The integration of offshore wind farms has revitalized the interest in multi–terminal high voltage direct current (M–HVdc) transmission grids. HVdc breakers’ importance has increased as M–HVdc grids are now a commercial truth. Several HVdc circuit breaker technologies have been developed, published, and appeared as prototypes for HVdc networks. This paper summarizes the HVdc breaker technologies from the last two decades, distributed mainly in literature. A comparison of various state–of–the–art HVdc breakers is presented. Further, areas are identified where further research and development are required. The goal is to provide primary challenges and prospects in the HVdc breaker field.

Transmission lines are an important part of the power system, as they are the carriers of power from one end to another. In the event of a fault, the power transferring process is disturbed and can even damage the equipment, which is attached to the generation end as well as the user end. Most of the power systems are connected to the transmission lines, so it is very important to make the transmission lines secure. For protection purposes, relays are used, but relays only trip in the event of a fault and do not tell us about the location of the fault. The power system requires a speedy protection system. For a speedy protection system, quick and fast fault analysis and classification are required. An effective approach for the analysis of the transmission line with three sources is proposed. This method is quite effective and accurate for locating the fault and classifying its types. This technique needs power measurement from both ends simultaneously for fault diagnosis. Instantaneous power and sign power values are used for fault detection and classification. A voltage profile is used to identify the fault location. For three-phase transmission lines, voltage profiles are built up at different segment points to locate the fault. The IEEE-9 bus system is simulated for this technique. MATLAB is employed for simulation purposes. The test system is simulated with different types of faults at different locations. Relay operation has not affected the accuracy of the system. This technique has an accuracy of more than 97%. This method is quite effective for the analysis of power transmission lines. It can discriminate the fault type, identify the faulty phase of the line, and locate the point of the fault. Faults are located with errors not more than 0.45%. Moreover, the time difference between the actual fault and the calculated fault obtained from the estimated location is not more than 0.004 s. Simulations are claimed to be executed in less computational time, ensuring effective and rapid protection against faults.

One of the technical challenges that needs to be addressed for the future of the multi-terminal high voltage direct current (M-HVDC) grid is DC fault isolation. In this regard, HVDC circuit breakers (DCCBs), particularly hybrid circuit breakers (H-DCCBs), are paramount. The H-DCCB, proposed by the ABB, has the potential to ensure a reliable and safer grid operation, mainly due to its millisecond-level current interruption capability and lower on-state losses as compared to electromechanical and solid-state based DCCBs. This paper aims to study and evaluate the operational parameters, e.g., electrical, and thermal stresses on the IGBT valves and energy absorbed by the surge arrestors within H-DCCB during different DC fault scenarios. A comprehensive set of modeling requirements matching with operational conditions are developed. A meshed four-terminal HVDC test bench consisting of twelve H-DCCBs is designed in PSCAD/EMTDC to study the impacts of the M-HVDC grid on the operational parameters of H-DCCB. Thus, the system under study is tested for different current interruption scenarios under a (i) low impedance fault current and (ii) high impedance fault current. Both grid-level and self-level protection strategies are implemented for each type of DC fault.

Switched reluctance motor is acquiring major attention because of its simple design, economic development, and reduced dependability. These attributes make switched reluctance motors superior to other variable speed machines. The major challenge associated with the development of a switched reluctance motor is its high torque ripple. Torque ripple produces noise and vibration, resulting in degradation of its performance. Various techniques are developed to cope with torque ripples. Practically, there exists not a single mature technique for the minimization of torque ripples in switched reluctance motors. In this research, a switched reluctance motor is modelled and analysed. Its speed and current control are implemented through artificial neural networks. Artificial neural network is found to be a promising technique as compared with other techniques because of its accuracy, reduced complexity, stability, and generalization. The Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm is utilized in artificial neural networks due to its fast and stable convergence for training and testing. It is found from research that artificial neural network-based improved control shows better performance of the switched reluctance motor. Realization of this technique is further validated from its mean square error analysis. Operating parameters of the switched reluctance motor are improved significantly. Simulation environment is created in Matlab/Simulink.