Design of a bi-directional 600 V/6 kA ZVS hybrid DC switch using IGBTs

Severe arcing in DC switches can be prevented by hybrid switching techniques. In a ZVS hybrid switch, semiconductor devices are placed in parallel with a mechanical switch. The semiconductor devices form a current commutation path and perform the opening function. A 600 V/6 kA hybrid switch has been designed to demonstrate the hybrid switching technique. This hybrid switch is a bi-directional DC switch and uses zero voltage switching. In this paper, the design of the commutation circuit and the construction of the hybrid switch is presented. Experimental results are shown. The commutation circuit proves to prevent severe arcing in the mechanical switch. The prototype shows very fast interruption. The necessary interruption time at full load is 1.2 ms.