DC Series Arc Fault Detection Method for Multi-terminal DC Microgrid Using Sensors Error Compensation

A DC series arc fault refers to a specific type of electrical fault that occurs in a DC system. DC arc faults have some unique characteristics and challenges. Unlike AC arcs, which naturally extinguish due to the alternating current waveform, DC arcs are sustained and can be more difficult to detect and mitigate. In this paper, a method is proposed based on the sensor’s error compensation to detect the series arc fault. Firstly compensation is provided to all voltage and current sensors by exploiting the characteristics of the sensors. Finally, normal conditions, series arc faults, and sudden changes in load are segregated by observing the change in voltage. The proposed protection scheme’s robustness is evaluated for various fault locations under a variety of microgrid operational scenarios. The proposed method is implemented in MATLAB/ SIMULINK on a 5-bus DC microgrid. The test results show that the proposed system is able to identify and classify faults accurately.