Transient DC Over-Voltage Protection for ITER PF AC/DC Converter

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) poloidal field (PF) AC/DC converters are composed by thyristor-based phase controlled converter modules. As the core component of ITER PF AC/DC converter, the thyristor is very sensitive to over-voltage and damaged in microseconds, therefore, the transient over-voltage protection strategy is desperately essential to ensure the converter safety operation. In this paper, a nanosecond respond and high reliability protection strategy which combined by Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV) and external bypass is proposed to protect the ITER PF AC/DC converter from transient DC over-voltage. The MOV is designed to certify the fast respond in nanosecond. Moreover, a bidirectional BreakOver Diode (BOD) circuit board is designed to activate external bypass to ensure the reliability of the transient DC over-voltage protection strategy. The performance-testing platform is built to study its performance. The experiments on ITER PF AC/DC converter test facility are carried out. According to the experiment results, the external bypass is triggered by BOD board effectively and the load current is transferred to the external bypass in 2 us when BOD suffers from an over-voltage. The effectiveness of the proposed transient DC over-voltage protection strategy is verified.

Study on Life Model of MOV Based on Multiple Parameters and Surge History

With the advance of intelligent operation and maintenance in china railways, the requirement of condition monitoring and remaining life prediction for lightning protection equipment has become increasingly urgent. MOV(Metal Oxide Varistor) is the key component of railway surge protector, and it is necessary to study the description model of its degradation process. The output of the model that uses a single parameter to characterize degradation is more prone to contingency, and cannot truly and fully reflect the life state of the MOV. The degradation of MOV is a cumulative effect, and its life model should consider the surge history information. In view of the above problems, a prediction model of the residual life value of MOV is given by combining various degradation related parameters and surge history. Firstly, nine degradation related parameters are fused to construct degradation core. Then, the degradation core and surge history are fused through Markov chain to build a life model of MOV. Then, the model is calibrated with experimental data. Finally, the model is validated and analyzed by experiments. The model can describe the degradation process of MOV more comprehensively and accurately, and can predict the residual life value at the same time, and it has potential application in the life assessment of surge protective devices.

Development and Verification of Indirect Lightning-Induced Transient Protection Circuit for Avionics System

In this paper, an indirect lightning-induced transient protection circuit for avionics system is proposed, and its effectiveness is verified. The proposed circuit consists of a metal oxide varistor (MOV), a transient voltage suppression (TVS) diode, and a resistor. Compared with the conventional circuits (MOV or TVS diode), the improved noise suppression of the proposed circuit against indirect lightning strikes are experimentally verified in accordance with radio technical commission for aeronautics (RTCA) DO-160G Sec. 22. The highest attenuation levels of indirect lightning strike WF5A reference voltage and current signals are approximately 91.0% and approximately 98.4% for the input lightning signals, respectively.

Mathematical Model Predicting the Heat and Power Dissipated in an Electro-Conductive Contact in a Hybrid Woven Fabric

Electro-conductive (EC) yarns can be woven into a hybrid fabric to enable electrical current to flow through the fabric from one component A to another component B. These hybrid fabrics form the bases of woven e-textiles. However, at the crossing point of an EC yarn in warp and in weft direction, there is a contact resistance and thus generation of heat may occur in this area. Both phenomena are inseparable: if the contact resistance in the EC contact increases, the generated heat will increase as well. Predicting this electrical and thermal behavior of EC contacts in hybrid woven fabrics with stainless steel yarns is possible with a mathematical model based on the behavior of a metal oxide varistor (MOV). This paper will discuss in detail how this can be achieved.