An apparatus includes a mechanical switch and a solid-state switch, such as a diamond switch or antiparallel-connected thyristor pair, coupled in series between an AC source and the load, such as a substation input transformer. The control circuit may be configured to connect the AC power source to the load by closing the mechanical switch and turning on the solid-state switch thereafter. The control circuit may be configured to interrupt a connection of the AC source to the load by turning off the solid-state switch and closing the mechanical switch thereafter. Operations of the switches may be coordinated with a fuse coupled in series with the solid-state switch to address different types of fault conditions.

A thyristor bridge of an electrical converter is connected to at least one DC link and including at least one phase leg for each output phase and each phase leg being composed of two series-connected thyristor arms. The thyristor arms of a thyristor bridge are cyclically switched by: determining an upper bound for a firing angle of a thyristor arm, wherein the upper bound is determined from voltage and current measurements; and determining a firing angle for the thyristor bridge, which firing angle determines a switching time of the thyristor arm, wherein the firing angle is determined, such that it is less or equal to the upper bound.

A power supply according to the present disclosure includes: a step-down circuit which has at least one pair of positive/negative step-down switching elements; at least one pair of positive/negative inductors to which voltage is applied via the step-down switching element, and one pair of positive/negative output capacitors which are connected in series and charged by electrical current passing through the inductor, and steps down input voltage and then outputs; an inverse-conversion circuit which has a plurality of inverse-conversion switching elements, and inverse-converts output voltage of the step-down circuit into alternating current; and a control circuit which controls switching of the plurality of step-down switching elements so that the output voltage of the step-down circuit becomes a desired voltage.

An apparatus includes a mechanical switch and a solid-state switch, such as a diamond switch or antiparallel-connected thyristor pair, coupled in series between an AC source and the load, such as a substation input transformer. The control circuit may be configured to connect the AC power source to the load by closing the mechanical switch and turning on the solid-state switch thereafter. The control circuit may be configured to interrupt a connection of the AC source to the load by turning off the solid-state switch and closing the mechanical switch thereafter. Operations of the switches may be coordinated with a fuse coupled in series with the solid-state switch to address different types of fault conditions.

An apparatus includes a mechanical switch and a solid-state switch, such as a diamond switch or antiparallel-connected thyristor pair, coupled in series between an AC source and the load, such as a substation input transformer. The control circuit may be configured to connect the AC power source to the load by closing the mechanical switch and turning on the solid-state switch thereafter. The control circuit may be configured to interrupt a connection of the AC source to the load by turning off the solid-state switch and closing the mechanical switch thereafter. Operations of the switches may be coordinated with a fuse coupled in series with the solid-state switch to address different types of fault conditions.

A power conversion device that suppresses voltage pulsation of a capacitor of a power converter with respect to a control target whose effective power is to be controlled is provided. The power conversion device includes a plurality of power conversion cells that are connected to each other, and convert a primary-side system voltage into a secondary-side system voltage, a capacitor that is connected to each of the plurality of power conversion cells, and a power conversion cell driver that drives the power conversion cells to add a 3N order higher-harmonic-wave voltage of each of alternating voltages of the plurality of power conversion cells to the each of alternating voltages, and output a voltage made by adding the each of alternating voltages and the 3N order higher-harmonic-wave voltage, when N is a natural number.

A power conversion device that suppresses voltage pulsation of a capacitor of a power converter with respect to a control target whose effective power is to be controlled is provided. The power conversion device includes a plurality of power conversion cells that are connected to each other, and convert a primary-side system voltage into a secondary-side system voltage, a capacitor that is connected to each of the plurality of power conversion cells, and a power conversion cell driver that drives the power conversion cells to add a 3N order higher-harmonic-wave voltage of each of alternating voltages of the plurality of power conversion cells to the each of alternating voltages, and output a voltage made by adding the each of alternating voltages and the 3N order higher-harmonic-wave voltage, when N is a natural number.

A power conversion apparatus connectable in parallel to a second power conversion apparatus includes circuitry that generates a carrier wave, generates a pulse signal synchronized with the carrier wave, generates power that is based on a width of the pulse signal, obtains a monitor value corresponding to a circulating current circulating between the power conversion apparatus and the second power conversion apparatus, and based on the monitor value obtained while the power conversion circuitry is generating driving power, changes a period of the carrier wave to decrease the circulating current.

An energy conversion system includes a low-impedance generator having at least one armature winding set. The armature winding set includes a plurality of single-phase coils. The system also includes a current source converter assembly electrically coupled to an armature of the generator. The current source converter assembly includes at least one current source converter that includes a current source rectifier coupled to a current source inverter via a DC link and at least one capacitor across the plurality of single-phase armature coils. The capacitor(s) of the current source converter(s) is configured to absorb high frequency components of current pulses generated by the current source converter so as to minimize current ripple in a current applied to the plurality of single-phase coils.

A thyristor starter accelerates a synchronous machine from a stop state to a predetermined rotation speed by sequentially performing a first mode of performing commutation of an inverter by intermittently setting DC output current of a converter to zero and a second mode of performing commutation of the inverter by induced voltage of the synchronous machine. In the thyristor starter, during a first time period from start of performance of the second mode to arrival of the induced voltage of the synchronous machine at a first voltage value, a phase control angle of the inverter is changed such that a value thereof becomes larger as a rotation speed of the synchronous machine becomes higher.