Low voltage fault current limiter

[deltawhy]

Hello,
I work in a consulting firm doing low voltage distribution design. A while back I had thought of an idea for a fault current limiting device using a saturable reactor. I immediately looked it up on the internet to see if it had been done already. Of course, it has, but only in high voltage applications. Since that I have been doing in depth feasibility studies and researching the best method in which to do this. I have concluded that it can be in fact a viable product and has a wide range of applications. With such an emphasis now on arc flash mitigation and safety it can definitely be marketable. I understand there are complications with utility coordination, incorporation in already approved switchgear (which wouldn't be necessary), fault detection relaying, etc. etc.
My question is: Has anyone seen a product by either big manufacturers or small companies that provides this limitation that they have used or readily spec? (keep in mind I do not mean current limiting breakers / fuses)


Thank you for your time.

 

[LiteYear]

Very interesting. I'm sure there's lots of intricacies involved in getting it to work in practice.

My colleague has done a little work on similar devices, but as you say, only in high voltage. The work was for American Superconductor - they might be worth some investigation if you haven't already done so:

http://www.amsc.com/gridtec/fault_current_limiters.html