Design and Production of the ECCOFLOW Resistive Fault Current Limiter

The European project ECCOFLOW aims at a versatile resistive-type superconducting fault current limiter. For the first time, such a device will be tested at two different sites. The project partners have developed a superconducting fault current limiter design based on REBCO tapes with respect to the specifications provided by two hosting utilities. The limiter will operate at 1 kA at a rated voltage of 24 kV, and will be tested in both a busbar and a transformer feeder application. The design started with extensive investigations on the superconductor tape properties, especially with respect to the limitation behavior in all possible scenarios, and subsequent wide-range modeling of its in-grid behavior. The general integrated layout provides a limitation time of up to 1 s. The limiter is cooled using Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers to recondense the evaporated nitrogen. The present status of production and testing will be presented as well.