Requirements and Comparisons of DC Circuit Breakers for HVDC Grids

Abstract

This paper focuses on several DC circuit breakers applied to multi-terminal HVDC transmission systems (HVDC grids), investigates their requirements, and compares their circuit design. Several DC circuit breakers are designed to fulfill their requirements, and quantitatively compared under common specifications. The comparison reveals that their operation delay causes the increase in breaking current, resulting in the increase in semiconductor bulb devices and breaking energy. The number of semiconductor bulb devices is also influenced by the configuration of surge arresters. Comparison of lifecycle costs between solid-state and hybrid circuit breakers is also shown. The result shows that the solid-state circuit breakers tend to be low cost if the average current utilization rate is low.