Fault Interruption and Protection Coordination in

Converter Interfaced Distribution Systems

Li Qi Marco Carminati Marco Riva
Corporate Research Center Low Voltage Products EP MV Products Technology Center
ABB Inc. ABB S.p.A ABB S.p.A
Raleigh, NC 27606, U. S. A. Bergamo, Italy Italy
lisa.qi@us.abb.com marco.carminati@it.abb.com marco.riva@it.abb.com

Abstract—Today and future distribution systems have facilitate the synchronization when AC microgrids are
converters connecting various sources and loads to distribution interconnected to the main AC distribution system.
networks. The converters have great impacts on fault protection.
Protection of power electronics converters requires fast fault In the AC microgrid as Figure 1(a), the sources and loads
current interruption for protecting semiconductor switches. If of variable frequency AC and DC are connected to the AC bus
fault currents are limited by converters in some cases, the by interfacing converters. In the DC microgrid as Figure 1(b),
traditional distribution protection based on high fault current all sources and loads require interfacing converters to be
and energy may be revised. Protection coordination among fast connected to the DC bus. For the easiness of component
and slow protective devices of different tripping criteria at design and system control, the voltage of the DC bus is fixed
different fault conditions should be ensured for selectivity. with limited variations. Regulating DC/DC converters are
utilized by the DC sources to control the DC bus voltage.
Index Terms—distribution, converter, fault interruption,
protection coordination.

I. INTRODUCTION
The trend of distribution systems is facing the challenge to
integrate more and more Distributed Energy Resources
(DERs), including renewables and energy storages. The
renewables and energy storages most installed at customer
ends are PV solar panels, batteries, and fuel cells. Interfacing
converters are employed to connect DERs to distribution
networks. With more and more DERs located close to
customers, many microgrids are physically or virtually formed
by neighboring sources and loads in distribution systems.
These microgrids can be operated independently or
interconnected with other microgrids depending on operation
conditions.
Design considerations of AC and DC distribution systems
and microgrids have been discussed in literature by many
researchers [1][2][3]. The conceptual diagrams of a typical
AC or DC microgrid are shown in Figure 1. The DC/DC
converter systems in the DC microgrid are highlighted in
Figure 1(b) since, unlike other components, they are still in
research development stage and there are no commercial
product available. An example of a future hybrid utility
distribution network integrating AC and DC microgrids at
distributed feeders is shown Figure 2. Converters can be used
to connect between microgrids to the AC distribution network. Figure 1. Conceptual diagrams of AC and DC microgrids
AC/AC converters may also be used by AC microgrids to
Since some converters have controllable switches on fault
paths, protection of a converter interfaced distribution system
can be implemented, in principle, by either converters or Different types of fault sources provide different fault
circuit breakers. Converters with fault current control current contributions. The sources can be AC fault sources,
capability can limit fault currents to low magnitudes or even such as generators and motors, DC fault sources, such as PV
reduce to zero. Low fault currents create challenges and issues generators and batteries, and energy storage components, such
in traditional high fault current and energy based distribution as capacitors and inductors at converter terminals. The fault
protection design. transients together with the device constraints determine the
fault interruption requirements. In the rest of this section, the
transient fault responses are analyzed for AC and DC
microgrids and the relevant impacts on the protection design
are investigated.

A. Converter interfaced AC microgrid

As shown in Figure 1(a), AC/AC converters and DC/AC
inverters connect variable speed AC and DC sources and loads
to the AC bus. DC/AC inverters are thus commonly used as
interfacing converters. A typical DC/AC inverter system is
illustrated in Figure 3. The use of LC filter is recommended at
the AC coupling points in order to provide required power
quality by the distribution network. The output transformer is
optional depending on whether galvanic isolation and/or
Figure 2. Conceptual diagram of a hybrid utility distribution system voltage transformation is required.
The fault interruption current level and speed in In order to investigate transient fault currents, a three-
distribution systems are essentially dominated by short circuit phase AC fault next to the output terminal of the inverter
withstands of protected power equipment and devices. Power system is staged. The output transformer is not included in the
electronics converters have much lower overcurrent and converter system model for simplification. Otherwise, the
thermal limits than conventional power equipment. Therefore, transformer saturation induced by high fault currents should
in the converter interfaced distribution systems, the short be included into the simulations since much higher fault
circuit withstands of power electronics switches become the currents may appear on the primary side.
fault interruption design constraints.
The simulated currents without any fault control are
The protection coordination in the converter interfaced measured at the fault location, inductor L, and IGBT1 and
distribution should be ensured for selectivity in order to shown in Figure 4. The total fault currents are the AC fault
minimize fault impacts. New protective devices, including currents by the source superimposing the discharging currents
converters and DC circuit breakers, are introduced into the by the LC filter. The filter capacitor discharges through
converter interfaced distribution system protection. Different downstream cables, but not the inverter. In real systems, the
protective devices have different response speeds and tripping discharging currents are limited by the inductances of the line
criteria, which results in issues in protection coordination and the transformer, where the impacts of the initial high
especially when slow response devices are installed discharging currents normally are considered in their design.
downstream of fast response devices. Adaptive protection
coordination may be adopted at different fault conditions due From Figure 4, the fault currents through the inverter cause
to the changes of network configuration and fault locations. the inverter breakdown since the maximum current of a
commercial IGBT is normally two times of its nominal
This paper discusses the fault protection of converter current. The three-phase AC fault currents flowing through the
interfaced distribution systems. Following an overview of inverter can be estimated by (1)-(3). VAC is the phase voltage
converter interfaced AC and DC distribution systems in magnitude. α is the initial phase angle. i0 is the initial fault
Section I, section II will describe the impacts of the converters current. As indicated by (4), the required fault interruption
on fault interruption methods and speed requirement. speed is the minimum time required by the three phase fault
Protection coordination for selective protection in a hybrid AC currents reaching the IGBT’s overcurrent limit - two times of
and DC distribution system will be discussed in section III the nominal current I0.
and, finally, some conclusions are drawn in section IV.
i A (t ) = I F sin(ω s t + α − −ϕ ) + (i0 A − I F sin(α − ϕ ))e −t / τ (1)
II. IMPACTS OF CONVERTERS ON FAULT INTERRUPTION
⎛ 2 ⎞ ⎛ ⎛ 2 ⎞⎞
Fault interruption is a part of the complete fault protection iB (t ) = I F sin⎜⎜ ω s t + α − π − ϕ ⎟⎟ + ⎜⎜ i0 B − I F sin⎜⎜ α − π − ϕ ⎟⎟ ⎟⎟e −t / τ (2)
process. As soon as the fault happens, the fault current start ⎝ 3 ⎠ ⎝ ⎝ 3 ⎠⎠
rising. At the fault interruption, the fault current starts to
decrease. The fault current transients are required to derive the ⎛ 2 ⎞ ⎛ ⎛ 2 ⎞⎞
iC (t ) = I F sin⎜⎜ ωs t + α + π − ϕ ⎟⎟ + ⎜⎜ i0C − I F sin⎜⎜α + π − ϕ ⎟⎟ ⎟⎟e −t / τ (3)
critical specifications (interruption level and speed) of fault ⎝ 3 ⎠ ⎝ ⎝ 3 ⎠⎠
interruption. If fault currents flowing through power
electronics converters, the fault current interruption level and V AC ⎛ω L⎞ L
where I F = , ϕ = arctan⎜⎜ s ⎟⎟ , τ = .
speed are constrained by the overcurrent and thermal limits of R2 + X 2
R
⎝ ⎠ R
the converters.
 ΔT = min{T A , TB , TC } (4) If the converter control limits fault currents to certain
overload magnitudes, then conventional circuit breakers or
where TA, TB, and TC are derived from 2I 0 = i A (T A ) , fuses downstream coordinate to interrupt the fault currents.
2I 0 = i B (TB ) , and 2I 0 = iC (TC ) . The converters upstream should have FRT (Fault Ride
Through) capability since it can take conventional circuit
breakers or fuses several milliseconds to open at low fault
currents. Considering the long reaction time of the overload
protection, the fault currents have to be less than the
overcurrent limit in order to stay within the thermal limit of
the inverter. In addition, long time delays should be inserted
into the converter backup protection if the downstream
breakers or fuses fail to open. Therefore, one concern of
implementing the converter fault limiting is the converters
need to be over designed in order to let through sufficient fault
Figure 3. An AC/DC inverter system for AC distribution energy to open the conventional breakers or fuses. A special
2000
case is the fault currents from solar PV generation systems are
limited by solar PV cells. Therefore, only 1.2 times of the
(A)

0
nominal current appear as fault currents from solar PV
Fault

generation may not provide enough fault current or energy for

iA

-2000
the conventional breakers or fuses to open.
0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
The above implementation concerns highlight the benefit
2000 of the availability of revised breaker designs in the converter
interfaced distribution protection if the converter can limit
iABC (A)

0 fault current below its nominal current but above zero. Since
L

the fault currents are limited by the converters, the revised

-2000 breaker does not require fast operation or high fault tolerance
0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 but should
1000 • allow new and adaptive tripping criteria, such as under
voltage at different thresholds, defined by fault features;
(A)

0
IGBT1

-1000 • be controllable to open according to new tripping criteria.

Unlike the conventional MCCB (Molded Case Circuit
iA

-2000
0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 Breaker), MCBs (Miniature Circuit Breakers), and fuses,
Time (s)
the opening of the circuit breaker does not rely on high
Figure 4. Fault currents without any fault control fault current or energy;
In fact, the conventional DC/AC inverter in Figure 3 is • be able to coordinate with conventional electro-
capable of the fault current control because the controllable mechanical circuit breakers or fuses placed in the rest of
IGBTs are on fault paths at AC faults. The fault currents AC distribution.
flowing through the source inverters can be limited before the
With this revised circuit breaker design controllable to be
overcurrent limits of the IGBTs are reached. Successfully
opened by the new tripping criteria other than the
limiting fault current by controlling the IGBTs have been
conventional overcurrent, the fault currents are allowed to be
demonstrated [4][5]. Conventional circuit breakers or fuses are
limited to be less than nominal current, but above zero. In this
used for fault current interruption if the fault currents are
way, some fault features, such as the current directions, are
limited to values above nominal currents. No-load
kept for fault identification while the converters do not need to
disconnectors are used if fault currents are reduced to zero
be overdesigned or shut down.
because galvanic isolation is required by fault protection
according to industrial standards. B. Converter interfaced DC microgrid
The fault interruption speeds required by (4) should be As shown in Figure 1(b), converters are implemented
satisfied by different converter fault current control system wide as interfacing devices between all components
technologies. Especially, the converter limiting fault current to and the DC bus. In DC distribution, different sources have
zero is required to address the following issues: different fault current features and thus lead to different fault
interruption requirements. Generally speaking, much faster
• the loss of selectivity: all upstream converters
DC fault current interruption is required by DC distribution
experiencing high fault currents respond to high fault
protection than AC, where AC fault currents rise following
currents by turning off their switches;
their inherent 50Hz or 60Hz frequency. High speed fault
• the reduced system reliability: all upstream converters interruption is especially required by DC distribution
shut down and need to be restarted and reconnect, which protection since
increases the system downtime.
• DC fault sources and capacitors have high current energy with the inductor without enough damping. When the
derivatives from several tens of amperes to several capacitor voltage drops to zero, the discharging current is still
hundreds of ampere per microsecond; high but the diodes start conducting since the voltage on the
inductor is reversed. The current of the inductor commutes to
• The high DC fault currents flow through power the diodes as the indicated path (2). Similar capacitor
electronics equipment. discharging transients also exist in conventional DC/DC boost
Among all types of fault sources, capacitors have the highest and buck converters as shown in Figure 6.
fault current derivatives and are thus the main contributors to Figure 7 shows the simulated voltage and current of the
the first peak in DC fault currents. capacitor C as well as the currents of the inductor L and the
rectifier diodes at the initial fault stage. The fault currents
from the AC generation are negligible at this stage. When the
capacitor voltage drops to zero, high fault currents start to
flow through the diodes. The high capacitor discharging
currents can cause damages: 1) to the equipment on the
discharging path during its current rising stage; or 2) to the
converter at the moment when the current is commuted to the
diodes. Therefore, the required fault interruption time is
decided by the time either when the maximum allowable
overcurrent limit of protected equipment is reached or when
the capacitor voltage drops to zero, whichever is shorter as
Figure 5. Fault current paths of the capacitor of a conventional rectifier shown by (5). With the current derivative of the capacitor
discharging is approximated by VDC/L, the time to reach the
maximum fault current is derived from (6). The time of the
capacitor voltage dropping to zero is calculated by (7).
{
Δ T = min Δ T1 , ΔT2 } (5)

( I max − I 0 ) × L
Δ T1 = (6)
V DC

π −β
ΔT 2 = (7)
ω
Figure 6. Fault current paths of the capacitors of DC/DC converters
1 R δ
where ω = −δ 2 , δ = , and β = arctan .
x 10
4
LC 2L ω
6
V
C Unlike the conventional inverter used in AC microgrids,
4 I
C most conventional converters used in DC microgrids are not
Voltage (V) or Current (A)

I
L capable of fault interruption since there is no controllable
2 3*I
diode
switch on fault paths. Different converter fault current limiting
and bypassing methods in DC distribution have been proposed
0 in a previous work [6][7]. In summary, although converters
can be used, fast DC circuit breakers are highly desirable for
-2
system protection in converter interfaced DC distribution
[6][7][8]. Main advantages of using ultrafast solid state DC
-4
circuit breakers over converters for DC fault protection are
-6 • protection selectivity can be ensured;
0.2 0.2 0.2001 0.2001 0.2002
Time (s)
• conventional low cost converters, instead of specially
Figure 7. Simulated voltage and currents of capacitor, inductor, and diodes
designed high cost converters with fault current control
capability, can be installed;
As shown in Figure 1(b), AC and DC components are • high discharging currents from the capacitors at converter
connected to the DC network through AC/DC rectifiers and terminals can be interrupted;
DC/DC converters. The discharging transients of the terminal
capacitors at DC faults are studied by dedicated simulations. • improve reliability can be achieved with less downtime
Figure 5 shows the fault current paths of the capacitor of a since converters do not need to be shut down or restarted
typical two-level AC/DC rectifier. The capacitor first as well as the minimum fault impacts by selectivity.
discharges through the cable as the indicated path (1). If the
L
total resistance R is lower than 2 , the capacitor exchanges
C
 III. PROTECTION COORDINATION purposes are inevitable. In the hybrid AC and distribution
As mentioned in section I, in future, AC and DC system as shown in Figure 2, the downstream and upstream
microgrids eventually form a hybrid distribution system as positions of protective devices are relative and reversible if the
illustrated in Figure 2. An appropriate protection coordination power flow directions are reversed. Careful attention should
should be able to identify and selectively isolate the faults be paid to the protection coordination whenever there are fast
within a microgrid as well as the faults between different devices at upstream and slow devices at downstream.
microgrids. As previously introduced in section II, converters, Different thresholds may be selected according to different
conventional AC circuit breakers, fuse, controllable circuit fault currents. Different time delays may be selected according
breakers and DC circuit breakers can all be used to protect the to different fault conditions. Extra communications between
equipment and devices in this hybrid distribution system. The protective devices and the rest of the system may be needed to
example implementation of these protective devices are shown obtain the system configurations and thus determines
in Figure 2. corresponding protection settings. It is also desirable to
replace the conventional electro-mechanical circuit breakers
The mixed use of different protective devices bring to and fuses by smart protective devices capable of adjusting
different fault protection speeds, which is mainly attributed by tripping characteristics at different situations.
different protection coordination methods and device turning-
off speeds. With the same overcurrent protection, the IV. CONCLUSIONS
operative responses of the protective devices rank from fast to The future smart and flexible grid will increase the needs
slow as of converters to interface various types of sources and loads in
• the converters in the range of tens of microseconds; distribution systems. The paper introduces design
considerations for fast fault interruption and protection
• the DC circuit breakers in the range from several coordination highlighting the requirements by the new grid
microseconds up to a few milliseconds [3]; architectures, specifically by the converters. Traditional
distribution protection design principles, such as high fault
• the controllable circuit breakers described in section II up
current and energy for tripping and protection coordination,
to several milliseconds;
should be revised. Fault protection can be achieved by actively
• the traditional electro-mechanical breakers up to tens of controlling fault currents using certain converters with fault
milliseconds. current limiting function and the revised circuit breakers.
Different speed protective devices using different tripping
In general, if a fast protective device is placed at the upstream criteria should cooperate for selective protection. The
of a slow protective device, then the fast response of the protection coordination among different devices at various
upstream protective device may lead to its opening at a smart grid operation conditions should be carefully calibrated
downstream fault. Time delays can be inserted into the fast and verified before implementation.
protective device upstream to solve the mismatching speeds.
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