Experimental validation of an Ultra-Fast Medium Voltage UPS Utility Disconnect Switch

An ultra-fast Medium Voltage Utility Disconnect Switch (MV UDS) that can disconnect the utility grid in less than 1 ms enables fast and seamless power transfer and minimizes power quality disturbances to sensitive loads in manufacturing plants, datacenters, health care facilities, and microgrids. In this paper, we developed, simulated, and tested a modular, ultra-fast Medium Voltage UDS based on IGCTs with efficiency as high as 99.8%, for voltage ratings 3.3-15 kV and current ratings up to 1 kA. Experimental validation of a UDS module prototype based on series connection of IGCTs shows accurate voltage sharing between series connected devices during both dynamic and static conditions. Experimental validation at MV also shows that the proposed UDS technology can disconnect the utility grid source in less than 0.25 ms with a system inductance up to 1 mH and a system voltage of 3.3 kV per module.