Modular Bidirectional Solid-State DC Circuit Breaker for Next-Generation Electric Aircrafts

• Published in: IEEE journal of emerging and selected topics in power electronics Vol. 10; no. 5; pp. 5486 - 5497
• Main Authors: Raghavendra, I. Venkata, Banavath, Satish Naik, Ajmal, C. N. Muhammed, Ray, Anindya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.10.2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Aircraft; Aircraft electric power system (EPS); Capacitors; Circuit breakers; Circuit design; Circuit faults; Circuits; Commutation; counter-current commutation; dc circuit breaker (DCCB); dc distribution; Electric power distribution; Electric power systems; Electrical loads; Fly by wire control; High current; Inductors; Interruption; modular DCCB; Modular structures; Modules; Power electronics; Solid state; solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB); Thyristors; transportation electrification; Transportation industry; Voltage
• ISSN: 2168-6777; 2168-6785
• DOI: 10.1109/JESTPE.2022.3176929

The design of electric power systems (EPSs) for the aviation industry has become a major research area to reduce the global annual CO2 emission caused by the transportation sector. DC power distribution is envisaged to meet the high load demand of more-electric and all-electric aircraft power architectures. Nonetheless, the development of dc distribution is significantly impeded by the challenges associated with dc system protection. Aircraft EPS demands high speed and high current protection. Among various dc circuit breaker (DCCB) technologies, solid-state dc circuit breakers (SSCBs) operate at higher speeds. To make them withstand high current ratings, modular structured DCCBs with the highest power density, reliability, and bidirectional fault interruption capability are presented in this article. The existing DCCBs fail to comply with the design constraints such as faster response, high current breaking, and compact design. This article proposes a coupled inductor-based modular bidirectional SSCB that employs the magnetic coupling principle for counter-current commutation of thyristors. The proposed modular SSCB exhibits a fast fault interruption time of approximately 200 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mu \text{s} </tex-math></inline-formula>. The analysis, design, and experimental validation of the proposed SSCB are presented in detail. Each module in the prototype is designed for a system rating of 270 V/15 A. The performance of this SSCB for single- and two-module operations is experimentally verified for a 270-V/20-A dc system.