ELECTRICAL FAULT CURRENT LIMITER

A NEED EXISTS FOR A LOW COST ELECTRICAL FAULT CURRENT LIMITER EXHIBITING VERY LOW VOLTAGE DROP UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS WHICH WILL REACT IN NEAR INSTANTANEOUS FASHION TO AN OVERCURRENT CONDITION AND BE SELF HEALING; I.E. REVERT TO THE NORMAL STATE AUTOMATICALLY WHEN THE FAULT IS REMOVED. A PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO: (1) DEVELOP CIRCUIT DESIGNS UTILIZING POWER FET DEVICES AS THE CURRENT HANDLING SWITCH FOR BOTH DC AND AC POWER SYSTEMS, (2) DEVELOP SUITABLE GATE BIAS AND CURRENT SAMPLING CIRCUITRY, (3) DEVELOP MODULAR CIRCUIT CONFIGURATIONSTO EXTEND THE CURRENT HANDLING CAPABILITY TO INCLUDE 5000 AMP POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, (4) EXPLORE MEANS OF PROVIDING "SOFT START" CAPABILITY FOR LOADS EXHIBITING HIGH CURRENTS ON "TURN-ON." THIS WILL ENABLE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS TO OPERATE MUCH CLOSER TO MAXIMUM CAPACITY WITHOUT RISK OF LOSING POWER TO VITAL LOADS, (5) FABRICATE PROTOTYPE DEVICES AND CONDUCT TESTS TO DETERMINE FAULT DETECTION AND RECOVERY TIMES, AND (6) PREDICT THE PRODUCTION COST OF TYPICAL DEVICES. THE RESULTS WILL BE ANALYZED TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF CARRYING THE PROGRAM INTO A PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PHASE. THE RESULTS OF THIS ANALYSIS WILL BE DOCUMENTED IN A FINAL REPORT.