voltage Circuit Breakers Used On Transmission Systems May Be

Arranged To Allow A Single Pole Of A Three-Phase Line To Trip, Instead Of Tripping
All Three Poles; For Some Classes Of Faults This Improves The System Stability And
Availability. High-Voltage Direct Current Circuit Breakers Are Still A Field Of
Research As Of 2015. Such Breakers Would Be Useful To Interconnect HvDC
Transmission Systems.

18
2.4.7 Sulfur Hexafluoride (Sf6) High-Voltage Circuit Breakers

A Sulfur Hexafluoride Circuit Breaker Uses Contacts Surrounded By Sulfur

Hexafluoride Gas To Quench The Arc. They Are Most Often Used For Transmission-
Level Voltages And May Be Incorporated Into Compact Gas-Insulated Switchgear. In
Cold Climates, Supplemental Heating Or De-Rating Of The Circuit Breakers May Be
Required Due To Liquefaction Of The Sf6 Gas.

Fig 2.4 400 Kv Sf6 Live Tank Circuit Breakers

2.4.8 Disconnecting Circuit Breaker (DCb)

The Disconnecting Circuit Breaker (DCb) Was Introduced In 2000[11] And Is A
High-Voltage Circuit Breaker Modeled After The Sf6-Breaker. It Presents A Technical
Solution Where The Disconnecting Function Is Integrated In The Breaking Chamber,
Eliminating The Need For Separate Disconnectors. This Increases The Availability,
Since Open-Air Disconnecting Switch Main Contacts Need Maintenance Every 2–6
Years, While Modern Circuit Breakers Have Maintenance Intervals Of 15 Years.
Implementing A DCb Solution Also Reduces The Space Requirements Within The
Substation, And Increases The Reliability, Due To The Lack Of Separate Disconnectors.
[12][13].

19
 In Order To Further Reduce The Required Space Of Substation, As Well As
Simplifying The Design And Engineering Of The Substation, A Fiber Optic Current
Sensor (Focs) Can Be Integrated With The DCb. A 420 Kv DCb With Integrated Focs
Can Reduce A Substation’s Footprint With Over 50% Compared To A Conventional
Solution Of Live Tank Breakers With Disconnectors And Current Transformers, Due
To Reduced Material And No Additional Insulation Medium.[14]

2.4.9 Carbon Dioxide (Co2) High-Voltage Circuit Breakers

In 2012 Abb Presented A 75 Kv High-Voltage Breaker That Uses Carbon
Dioxide As The Medium To Extinguish The Arc. The Carbon Dioxide Breaker Works
On The Same Principles As An Sf6 Breaker And Can Also Be Produced As A
Disconnecting Circuit Breaker. By Switching From Sf6 To Co2 It Is Possible To
Reduce The Co2 Emissions By 10 Tons During The Product’s Life Cycle.

Fig 2.5 72.5 Kv Carbon Dioxide High-Voltage Circuit Breaker

20
 3.POWER-SYSTEM PROTECTION

Power-System Protection Is A Branch Of Electrical Power Engineering That

Deals With The Protection Of Electrical Power Systems From Faults Through The
Isolation Of Faulted Parts From The Rest Of The Electrical Network. The Objective Of
A Protection Scheme Is To Keep The Power System Stable By Isolating Only The
Components That Are Under Fault, Whilst Leaving As Much Of The Network As
Possible Still In Operation. Thus, Protection Schemes Must Apply With Very Pragmatic
And Pessimistic Approach To Clearing System Faults. The Devices That Are Used To
Protect The Power Systems From Faults Are Called Protection Devices.

3.1 Components:
Protection Systems Usually Comprise Five Components:

 Current And Voltage Transformers To Step Down The High Voltages And
Currents Of The Electrical Power System To Convenient Levels For The Relays
To Deal With
 Protective Relays To Sense The Fault And Initiate A Trip, Or Disconnection,
Order;
 Circuit Breakers To Open/Close The System Based On Relay And Autorecloser
Commands;
 Batteries To Provide Power In Case Of Power Disconnection In The System.
 Communication Channels To Allow Analysis Of Current And Voltage At
Remote Terminals Of A Line And To Allow Remote Tripping Of Equipment.

For Parts Of A Distribution System, Fuses Are Capable Of Both Sensing And
Disconnecting Faults. Failures May Occur In Each Part, Such As Insulation Failure,
Fallen Or Broken Transmission Lines, Incorrect Operation Of Circuit Breakers, Short
Circuits And Open Circuits. Protection Devices Are Installed With The Aims Of
Protection Of Assets, And Ensure Continued Supply Of Energy. Switchgear Is A
Combination Of Electrical Disconnect Switches, Fuses Or Circuit Breakers Used To
Control, Protect And Isolate Electrical Equipment. Switches Are Safe To Open Under
Normal Load Current, While Protective Devices Are Safe To Open Under Fault
Current. [1]

21
3.2 Protective Device :

A Digital (Numeric) Multifunction Protective Relay For Distribution Networks.

A Single Such Device Can Replace Many Single-Function Electromechanical Relays,
And Provides Self-Testing And Communication Functions.

 Protective Relays Control The Tripping Of The Circuit Breakers Surrounding

The Faulted Part Of The Network
 Automatic Operation, Such As Auto-Re-Closing Or System Restart
 Monitoring Equipment Which Collects Data On The System For Post Event
Analysis

While The Operating Quality Of These Devices, And Especially Of Protective

Relays, Is Always Critical, Different Strategies Are Considered For Protecting The
Different Parts Of The System. Very Important Equipment May Have Completely
Redundant And Independent Protective Systems, While A Minor Branch Distribution
Line May Have Very Simple Low-Cost Protection.

There Are Three Parts Of Protective Devices:

 Instrument Transformer: Current Or Potential (Ct Or Vt)

 Relay
 Circuit Breaker

Advantages Of Protected Devices With These Three Basic Components Include

Safety, Economy, And Accuracy.[2][3]

 Safety: Instrument Transformers Create Electrical Isolation From The Power

System, And Thus Establishing A Safer Environment For Personnel Working
With The Relays.
 Economy: Relays Are Able To Be Simpler, Smaller, And Cheaper Given Lower-
Level Relay Inputs. Accuracy: Power System Voltages And Currents Are
Accurately Reproduced By Instrument Transformers Over Large Operating
Ranges

22
3.3 Types Of Protection
3.3.1 High-Voltage Transmission Network
Protection On The Transmission And Distribution Serves Two Functions:
Protection Of Plant And Protection Of The Public (Including Employees). At A Basic
Level, Protection Looks To Disconnect Equipment Which Experience An Overload Or
A Short To Earth. Some Items In Substations Such As Transformers Might Require
Additional Protection Based On Temperature Or Gas Pressure, Among Others.
Generator Sets
In A Power Plant, The Protective Relays Are Intended To Prevent Damage To
Alternators Or To The Transformers In Case Of Abnormal Conditions Of Operation,
Due To Internal Failures, As Well As Insulating Failures Or Regulation Malfunctions.
Such Failures Are Unusual, So The Protective Relays Have To Operate Very Rarely. If
A Protective Relay Fails To Detect A Fault, The Resulting Damage To The Alternator
Or To The Transformer Might Require Costly Equipment Repairs Or Replacement, As
Well As Income Loss From The Inability To Produce And Sell Energy.
Overload And Back-Up For Distance (Overcurrent)
Overload Protection Requires A Current Transformer Which Simply Measures
The Current In A Circuit. There Are Two Types Of Overload Protection: Instantaneous
Overcurrent And Time Overcurrent (Toc). Instantaneous Overcurrent Requires That The
Current Exceeds A Predetermined Level For The Circuit Breaker To Operate. Toc
Protection Operates Based On A Current Vs Time Curve. Based On This Curve If The
Measured Current Exceeds A Given Level For The Preset Amount Of Time, The Circuit
Breaker Or Fuse Will Operate.
Earth Fault ("Ground Fault" In The United States)
Earth Fault Protection Again Requires Current Transformers And Senses An
Imbalance In A Three-Phase Circuit. Normally The Three Phase Currents Are In
Balance, I.E. Roughly Equal In Magnitude. If One Or Two Phases Become Connected
To Earth Via A Low Impedance Path, Their Magnitudes Will Increase Dramatically, As
Will Current Imbalance. If This Imbalance Exceeds A Pre-Determined Value, A Circuit
Breaker Should Operate. Restricted Earth Fault Protection Is A Type Of Earth Fault
Protection Which Looks For Earth Fault Between Two Sets Current Transformers[4]
(Hence Restricted To That Zone).

23
Distance (Impedance Relay)
Distance Protection Detects Both Voltage And Current. A Fault On A Circuit
Will Generally Create A Sag In The Voltage Level. If The Ratio Of Voltage To Current
Measured At The Relay Terminals, Which Equates To An Impedance, Lands Within A
Predetermined Level The Circuit Breaker Will Operate. This Is Useful For Reasonable
Length Lines, Lines Longer Than 10 Miles, Because Its Operating Characteristics Are
Based On The Line Characteristics. This Means That When A Fault Appears On The
Line The Impedance Setting In The Relay Is Compared To The Apparent Impedance Of
The Line From The Relay Terminals To The Fault. If The Relay Setting Is Determined
To Be Below The Apparent Impedance It Is Determined That The Fault Is Within The
Zone Of Protection. When The Transmission Line Length Is Too Short, Less Than 10
Miles, Distance Protection Becomes More Difficult To Coordinate. In These Instances
The Best Choice Of Protection Is Current Differential Protection.
Back-Up
The Objective Of Protection Is To Remove Only The Affected Portion Of Plant
And Nothing Else. A Circuit Breaker Or Protection Relay May Fail To Operate. In
Important Systems, A Failure Of Primary Protection Will Usually Result In The
Operation Of Back-Up Protection. Remote Back-Up Protection Will Generally Remove
Both The Affected And Unaffected Items Of Plant To Clear The Fault. Local Back-Up
Protection Will Remove The Affected Items Of The Plant To Clear The Fault.
3.3.2 Low-Voltage Networks
The Low-Voltage Network Generally Relies Upon Fuses Or Low-Voltage
Circuit Breakers To Remove Both Overload And Earth Faults.
3.4 Co-Ordination
Protective Device Coordination Is The Process Of Determining The "Best Fit"
Timing Of Current Interruption When Abnormal Electrical Conditions Occur. The Goal
Is To Minimize An Outage To The Greatest Extent Possible. Historically, Protective
Device Coordination Was Done On Translucent Log–Log Paper. Modern Methods
Normally Include Detailed Computer Based Analysis And Reporting. Protection
Coordination Is Also Handled Through Dividing The Power System Into Protective
Zones. If A Fault Were To Occur In A Given Zone, Necessary Actions Will Be
Executed To Isolate That Zone From The Entire System. Zone Definitions Account For
Generators, Buses, Transformers, Transmission And Distribution Lines, And Motors.

24
 Additionally, Zones Possess The Following Features: Zones Overlap, Overlap
Regions Denote Circuit Breakers, And All Circuit Breakers In A Given Zone With A
Fault Will Open In Order To Isolate The Fault. Overlapped Regions Are Created By
Two Sets Of Instrument Transformers And Relays For Each Circuit Breaker. They Are
Designed For Redundancy To Eliminate Unprotected Areas; However, Overlapped
Regions Are Devised To Remain As Small As Possible Such That When A Fault Occurs
In An Overlap Region And The Two Zones Which Encompass The Fault Are Isolated,
The Sector Of The Power System Which Is Lost From Service Is Still Small Despite
Two Zones Being Isolated.[5]
3.5 Disturbance-Monitoring Equipment
Disturbance-Monitoring Equipment (Dme) Monitors And Records System Data
Pertaining To A Fault.
Dme Accomplish Three Main Purposes: Model Validation, Disturbance
Investigation, And Assessment Of System Protection Performance.[6]
Dme Devices Include:[7] Sequence Of Event Recorders, Which Record
Equipment Response To The Event Fault Recorders, Which Record Actual Waveform
Data Of The System Primary Voltages And Currents. Dynamic Disturbance Recorders
(Ddrs), Which Record Incidents That Portray Power System Behavior During Dynamic
Events Such As Low Frequency (0.1 Hz – 3 Hz) Oscillations And Abnormal Frequency
Or Voltage Excursions
3.6 Performance Measures
Protection Engineers Define Dependability As The Tendency Of The Protection
System To Operate Correctly For In-Zone Faults. They Define Security As The
Tendency Not To Operate For Out-Of-Zone Faults. Both Dependability And Security
Are Reliability Issues. Fault Tree Analysis Is One Tool With Which A Protection
Engineer Can Compare The Relative Reliability Of Proposed Protection Schemes.
Quantifying Protection Reliability Is Important For Making The Best Decisions On
Improving A Protection System, Managing Dependability Versus Security Tradeoffs,
And Getting The Best Results For The Least Money.
A Quantitative Understanding Is Essential In The Competitive Utility Industry.
[8][9] Performance And Design Criteria For System-Protection Devices Include
Reliability, Selectivity, Speed, Cost, And Simplicity.

25
Reliability: Devices Must Function Consistently When Fault Conditions Occur,
Regardless Of Possibly Being Idle For Months Or Years. Without This Reliability,
Systems May Result In High Costly Damages.
Selectivity: Devices Must Avoid Unwarranted, False Trips.
Speed: Devices Must Function Quickly To Reduce Equipment Damage And Fault
Duration, With Only Very Precise Intentional Time Delays.
Economy: Devices Must Provide Maximum Protection At Minimum Cost. Simplicity:
Devices Must Minimize Protection Circuitry And Equipment.

26
 4.MUTUAL INDUCTANCE

Mutual induction is a phenomenon when a coil gets induced in EMF across it

due to rate of change current in adjacent coil in such a way that the flux of one coil
current gets linkage of another coil.
Mutual Inductance is the ratio between induced emf across a coil to the rate of
change of current of another adjacent coil in such a way that two coils are in possibility
of flux linkage.

An Inductor Generates An Induced Emf Within Itself As A Result Of The

Changing Magnetic Field Around Its Own Turns. When This Emf Is Induced In The
Same Circuit In Which The Current Is Changing This Effect Is Called Self-Induction,
( L ).
However, When The Emf Is Induced Into An Adjacent Coil Situated Within The
Same Magnetic Field, The Emf Is Said To Be Induced Magnetically, Inductively Or
By Mutual Induction, Symbol ( M ). Then When Two Or More Coils Are Magnetically
Linked Together By A Common Magnetic Flux They Are Said To Have The Property
Of Mutual Inductance. Mutual Inductance Is The Basic Operating Principal Of The
Transformer, Motors, Generators And Any Other Electrical Component That Interacts
With Another Magnetic Field. Then We Can Define Mutual Induction As The Current
Flowing In One Coil That Induces A Voltage In An Adjacent Coil.
But Mutual Inductance Can Also Be A Bad Thing As “Stray” Or “Leakage”
Inductance From A Coil Can Interfere With The Operation Of Another Adjacent
Component By Means Of Electromagnetic Induction, So Some Form Of Electrical
SCReening To A Ground Potential May Be Required. The Amount Of Mutual
Inductance That Links One Coil To Another Depends Very Much On The Relative
Positioning Of The Two Coils. If One Coil Is Positioned Next To The Other Coil So
That Their Physical Distance Apart Is Small, Then Nearly All Of The Magnetic Flux
Generated By The First Coil Will Interact With The Coil Turns Of The Second Coil
Inducing A Relatively Large Emf And Therefore Producing A Large Mutual Inductance
Value.

27
 Likewise, If The Two Coils Are Farther Apart From Each Other Or At Different
Angles, The Amount Of Induced Magnetic Flux From The First Coil Into The Second
Will Be Weaker Producing A Much Smaller Induced Emf And Therefore A Much
Smaller Mutual Inductance Value. So The Effect Of Mutual Inductance Is Very Much
Dependant Upon The Relative Positions Or Spacing, ( S ) Of The Two Coils And This
Is Demonstrated Below.

4.1 Mutual Inductance Between Coils

Fig 4.1 Mutual Inductance Between Coils

The Mutual Inductance That Exists Between The Two Coils Can Be Greatly
Increased By Positioning Them On A Common Soft Iron Core Or By Increasing The
Number Of Turns Of Either Coil As Would Be Found In A Transformer.
If The Two Coils Are Tightly Wound One On Top Of The Other Over A
Common Soft Iron Core Unity Coupling Is Said To Exist Between Them As Any
Losses Due To The Leakage Of Flux Will Be Extremely Small. Then Assuming A
Perfect Flux Linkage Between The Two Coils The Mutual Inductance That Exists
Between Them Can Be Given As.

 Where:

 µo Is The Permeability Of Free Space (4.Π.10-7)

28
  µr Is The Relative Permeability Of The Soft Iron Core

 N Is In The Number Of Coil Turns

 A Is In The Cross-Sectional Area In M2

 L Is The Coils Length In Meters

4.2 Mutual Induction

Fig 4.2 Mutual Induction

Here The Current Flowing In Coil One, L1 Sets Up A Magnetic Field Around
Itself With Some Of These Magnetic Field Lines Passing Through Coil Two, L2 Giving
Us Mutual Inductance. Coil One Has A Current Of I1 And N1 Turns While, Coil Two
Has N2 Turns. Therefore, The Mutual Inductance, M12 Of Coil Two That Exists With
Respect To Coil One Depends On Their Position With Respect To Each Other And Is
Given As:

Likewise, The Flux Linking Coil One, L1 When A Current Flows Around Coil
Two, L2 Is Exactly The Same As The Flux Linking Coil Two When The Same Current
Flows Around Coil One Above, Then The Mutual Inductance Of Coil One With
Respect Of Coil Two Is Defined As M21. This Mutual Inductance Is True Irrespective Of
The Size, Number Of Turns, Relative Position Or Orientation Of The Two Coils.
Because Of This, We Can Write The Mutual Inductance Between The Two Coils
As: M12 = M21 = M.

29
 Then We Can See That Self Inductance Characterises An Inductor As A Single
Circuit Element, While Mutual Inductance Signifies Some Form Of Magnetic Coupling
Between Two Inductors Or Coils, Depending On Their Distance And Arrangement,The
Self Inductance Of Each Individual Coil Is Given As:

And

By Cross-Multiplying The Two Equations Above, The Mutual

Inductance, M That Exists Between The Two Coils Can Be Expressed In Terms Of The
Self Inductance Of Each Coil.

Giving Us A Final And More Common Expression For The Mutual Inductance
Between The Two Coils Of:Mutual Inductance Between Coils

However, The Above Equation Assumes Zero Flux Leakage And 100%
Magnetic Coupling Between The Two Coils, L1 And L2. In Reality There Will Always
Be Some Loss Due To Leakage And Position, So The Magnetic Coupling Between The
Two Coils Can Never Reach Or Exceed 100%, But Can Become Very Close To This
Value In Some Special Inductive Coils.

If Some Of The Total Magnetic Flux Links With The Two Coils, This Amount
Of Flux Linkage Can Be Defined As A Fraction Of The Total Possible Flux Linkage
Between The Coils. This Fractional Value Is Called The Coefficient Of Coupling And Is
Given The Letter K.

30
4.3 Coupling Coefficient

Generally, The Amount Of Inductive Coupling That Exists Between The Two
Coils Is Expressed As A Fractional Number Between 0 And 1 Instead Of A Percentage
(%) Value, Where 0 Indicates Zero Or No Inductive Coupling, And 1 Indicating Full Or
Maximum Inductive Coupling.

In Other Words, If K = 1 The Two Coils Are Perfectly Coupled, If K > 0.5 The

Two Coils Are Said To Be Tightly Coupled And If K < 0.5 The Two Coils Are Said To
Be Loosely Coupled. Then The Equation Above Which Assumes A Perfect Coupling
Can Be Modified To Take Into Account This Coefficient Of Coupling, K And Is Given
As:

4.4 Coupling Factor Between Coils

Or

When The Coefficient Of Coupling, K Is Equal To 1, (Unity) Such That All The
Lines Of Flux Of One Coil Cuts All Of The Turns Of The Second Coil, That Is The
Two Coils Are Tightly Coupled Together, The Resulting Mutual Inductance Will Be
Equal To The Geometric Mean Of The Two Individual Inductances Of The Coils.

Also When The Inductances Of The Two Coils Are The Same And Equal, L1 Is
Equal To L2, The Mutual Inductance That Exists Between The Two Coils Will Equal
The Value Of One Single Coil As The Square Root Of Two Equal Values Is The Same
As One Single Value As Shown.

31
 5. DIODE

The Most Common Function Of A Diode Is To Allow An Electric Current To

Pass In One Direction (Called The Diode's Forward Direction), While Blocking It In
The Opposite Direction (The Reverse Direction). As Such, The Diode Can Be Viewed
As An Electronic Version Of A Check Valve.
Although In The Real World, Diode’s Can Not Achieve Zero Or Infinite
Resistance. Instead, A Diode Will Have Negligible Resistance In One Direction (To
Allow Current Flow), And A Very High Resistance In The Reverse Direction (To
Prevent Current Flow). A Diode Is Effectively Like A Valve For An Electrical Circuit.
Semiconductor Diodes Are The Most Common Type Of Diode. These Diodes
Begin Conducting Electricity Only If A Certain Threshold Voltage Is Present In The
Forward Direction (I.E. The “Low Resistance” Direction). The Diode Is Said To Be
“Forward Biased” When Conducting Current In This Direction. When Connected
Within A Circuit In The Reverse Direction (I.E. The “High Resistance” Direction), The
Diode Is Said To Be “Reverse Biased”.
A Diode Only Blocks Current In The Reverse Direction (I.E. When It Is Reverse
Biased) While The Reverse Voltage Is Within A Specified Range. Above This Range,
The Reverse Barrier Breaks. The Voltage At Which This Breakdown Occurs Is Called
The “Reverse Breakdown Voltage”. When The Voltage Of The Circuit Is Higher Than
The Reverse Breakdown Voltage, The Diode Is Able To Conduct Electricity In The
Reverse Direction (I.E. The “High Resistance” Direction). This Is Why In Practice We
Say Diode’s Have A High Resistance In The Reverse Direction – Not An Infinite
Resistance.
A Pn Junction Is The Simplest Form Of The Semiconductor Diode. In Ideal
Conditions, This Pn Junction Behaves As A Short Circuit When It Is Forward Biased,
And As An Open Circuit When It Is In The Reverse Biased. The Name Diode Is
Derived From “Di–Ode” Which Means A Device That Has Two Electrodes.
5.1 Diode Symbol
The Symbol Of A Diode Is Shown Below. The Arrowhead Points In The
Direction Of Conventional Current Flow In The Forward Biased Condition. That Means
The Anode Is Connected To The P Side And Cathode Is Connected To The N Side.

32
 Fig 5.0 Diode Symbol
We Can Create A Simple Pn Junction Diode By Doping Pentavalent Or Donor
Impurity In One Portion And Trivalent Or Acceptor Impurity In Other Portion Of
Silicon Or Germanium Crystal Block. These Dopings Make A Pn Junction At The
Middle Part Of The Block. We Can Also Form A Pn Junction By Joining A P-Type And
N-Type Semiconductor Together With A Special Fabrication Technique. The Terminal
Connected To The P-Type Is The Anode. The Terminal Connected To The N-Type Side
Is The Cathode.
5.2 Working Principle Of Diode
A Diode’s Working Principle Depends On The Interaction Of N-Type And P-
Type Semiconductors. An N-Type Semiconductor Has Plenty Of Free Electrons And A
Very Few Numbers Of Holes. In Other Words, We Can Say That The Concentration Of
Free Electrons Is High And That Of Holes Is Very Low In An N-Type Semiconductor.
Free Electrons In The N-Type Semiconductor Are Referred As Majority Charge
Carriers, And Holes In The N-Type Semiconductor Are Referred To As Minority
Charge Carriers.
A P-Type Semiconductor Has A High Concentration Of Holes And Low
Concentration Of Free Electrons. Holes In The P-Type Semiconductor Are Majority
Charge Carriers, And Free Electrons In The P-Type Semiconductor Are Minority
Charge Carriers.
5.2.1 Unbiased Diode
Now Let Us See What Happens When One N-Type Region And One P-Type
Region Come In Contact. Here Due To Concentration Difference, Majority Carriers
Diffuse From One Side To Another. As The Concentration Of Holes Is High In The P-
Type Region And It Is Low In The N-Type Region, The Holes Start Diffusing From
The P-Type Region To N-Type Region.

33
 Again The Concentration Of Free Electrons Is High In The N-Type Region And
It Is Low In The P-Type Region And Due To This Reason, Free Electrons Start
Diffusing From The N-Type Region To The P-Type Region.
The Free Electrons Diffusing Into The P-Type Region From The N-Type Region
Would Recombine With Holes Available There And Create Uncovered Negative Ions In
The P-Type Region. In The Same Way, The Holes Diffusing Into The N-Type Region
From The P-Type Region Would Recombine With Free Electrons Available There And
Create Uncovered Positive Ions In The N-Type Region.
In This Way, There Would A Layer Of Negative Ions In The P-Type Side And
A Layer Of Positive Ions In The N-Type Region Appear Along The Junction Line Of
These Two Types Of Semiconductor. The Layers Of Uncovered Positive Ions And
Uncovered Negative Ions Form A Region At The Middle Of The Diode Where No
Charge Carrier Exists Since All The Charge Carriers Get Recombined Here In This
Region. Due To Lack Of Charge Carriers, This Region Is Called Depletion Region.

Fig 5.1 Unbiased Diode

After The Formation Of The Depletion Region, There Is No More Diffusion Of
Charge Carriers From One Side To Another In The Diode. This Is Because Due To The
Electric Field Appeared Across The Depletion Region Will Prevent Further Migration
Of Charge Carriers From One Side To Another. The Potential Of The Layer Of
Uncovered Positive Ions In The N-Type Side Would Repeal The Holes In The P-Type
Side And The Potential Of The Layer Of Uncovered Negative Ions In The P-Type Side
Would Repeal The Free Electrons In The N-Type Side. That Means A Potential Barrier
Is Created Across The Junction To Prevent Further Diffusion Of Charge Carriers.

34
5.2.2 Forward Biased Diode
Now Let Us See What Happens If Positive Terminal Of A Source Is Connected
To The P-Type Side And The Negative Terminal Of The Source Is Connected To The
N-Type Side Of The Diode And If We Increase The Voltage Of This Source Slowly
From Zero.
In The Beginning, There Is No Current Flowing Through The Diode. This Is
Because Although There Is An External Electrical Field Applied Across The Diode But
Still The Majority Charge Carriers Do Not Get Sufficient Influence Of The External
Field To Cross The Depletion Region. As We Told That The Depletion Region Acts As
A Potential Barrier Against The Majority Charge Carriers. This Potential Barrier Is
Called Forward Potential Barrier. The Majority Charge Carriers Start Crossing The
Forward Potential Barrier Only When The Value Of Externally Applied Voltage Across
The Junction Is More Than The Potential Of The Forward Barrier. For Silicon Diodes,
The Forward Barrier Potential Is 0.7 Volt And For Germanium Diodes, It Is 0.3 Volt.
When The Externally Applied Forward Voltage Across The Diode Becomes More Than
The Forward Barrier Potential, The Free Majority Charge Carriers Start Crossing The
Barrier And Contribute The Forward Diode Current. In That Situation, The Diode
Would Behave As A Short-Circuited Path And The Forward Current Gets Limited By
Only Externally Connected Resistors To The Diode.

Fig 5.2 Forward Biased Diode

5.2.3 Reverse Biased Diode
Now Let Us See What Happens If We Connect Negative Terminal Of The
Voltage Source To The P-Type Side And Positive Terminal Of The Voltage Source To
The N-Type Side Of The Diode.

35
 At That Condition, Due To Electrostatic Attraction Of Negative Potential Of The
Source, The Holes In The P-Type Region Would Be Shifted More Away From The
Junction Leaving More Uncovered Negative Ions At The Junction. In The Same Way,
The Free Electrons In The N-Type Region Would Be Shifted More Away From The
Junction Towards The Positive Terminal Of The Voltage Source Leaving More
Uncovered Positive Ions In The Junction. As A Result Of This Phenomenon, The
Depletion Region Becomes Wider. This Condition Of A Diode Is Called The Reverse
Biased Condition. At That Condition, No Majority Carriers Cross The Junction As They
Go Away From The Junction. In This Way, A Diode Blocks The Flow Of Current
When It Is Reverse Biased.
There Are Always Some Free Electrons In The P-Type Semiconductor And
Some Holes In The N-Type Semiconductor. These Opposite Charge Carriers In A
Semiconductor Are Called Minority Charge Carriers. In The Reverse Biased Condition,
The Holes Find Themselves In The N-Type Side Would Easily Cross The Reverse
Biased Depletion Region As The Field Across The Depletion Region Does Not Present
Rather It Helps Minority Charge Carriers To Cross The Depletion Region. As A Result,
There Is A Tiny Current Flowing Through The Diode From Positive To The Negative
Side. The Amplitude Of This Current Is Very Small As The Number Of Minority
Charge Carriers In The Diode Is Very Small. This Current Is Called Reverse Saturation
Current.
If The Reverse Voltage Across A Diode Gets Increased Beyond A Safe Value,
Due To Higher Electrostatic Force And Due To A Higher Kinetic Energy Of Minority
Charge Carriers Colliding With Atoms, A Number Of Covalent Bonds Get Broken To
Contribute A Huge Number Of Free Electron-Hole Pairs In The Diode And The Process
Is Cumulative. The Huge Number Of Such Generated Charge Carriers Would
Contribute A Huge Reverse Current In The Diode. If This Current Is Not Limited By
An External Resistance Connected To The Diode Circuit, The Diode May Permanently
Be Destroyed.

36
 Fig 5.3 Reverse Biased Diode
5.3 Characteristics of diode

Fig 5.4 V-I Characteristics of diode

When the diode is forward biased, anode positive with respect to the cathode, a
forward or positive current passes through the diode and operates in the top right
quadrant of its I-V characteristics curves as shown. Starting at the zero intersection, the
curve increases gradually into the forward quadrant but the forward current and voltage
are extremely small.

When the forward voltage exceeds the diodes P-N junctions internal barrier
voltage, which for silicon is about 0.7 volts, avalanche occurs and the forward current
increases rapidly for a very small increase in voltage producing a non-linear curve. The
“knee” point on the forward curve.

37
 Likewise, when the diode is reversed biased, cathode positive with respect to the
anode, the diode blocks current except for an extremely small leakage current, and
operates in the lower left quadrant of its I-V characteristic curves. The diode continues
to block current flow through it until the reverse voltage across the diode becomes
greater than its breakdown voltage point resulting in a sudden increase in reverse current
producing a fairly straight line downward curve as the voltage losses control. This
reverse breakdown voltage point is used to good effect with zener diodes.
Then we can see that the I-V Characteristic Curves for a silicon diode are non-
linear and very different to that of the previous resistors linear I-V curves as their
electrical characteristics are different. Current-Voltage characteristics curves can be
used to plot the operation of any electrical or electronic component from resistors, to
amplifiers, to semiconductors and solar cells.
The current-voltage characteristics of an electronic component tells us much
about its operation and can be a very useful tool in determining the operating
characteristics of a particular device or component by showing its possible combinations
of current and voltage, and as a graphical aid can help visually understand better what is
happening within a circuit.
5.4 Types Of Diode
The Types Of Diode Include:
1. Zener Diode
2. P-N Junction Diode
3. Tunnel Diode
4. Varactor Diode
5. Schottky Diode
6. Photodiode
7. Pin Diode
8. Laser Diode
9. Avalanche Diode
10.Light Emitting Diode

6.THYRISTOR

38
 A Thyristor Is A Solid-State Semiconductor Device With Four Layers Of
Alternating P And N-Type Materials. It Acts Exclusively As A Bistable Switch,
Conducting When The Gate Receives A Current Trigger, And Continuing To Conduct
While The Voltage Across The Device Is Not Reversed (Forward-Biased). A Three-
Lead Thyristor Is Designed To Control The Larger Current Of Its Two Leads By
Combining That Current With The Smaller Current Of Its Other Lead, Known As Its
Control Lead. In Contrast, A Two-Lead Thyristor Is Designed To Switch On If The
Potential Difference Between Its Leads Is Sufficiently Large (Breakdown Voltage).
Some Sources Define Silicon-Controlled Rectifier (SCR) And Thyristor As
Synonymous.[1] Other Sources Define Thyristors As A Larger Set Of Devices With At
Least Four Layers Of Alternating N And P-Type Material. The First Thyristor Devices
Were Released Commercially In 1956. Because Thyristors Can Control A Relatively
Large Amount Of Power And Voltage With A Small Device, They Find Wide
Application In Control Of Electric Power, Ranging From Light Dimmers And Electric
Motor Speed Control To High-Voltage Direct Current Power Transmission.
Thyristors May Be Used In Power-Switching Circuits, Relay-Replacement
Circuits, Inverter Circuits, Oscillator Circuits, Level-Detector Circuits, Chopper
Circuits, Light-Dimming Circuits, Low-Cost Timer Circuits, Logic Circuits, Speed-
Control Circuits, Phase-Control Circuits, Etc. Originally, Thyristors Relied Only On
Current Reversal To Turn Them Off, Making Them Difficult To Apply For Direct
Current; Newer Device Types Can Be Turned On And Off Through The Control Gate
Signal. The Latter Is Known As A Gate Turn-Off Thyristor, Or Gto Thyristor. A
Thyristor Is Not A Proportional Device Like A Transistor. In Other Words, A Thyristor
Can Only Be Fully On Or Off, While A Transistor Can Lie In Between On And Off
States. This Makes A Thyristor Unsuitable As An Analog Amplifier, But Useful As A
Switch.

6.1 Introduction
The Thyristor Is A Four-Layered, Three Terminal Semiconductor Device, With
Each Layer Consisting Of Alternately N-Type Or P-Type Material, For Example P-N-P-
N. The Main Terminals, Labelled Anode And Cathode, Are Across All Four Layers.
The Control Terminal, Called The Gate, Is Attached To P-Type Material Near
The Cathode. (A Variant Called An Scs—Silicon Controlled Switch—Brings All Four
Layers Out To Terminals.) The Operation Of A Thyristor Can Be Understood In Terms

39
Of A Pair Of Tightly Coupled Bipolar Junction Transistors, Arranged To Cause A Self-
Latching Action:

Fig 6.0 Structure of

Thyristor

Thyristors Have Three States:

Reverse Blocking Mode — Voltage Is Applied In The Direction That Would Be
Blocked By A Diode
Forward Blocking Mode — Voltage Is Applied In The Direction That Would Cause A
Diode To Conduct, But The Thyristor Has Not Been Triggered Into Conduction
Forward Conducting Mode — The Thyristor Has Been Triggered Into Conduction And
Will Remain Conducting Until The Forward Current Drops Below A Threshold Value
Known As The "Holding Current"
6.2 Function Of The Gate Terminal

The Thyristor Has Three P-N Junctions (Serially Named J1, J2, J3 From The
Anode). Layer Diagram Of Thyristor. When The Anode Is At A Positive Potential Vak
With Respect To The Cathode With No Voltage Applied At The Gate, Junctions J1 And
J3 Are Forward Biased, While Junction J2 Is Reverse Biased. As J2 Is Reverse Biased,
No Conduction Takes Place (Off State). Now If Vak Is Increased Beyond The
Breakdown Voltage Vbo Of The Thyristor, Avalanche Breakdown Of J2 Takes Place
And The Thyristor Starts Conducting (On State). If A Positive Potential Vg Is Applied
At The Gate Terminal With Respect To The Cathode, The Breakdown Of The Junction
J2 Occurs At A Lower Value Of Vak.

40
 Fig 6.1 Layer Diagram Of Thyristor.

By Selecting An Appropriate Value Of Vg, The Thyristor Can Be Switched Into

The On State Quickly. Once Avalanche Breakdown Has Occurred, The Thyristor
Continues To Conduct, Irrespective Of The Gate Voltage, Until: (A) The Potential Vak
Is Removed Or (B) The Current Through The Device (Anode−Cathode) Becomes Less
Than The Holding Current Specified By The Manufacturer. Hence Vg Can Be A
Voltage Pulse, Such As The Voltage Output From A Ujt Relaxation Oscillator. The
Gate Pulses Are Characterized In Terms Of Gate Trigger Voltage (Vgt) And Gate
Trigger Current (Igt). Gate Trigger Current Varies Inversely With Gate Pulse Width In
Such A Way That It Is Evident That There Is A Minimum Gate Charge Required To
Trigger The Thyristor.

6.3 Switching Characteristics

V – I Characteristics. In A Conventional Thyristor, Once It Has Been Switched

On By The Gate Terminal, The Device Remains Latched In The On-State (I.E. Does
Not Need A Continuous Supply Of Gate Current To Remain In The On State),
Providing The Anode Current Has Exceeded The Latching Current (Il). As Long As The
Anode Remains Positively Biased, It Cannot Be Switched Off Until The Anode Current
Falls Below The Holding Current (Ih). In Normal Working Condition The Latching
Current Is Always Greater Than Holding Current. In The Above Figure Il Has To Come
Above The Ih On Y-Axis Since Il > Ih.

41
 Fig 6.2 V – I Characteristics.

A Thyristor Can Be Switched Off If The External Circuit Causes The Anode To
Become Negatively Biased (A Method Known As Natural, Or Line, Commutation). In
Some Applications This Is Done By Switching A Second Thyristor To Discharge A
Capacitor Into The Cathode Of The First Thyristor. This Method Is Called Forced
Commutation. After The Current In A Thyristor Has Extinguished, A Finite Time Delay
Must Elapse Before The Anode Can Again Be Positively Biased And Retain The
Thyristor In The Off-State. This Minimum Delay Is Called The Circuit Commutated
Turn Off Time (Tq). Attempting To Positively Bias The Anode Within This Time
Causes The Thyristor To Be Self-Triggered By The Remaining Charge Carriers (Holes
And Electrons) That Have Not Yet Recombined. For Applications With Frequencies
Higher Than The Domestic Ac Mains Supply (E.G. 50 Hz Or 60 Hz), Thyristors With
Lower Values Of Tq Are Required. Such Fast Thyristors Can Be Made By Diffusing
Heavy Metal Ions Such As Gold Or Platinum Which Act As Charge Combination
Centers Into The Silicon. Today, Fast Thyristors Are More Usually Made By Electron
Or Proton Irradiation Of The Silicon, Or By Ion Implantation. Irradiation Is More
Versatile Than Heavy Metal Doping Because It Permits The Dosage To Be Adjusted In
Fine Steps, Even At Quite A Late Stage In The Processing Of The Silicon.

6.4 Applications

Thyristors Are Mainly Used Where High Currents And Voltages Are Involved,
And Are Often Used To Control Alternating Currents, Where The Change Of Polarity
Of The Current Causes The Device To Switch Off Automatically, Referred To As "Zero
Cross" Operation.

42
 The Device Can Be Said To Operate Synchronously; Being That, Once The
Device Is Triggered, It Conducts Current In Phase With The Voltage Applied Over Its
Cathode To Anode Junction With No Further Gate Modulation Being Required, I.E.,
The Device Is Biased Fully On.

Fig 6.3 Waveforms In A Thyristor Circuit

Waveforms In A Thyristor Circuit Controlling An Ac Current. Red Trace: Load

(Output) Voltage Blue Trace: Trigger Voltage.

This Is Not To Be Confused With Asymmetrical Operation, As The Output Is

Unidirectional, Flowing Only From Cathode To Anode, And So Is Asymmetrical In
Nature. Thyristors Can Be Used As The Control Elements For Phase Angle Triggered
Controllers, Also Known As Phase Fired Controllers. They Can Also Be Found In
Power Supplies For Digital Circuits, Where They Are Used As A Sort Of "Enhanced
Circuit Breaker" To Prevent A Failure In The Power Supply From Damaging
Downstream Components.

A Thyristor Is Used In Conjunction With A Zener Diode Attached To Its Gate,

And If The Output Voltage Of The Supply Rises Above The Zener Voltage, The
Thyristor Will Conduct And Short-Circuit The Power Supply Output To Ground (In
General Also Tripping An Upstream Breaker Or Fuse). This Kind Of Protection Circuit
Is Known As A Crowbar, And Has The Advantage Over A Standard Circuit Breaker Or
Fuse In That It Creates A High-Conductance Path To Ground For The Damaging
Supply Voltage And Potentially For Stored Energy In The System Being Powered. The
First Large-Scale Application Of Thyristors, With Associated Triggering Diac, In
Consumer Products Related To Stabilized Power Supplies Within Color Television
Receivers In The Early 1970s.[Clarification Needed] The Stabilized High Voltage DC
Supply For The Receiver Was Obtained By Moving The Switching Point Of The
Thyristor Device Up And Down.

43
 The Falling Slope Of The Positive Going Half Of The Ac Supply Input (If The
Rising Slope Was Used The Output Voltage Would Always Rise Towards The Peak
Input Voltage When The Device Was Triggered And Thus Defeat The Aim Of
Regulation).

The Precise Switching Point Was Determined By The Load On The DC Output
Supply, As Well As Ac Input Fluctuations. Thyristors Have Been Used For Decades As
Lighting Dimmers, In Television, Motion Pictures, And Theater, Where They Replaced
Inferior Technologies Such As Autotransformers And Rheostats. They Have Also Been
Used In Photography As A Critical Part Of Flashes (Strobes).

6.5 Snubber Circuits

Thyristors Can Be Triggered By A High Rise-Rate Of Off-State Voltage. This Is
Prevented By Connecting A Resistor-Capacitor (Rc) Snubber Circuit Between The
Anode And Cathode In Order To Limit The Dv/Dt (I.E., Rate Of Voltage Change Over
Time).
6.6 HVDC Electricity Transmission
Valve Hall Containing Thyristor Valve Stacks Used For Long-Distance
Transmission Of Power From Manitoba Hydro Dams Since Modern Thyristors Can
Switch Power On The Scale Of Megawatts, Thyristor Valves Have Become The Heart
Of High-Voltage Direct Current (HvDC) Conversion Either To Or From Alternating
Current. In The Realm Of This And Other Very High-Power Applications, Both
Electrically Triggered (Ett) And Light-Triggered (Ltt) Thyristors[3][4] Are Still The
Primary Choice.
The Valves Are Arranged In Stacks Usually Suspended From The Ceiling Of A
Transmission Building Called A Valve Hall. Thyristors Are Arranged Into A Diode
Bridge Circuit And To Reduce Harmonics Are Connected In Series To Form A 12-
Pulse Converter. Each Thyristor Is Cooled With Deionized Water, And The Entire
Arrangement Becomes One Of Multiple Identical Modules Forming A Layer In A
Multilayer Valve Stack Called A Quadruple Valve. Three Such Stacks Are Typically
Mounted On The Floor Or Hung From The Ceiling Of The Valve Hall Of A Long-
Distance Transmission Facility

44
6.7 Comparisons To Other Devices
The Functional Drawback Of A Thyristor Is That, Like A Diode, It Only
Conducts In One Direction. A Similar Self-Latching 5-Layer Device, Called A Triac, Is
Able To Work In Both Directions. This Added Capability, Though, Also Can Become A
Shortfall. Because The Triac Can Conduct In Both Directions, Reactive Loads Can
Cause It To Fail To Turn Off During The Zero-Voltage Instants Of The Ac Power
Cycle.
Because Of This, Use Of Triacs With (For Example) Heavily Inductive Motor
Loads Usually Requires The Use Of A "Snubber" Circuit Around The Triac To Assure
That It Will Turn Off With Each Half-Cycle Of Mains Power. Inverse Parallel SCRs
Can Also Be Used In Place Of The Triac; Because Each SCR In The Pair Has An Entire
Half-Cycle Of Reverse Polarity Applied To It, The SCRs, Unlike Triacs, Are Sure To
Turn Off. The "Price" To Be Paid For This Arrangement, However, Is The Added
Complexity Of Two Separate, But Essentially Identical Gating Circuits.
Although Thyristors Are Heavily Used In Megawatt-Scale Rectification Of Ac
To DC, In Low- And Medium-Power (From Few Tens Of Watts To Few Tens Of
Kilowatts) Applications They Have Virtually Been Replaced By Other Devices With
Superior Switching Characteristics Like Power Mosfets Or Igbts. One Major Problem
Associated With SCRs Is That They Are Not Fully Controllable Switches. The Gto
Thyristor And Igct Are Two Devices Related To The Thyristor That Address This
Problem. In High-Frequency Applications, Thyristors Are Poor Candidates Due To
Long Switching Times Arising From Bipolar Conduction. Mosfets, On The Other Hand,
Have Much Faster Switching Capability Because Of Their Unipolar Conduction (Only
Majority Carriers Carry The Current).
6.8 Failure Modes
Thyristor Manufacturers Generally Specify A Region Of Safe Firing Defining
Acceptable Levels Of Voltage And Current For A Given Operating Temperature. The
Boundary Of This Region Is Partly Determined By The Requirement That The
Maximum Permissible Gate Power (Pg), Specified For A Given Trigger Pulse Duration,
Is Not Exceeded.[7] As Well As The Usual Failure Modes Due To Exceeding Voltage,
Current Or Power Ratings, Thyristors Have Their Own Particular Modes Of Failure,
Including:

45
 Turn On Di/Dt — In Which The Rate Of Rise Of On-State Current After
Triggering Is Higher Than Can Be Supported By The Spreading Speed Of The Active
Conduction Area (SCRs & Triacs). Forced Commutation — In Which The Transient
Peak Reverse Recovery Current Causes Such A High Voltage Drop In The Sub-Cathode
Region That It Exceeds The Reverse Breakdown Voltage Of The Gate Cathode Diode
Junction (SCRs Only). Switch On Dv/Dt — The Thyristor Can Be Spuriously Fired
Without Trigger From The Gate If The Anode-To-Cathode Voltage Rise-Rate Is Too
Great.

6.9 Types of Thyristor

6.9.1 Reverse Conducting Thyristor ;A Reverse Conducting Thyristor (Rct) Has An
Integrated Reverse Diode, So Is Not Capable Of Reverse Blocking. These Devices Are
Advantageous Where A Reverse Or Freewheel Diode Must Be Used. Because The SCR
And Diode Never Conduct At The Same Time They Do Not Produce Heat
Simultaneously And Can Easily Be Integrated And Cooled Together. Reverse
Conducting Thyristors Are Often Used In Frequency Changers And Inverters.
6.9.2 Photothyristors: Electronic Symbol For Light-Activated SCR (LaSCR)
Photothyristors Are Activated By Light. The Advantage Of Photothyristors Is Their
Insensitivity To Electrical Signals, Which Can Cause Faulty Operation In Electrically
Noisy Environments. A Light-Triggered Thyristor (Ltt) Has An Optically Sensitive
Region In Its Gate, Into Which Electromagnetic Radiation (Usually Infrared) Is Coupled
By An Optical Fiber. Since No Electronic Boards Need To Be Provided At The
Potential Of The Thyristor In Order To Trigger It, Light-Triggered Thyristors Can Be
An Advantage In High-Voltage Applications Such As HvDC. Light-Triggered
Thyristors Are Available With In-Built Over-Voltage (Vbo) Protection, Which Triggers
The Thyristor When The Forward Voltage Across It Becomes Too High; They Have
Also Been Made With In-Built Forward Recovery Protection, But Not Commercially.
Despite The Simplification They Can Bring To The Electronics Of An HvDC Valve,
Light-Triggered Thyristors May Still Require Some Simple Monitoring Electronics And
Are Only Available From A Few Manufacturers. Two Common Photothyristors Include
The Light-Activated SCR (LaSCR) And The Light-Activated Triac. A LaSCR Acts As
A Switch That Turns On When Exposed To Light. Following Light Exposure, When
Light Is Absent, If The Power Is Not Removed And The Polarities Of The Cathode And
Anode Have Not Yet Reversed, The LaSCR Is Still In The "On" State.

46
 7. INTRODUCTION TO MATLAB

Matlab Is A High-Performance Language For Technical Computing. The Name

Mat Lab Stands For Matrix Laboratory. It Integrates Computation, Visualization, And
Programming In An Easy-To-Use Environment Where Problems And Solutions Are
Expressed In Familiar Mathematical Notation. Typical Uses Include Math And
Computation Algorithm Development Data Acquisition Modeling, Simulation, And
Prototyping Data Analysis, Exploration, And Visualization Scientific And Engineering
Graphics Application Development, Including Graphical User Interface Building.

Matlab Is An Interactive System Whose Basic Data Element Is An Array That

Does Not Require Dimensioning. This Allows You To Solve Many Technical
Computing Problems, Especially Those With Matrix And Vector Formulations, In A
Fraction Of The Time It Would Take To Write A Program In A Scalar No Interactive
Language Such As C Or Fortran.

7.1 History Of Matlab

Cleve Barry Moler, The Chairman Of The Computer-Science Department At

The University Of New Mexico, He Is A Mathematician And Computer Programmer
Specializing In Numerical Analysis. Started Developing Matlab In The Late 1970s. He
Designed It To Give His Students Access To Linpack And Eispack Without Their
Having To Learn Fortran. It Soon Spread To Other Universities And Found A Strong
Audience Within The Applied Mathematics Community. Jack Little, An Engineer, Was
Exposed To It During A Visit Moler Made To Stanford University In 1983.
Recognizing Its Commercial Potential, He Joined With Moler And Steve Bangert. They
Rewrote Matlab In C And Founded Math Works In 1984 To Continue Its Development.
These Rewritten Libraries Were Known As Jackpac. In 2000, Matlab Was Rewritten To
Use A Newer Set Of Libraries For Matrix Manipulation, Lapack.

7.2 Strengths Of Matlab

 Matlab Is Relatively Easy To Learn.

 Matlab Code Is Optimized To Be Relatively Quick When Performing Matrix
Operations.
 Matlab May Behave Like A Calculator Or As A Programming Language.

47
  Matlab Is Interpreted, Errors Are Easier To Fix.
 Although Primarily Procedural, Matlab Does Have Some Object-Oriented
Elements.

7.3 Other Features:

 2-D And 3-D Graphics Functions For Visualizing Data
 Tools For Building Custom Graphical User Interfaces
 Functions For Integrating Matlab Based Algorithms With External Applications
And Languages, Such As C, C++, Fortran, Java, Com, And Microsoft Excel.

7.4 Components Of Matlab:

 Workspace
 Current Directory
 Command History
 Command Window

Block Diagram Of Mat Lab Components

Fig 7.0 Block Diagram Of Mat Lab Components

7.5 Matlab And Engineering:

Matlab Was First Adopted By Researchers And Practitioners In Control
Engineering, Little's Specialty, But Quickly Spread To Many Other Domains. It Is Now
Also Used In Education, In Particular The Teaching Of Linear Algebra And Numerical

48
Analysis, And Is Popular Amongst Scientists Involved In Image Processing. However,
Many Researchers Mostly From Computer Science Background Feel That Matlab
Should Be Used Only For Mathematical Analysis Necessary In Image Processing And
Not For Implementation Of Image Processing Software. Moreover, Matlab Should Not
Be Used To Simulate Computer Architectures, Systems Software And Computer
Networks Unless While Solving Some Numeric Problem.

7.6 Toolboxes In Matlab:

 Simulink
 Fuzzy
 Genetic Algorithm
 Neural Network
 Wavelet
7.6.1 Simulink:
7.6.1.1 Introduction:
Simulink Is A Software Add-On To Mat Lab Which Is A Mathematical Tool
Developed By The Math Works,(Http://Www.Mathworks.Com) A Company Based In
Natick. Mat Lab Is Powered By Extensive Numerical Analysis Capability. Simulink Is
A Tool Used To Visually Program A Dynamic System (Those Governed By Differential
Equations) And Look At Results. Any Logic Circuit, Or Control System For A
Dynamic System Can Be Built By Using Standard Building Blocks Available In
Simulink Libraries. Various Toolboxes For Different Techniques, Such As Fuzzy Logic,
Neural Networks, Dsp, Statistics Etc. Are Available With Simulink, Which Enhance
The Processing Power Of The Tool. The Main Advantage Is The Availability Of
Templates / Building Blocks, Which Avoid The Necessity Of Typing Code For Small
Mathematical Processes.

7.6.1.2 Concept Of Signal And Logic Flow:

In Simulink, Data/Information From Various Blocks Are Sent To Another Block

By Lines Connecting The Relevant Blocks. Signals Can Be Generated And Fed Into
Blocks Dynamic / Static).Data Can Be Fed Into Functions. Data Can Then Be Dumped
Into Sinks, Which Could Be Scopes, Displays Or Could Be Saved To A File. Data Can
Be Connected From One Block To Another, Can Be Branched, Multiplexed Etc. In

49
Simulation, Data Is Processed And Transferred Only At DiSCRete Times, Since All
Computers Are DiSCRete Systems. Thus, A Simulation Time Step (Otherwise Called
An Integration Time Step) Is Essential, And The Selection Of That Step Is Determined
By The Fastest Dynamics In The Simulated System.

Fig 7.1 Simulink Library Browser

7.6.1.3 Connecting Blocks:

Fig 7.2 Connectung Blocks

To Connect Blocks, Left-Click And Drag The Mouse From The Output Of One
Block To The Input Of Another Block.

7.6.1.4 Sources And Sinks:

The Sources Library Contains The Sources Of Data/Signals That One Would
Use In A Dynamic System Simulation. One May Want To Use A Constant Input, A

50
Sinusoidal Wave, A Step, A Repeating Sequence Such As A Pulse Train, A Ramp Etc.
One May Want To Test Disturbance Effects, And Can Use The Random Signal
Generator To Simulate Noise. The Clock May Be Used To Create A Time Index For
Plotting Purposes. The Ground Could Be Used To Connect To Any Unused Port, To
Avoid Warning Messages Indicating Unconnected Ports.

The Sinks Are Blocks Where Signals Are Terminated Or Ultimately Used. In
Most Cases, We Would Want To Store The Resulting Data In A File, Or A Matrix Of
Variables. The Data Could Be Displayed Or Even Stored To A File. The Stop Block
Could Be Used To Stop The Simulation If The Input To That Block (The Signal Being
Sunk) Is Non-Zero. Figure 3 Shows The Available Blocks In The Sources And Sinks
Libraries. Unused Signals Must Be Terminated, To Prevent Warnings About
Unconnected Signals.

Fig 7.3 Sources And Sinks

7.6.1.4 Continuous And DiSCRete Systems:

All Dynamic Systems Can Be Analyzed As Continuous Or DiSCRete Time

Systems. Simulink Allows You To Represent These Systems Using Transfer Functions,
Integration Blocks, Delay Blocks Etc.

51
 Fig 7.4 Continous And DeSCRete Systems

7.6.1.6 Non-Linear Operators:

A Main Advantage Of Using Tools Such As Simulink Is The Ability To
Simulate Non-Linear Systems And Arrive At Results Without Having To Solve
Analytically. It Is Very Difficult To Arrive At An Analytical Solution For A System
Having Non-Linearities Such As Saturation, Signup Function, Limited Slew Rates Etc.

In Simulation, Since Systems Are Analyzed Using Iterations, Non-Linearities

Are Not A Hindrance. One Such Could Be A Saturation Block, To Indicate A Physical
Limitation On A Parameter, Such As A Voltage Signal To A Motor Etc. Manual
Switches Are Useful When Trying Simulations With Different Cases. Switches Are The
Logical Equivalent Of If-Then Statements In Programming.

52
 Fig 7.5 Simulink Blocks

7.6.1.7 Mathematical Operations:

Mathematical Operators Such As Products, Sum, Logical Operations Such As
And, Or, Etc. Can Be Programmed Along With The Signal Flow. Matrix Multiplication
Becomes Easy With The Matrix Gain Block. Trigonometric Functions Such As Sin Or
Tan Inverse (At An) Are Also Available. Relational Operators Such As ‘Equal To’,
‘Greater Than’ Etc. Can Also Be Used In Logic Circuits.

Fig 7.6 Simulink Math Blocks

7.6.1.8 Signals & Data Transfer:

In Complicated Block Diagrams, There May Arise The Need To Transfer Data
From One Portion To Another Portion Of The Block. They May Be In Different
Subsystems. That Signal Could Be Dumped Into A Goto Block, Which Is Used To Send
Signals From One Subsystem To Another.

53
 Multiplexing Helps Us Remove Clutter Due To Excessive Connectors, And
Makes Matrix (Column/Row) Visualization Easier.

Fig 7.7 Signals And Systems

7.6.1.9 Making Subsystems:

Drag A Subsystem From The Simulink Library Browser And Place It In The
Parent Block Where You Would Like To Hide The Code. The Type Of Subsystem
Depends On The Purpose Of The Block. In General One Will Use The Standard
Subsystem But Other Subsystems Can Be Chosen. For Instance, The Subsystem Can Be
A Triggered Block, Which Is Enabled Only When A Trigger Signal Is Received.

Open (Double Click) The Subsystem And Create Input / Output Ports, Which
Transfer Signals Into And Out Of The Subsystem. The Input And Output Ports Are
Created By Dragging Them From The Sources And Sinks Directories Respectively.

When Ports Are Created In The Subsystem, They Automatically Create Ports On
The External (Parent) Block. This Allows For Connecting The Appropriate Signals
From The Parent Block To The Subsystem.

7.6.1.10 Setting Simulation Parameters:

Running A Simulation In The Computer Always Requires A Numerical

Technique To Solve A Differential Equation. The System Can Be Simulated As A
Continuous System Or A DiSCRete System Based On The Blocks Inside. The

54
Simulation Start And Stop Time Can Be Specified. In Case Of Variable Step Size, The
Smallest And Largest Step Size Can Be Specified. A Fixed Step Size Is Recommended
And It Allows For Indexing Time To A Precise Number Of Points, Thus Controlling
The Size Of The Data Vector. Simulation Step Size Must Be Decided Based On The
Dynamics Of The System. A Thermal Process May Warrant A Step Size Of A Few
Seconds, But A DC Motor In The System May Be Quite Fast And May Require A Step
Size Of A Few Milliseconds.

Fig 7.8 Setting Simulation Parameters:

7.6.2 Sim Power System:

7.6.2.1 Introduction:
Simpowersystems Software And Other Products Of The Physical Modeling
Product Family Work Together With Simulink Software To Model Electrical,
Mechanical, And Control Systems.

55
 Simpowersystems Software Operates In The Simulink Environment. Therefore,
Before Starting This User's Guide, Make Yourself Familiar With Simulink
Documentation. Or, If You Perform Signal Processing And Communications Tasks (As
Opposed To Control System Design Tasks), See The Signal Processing Block Set
Documentation.

7.6.2.2 The Role Of Simulation In Design:

Electrical Power Systems Are Combinations Of Electrical Circuits And

Electromechanical Devices Like Motors And Generators. Engineers Working In This
Discipline Are Constantly Improving The Performance Of The Systems. Requirements
For Drastically Increased Efficiency Have Forced Power System Designers To Use
Power Electronic Devices And Sophisticated Control System Concepts That Tax
Traditional Analysis Tools And Techniques. Further Complicating The Analyst's Role
Is The Fact That The System Is Often So Nonlinear That The Only Way To Understand
It Is Through Simulation.

Land-Based Power Generation From Hydroelectric, Steam, Or Other Devices Is

Not The Only Use Of Power Systems. A Common Attribute Of These Systems Is Their
Use Of Power Electronics And Control Systems To Achieve Their Performance
Objectives.

Simpowersystems Software Is A Modern Design Tool That Allows Scientists

And Engineers To Rapidly And Easily Build Models That Simulate Power Systems. It
Uses The Simulink Environment, Allowing You To Build A Model Using Simple Click
And Drag Procedures. Not Only Can You Draw The Circuit Topology Rapidly, But
Your Analysis Of The Circuit Can Include Its Interactions With Mechanical, Thermal,
Control, And Other Disciplines. This Is Possible Because All The Electrical Parts Of
The Simulation Interact With The Extensive Simulink Modeling Library.

Since Simulink Uses The Matlab Computational Engine, Designers Can Also
Use Matlab Toolboxes And Simulink Block Sets. Simpowersystems Software Belongs
To The Physical Modeling Product Family And Uses Similar Block And Connection
Line Interface.

7.6.2.3 Sim Power Systems Libraries:

56
 Simpowersystems Libraries Contain Models Of Typical Power Equipment Such
As Transformers, Lines, Machines, And Power Electronics. These Models Are Proven
Ones Coming From Textbooks, And Their Validity Is Based On The Experience Of The
Power Systems Testing And Simulation Laboratory Of Hydro-Québec, A Large North
American Utility Located In Canada, And Also On The Experience Of École De
Technology Supérieure And Université Laval. The Capabilities Of Simpowersystems
Software For Modeling A Typical Electrical System Are Illustrated In Demonstration
Files. And For Users Who Want To Refresh Their Knowledge Of Power System
Theory, There Are Also Self-Learning Case Studies.

The Simpowersystems Main Library, Powerlib, Organizes Its Blocks Into

Libraries According To Their Behavior. The Powerlib Library Window Displays The
Block Library Icons And Names. Double-Click A Library Icon To Open The Library
And Access The Blocks. The Main Powerlib Library Window Also Contains The
Powergui Block That Opens A Graphical User Interface For The Steady-State Analysis
Of Electrical Circuits.

7.6.2.4 Nonlinear Simulink Blocks For Simpower Systems Models:

The Nonlinear Simulink Blocks Of The Powerlib Library Are Stored In A

Special Block Library Named Powerlib Models. These Masked Simulink Models Are
Used By Simpowersystems Software To Build The Equivalent Simulink Model Of Your
Circuit. See Improving Simulation Performance For A DeSCRiption Of The Powerlib
Models Library.

57
 Fig 7.9 Simulink Library browser

7.7 Applications Of MatLab:

Matlab Is A Data-Manipulation Software Package That Allows Data To Be

Analyzed And Visualized Using Existing Functions And User-Designed Programs.
Matlab Is A Numerical Computing Environment And Programming Language. Matlab
Allows Easy Matrix Manipulation, Plotting Of Functions And Data, Implementation Of
Algorithms, Creation Of User Interfaces, And Interfacing With Programs In Other
Languages. Although It Specializes In Numerical Computing, An Optional Toolbox
Interfaces With The Maple Symbolic Engine, Allowing It To Be Part Of A Full
Computer Algebra System.

Some Of The Mat Lab Applications Listed Are:

 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

 Genetic Algorithm Data Mining

 Speech Recognition Using Vq Method

 Channel Estimation And Detection In Ds-Cdma

58
  Analysis Of Iterative Channel Estimation And Multi-User Detection In Multi
Path Ds-Cdma Channels
 Time-Domain Signal Detection
 Time-Domain Signal Detection Based On Second-Order Statistics For Mimo-
Ofdm Systems
 Space–Time Block Coding
 Space–Time Block Codes For Mimo Channels
 Blind Channel Estimation
7.8 Basic Circuit Designing And Analyzing Of Results:
Click On The File And Select New Model File And A File Will Be Appeared

Fig 7.10 Basic Circuit Designing And Analyzing Of Results

Now A Block And Right Click On It, The Block Will Be Appearing In The New
Model File (Untitled)

For Example Consider A Sine Wave In The Source Block And In Order To
Obtain Or To View The Output Place The Scope Block. Join Those Two Blocks. Now
A Simple Circuit Is Ready, Now Set The Simulation Time In The Tool Bar (Default It
Is Set To 10.0), Simulate.

The Circuit By Clicking On The Simulation Icon (Play Button). Simulation Is

Completed Now By Double Clicking On The Scope U Can View The Output, Press The
Auto Scale Button And O/P Will Appear Clearly.

59
 8.PROPOSED DC PROTECTION CIRCUIT

Now, The Abovementioned Technique Is Admirable But, In Ad Dition, The

Short Path Can Be Used As A Means Of Switching The Breaker Off In Response To A
Fault. Consider The Proposed DC Circuit Breaker Shown In Fig. 8 During The Normal
Steady-State Operation, Current Flows From The Source To The Load Through The
SCR And Coupled Inductors. A Fault On The Load Side Will Cause An Impulse
Current Ic In The Short Path Containing The Capacitor

Fig. 8.0 Proposed DC Circuit Breaker

Fig .8.1 Variation Of The Proposed DC Circuit Breaker.

And Secondary Winding Of The Coupled Inductors. With A Turn’s Ratio, This
Current Is Reflected To The Primary And Essentially Pushes The SCR Current To Zero;
At Which Time The SCR Switches Off. It Should Be Noted That The Turn’s Ratio
N1/N2 Can Also Be Set So That The Breaker Does Not Identify A Large Change In
Load As A Fault.

An Alternate Approach To The Proposed Breaker Is The Variation Shown In Fig .

8.0.1 . In This Circuit, The Main Path Current Flows Through The Primary And
Secondary Windings. As With The Circuit Of Fig. 2, The Fault Current Flows Through
The Secondary Winding And Causes The SCR Current To Go To Zero.

60
8.1Step Load Analysis

One Of The Main Features Of The Proposed DC Switch Is Its Ability To

Remain On During A Step Change In Load. Therefore, It Is Helpful To Know How To
Design The Transformer Component And Know Exactly What Type Of Step In Load
Will Cause The Breaker To Switch Off. From Fig. 8 And Neglecting Transformer
Magnetizing Current

For Steady-State Operation, The Capacitor Current Is Zero And The Source
Current Is Equal To The Output Current. Assuming That A Sudden Change In Output
Current Is Entirely Represented By A Change In Capacitor Current, That Is

Table I
Parameters Of The Test System

By Transformer Action

Now, With An Initial Output Current Of

The Response Of The Source Current To A Change In Output Current Will Be

61
 This Source Current, And, Thus, The SCR Current, Will Go To Zero When The
Change In Output Meets The Condition

Therefore, (6) Can Be Used To Determine The Amount Of Change In Output

Current That Will Result In The Breaker Switching Off. This Can Also Be Used To
Select A Turn’s Ratio To Ensure That The Breaker Will Not Switch Off During
Expected Load Transients.

8.2 Circuit Design :

The Breaker Designs Starts With Choosing A Wire Size And Carrying Out A
Design For The Transformer Primary Winding. In This Case, The Wire Size Has A
Cross-Sectional Area Of 0.82 Mm2. For This Design, The Transformer Is Going To Be
An Air-Core Type Wound Around A Square Capacitor Having Dimensions Of 70 Mm
× 57.5 Mm. A Number Of Turns Are Selected And 5% Leakage Inductance Is
Assumed. The Resulting Parameters Are Displayed In Table I.

In This Case, A Turns Ratio Of Approximately Three Is Selected So That The

Transient Load Current Can Step By About 300%, As Per (6), Without Switching The
Breaker Off. Using The Same Wire Size As The Primary, The Secondary Parameters
Are Computed And Shown In Table I. In This Design, The SCR Total Turn-Off Time T
Q Is Taken Into Account And The Resonance Formed By Lm2 And C Is Set That So A
Quarter Cycle [18] Is Three Times The Turn-Off Time. This Results In The Value Of
Capacitance In Listed Table I. Finally, The Resistance Is Set To A Low Value As Not
To Interfere With The Breaker Performance, But Still Provide Damping Of The
Oscillations Which Occur When The Breaker Is Switched Off. The Last Row Of Table I
Shows The SCR Ratings. A Laboratory Test System Operating With A 100-V 6-A DC
Load Would Be Within The Ratings Of The SCR.

8.3 Circuit Analysis :

Fig Shows The Equivalent Circuit Of The Proposed Breaker With The SCR
Conducting. In This Circuit, The Transformer Resis Tance And Leakage Inductance Are
Neglected.

62
 Fig. 8.2 Equivalent Circuit Of The Proposed DC Breaker.

Fig. 8.3 Voltage Transfer Function Of The Proposed Breaker.

In The Equivalent Circuit, Zrc Is The Series Combination Of R And C And Zl Is

The Parallel Combination Of Rl And Cl. Furthermore, Lm1 And Lm2 Are The Primary
And Secondary Magnetizing Inductances Of The Transformer, Respectively. From The
Equivalent Circuit, It Can Be Determined That The Voltage Transfer Function Is

And The Impedance As Seen From The Source Is

Where

63
 The Voltage Transfer Function According To (7) For The Proposed Breaker
With Parameters In Table I In This Example, Rl = 50 Ω And Cl = 0. At Low
Frequencies, It Has Unity Gain. There Is A Resonance Around 800 Hz And The Breaker
Attenuates Signals Of Higher Frequency. The Transfer Function Is Similar To That Of
A Notch Filter With Attenuation At High Frequencies. It Is Instructive To Look At The
Proposed Circuit In Terms Of Its Thevenin Equivalent. With The Device Open-
Circuited, The Thevenin Voltage Can Be Seen To Be Vs. Based On Mathematical
Circuit Analysis, The Thevenin Impedance Is Seen To Be

Fig. 8.4 Thevenin Impedance Of The Proposed Breaker.

Using The Parameters From Before, The Plot Of Thevenin Impedance Is Shown
In Fig. 6. At Low Frequencies, This Is Seen As Inductive And Has The Value L M1.
This Is Seen From (10) And That Zrc Is An Open-Circuit At Low Frequencies. At High
Fre Quencies, The Thevenin Impedance Becomes A Negative Resistor. Thus,
Considering The Thevenin Equivalent, Applying A Transient Or High-Frequency Fault
Results In Current Flow Back To The Source Which Causes The Source (Or SCR)
Current To Go To Zero. The DC Circuit Breaker Presented Herein Is Most Similar To
The Z-Source Breaker In That It Automatically Responds To Faults.

A Number Of Researchers Have Produced Variations Of The Z-Source Breaker.

Herein, These Are Denoted As The Classic Z Source Breaker The Series Z-Source
Breaker The Modified Series Z-Source Breaker [20], [25], And The New Series Breaker
[23]. For Clarity, These Are De Picted In Fig.7. A Comparison The Various DC Breaker
Topologies Is Shown In Table Ii. The “+” Symbol In A Column Indicates Where That
Circuit Has An Advantage.

64
 The “−” Indicates A Disad Vantage, And The “0” Represents A Neutral
Comparison. As Can Be Seen, The Classic Z-Source Breaker Had A Number Of
Limitations. A Common Ground Between The Source And Load Was Established With
The Series Design But Then The Source Current Would Ring After The SCR Switched
Off. This Is An Inconvenience Since The Source Current Can Ring Up To A Large
Value And Induc Tance Must Be Increased To Limit This Ringing. The Modified Series
Design Also Addressed The Common Ground And Further Has The

Fig.8.5 Breaker Response To A Step Change In Load.

Table II

Comparison To Z-Source Breaker Variants

Desirable Property That Its Transfer Function Has A Low-Pass Form. Up To

This Point, All The Designs Could Mistake A Step Change In Load Of More Than
100% As A Fault. The New Series Design Eliminated This By Providing An Additional
Branch For The Fault Current. However, The Source Current Ringing Was Still There.
The Proposed Breaker Can Be Seen To Have All Of The Advantages Listed In Table Ii.
Furthermore, The Proposed Breaker Has Much Fewer Components. The Only
Questionable Property Of The Proposed Breaker Is The Voltage Transfer Function.

65
 From Fig. 5, It Can Be Seen That The Proposed Breaker Does Attenuate High
Frequencies, But Not At The Rate Of A Traditional Low-Pass Filter.

8.4 Transient Analysis :

An Approximate Transient Analysis In Response To A Step Change In Load
Can Be Carried Out Using The Circuit Of Fig. 4. First, The Following Approximations
Are Made. The Fault Is Assumed To Be An Ideal Short-Circuit At The Output. The
Resistance In The Impedance Zrc Is Assumed To Be Negligible. The Turn’s Ratio Is
Such That Only A Negligibly Small Voltage Is Induced In The Transformer Secondary.
With These Assumptions, The Capacitor Current Is Found To Be

Where

From The Circuit In Fig. 4 And (11), One Can Arrive At

From Which It Is Seen That The Source (Thus SCR) Current Is

Where I O Is The Steady-State Source Current Before The Fault Occurred; As

Defined Above. Much Insight Into The Operation Of The Proposed Circuit Can Be
Obtained From The Above Analysis. First, (11) Suggest A Sinusoidal Pulse In Current,
Which, Along With The Source Current, Will Flow To The Breaker Output. Therefore,
The Fault Current Will Have Roughly The Shape Of (11) And Its Peak Value And Pulse
Duration Can Be Predicted. Next, From (14), It Can Be Determined Exactly When The
Source Current Will Reach Zero;

66
 Thus, A Prediction Of How Fast The Breaker Can Switch Off Can Be Made.
Note That (14) Suggest An Increasing Component In The Current In The Second Term
Which In Realty Will Be Swamped By The Decreasing Component Of The Third Term.
Also, It Can Be Seen That With A Poor Choice Of Parameters (Capacitance,
Inductance, And Turns Ratio), The Current May Never Go To Zero. This Can Be
Predicted By Taking The Derivative Of (14) And Seeing If The Minimum Current Is
Above Zero. A Practical Example Of This Is Given Below.

8.5 Detailed Simulation:

Based On The Parameters Of Table I, A Detailed Simulation Was Carried Out.

In This Study, The Source Voltage Is 100 V And The Load Is Purely Resistive. Fig. 7
Shows The Source And Load Currents When The Load Is Stepped From 50 To 16.7 Ω.
The Variables Are The Same As Those Labeled In Fig. 8As Can Be Seen, The Load
Current Steps From 2 To 6 A. This Causes A Step In Capacitor Current Which Reflects
Back To The Source Current Causing It To Dip, But Not Quite To Zero. In Fact,
Applying The Criteria (6) With Io = 2 A And The Turns Ratio Given In Table I, States
That A Change Of Output Current By Δio > 5.83 A Would Cause The Breaker To
Switch Off. This Says That The Output Current Can Step From 2 Up To 7.83 A Without
Switching The Breaker Off.

Therefore, The SCR Stays On And The Source Current Goes To 6 A After The
Transient. Fig. 8 Shows The Response Of The Proposed Breaker To A Fault. In This
Study, The Source Voltage Is 100 V And The Load Resistance Is 16.7 Ω. A Bolted
Fault Occurs At The Output Which Is Represented By A 10-Mω Resistance. As The
Output Current Starts To Rise, The Current Reflected In The Transformer Causes The
Source Current To Directly Go To Zero In Microseconds.

After The SCR Switches Off, The Load Current Goes Up To Over 100 A As The
Capacitor Discharges. Incidentally, The Approximate Analysis Of (11) Predicts A Peak
Fault Current Of 99 A. The SCR Voltage First Goes Positive, And It Is, Thus, Reverse
Biased For About 100 Μs; Allowing The SCR To Completely Turn Off. When The
SCR Voltage Goes Negative And Is Equal In Magnitude To The Source Voltage, The
Diode Switches On Stopping The Resonance.

67
 9.LABORATORY VALIDATION

In This Circuit, The Transformer Connections Are Wound Around The

Capacitor (Seen In The Bottom Left) For Better Volume Density. The Magnetic Field

Fig. 9.0 Breaker Response To A Fault.

Will Be Unaffected By The Capacitor And The Effective Air-Core Inductor Will
Not Experience Saturation During Transients. The SCR Is Seen At The Right And The
Resistor Is Seen At The Bottom Of The Board. The Top Half Of The Board Contains
Voltage And Current Transducers Which Are Used Only For Obtaining Waveforms.

Fig. 9.1 Measured Response To A Step Change In Load.

68
 Fig. 9.2 Laboratory dc breaker

Fig. 9.2 Shows The Source And Output Current In Response To A Step Change
In Load. The Output Current Can Be Seen To Step From 2 To 6 A. The Transient
Component Of This Current Is Reflected Through The Transformer Causing The Source
Current To Dip. How Ever, Since The Current Does Not Go To Zero, The SCR
Continues To Conduct. After A Transient Within The Circuit, The Source Current
Matches The Load Current.

Fig. 9.3 Shows Measured Waveforms Of The Proposed Breaker In Response To

A Fault. The Source Current Is Seen To Go To Zero; At Which Time The SCR
Switches Off.

69
 The Output Current Reflects The Fault Current Which Increases To About 100
A Until The Output Voltage Drops Causing The Current To Go To Zero. The Last Trace
Shows The SCR

Fig. 9.3 Measured Response To A Fault.

Voltage. After Going Off, The SCR Is Reverse Biased For About 100 Μs,
Which Is LongerThan The Total Turn-Off Time Of The SCR.

70
 10.PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

In This Section, A Medium-Voltage Design Will Be Carried Out To Show How

The Proposed Breaker May Practically Fit Into A Power System, Such As An Electric
Ship. Topology Modifications, Effect

Fig. 10.0 Power System With Modified DC Switch.

Of Transformer Leakage Inductance, Effect Of Source Impedance, And Rate Of

Fault Inception Will Be Considered.

10.1 Topology Modifications :

The Proposed DC Breaker Inserted Into A Medium Voltage DC (MvDC)

System. Two Modifications To The Breaker Have Been Made. First, The Rc Impedance
In The Previous Design Has Been Replaces With A Pure Capacitance. In Addition, A
Charging Resistor R C With An Accompanying Diode Has Been Placed In Series. The
Purpose Of The Charging Resistor Is To Initially Charge The Capacitor. That Is, When
Staring (Or Reenergizing) The Breaker, The Source Voltage Is Established Then The
SCR, Labeled S1, Is Gated On.

This Causes A Charging Of The Capacitor Through The Transformer And

Charging Resistor. The Desired Charging Time Can Be Set Using The Time Constant
Formed By C And Rc. Furthermore, The Charging Resistor Limits The Initial Capacitor
Surge Current. With The Diode In Parallel, The Charging Resistor Is Bypassed During
Fault Operation And The Breaker Responds As DeSCRibed Above.

71
 The Next Modification To The Breaker Is A Switch-Off SCR, Labeled S2. This
Adds An Important Feature To The Breaker In That It Allows The Circuit To Be Used
As A DC Switch. During Steady-State Operation, With The Capacitor Charged, Gating
On S2 Discharges The Capacitor Into The Secondary Winding Causing The Breaker To
Switch Off. Therefore, The Breaker Can Be Purposely Switched Off By Gating S2.
Then, Switched On Again By Gating S1. It Is Important To Note That This Added
Switch Has The Same Effect As Crow Baring The Output As Suggested In [25].
However, Since The Switch Is Not Placed At The Output, It Will Not Cause A Short-
Circuit There.

10.2 Medium-Voltage Design:

The MvDC System Has A Source Voltage Of Vs = 1000v And A Power Level
Of 100 Kw (Rl = 10 Ω). The Source Has And Inductance Of L S = 10 Μh. The Design
Of The Breaker Was Carried Out By Selecting A Number Of Turns, Turns Ratio, And
Wire Diameter That Supports Full Current (In This Case, The Wire Crosssectional Area
Is 0.42 Cm2). In This Case, A Leakage Inductance Of 10% Is Assumed. The
Transformer Is Made As An Air Core With A

Table III
Parameters Of The MVDC Breaker Design

Fig 10.1 Simulation Demonstrating Switch-Off Capability.

72
 Solenoid Structure With A Radius Of About 10 Cm Which Has A Mass Of 13
Kg And A Volume Of 16 L. Table Iii Shows The Transformer Parameters. The Breaker
Capacitance Is Set To 100 Μf And The Charging Resistance Is Set To 100 Ω. This
Seems Quite Reasonable Since The Capacitor Charging Current Will Have A Peak
Value Of 10 A (Based On V S = 1000 V And Rc = 100 Ω). Furthermore, The Charring
Time Constant Will Be (Based On C = 100 Μf And Rc = 100 Ω). For This Design, A
Vishay St173s12ej0-Pbf SCR Was Used Which Has Sufficient Voltage And Current
Ratings. The SCR Is A Fast Turn-Off Type With A Total Turn Off Time Of Tq = 25
Μs.

Fig 10.2 Shows Simulation Results Of The Proposed Breaker Demonstrating

Closing And Opening Ability. First, S1 Is Fired And The Capacitor Is Charged Through
Rc. Since The Time Constant Here Is 10 Ms, The Capacitor Can Be Seen To Be Fully
Charged At 50 Ms. At This Point, The Breaker Is Supporting A 100-Kw Load. At 60
Ms, S2 Is Gated Causing The Capacitor To Discharge In The Transformer Secondary
And Causing The Proposed Circuit To Switch Off. Thus, This Added SCR Can Be Used
To Purposely Switch Off The Load. Fig. 14 Shows Results Of A Simulation Where The
Breaker Switches Off In Response To A Fault.

Initially, The Breaker Is Supporting A 30-Kw Load When The Load Is Suddenly
Increased To 100 Kw. As Can Be Seen, The Source And Output Current Step To Rated
Load And The Breaker Does Not Switch Off. This Could Be Predicted Using The Turns
Ratio And (6). Also Note That The Voltage Across The Transformer Vt Spikes To
About 500 V.

Fig.10.2 Simulation demonstrating fault handling

73
 A Measurement Of This Voltage Could Be Used To Differentiate Between A
Step Change In Load And A Fault. The Fault Is Applied At The End Of The Simulation
And The Output Current Surges, Causing The Breaker To Switch Off And The Source
Current Simply Goes To Zero. Note That The Transformer Voltage Vt Spikes To About
1 Kv When The Fault Is Applied. Thus, The Voltage Vt May Be Of Some Use In
Indicating Faults. As A Control Signal, A Measure Of Vt May Be Useful In Removing
The Signal To S1 For Autonomous Operation [25].

10.3 Effect Of Grid Impedance And Leakage Inductance :

In Traditional Breaker Circuits, There Is A Limit To The Amount Of Grid

Impedance That Can Exist For The Breaker To Work [30] Which Is Sometimes
Expressed As The L/R Ratio Of Source Inductance To Fault Resistance [30]. The
Source Inductance Was Illustrated In Fig. 12, And Can Be Included In The Transient
Analysis. First, Using (13), It Is Seen That The Source Current Is A Minimum When

Now, By Including The Source Inductance, (14) Becomes

Substituting (15) Into (16) And Requiring That The Source Cur Rent Go To
Zero In Order For The SCR To Switch Off, The Source Inductance Is

Essentially, The Breaker Will Not Switch Off If The Source Inductance Is
Greater Than That Predicted By (17). In This Case, The Fault Current Will Continue To
Be Drawn From The Source; A Phenomenon Noted In The Literature [27]. For The
Medium Voltage Design In Table Iii, (17) Predicts A Maximum Allowable Source
Inductance Of 600 Μh. According To Detailed Simulation.

74
 The Source Inductance Can Be Raised To700 Μh Before The Breaker Fails; The
Slight Difference Owed Totheapproximationin(11). Considering The Circuit Of Fig. 12
And The Equivalent Circuit Of Fig. 4, It Can Be Seen That Including Leakage
Inductance In The Primary Winding Has The Same Effect As Adding Source
Inductance. Also, Note That The Calculation Of Ls,Max For This Design Is Much Less
Than The Leakage Inductances Shown In Table Iii.

Furthermore, A Relatively Large Value Of 10% Leakage Inductance Was Used

In This Design. Considering These Facts, The Effect Of Leakage Inductance On The
Breaker Operation Is Negligible Compared To The Effect Of Source Inductance.

10.4 Fault Inception :

The Proposed Circuit, Along With The Z-Source Breaker, Rely On Fast Fault
Inception [18]. Consider The Medium-Voltage Design In Table Iii Operating From An
Ideal Source. Using Detailed Simulation, It Was Determined That If The Fault
Conductance Is Ramped From 0 To 100 S In A Time Greater Than 17.2 Ms, The
Breaker Fails To Isolate The Fault. That Is, In This Case, The Breaker Will Not
Automatically Respond To A Fault That Ramps Its Conduction Slower Than 5814 S/S.
In Cases Like This, Monitoring The Transformer Voltage Vt Is Of A Little Use Because
It Depends On The Rate Of Change Of Output Current.

In This Case, What Is Recommended Is Monitoring The Output Current And

Comparing It To A Threshold. When The Threshold Is Reached, S2 Can Be Fired So
That The Fault Is Cleared. Using This Method, The Proposed Circuit Operates Much
Like A Traditional Solid-State Circuit Breaker. Therefore, The Proposed Breaker Will
Always Operate In A Similar Way To Other Breakers, But Will Have The Added
Capability Of Automatically And Quickly Responding To Faults With Rapid Inception.

75
 11.SIMULATION CIRCUITS AND RESULTS

Breaker Response To A Step Change In Load

SIMULATION MODEL

SIMULATION OUTPUT

76
Breaker Response To A Fault

SIMULATION MODEL

SIMULATION OUTPUT

77
Simulation Demonstrating Switch-Off Capability

SIMULATION MODEL

SIMULATION OUTPUT

78
SIMULATION MODEL

SIMULATION OUTPUT

79
 CONCLUSION

As DC Sources And DC Microgrids Become More Prevalent, A Solution Is

Sought For DC Switches And Circuit Breakers. Traditional Methods Relied On
Oversized Ac Breakers, Hybrid Breakers, And Solid-State Breakers. The DC Switch
Proposed In This Paper Is A Variation On The Solid-State Breaker, But Has The Added
Feature That It Can Automatically Switch Off In Response To Faults. Furthermore,
There The Turn’s Ratio In The Circuit’s Transformer Allows The Designer To
Determine The Amount Of Transient Current That Will Be Identified As A Fault; As
Opposed To A Step Change In Load. Analysis, Design, And Laboratory Measurements
Demonstrate The Proposed Breaker’s Response To A Step Change In Load And To A
Fault. The Breaker Compares Favorably To Recent Designs In That It Has A Common
Ground Between Source And Load, Is Invariant To Step Changes In Load, And Does
Not Produce Ringing Resonance In The Source Current.

80
 REFERENCES

[1] R. Cuzner, D. Macfarlin, D. Clinger, M. Rumney, And G. Castles, “Circuit Breaker

Protection Considerations In Power Converter Fed DC Systems,” In Proc. Ieee Electr.
Ship Technol. Symp., Apr. 2009, Pp. 360–367.

[2] B. Bolanowski And F. Wojcik, “A Fast DC Hybrid Circuit Breaker,” Presented At

The Ieee Colloq. Electronic-Aided Current-Limiting Circuit Breaker Developments
Applications, London, U.K., Nov. 1989.

[3] A. Pokryvailo And I. Ziv, “A Hybrid Repetitive Opening Switch For Inductive
Storage Systems And Protection Of DC Circuits,” In Proc. Ieee Power Modulator Symp.
High-Voltage Workshop, 2002, Pp. 612–615.

[4] C. Meyer, M. Kowal, And R. W. De Doncker, “Circuit Breaker Concepts For Future
High-Power DC-Applications,” Inproc. Ieee Ind. Appl. Soc. Conf., 2005, Vol. 2, Pp.
860–866. 1418 Ieee Transactions On Power Electronics, Vol. 32, No. 2, February 2017

[5] A. Shukla And G. D. Demetriades, “A Survey On Hybrid Circuit-Breaker

Topologies,” Ieee Trans. Power Del., Vol. 30, No. 2, Pp. 627–641, Apr. 2015.

[6] D. Salomonsson, L. Soder, And A. Sannino, “Protection Of Low-Voltage DC

Microgrids,”Ieee Trans. Power Del., Vol. 24, No. 3, Pp. 1045–1053, Jul. 2009.

[7] J. Candelaria And J. D. Park, “Vsc-HvDC System Protection: A Review Of Current

Methods,” Inproc. Ieee Power Energy Soc. Power Syst. Conf., Mar. 2011, Pp. 1–7. [8]
P. Nuutinen, P. Peltoniemi, And P. Silventoinen, “Short-Circuit Protection In A
Converter-Fed Low-Voltage Distribution Network,” Ieee Trans. Power Electron., Vol.
28, No. 4, Pp. 1587–1597, Apr. 2013.

[9] I. A. Gowaid, G. P. Adam, A. M. Massoud, S. Ahmed, D. Holliday, And B. W.

Williams, “Quasi Two-Level Operation Of Modular Multilevel Converter For Use In A
High-Power DC Transformer With DC Fault Isolation Capability,”Ieee Trans. Power
Electron., Vol. 30, No. 1, Pp. 108–123, Jan. 2015.

[10] P. M. Mcewan And S. B. Tennakoon, “A Two-Stage DC Thyristor Circuit

Breaker,”Ieee Trans. Power Electron., Vol. 12, No. 4, Pp. 597–607, Jul. 1997.

81
[11] C. Meyer And R. W. De Doncker, “Solid-State Circuit Breaker Based On Active
Thyristors Topologies,”Ieee Trans. Power Electron., Vol. 21, No. 2, Pp. 450–458, Mar.
2006.

[12] R. Cuzner And G. Venkataramanan, “The Status Of DC Micro-Grid Protection,”

Inproc. Ieee Ind. Appl. Soc. Annu. Meet., Pp. 1–8, Oct. 2008

. [13] J. D. Park And J. Candelaria, “Fault Detection And Isolation In Lowvoltage DC-
Bus Microgrid System,”Ieee Trans. Power Del., Vol. 28, No. 2, Pp. 779–787, Apr.
2013.

[14] R. Schmerda, R. Cuzner, R. Clark, D. Nowak, And S. Bunzel, “Shipboard Solid-

State Protection: Overview And Applications,”Ieee Electrif. Mag., Vol. 1, No. 1, Pp.
32–39, Sep. 2013.

[15] J. Magnusson, R. Saers, L. Liljestrand, And G. Engdahl, “Separation Of The

Energy Absorption And Overvoltage Protection In Solid-State Breakers By The Use Of
Parallel Varistors,”Ieee Trans. Power Electron., Vol. 29, No. 6, Pp. 2715–2722, Jun.
2014.

[16] K. Sano And M. Takasaki, “A Surgeless Solid-State DC Circuit Breaker For

Voltage-Source-Converter-Based HvDC Systems,”Ieee Trans. Ind. Appl., Vol. 50, No.
4, Pp. 2690–2699, Jul./Aug. 2014.

[17] Z. Miao, G. Sabui, A. Chen, Y. Li, Z. J. Shen, J. Wang, Z. Shuai, A. Luo, X. Yin,
And M. Jiang, “A Self-Powered Ultra-Fast DC Solid State Circuit Breaker Using A
Normally-On Sic Jfet,” Inproc. Ieee Appl. Power Electron. Conf. Expo., Mar. 2015, Pp.
767–773.

[18] K. A. Corzine And R. W. Ashton, “A New Z-Source DC Circuit Breaker,” In Proc.

Ieee Int. Symp. Ind. Electron., Bari, Italy, Jul. 2010, Pp. 585–590.

[19] K. A. Corzine And R. W. Ashton, “Structure And Analysis Of The Z-Source

MvDC Breaker,” Inproc. Ieee Electr. Ship Technol. Symp., Alexandria Va, Usa, Apr.
2011, Pp. 334–338.

[20] A. H. Chang, A. Avestruz, S. B. Leeb, And J. L. Kirtley, “Design Of DC System

Protection,” Inproc. Ieee Electr. Ship Technol. Symp., Apr. 2013, Pp. 500–508.

82
[21] P. Prempraneerach, M. G. Angle, J. L. Kirtley, G. E. Karniadakis, And C.
Chryssostomidis, “Optimization Of A Z-Source DC Circuit Breaker,” In Proc. Ieee
Electr. Ship Technol. Symp., Apr. 2013, Pp. 480–486.

[22] K. A. Corzine, “DC Micro Grid Protection With The Z-Source Breaker,” Presented
At The Ieee Industrial Electronics Conf., Vienna, Austria, Nov. 2013.

[23] A. Overstreet, A. Maqsood, And K. A. Corzine, “Modified Z-Source DC Circuit

Breaker Topologies,” Presented At The Ieee Clemson Power Systems Conf., Clemson,
Sc, Usa, Mar. 2014.

[24] A. Maqsood and K. A. Corzine, “The z-source breaker for ship power system
protection,” presented at the IEEE Electric Ship Technologies Symp., Alexandria VA,
USA, Jun. 2015.

[25] A. H. Chang, B. R. Sennett, A. Avestruz, S. B. Leeb, and J. L. Kirtley, “Analysis

and design of DC system protection using z-source circuit breaker,”IEEE Trans. Power
Electron., vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 1036–1049, Feb. 2016

[26] A. Maqsood and K. A. Corzine, “Z-source breakers with coupled inductors,”

presented at the IEEE Energy Conversion Congress Expo., Montreal, Canada, Sep.
2015.

[27] J. Magnusson, R. Saers, and L. Liljestrand, “The commutation booster, a new

concept to aid commutation in hybrid DC-breakers,” presented at the Cigr´ e Symp.
HVDC, Lund, Sweden, May 2015.

[28] Y. Liu, X. Wei, C. Gao, and J. Cao, “Topological analysis of HVDC circuit breaker
with coupling transformer,” inProc. IEEE Int. Conf. DC Microgrids, Jun. 2015, pp. 129–
134.

[29] K. A. Corzine, “Circuit breaker for DC micro grids,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. DC
Microgrids, Jun. 2015, pp. 221–221c.

[30] E. Kontos, S. Rodrigues, R. Teixeira Pinto, and P. Bauer, “Optimization of limiting

reactors design for DC fault protection of multi-terminal HVDC networks,” inProc.
IEEE Energy Convers. Congr. Expo., 2014, pp. 5347–5354.

83