Arrangement, system, and method of interrupting current

An arrangement for interrupting current comprising a first and a second terminal, at least a first, a second, and a third parallel circuit branch arranged between the first and second terminals, the arrangement being adapted to electrically connect two sections of a power system,

• the first parallel circuit branch comprising a mechanical main circuit breaker,
• the second parallel circuit branch comprising an energy absorbing device, and
• the third parallel circuit branch comprising a resonant circuit and a voltage control means arranged in series with the resonant circuit,
• wherein the voltage control means is a static voltage source converter comprising a DC voltage source having low internal impedance and providing a dc voltage between its terminals that is independent of the currents in all branches, together with a semiconductor arrangement which, by control in real-time, modifies the voltage inserted in series with the resonant circuit to achieve at least two of the alternative values:
• the dc voltage with positive polarity, the dc voltage with negative polarity or, zero when the dc voltage is bypassed,
• wherein the voltage in the dc voltage source in the voltage source converter is at least one order of magnitude lower than the voltage across the energy absorbing device in the second parallel circuit branch, when energy is being absorbed, and
• wherein the first and third parallel circuit branches are permanently connected in parallel to establish a loop having low impedance at the resonance frequency of the resonant circuit, when the main breaker is mechanically closed and during the arcing while the contacts are parting, and
• wherein the static voltage source converter is controllable in use to inject energy into the resonant circuit in the low-impedance loop, established by the parallel connection between the first parallel circuit branch and the third parallel circuit branch, to, independent of the main current (I), force a rapid increase of the amplitude of an alternating current (Io) during several consecutive oscillation cycles, as the mechanical main circuit breaker is being controlled to open to interrupt a main current (I), and whereby zero cross-over of the current through the mechanical main circuit breaker is realized as the alternating current amplitude exceeds the main current amplitude.