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Faults in LVDC Microgrids With Front-End Converters: G G DCN G G G

The document discusses trends in current during a ground fault on the DC side of a system with the neutral point of the MV/LV transformer grounded. Figure 3.72 shows the trend of ground fault current Ig, which reaches around 1600A for a fault resistance of 1 mOhm, despite the IGBTs blocking. Figure 3.71 shows the trend of the AC current Iac1, which does not change compared to a short circuit. The ground fault current depends on the fault resistance, with lower resistances producing higher fault currents that could damage diodes. Protective devices are required to mitigate faults.

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21 views1 page

Faults in LVDC Microgrids With Front-End Converters: G G DCN G G G

The document discusses trends in current during a ground fault on the DC side of a system with the neutral point of the MV/LV transformer grounded. Figure 3.72 shows the trend of ground fault current Ig, which reaches around 1600A for a fault resistance of 1 mOhm, despite the IGBTs blocking. Figure 3.71 shows the trend of the AC current Iac1, which does not change compared to a short circuit. The ground fault current depends on the fault resistance, with lower resistances producing higher fault currents that could damage diodes. Protective devices are required to mitigate faults.

Uploaded by

alvin me
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Figure 3.70b – Trend of Isw2 current during a ground fault on DC side in Figure 3.

igure 3.72 – Trend of Ig during a ground fault on DC side in systems with


systems with the neutral point of the MV/LV transformer grounded with the neutral point of the MV/LV transformer grounded without ESS and PV

3 Fault analysis
IGBT block, without ESS and PV plant and with Rg = 50 mΩ plant and with Rg = 1 mΩ
300 2000

1800
200
1600

1400
100
1200

1000
Isw2 [A]

Ig [A]
800
-100 600

400
-200
500
0
-300 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65
t [s] t [s]

In particular, the loss of FEC control is more likely in the


Figure 3.71 – Trend of Iac1 current during a ground fault on DC side in sys- installations where the exposed conductive parts are con-
tems with the neutral point of the MV/LV transformer grounded with IGBT nected to a protective grounding system that is the same
block, without ESS and PV plant and with Rg = 50 mΩ
as the operational grounding (e.g. industrial plants and
1400
large commercial users having their own transformation
1200
substation), since, in that case, impedance of the fault
1000
ring is usually very low (of mΩ order).
800 On the contrary, in low voltage installations where the
protective grounding system is distinct from the opera-
Iac1 [A]

600

400
tional, since the grounding system has been designed
according to the relation:
200
120
0 ≤ [3.7]
-200

-400
the grounding resistance can exceed the value for which
0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 the converter loses the control.
t [s]
To sum up, Figure 3.73 depicts the DC ground fault
Considering a bolted ground fault with Rg = 1 mΩ, we current values Ig as a function of the fault resistance Rg.
obtain a DC component of Ig (Figure 3.72) equal approxi- As we can see, with the decrease of Rg, the fault current
mately to 1600A (≈ 13 times Idcn), albeit IGBTs are blocked. may reach values even higher than 14 times the FEC
Such fault current value may jeopardize the integrity of nominal current on the DC side Idcn.
the freewheeling diodes. As a result, protective devices are required.
Compared to the bolted short circuit between the DC
Figure 3.73 - DC component values of the ground fault current Ig as a func-
poles, now the transient current peak due to the Cdc dis- tion of the fault resistance Rg in systems with the neutral point of the MV/
charge is lower, because now the discharge impedance LV transformer grounded (FEC contribution, Idcn = 125 A)
is not only Rsc, but it is equal to the sum Rg + Z/3 (where 2000
Z is the total AC grid equivalent impedance). Neverthe- 1800
less, now, the steady-state value of the fault current 1600
is higher by more or less 30% than the steady-state
1400
value in bolted short circuit condition (≈ 10 times Idcn):
1200
this is because the AC inductances do not create imped-
1000
ance to the DC component of the ground fault current
Ig [A]

800
flowing through the ground connection of the MV/LV
transformer neutral point. 600

On the contrary, since a short circuit can be seen like an 400

additional “low resistance load”, the Iac1 waveform does 200

not change (Figure 3.32) and then the AC grid contribution 0


is more limited by the inductive reactance. 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001
Rsc [Ω]

Faults in LVDC microgrids with front-end converters 33

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