Introduction(Overview) :

Definition What is Surge current and where it happens: , faults can exceed the largest current
expected under normal load - the nominal current by a factor of 100 producing mechanical and thermal stresses in proportion to the square of the current's value

How it is different from other type of current Cause of surge current

Insulation damaged by aging, an accident or lightning strike can unloose immense fault currents, practically the only limit on their size (fault current) being the impedance of the system between their location and power sources

Type of surge current Type of surge current protection devices: What is needed is a device that normally
would hardly affect a power system during a fault and would hold surge current close to nominal value that is a fault current limiter. Until recently most fault current limiter concepts depend on mechanical means, on the detuning of L_C resonance circuit or use of strongly non -linear materials other than High Temperature super conditions (HTS). None is without drawbacks.

What is fault current Limiter : that under normal operating conditions have negligible influence on power system but in case of fault will limit the prospective fault current. A device of this kind is called fault current limiter.

Properties of fault limiters: According to the accumulated intelligence of many utility experts, an ideal fault current limiter would: (i) Have zero impedance throughout normal operation (ii) Provide sufficiently large impedance under fault conditions (iii) Provide rapid detection and initiation of limiting action within less than one cycle or 16ms.
(iv) Provide immediate (half cycle or 8ms) recovery of normal operation after clearing of a fault. (v) Be capable of addressing low faults within a period of 15 seconds. Ideal limiters would also have to be compact, light weight inexpensive, fully automatic, and highly reliable besides having long life.

History: In the past, the customary means of limiting fault current have included artificially raising impedance in the system with air-coil rectors or with high stray impedance of transformers and generators or splitting power-grids artificially to lower the number of power sources that could feed a fault current. But such measures are inconsistent with today's demand for higher power

quality, which implies increased voltage stiffness and strongly interconnected grids with low impedance.

What is superconductor: Superconductors lose their electrical resistance below certain critical
values of temperature, magnetic field and current density.

Superconductors have the ability to conduct electricity without the loss of energy. When current flows in an ordinary conductor, for example copper wire, some energy is lost. In a light bulb or electric heater, the electrical resistance creates light and heat. In metals such as copper and aluminum, electricity is conducted as outer energy level electrons migrate as individuals from one atom to another. These atoms form a vibrating lattice within the metal conductor; the warmer the metal the more it vibrates. As the electrons begin moving through the maze, they collide with tiny impurities or imperfections in the lattice. When the electrons bump into these obstacles they fly off in all directions and lose energy in the form of heat. Figure (3) is a drawing that shows atoms arranged in a crystalline lattice and moving electrons bouncing off the atoms that are in their way. Inside a superconductor the behavior of electrons is vastly different. The impurities and lattice are still there, but the movement of the superconducting electrons through the obstacle course is quite different. As the superconducting electrons travel through the conductor they pass unobstructed thro ugh the complex lattice. Because they bump into nothing and create no friction they can transmit electricity with no appreciable loss in the current and no loss of energy. The ability of electrons to pass through superconducting material unobstructed has puzzled scientists for many years. The warmer a substance is the more it vibrates. Conversely, the colder a substance is the less it vibrates. Early researchers suggested that fewer atomic vibrations would permit electrons to pass more easily.However this predicts a slow decrease of resistivity with temperature. It soon became apparent that these simple ideas could not explain superconductivity. It is much more complicated than that. The understanding of superconductivity was advanced in 1957 by three Americ an physicists-John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and John Schrieffer, through their Theories of Superconductivity, know as the BCS Theory. The BCS theory explains superconductivity at temperatures close to absolute zero. Cooper realized that atomic lattice vibrations were directly responsible for unifying the entire current. They forced the electrons to pair up into teams that could pass all of the obstacles which caused resistance in the conductor. These teams of electrons are known as Cooper pairs.Cooper and his colleagues knew that electrons which normally repel one another must feel an overwhelming attraction in superconductors. The answer to this problem was found to be in phonons, packets of sound waves

present in the lattice as it vibrates. Although this latt ice vibration cannot be heard, its role as a moderator is indispensable.

Properties of Superconductor Type of superconductor:

Super conductors are of two types-high temperature superconductors (HITS)

and low temperature superconductor (LTS). The HTS are substances that lose all resistance below temperature maintainable by liquid nitrogen. LTS are substances that lose all resistivity close to 4k, a temperature attainable only by using liquid helium. Cost of cooling LTS (which are mostly metals, alloys and intermettalics) makes their use in many applications commercially impractical. HTS material available are all made of bismuth (BSCCO) or yttrium-cup rate (YBCO). So far, various types of SCFLS have been developed (resistance, shield core type, hybrid etc.). The SCFCL offers efficient advantages to power system and opens up a major application for superconducting materials.

Working of superconductor as a fault limter: Super conductors because of their sharp

transition from zero resistance at normal currents to finite resistance at higher current densities are tailor made for use in fault current limiters. Equipped with proper power controlled electronics, a super conducting limiter can rapidly detect a surge and taken and can also immediately recover to normal operation after a fault is cleared.

Implementation of superconductor as a fault limiter RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN STANDARDS FOR SUPERCONDUCTORS. Advantage Disadvantage Future scope Application(where) Conclusion Reference