Universal Short-Circuit and Open-Circuit Fault Detection for an Inverter

Short-circuit and open-circuit faults of a power device in an inverter often lead to catastrophic failure of the entire system if not detected and acted upon within a few microseconds. While a significant amount of research has been done on the fast and accurate protection and detection of short-circuit faults, there has been less success corresponding to open-circuit faults. Common downfalls include protection and detection that is application specific, takes longer than a couple of microseconds, and is not cost-effective. This paper proposes a new open-circuit fault protection and detection system integrated with a preexisting desaturation protection short-circuit fault detection circuit. First, the operation principle of the newly proposed scheme is discussed. Second, the design consideration for such a scheme is detailed. Third, the scheme is verified through simulation under a case study. Results show the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed solution.