SERIES ARC FAULT CURRENT INTERRUPTERS AND METHODS

摘要

A circuit interrupter (10) for interrupting current on a line conductor (20) is provided. The circuit interrupter includes separable contacts (24), a trip mechanism (26), a bimetal (30), a microprocessor (12), a series arc detection sequence (14), a low-pass filter circuit (38), and a high-pass filter circuit (36). The trip mechanism selectively opens the separable contacts when activated. The series arc detection sequence is resident on the microprocessor and includes a plurality of series fault detection algorithms (72, 76, 80, 84). The low-pass filter circuit provides a low-pass signal (48) to the series arc detection sequence. The high-pass filter circuit provides a high-pass signal (46) to the series arc detection sequence. The sequence selects a particular algorithm from the plurality of algorithms based on the low-pass signal. The sequence calculates a plurality of statistical features from the high-pass signal and sends an output signal (54) to activate the trip mechanism based on a comparison of the plurality of statistical features to the particular algorithm.