CAREER: Smart Protection for DC Power Systems: Distributed and Proactive Approach

这个CAREER项目的目标是为直流电源系统的保护提供智能解决方案，这是阻止直流电源系统广泛使用的主要障碍之一。直流电力系统由于其提供的许多优点而重新受到关注，例如容易的可再生能源集成，高效率的长距离传输，以及与电力电子转换器的简单接口。已经研究了包括具有分布式发电机的微电网、大容量电力传输和低压配电系统在内的应用。与已经取得相当大进步的直流系统的控制方面相比，系统保护一直是一个挑战。本项目的研究将解决直流电力系统的保护问题，这将有助于加强直流电力系统的这一重要方面，并可能在各种应用中产生影响。这项研究的成果将通过演讲和出版物传播，并可以很容易地利用与其他方面的分布式和/或可持续能源应用使用直流电源产生协同效应，对整体系统的可靠性提高。此外，这个职业生涯项目将在学术和经济上支持研究生，并培养他们为下一代多学科研究人员和工程师做好准备。虽然直流电力系统的优点是巨大的，但这些系统的保护方面也提出了许多挑战，例如有效地打破直流电弧，自主定位微电网内的故障，直流保护设备，当然还缺乏标准，指南和经验。虽然交流系统的保护技术有着悠久的历史和成熟度，但由于直流电源的非交流特性和快速动态特性，很难将其直接应用于直流系统。因此，直流电力系统的保护需要采取与现有交流技术完全不同的方法。此外，复杂的现代电力系统需要更多的智能操作。在该CAREER项目中，将采用分布式和主动式方法，因为该项目旨在提供具有快速故障电流中断、准确故障定位和基于各种系统参数的分布式决策的保护框架。保护框架的发展将包含快速反应和基于多层面情报的复合决策的综合组成部分。该CAREER项目的成功实施将有助于利用直流电源的现代电力系统的实施。这些活动将产生多学科研究和教育影响，并将先进的人工智能，控制和通信技术应用于电力和能源系统领域。

The goal of this CAREER project is to provide intelligent solutions for the protection of DC power systems, which is one of the major barriers that prevent the wide usage of DC power systems. DC power systems have received renewed attention due to a number of advantages they offer such as easy renewable energy resource integration, high-efficiency long distance transmission, and simpler interface with power electronics converters. Applications including microgrids with distributed generators, bulk power transmission, and low-voltage distribution systems have been investigated. Compared to the control aspects of DC systems that have made sizable progress, system protection has always been a challenge. The research in this project will address protection issues for DC power systems, which will contribute to strengthen this important aspect of DC power systems and can have impact in various applications. The outcomes of this research will be disseminated through presentations and publications and can be readily utilized in conjunction with other aspects of distributed and/or sustainable energy applications using DC power to generate synergistic effects on overall system reliability improvement. Furthermore, this CAREER project will academically and financially support graduate students and nurture them to prepare them as part of the next generation of multidisciplinary researchers and engineers. The project will also provide ample research opportunities to undergraduate students.While the advantages of DC power systems are great, the protection aspects of these systems have posed many challenges such as effectively breaking a DC arc, autonomously locating a fault within a microgrid, DC protective equipment, and certainly the lack of standards, guidelines and experience. Although protection technology for AC systems has a long history and maturity, it is difficult to directly apply these to DC systems because of the non-alternating nature and fast dynamics of DC power. Hence, the protection of DC power systems needs to take a fundamentally different approach than that of existing AC technologies. Furthermore, complex modern power systems need more intelligence for their operation. In this CAREER project, a distributed and proactive approach will be taken as the project aims to provide a protection framework with swift fault current interruption, accurate fault location, and distributed decision-making based on various system parameters. The protection framework development will contain integrated components for fast responses and compound decisions based on multi-dimensional intelligence. The successful execution of this CAREER project will contribute to the implementation of modern power systems that take advantage of DC power. The activities will result in multidisciplinary research as well as educational impacts, and will provide interesting and useful applications of advanced artificial intelligence, control and communication technologies to the power and energy system area.