Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.

Abb Schweiz Ag

Abb Hochspannungstechnik Ag

Michael Steurer

Lukas Graber

Christopher Widener

Samantha Smith

Kurt Kaltenegger

Walter Holaus

Klaus Fr&ouml;hlich

Yanjun Shi

Fang Peng

Thomas Baldwin

Sastry Pamidi

Chul Han Kim

Samuele Sartori

Sanghun Kim

Qichen Yang

Mark Stanovich

Yuan Li

James Langston

Yan Pan

Peter Cheatham

Paulo Silveira

Karl Schoder

Paulo Ribeiro

A direct current (DC) hybrid circuit breaker (HCB) includes a current sensor and a variable inductor. In the event of a short circuit fault current reaches a preset threshold, the current sensor will send a tripping signal to a controller, and the controller will command the gate drivers to conduct all the switches in the semiconductor switch path. This action will allow the fault current to be commuted to the power stack. When the current in a fast mechanical switch branch drops to near zero, the variable inductor will be driven out of the saturation and the secondary winding will send out a 'safe-to-open' signal to the controller. After receiving the “safe-to-open” signal, the controller will initiate the turn off sequence of the fast mechanical switch path.

Direct current hybrid circuit breaker with reverse biased voltage source

In examples, provided are leadless power couplers that include (1) a thermal insulating system having an outer wall and an inner wall, (2) a first electrically conductive winding located outside the thermal insulating system, where the first electrically conductive winding is configured to create a varying magnetic field, (3) a plurality of second electrically conductive windings located inside the thermal insulating system and configured to couple to the varying magnetic field, the plurality of second electrically conductive windings being superconductors, (4) a plurality of cryogenic rectifiers, each cryogenic rectifier being coupled to a respective second electrically conductive winding in the plurality of second electrically conductive windings, and (5) a plurality of cryogenic cables coupled between respective outputs of the plurality of cryogenic rectifiers and respective loads.

Systems and methods for leadless power coupling for cryogenic environments

Within a direct current hybrid circuit breaker (DC HCB), a capacitance is provided in a semiconductor switch path in series with a semiconductor switch and the semiconductor switch is in parallel with a surge arrestor to facilitate opening the DC HCB. The semiconductor switch path is connected in parallel with a mechanical switch path that includes a mechanical switch. The circuit causes the current through the mechanical switch to ramp down while the current through the semiconductor switch ramps up to a supply current. The mechanical switch can open without current and against no recovery voltage.

Within a direct current hybrid circuit breaker (DC HCB), a commutation unit (CU) is provided in a semiconductor switch path in series with a semiconductor switch to facilitate opening the DC HCB. The semiconductor switch path is connected in parallel with a mechanical switch path that includes a mechanical switch. The CU is a controlled voltage source which applies a reverse biased voltage on the semiconductor switch path. The CU causes the current through the mechanical switch to ramp down while the current through the semiconductor switch ramps up to a supply current. The CU maintains the current through the mechanical switch to remain at a zero vale by compensating for the voltage drop across the semiconductor switch and the self-inductance of the semiconductor switch path. The mechanical switch can open without current and against no recovery voltage.

A controller hardware in the loop (CHIL) interface is disclosed. The CHIL interface comprises software and hardware that redirects a signal flow, including modulation signals and measurements exchanged between controller logic and a power electronics converter (PEC), to a CHIL port. Accordingly, the CHIL port provides access to the controller logic, at a digital level, throughout phases of the controller's lifetime (i.e., design, installation, maintenance, upgrade). Thus, the CHIL interface facilitates the use of PEC simulators for testing. The CHIL interface can detach the actual PEC from the control logic so testing can be performed with or without an operating PEC and can avoid the need for dedicated and error prone signal conditioning circuitry that is external to the controller.

Interface for power systems

An ultrafast electromechanical switch having a drive mechanism comprising three non-movable contacts, an actuator and two movable contacts. The switch further including a switching chamber to provide a self-contained environment that may consist of a high-pressure gas or a vacuum and one or more precision adjustment screws coupled to the non-movable contacts for adjusting the contact pressure. The provided ultrafast electrical (e.g., transfer, disconnect, etc.) switch is simple, compact, clean, exhibits ultralow loss, does not require high energy to operate and is capable of being automatically reset.

Ultrafast electromechanical disconnect switch having contact pressure adjustment and switching chamber

An ultrafast electromechanical switch having a drive mechanism comprising two non-movable contacts connected to electrical feedthroughs, one actuator and one movable contact. The provided ultrafast electrical (e.g., transfer, disconnect, etc.) switch is simple, compact, clean, exhibits ultralow loss, does not require high energy to operate and is capable of being automatically reset.

Ultrafast single actuator electromechanical disconnect switch

An ultrafast electromechanical switch having a drive mechanism comprising three non-movable contacts, an actuator and two movable contacts. The switch further including one or more precision adjustment screws coupled to the non-movable contacts for adjusting the contact pressure. The provided ultrafast electrical (e.g., transfer, disconnect, etc.) switch is simple, compact, clean, exhibits ultralow loss, does not require high energy to operate and is capable of being automatically reset.

Ultrafast electromechanical disconnect switch having contact pressure adjustment

An ultrafast electromechanical switch having a drive mechanism comprising three non-movable contacts, an actuator, two movable contacts and a first and second mounting plate forming an elliptical shell configuration about said actuator. The switch further including a switching chamber to provide a self-contained environment that may consist of a high-pressure gas or a vacuum and one or more precision adjustment screws coupled to the non-movable contacts for adjusting the contact pressure. The provided ultrafast electrical (e.g., transfer, disconnect, etc.) switch is simple, compact, clean, exhibits ultralow loss, does not require high energy to operate and is capable of being automatically reset.

Ultrafast electromechanical disconnect switch having elliptical shell surrounded actuator

An ultrafast electrical (e.g., transfer, disconnect, etc.) switch that is simple, compact, does not require high energy to operate, ultralow loss, clean, and capable of being automatically reset. The invention includes a fast electromechanical switch having a drive mechanism integrated into the switching chamber. The integration of the drive mechanism into the switching chamber provides faster contact travel and therefore a faster switching operation. Additionally, the switching chamber is a self-contained environment that may consist of a high-pressure gas or a vacuum. The invention further includes an ultrafast disconnect switch. The invention generally is an integrated piezoelectric-actuator-based mechanical switching mechanism. The mechanism has a central piezoelectric actuator that extends to pull contacts inwards in order to obtain two disconnects within a millisecond or less. Surrounding the piezoelectric actuator is a polymer insulating shell and beyond the shell is the metallic conductor.

Ultrafast electromechanical disconnect switch

A torque damper motor connected to the output side of a mechanical gear system. The damper motor, along with its associated control system, mitigates backlash problems, reduced torsional resonance, and provides improved output torque control. In the preferred embodiment, the damper motor is powered by a power electronics-based variable speed drive. The damper motor can be significantly less powerful than the overall rating of the gear system (typically 5-10% of the overall rating) while still providing the enhanced performance.

Damping motor and control approach for mitigating torsional backlash, damping critical geartrain speeds, and providing improved torque control in mechanical gears

A method for locating phase to ground faults in DC distribution systems. The method includes utilizing wavelet analysis using Multi-Resolution Analysis (MRA) as a signal processing tool for recognition of characteristic features in the voltage signal. The voltage signal contains characteristic information in the high frequency range above the switching frequencies of the PE converters which allows for localization of the fault.

Method for locating phase to ground faults in DC distribution systems

A method of controlling the effective impedance of a low-impedance high-temperature superconducting cable ('HTS cable'). Passive or active control circuitry is used to create a current in the shielding conductor of the HTS cable which opposes the current in the primary conductor. In the case of a three-phase conductor, magnetic cross-coupling between the phases is exploited. The magnitude of the magnetic field is used to alter the HTS cable's effective impedance. The result is the creation of a controlled and substantially-higher effective impedance for the HTS cable. The creation of the higher impedance allows the HTS cable to be connected in parallel with conventional lines while regulating the amount of current flowing through the HTS cable.

Method of controlling effective impedance in a superconducting cable

The switching point in a high- or medium-voltage switch contains two fixed contact members ( ), a rotating, electrically conductive bridging contact member ( ), and a drive for moving the bridging contact member ( ). When the switching point is closed, the bridging contact member ( ) is fit in between the fixed contact members ( ) and short-circuits them. The drive is composed of two coils ( ) which surround the bridging contact member ( ) and are arranged in such a manner that the bridging contact member ( ) can be caused to rotate by a current in a respective one of the coils. The energy which needs to be applied to rotate the bridging contact member is less than for contact members which move in translation in comparable switching points. The energy required for opening and closing the switching point is thus reduced.

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Crawfordville, FL, United States of America

Michael Steurer