Short-circuit and ground fault analyses and location in VSC-based DC network cables

Jin Yang, John Fletcher, John O'Reilly

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    The application of high-power voltage-source converters (VSCs) to multiterminal dc networks is attracting research interest. The development of VSC-based dc networks is constrained by the lack of operational experience, the immaturity of appropriate protective devices, and the lack of appropriate fault analysis techniques. VSCs are vulnerable to dc-cable short-circuit and ground faults due to the high discharge current from the dc-link capacitance. However, faults occurring along the interconnecting dc cables are most likely to threaten system operation. In this paper, cable faults in VSC-based dc networks are analyzed in detail with the identification and definition of the most serious stages of the fault that need to be avoided. A fault location method is proposed because this is a prerequisite for an effective design of a fault protection scheme. It is demonstrated that it is relatively easy to evaluate the distance to a short-circuit fault using voltage reference comparison. For the more difficult challenge of locating ground faults, a method of estimating both the ground resistance and the distance to the fault is proposed by analyzing the initial stage of the fault transient. Analysis of the proposed method is provided and is based on simulation results, with a range of fault resistances, distances, and operational conditions considered.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article number5959977
    Pages (from-to)3827-3837
    Number of pages11
    JournalIEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
    Volume59
    Issue number10
    Early online date21 Jul 2011
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2012

    Bibliographical note

    © 2012 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.

    Keywords

    • fault analysis
    • fault location
    • multiterminal dc network
    • voltage-source converter (VSC)

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Short-circuit and ground fault analyses and location in VSC-based DC network cables'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this