Impact of Inhomogeneities in HTS Coated Conductors for Resistive FCLs

Several issues remain to be addressed for the commercial development of ResistiveFault Current Limiters based on superconducting technologies (RFCL). In particular, the inhomogeneity of high temperature superconducting coated conductors (HTS-CC) combined with the diffculty to predict RFCLs behaviour when interfaced with the existing electrical grid represents an important bottleneck that limits their competitiveness on the electrical market. In order to study the influence of the local inhomogeneity of the HTS tape on the global effective performance of an RFCL, a modular equivalent circuit model has been developed using SimPowerSystemsTM. The model implements an inhomogeneity distribution based on statistical data and takes into account the thermal conduction between different zones of the HTS-CC. It has been calibrated with experimental measurements and finite element simulations. The model can be used to study various scenarios common to power systems, such as transformer in-rush currents, motor starts, etc.