Application of magnesium diboride in saturated core fault current limiters

A fault current limiter (FCL) is a nonlinear device with negligible impedance under normal conditions, which is able to switch to a high impedance state as soon as the current passing through it exceeds a given threshold. Among the various FCL topologies, saturated core fault current limiters have recently reached the demonstration phase in medium- to high-voltage networks. ASG Power Systems has assembled and tested a 36 kV rated saturated core type fault current limiter which uses superconducting solenoids to provide the saturating flux. The evolution and functionality of this implementation will be described here in detail