Overcurrent Protection
AssigneeInstagrid GmbH
InventorsPhilipp Gutknecht, Jakob Gantenbein
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A protection circuit for protecting an electrical power system, including a current sensor configured to generate an electric signal wherein the current sensor has a measurement dynamic range; a rectifying module configured to generate a pulsating DC signal; a superimposing module configured to generate an expanded signal; a low-pass filter configured to shape the expanded signal to generate a band-limited signal; a logic module configured to generate a trip signal when the band-limited signal violates a predetermined threshold; wherein the trip signal is usable for cutting off the flow of the AC current. The present teachings also relate to related methods and software products.
Claims20
A protection circuit for protecting an electrical power system, wherein the protection circuit comprises:
- a current sensor operable to generate an electric signal by measuring an AC current flowing via the electrical power system;
- wherein the current sensor has a measurement dynamic range;
- a rectifying module operable to generate a pulsating DC signal in response to the electric signal;
- a superimposing module operable to generate an expanded signal;
- wherein the expanded signal is equal to or tracking the pulsating DC signal for the duration the pulsating DC signal is below a predetermined value, and wherein the expanded signal has a preselected value for the duration the pulsating DC signal is at or above the predetermined value;
- a low-pass filter configured to shape the expanded signal to generate a band-limited signal;
- and
- a logic module configured to generate a trip signal when the band-limited signal violates a predetermined threshold;
- wherein the trip signal is usable for cutting off the flow of the AC current, thereby bringing the electrical power system in a safe state.
A method for overcurrent protection for an electrical power system, the method comprising:
- measuring an AC current flowing via the electrical power system with a current sensor and generating an electric signal in response, wherein the current sensor has a measurement dynamic range;
- generating, via a rectifying module, a pulsating DC signal in response to the electric signal;
- generating, via a superimposing module, an expanded signal, wherein the expanded signal is equal to or tracking the pulsating DC signal for the duration the pulsating DC signal is below a predetermined value, and wherein the expanded signal has a preselected value for the duration the pulsating DC signal is at or above the predetermined value;
- generating, via a low-pass filter, a band-limited signal to shape the expanded signal;
- and
- generating, via a logic module, a trip signal when the band-limited signal violates a predetermined threshold, wherein the trip signal is used for cutting off the flow of the AC current, thereby bringing the electrical power system in a safe state.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions stored thereon, wherein, when executed by a processor, the programming instructions cause the processor to perform the steps of:
- measuring an AC current flowing via the electrical power system with a current sensor and generating an electric signal in response, wherein the current sensor has a measurement dynamic range;
- generating, via a rectifying module, a pulsating DC signal in response to the electric signal;
- generating, via a superimposing module, an expanded signal, wherein the expanded signal is equal to or tracking the pulsating DC signal for the duration the pulsating DC signal is below a predetermined value, and wherein the expanded signal has a preselected value for the duration the pulsating DC signal is at or above the predetermined value;
- generating, via a low-pass filter, a band-limited signal to shape the expanded signal;
- and
- generating, via a logic module, a trip signal when the band-limited signal violates a predetermined threshold, wherein the trip signal is used for cutting off the flow of the AC current, thereby bringing the electrical power system in a safe state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.