The emitter turn-off thyristor-based DC circuit breaker

Abstract

The emitter turn-off (ETO) thyristor is a new MOS-controlled high-power switching device that has low conduction loss, fast switching speed, easy control and built-in current sensing capability. These advantages make the ETO a very attractive power device to use in pulse width modulation (PWM) power converter and circuit breaker applications. This paper presents the first ever analysis and design of an ETO-based DC circuit breaker. A 1.5-kA/2.5-kV DC circuit breaker prototype is built and tested. The experimental results show that the ETO-based circuit breaker has fast switching speed and compact structure, and is therefore well suited to power system applications.