A Hybrid Switch based Arcless Voltage Regulator

摘要

For almost 80 years, step-type voltage regulators have used tap changing mechanisms which arc under oil during tap changes. Although this approach has proven itself over the years and has been well accepted in the utility industry, there are significant advantages to eliminate the arcing nature of these tap changers and improve the reliability and life time of the voltage regulators. This paper first reviews the development of the arcless technology for distribution voltage regulators. A new power electronic assisted arcless voltage regulator is proposed by using a hybrid switch configuration which utilizes both electromechanical and power-electronic switching devices. A silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) gating approach and a novel control method are proposed to provide a cost-effective gate driver and enable SCR to be used for eliminating arc in voltage regulators. The proposed method requires minimum changes to the existing step voltage regulator and increases the number of electrical operations and life time of the traditional voltage regulators.