Model of HTS three-phase saturated core fault current limiter

A small (several hundred watts) model of a three phase saturated core HTS fault current limiter (FCL) was developed and tested. Iron yokes of all three phases were saturated by a single DC HTS coil. The coil comprised a 60 turns single pancake (ID 135 mm), wound after heat treatment from Bi-2223 multifilamentary tape in Ag matrix. The critical current of the pancake in liquid nitrogen was 8 A. The tests have shown that the limiting value of the AC current (at 50 Hz) can be easily adjusted in the range from 8 A to 20 A depending on the value of the DC current in the HTS coil. The optimum value of the latter is 4 A, corresponding to the 8 times increase of the differential resistance in the current limiting mode. The response time is very short (less that 1 ms). Under tests the short-circuiting event was made in one, two and all three phases. The case of short-circuiting of one phase in the three-phase FCL is especially favorable from the standpoint of the voltages induced in HTS coil compared to the one-phase FCL.