Standard deviation based series DC arc detection method for voltage source converters

A series DC arc detection technique using standard deviation is proposed in this paper. In the occurrence of a series DC arc, the standard deviation of the average of the frequency band of the load current increases. This standard deviation is set as the indicator for arc detection in the proposed algorithm. The average of the specific frequency band of the load current, which is in a range of 5–40 kHz, is calculated for arc detection. After that, the standard deviation of the average value is obtained and used for arc detection. Load currents collected under various load conditions were used to verify the proposed technique. By comparing the proposed method with the conventional method using frequency components, it was found that the proposed method has a lower algorithmic complexity, and is effective in both centralized frequency and spread frequency fluctuations. In addition, the consistency of the proposed arc detection technique was superior to that of the conventional technique.