A coupling method of the superconducting devices modeled by finite element method with the lumped parameters electrical circuit

Superconducting devices have been widely studied over these years. Their application can be found in cables for electric power transmission, energy storage systems, magnetic levitation, electric machines, and fault current limiters. The literature presents some formulations to model the superconductors' behavior using the finite element method (FEM), such as the H, the AV, and the T formulations, among others. Many superconducting devices have been simulated and designed using some of these formulations. However, none method available offers a coupling between an electric power system, simulated using electrical lumped parameters, to the superconducting FEM model. In this context, this work introduces a methodology for coupling superconducting devices in FEM to lumped parameters composing the power system. Here, a case study with a Saturated Iron Core Superconducting Fault Current Limiter was presented to apply the proposed methodology. This research analyzes the influence of the self and external fields in the superconducting coil on its critical current density. Moreover, it investigates the DC-biased coil voltage drop and the superconducting resistance. Besides, the paper presents the simulations of short circuits for various DC currents applied to the superconducting coil. Short-circuit tests were performed for validating the simulation results, and it showed a maximum error of 15% for the compared points. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.