Short-circuit Protection for the Series-Connected Switches in High Voltage Applications

This paper presents the development of a short-circuit protection mechanism on a high voltage switch (HVS) board which is built by a series connection of semiconductor switches. The HVS board is able to quickly detect and limit the peak fault current before the signal board triggers off a gate signal. Voltage clamping techniques are used to safely turn off the short-circuit current and to prevent overvoltage of the series-connected switches. The selection method of the main devices and the development of the HVS board are described in detail. Experimental results have demonstrated that the HVS board is capable of withstanding a short-circuit current at a rated voltage of 10kV without a di/dt slowing down inductor. The corresponding short-circuit current is restricted to 125 A within 100 ns and can safely turn off within 120 ns.

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