IGBT Fuses for Protection Against Explosion in Voltage Source Converters

The consequences of electrical faults can be severe; not only to the equipment, but also in the worse case, to people if safety principles are not observed. Every year new applications based on DC-link Voltage Source Converters are added and the demand for protection of power electronics increases regarding the high-power IGBT modules. Due to the fact that the power level increases more energy is stored in the DC-link and even with an active protection, a high-power IGBT still has a risk of case rupture (explode) when a circuit failure condition occurs. A possible solution is a protection of the converter with standard High Speed Fuses or High Speed IGBT fuses. It is discussed that protection can be achieved by introduction of IGBT fuse located in the DC-link. Experiments show that explosion can be avoided by use of High Speed Fuse protection and the added inductance of standard High Speed- and IGBT Fuses in the DC-link is investigated. The current distribution in fuses is discussed when high frequency components are present in the load current. Further it is discussed how the extra cost for IGBT fuses may be balanced by ease of maintenance and less downtime of manufacturing equipment.