Experimental Study of Single Core Configurations of Saturated Iron Core Fault Current Limiter

The high growth in electrical power demand, the inception of distributed generation, and the interconnection of grid networks contributed to an increase in system fault current. At places in the world, it reached an extent where the protection from this detrimental short circuit current became highly challenging. The circuit breaker’s available capacities and interruption capacity requirements have no margins. Researchers across the world are following the development of enabling technology in terms of Fault Current Limiter(FCL). Saturated Core Fault Current Limiter (SCFCL) is the most commercially viable, cost-effective, reliable, and scalable FCL technology option that can enhance the service life of protective gears in the power networks. In this paper, the two single-core configurations of SCFCL viz. Double AC Winding Model(DWM) and Single AC Winding Model(SWM), have been experimentally explored to investigate and contrast their conduct. Though the peak short circuit current is observed to be clipped significantly by SWM, the voltage drop across the device under normal conditions for designated bias has been noted to be substantially high. The bias design requirement in the case of SWM as a current limiter is critical and subjected under the compulsive constraint of insertion voltage drop in the development of FCL.