Experimental Tests of DC SFCL under Low Impedance and High Impedance Fault Conditions

DC system protection is more challenging than that for AC system due to the rapid rate of rise of the fault current and absence of natural current zero-crossing in DC systems. Superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) in DC systems is a promising technology to reduce the fault current level and the rate of rise of the fault current, and also SFCLs have no resistance during normal operation. In this paper, the behaviors of an SFCL coil are investigated under both low impedance and high impedance fault conditions in DC systems. In the low impedance fault condition system, the SFCL coil performs effective limitation of the fault current level under different prospective fault current levels. The application of SFCLs with limited inductance in the DC system can be a potential solution to effectively suppress the fault current under low impedance short-circuit faults. The SFCL coil under the high impedance fault condition can only limit the prospective fault current when it is much higher than the critical current of the coil

Hybrid Power System Topology and Energy Management Scheme Design for Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft

The electrification of the aviation industry is a major challenge to realizing net-zero in the global energy sector. Fuel cell (FC) hybrid electric aircraft (FCHEV) demonstrate remarkable competitiveness in terms of cruise range and total economy. However, the process of simply hybridizing different power supplies together does not lead to an improvement in the aircraft economy, since a carefully designed power system topology and energy management scheme are also necessary to realize the full benefit of FCHEV. This paper provides a new approach towards the configuration of the optimal power system and proposes a novel energy management scheme for FCHEA. Firstly, four different topologies of aircraft power systems are designed to facilitate flexible power flow control and energy management. Then, an equivalent model of aircraft hydrogen consumption is formulated by analyzing the FC efficiency, FC aging, and BESS aging. Using the newly established model, the performance of aircraft can be quantitatively evaluated in detail to guide FCHEA design. The optimal aircraft energy management is realized by establishing a mathematical optimization model with the reduction of hydrogen consumption and aging costs as objectives. An experimental aircraft, NASA X-57 Maxwell, is used to provide a detailed performance evaluation of different power system topologies and validate the effectiveness of the energy management scheme. The new approach represents a guide for future power system design and energy management of electric aircraft.</p

Integration of Superconducting Fault Current Limiter and DC Circuit Breaker for Electric Aircraft DC Network

Large-scale electric aircraft are a promising technology that could revolutionise air travel to reduce the environmental impact. Fault current limitation and interruption technology is crucial to realise the safety and reliability of the electric aircraft, in particular for large-scale electric aircraft using a DC distribution network. This paper proposes to integrate a resistive superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) with a cryogenic DC solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) so that the SFCL limits the fault current to acceptable levels in DC networks allowing the SSCB to operate quickly and reliably. A sub-cooled liquid nitrogen cryostat, which can be controlled from 65 K to 77 K, is designed and built for the integration of SFCL and DC SSCB. An SFCL and SSCB prototype is designed and experimentally tested at cryogenic temperatures, which successfully demonstrates the ability to limit and interrupt currents at cryogenic environment

Gate Driver Design for Cryogenically Cooled Power Electronic Converters

This article explores the design and experimental validation of an isolated half-bridge DC-DC converter customized for cryogenic environments, addressing the challenges posed by extreme low temperatures. The key contribution lies in the adoption of the isolated half-bridge topology which ensures exceptional output voltage stability with a simplified structure. By leveraging this innovative design, a rigorous design process for the selection of critical components is employed to ensure the stable performance and reliability at cryogenic environment. The performance of the designed isolated DC-DC converter and practical challenges are investigated experimentally at a cryogenic temperature. The results contribute valuable insights to the converter design in extreme temperature environments, promising advancements in the field of cryogenic power electronics.</p