ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPACT OF DC SERIES ARC FAULT ON BOOST CONVERTER

Abstract

Due to recent development in highly efficient power electronics components and modern advanced control techniques, the expansion of DC power distribution systems is rapidly increasing in electric power grids and other isolated systems. It is rapidly growing in different applications such as dc microgrids, hybrid and electrical vehicle, renewable and distributed generation, more electric aircraft, etc. To fully exploit the advantages of the DC power system, protection of such system becomes crucial. DC voltage and current don’t have repetitive zero crossings like in the AC system when the fault occurs. This makes difficult in the detection and localizing of these dc arc faults. If not detected and extinguished in time, arc faults cause fire hazards and jeopardized the system operation. Moreover, many tightly regulated power electronics systems are an integral part of the system and facilitate the different voltage and current requirements of the loads connected to it. These power electronics units behave as constant power loads (CPLs) and exhibit a negative incremental impedance due to its dynamic and nonlinear nature. It is important to study and analyze the response of the CPL and its controller to arc faults which would help in detecting and localizing these faults more accurate and faster.The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of the dc series arc fault on constant power load and provide meaningful insight into the CPL behavior under the fault. In this study, a complete nonlinear dynamic model of the CPL system under dc series arc fault is presented using the controlled voltage source model of the arc.MATLAB/Simulink and PLECS are used to present a detailed simulation model and related simulation results. Nonlinear system analysis is also carried out of the presented model. Finally, in order to verify the model and circuit operation further, a real-time simulation platform OPAL-RT OP4510 is used for experiments as a controller and the results are captured with a Tektronix DPO4045B oscilloscope.