Medium Voltage Direct Current Disconnect Switch Design

Hepburn and Sons LLC, teamed with Florida State University Center for Advanced Power Systems (FSU CAPS) and Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC), proposes to prototype, validate, and optimize a family of medium voltage direct current (MVDC) disconnect switches and associated switchgear based on Thomson coil topology actuator design. Shipboard MVDC distribution does not exist in the U.S. Navy fleet, but there is significant advantage. The protection of such a system is of critical importance to the feasibility of the system design as well as to the safety of personnel. The team proposes an advanced modeling and simulation approach to further develop the appropriate DC disconnect switch design selected during Phase I to meet the U.S. Navy’s needs. Existing Navy protection systems can detect and locate single line to ground faults on a given phase, but a second ground fault on a separate phase causes a line-to-line fault which trips breakers and removes power from downstream loads. Isolating an initial single ground fault can mitigate the risk of double faults and loss of power to mission critical equipment.