Analysis of the influence of the normal zone propagation velocity on the design of resistive fault current limiters

Commercial high-temperature superconducting coated conductors (HTS-CCs) have low thermal diffusivity and nonuniform critical current density. These two factors lead commercial HTS-CCs to a partial quench when they are subjected to a transport current around their average critical current (I_c.av). The consequence is the appearance of localized resistive zones, and a high risk of thermal runaway can arise when HTS-CCs are used for resistive fault current limiter (RFCL) purposes. The enhancement of the normal zone propagation velocity (NZPV) of HTS-CCs is a desirable solution for achieving sufficient thermal stability while keeping the cost of RFCLs under an acceptable threshold. Even though in recent years, several valid methods to increase the NZPV have been proposed, their impact on the design of RFCLs is not clear. For this reason, we developed a one-dimensional numerical model that enables us to simulate HTS-CCs with enhanced NZPV and to study the limitation performance of a HTS-CC-based RFCL in real operating conditions. Our preliminary re sults demonstrate that the NZPV enhancement can effectively limit the needed amount of HTS-CCs with important economic benefits for the design of RFCLs. (paper)