Switchgear and Protection

Unit II
Circuit Breakers & Fuses

[Link] Devi,
AP/EEE,
Thiagarajar College of Engineering.
 Circuit Breakers
• Circuit breaker is a mechanical switching device capable of making,
carrying and breaking currents under normal circuit conditions.
• Making, carrying for a specified time, and automatically breaking
currents under specified abnormal circuit conditions such as those
of short-circuits (faults).
• The function of a circuit breaker is to isolate the faulty part of the
power system.
Diagram of CB
Fixed and Moving contacts of the CB
LV MCB DEMO
[Link]
Fault clearing time of a CB
Relaying time:
• The relaying time for electromechanical relays can vary from about one cycle to five
cycles.
• Static relays are faster than electromechanical relays.
• Numerical relays give very fast operation and their relaying time is within one cycle.
CB operating time:
• The contact opening time of the circuit breaker may be between
about one and three cycles. The arcing time is now generally
between one and two half-cycles, depending upon the instant in
the current half-cycles at which the contacts part.
• Therefore, fast relays and modern circuit breakers make it possible
to achieve fault clearance in as little as about three cycles of 50 Hz
current, but the time varies considerably from system to system.
Arc Voltage
• The voltage drop across the arc is called arc voltage.
Arc Interruption

Two methods of Arc Interruption

High Resistance Interruption
Current Zero Interruption
 High Resistance Interruption

 Arc resistance is increased

 to reduce the current to a value insufficient to maintain the
arc
 Arc resistance can be increased by
 Cooling
 Lengthening
 Constraining
 Splitting

 Employed in low power AC & DC CB’s

Current Zero Interruption

Applicable to AC CB’s
In AC Supply Current wave passes thro’
zero point
100 times in a second for 50Hz
This feature of ac is utilized for Arc
interruption
 Current is not interrupted at any point other than zero
current instant
 Otherwisea high transient voltage will occur across the
contact gap
 Current is not allowed to rise again after zero current
crossing
Recovery Rate Theory
Energy Balance Theory
Recovery Rate Theory

 Arc is a column of ionized gases

 To extinguish the arc, the electrons & ions are to be removed
from the gap
 Immediately after the current reaches a natural zero
 Ions & electrons can be removed
 Either by recombining them into neutral molecules or
 by sweeping them away by inserting insulating medium into the
gap
 Arc is interrupted if ions are removed from the
gap at a rate faster than the rate of ionization
 The rate at which the gap recovers its dielectric
strength is compared with the rate at which the
re-striking voltage across the gap rises.
 If the dielectric strength increases more rapidly
than the re-striking voltage
 The Arc is extinguished
 If the re-striking voltage rises more rapidly than the
dielectric strength
 The ionization persist & breakdown of the gap
occurs
 Resulting in an arc for another cycle
Energy Balance Theory
• Space between the contacts contains
some ionized gas, immediately after
current zero, it has a finite post zero
resistance.
• At current zero moment, power is zero
because re-striking voltage is zero.
 When arc is finally extinguished
 Power again become zero
 Gap is fully de-ionized
 Resistance is infinitely high
 In between these Arc starting to extinguish
 First
the power increases, reaches a maximum value
 Then decreases and finally reaches zero value
 Due to rise of re-striking voltage & Associated current
 Energy is generated in the space between the contacts

 The energy appears in the form of heat

 CB’s is designed to remove the heat as early as possible
by cooling the gap
 Cooling is achieved by
 Blast of air at a pressure
 Flow of Oil at higher velocity & pressure
 If the rate of removal of heat is faster than the
rate of heat generation
 Arc is extinguished
 If the rate of heat generation is more than the
rate of heat dissipation
 The space breaks down again resulting in an arc
for another half cycle
RESTRIKING VOLTAGE AND RECOVERY VOLTAGE
• The voltage across the contacts of the circuit breaker is arc voltage when the
arc persists.
• This voltage becomes the system voltage when the arc is extinguished.
• The arc is extinguished at the instant of current zero.
• After the arc has been extinguished, the voltage across the breaker terminals
does not normalise instantaneously but it oscillates and there is a transient
condition.
• The transient voltage which appears across the breaker contacts at the
instant of arc being extinguished is known as restriking voltage.
• The power frequency rms voltage, which appears across the breaker contacts
after the arc is finally extinguished and transient oscillations die out is called
recovery voltage.
During this short period which is of interest, the change in the power frequency term is very little
and, hence negligible, because cos wt ~=1
Resistance Switching
• To reduce the restriking voltage, RRRV and severity of the
transient oscillations, a resistance is connected across the
contacts of the circuit breaker.
• This is known as resistance switching.
• The resistance is in parallel with the arc.
• A part of the arc current flows through this resistance resulting
in a decrease in the arc current and increase in the deionisation
of the arc path and resistance of the arc.
• This process continues and the current through the shunt
resistance increases and arc current decreases. Due to the
decrease in the arc current, restriking voltage and RRRV are
reduced.
Current Chopping
• When low inductive current is being interrupted and the
arc quenching force of the circuit breaker is more than
necessary to interrupt a low magnitude of current, the
current will be interrupted before its natural zero
instant.
• In such a situation, the energy stored in the magnetic
field appears in the form of high voltage across the
stray capacitance, which will cause restriking of the arc.
• The energy stored in the magnetic
field is ½ L i , if i is the instantaneous value of the
2

current which is interrupted.

• This will appear in the form of electrostatic energy equal
to ½ Cv . As these two energies are equal, they can be
2

related as follows.
• If the value of v is more than the withstanding capacity
of
the gap between the contacts, the arc appears again.
Since the quenching force is more, the current is again
chopped.

• This phenomenon continues till the value of v becomes

less than the withstanding capacity of the gap.
• The theoretical value
of v is called the prospective value of the voltage.
 Classification of CB
Voltage Classification
Low Voltage CB Less than 1 kV
Medium Voltage CB 1kV to 52kV
High Voltage CB 66kV to 220kV
Extra High Voltage CB 300kV to 765 kV
Ultra High Voltage CB Above 765kV
,
TYPES OF CBs
Conditions for CB Operation
 Overload
 Short Circuit
 Earth Fault
 Local Maintenance work
 Any other Abnormal operation
Circuit Breakers Requirements
 Opens & closes in shortest possible time
 Conducts rated current
 Withstands thermally & mechanically any short circuit
 Maintains its voltage to earth across open contacts
 Does not create over voltages during circuit opening
 Easy to maintain
 Not very expensive
Particulars of a Circuit Breaker
 Medium for arc extinction
 Rated line voltage
 Rated breaking current
 Total breaking time
 Type of construction
 Outdoor, indoor. etc

 Type of operating mechanism

 Other additional features such as switching resistors
Rupturing Capacity
 Rupturing Capacity represents the Max. power a
CB can Safely interrupt
 Factors Determine Rupturing Capacity
 Length & Speed of Breaking
 Position of Arcing Contacts
 Dimensions of Parts
 Mechanical Strength of Breaker
Selection of Circuit Breakers
Type Arc Quenching Voltage Rating
Medium &Breaking Capacity
MCB/ Air at 400-600V ;
MCCB Atmospheric For Small Current
Pressure Rating -10 to 30KA
Air- Air at 400-11KV;
Break Atmospheric 5-750MVA
CB Pressure
Minimum Transformer Oil 3.3KV to 220KV;
Oil CB 150-25000MVA
Selection of Circuit Breakers
Classification of Circuit Breakers

Oil CB
Air Blast CB
Sulphur Hexafluroride(SF6)
CB
Vacuum CB
Oil Circuit Breakers
 Oil is used as quenching media to
quench the arc produced during
opening
 Has insulating property
 Good cooling property
 Energy absorber
 Disadvantages
 Highlyinflammable
 Production of carbon particles
Plain-break oil CB’s
 Fixed & moving contact immersed in oil
 Metal tank is strong, weather tight &
earthed
 When contacts separate there is a severe
arc
 Which decomposes the oil into gases
 Gas obtained is mainly hydrogen

 Volume of gases produced is about

thousand times that of the oil decomposed
Plain Break Oil Circuit Breaker
 Oil is pushed away from arc & the gaseous
medium surrounds the arc
 Arc quenching factors are as follows:
 Elongation of the arc
 Formation of gaseous medium in between the
fixed & moving contacts
 This has a high heat conductivity & high dielectric
strength
 Turbulent motion of the oil resulting from the
gases passing through it
 A large gaseous pressure is developed
 Because a large amount of energy is dissipated
within the tank
 The tank of the CB is made strong to withstand
such a large pressure
 When gas is formed around the arc
 Oil is displaced around the contacts
 To accommodate the displaced oil
 An air cushion between the oil surface & the
tank is essential
 Air cushion also absorb the mechanical shock
produced due to upward oil movement
 It is necessary to provide vent fitted in the tank
cover for the gas outlet
 A sufficient level of oil above the contacts is
required to provide substantial oil pressure at
the arc
 Certain gap between the contacts must be
created before the arc interruption occurs
 To achieve this, the speed of the break should
be as high as possible
 The two breaks is series provide rapid arc
elongation without the need for a fast contact
 Double break provides ample gap distance
 Before arc interruption
Limitations of Plain break Oil CB
 Unequal voltage
distribution across the
breaks
 C is capacitance
between Fixed &
Moving contacts
 C’ is the capacitance
between moving
contact & Earth
 V1 is the voltage across the first contact
 V2 is the voltage across the second
contact
 Suppose fault current is i
 Voltages V1 & V2 will be expresses as
follows:
V = i/C
1

V = i/(C+C’)
2
 V1/V2 = (C+C’)/C
 To equalize the voltage distribution across
the breaks, non-linear resistors are
connected across each break
Applications of Plain Break CB’s
 Employed for breaking low current at
comparatively lower voltages
 Used in Low voltage DC circuit
 Used in Low voltage AC distribution circuits

 Can be used up to 11KV with an interrupting

capacity up to 250MVA
 Size become unduly large for higher voltage
 Require large amount of Tr. Oil
 Not suitable for auto re-closing
 Speed is slow
Self-generated Pressure Oil CB
 Arc energy is utilized to generate a
high pressure in a chamber
 Knownas explosion pot or pressure
chamber or arc controlling device
 Contacts are enclosed within the pot
 Pot is made of insulating material &
placed in the tank
 Have high interrupting Capacity
 Arcing time is reduced
 Since the pressure is developed by
the arc itself It depends upon the
magnitude of the current
 Pressure will be low at low current
 Pressure will be high at high current
 This creates a problem in designing a
suitable explosion pot
 At low current, pressure generated
should be sufficient to extinguish the
arc
 At high current, the pressure should
not be too high so as to burst the pot
 Various types of explosion pots have
been developed to suit various
requirements
Plain explosion pot
 Simplest form of an
explosion pot
 When the moving
contact separates a
severe arc is formed
 Oil is decomposed &
gas is produced
 Generate a high
pressure within the
pot
 High Pressure developed causes turbulent
flow of streams of the gas into the arc
 Resulting in arc extinction
 If arc extinction does not occurs within the
pot
 It occurs immediately after the MC leaves the
pot due to the high velocity axial blast of the
gas
 Which is released through the throat

 Arc extinction in the plain explosion pot is

performed axially
 Known as axially extinction pot
 Not suitable for breaking heavy
current
 Pot may explodes due to very high
pressure developed
 During extinguishing large current
 At low currents
 Arcing time is more
 This type of explosion pot is
suitable for the interruption of
 Current of Medium voltage
Cross-jet Explosion Pot
 Suitable for High Current interruptions
 Arc splitters are used to obtain an
increased arc length for a given
amount of contact travel
 When the moving contact is
separated from the fixed contact, an
arc is formed
The arc is pushed into the arc
splitters & finally it is extinguished
In this type of a pot, the oil blast
is across the arc
Hence known as a cross-jet
explosion pot
Cross-jet Explosion pot
Self Compensated Explosion Pot
 It is a combination of a Cross-jet
explosion pot & a plain explosion pot
 Its upper portion is a cross-explosion
pot
 Lower portion is a plain explosion pot
 On heavy current the rate of gas
generation is very high
 Pressure developed is very high
 Arc extinction takes place when the
first or second lateral orifice of the
arc splitter is covered by the MC
 The pot operates as a cross-jet
explosion pot
 When the current is low, the pressure
is also low in the beginning
 So the arc is not extinguished when
the tip of the MC is in the upper
portion of the pot
 By the time the MC reaches the
orifice at the bottom of the pot,
sufficient pressure is developed
 Arc is extinguished, when the tip of
the MC comes out of the throat
 Arc is extinguished by the plain
explosion pot action
Double Break Oil Circuit Breaker
 Used to obtain high speed arc
interruption at low currents
 Employs an intermediate contact
between
 The fixed & moving contacts
 When the Moving contact separates,
the intermediate contact also follows it
 Arc first appears between Fixed &
intermediate contact
 Soon after, the intermediate contact
stops & a second arc appears
 Between the intermediate contact
and the moving contact
 The second arc is extinguished
quickly by employing gas pressure &
Oil momentum
 Developed by the first arc
 Classification
 Axialblast pot
 Cross blast pot
Commercial Oil CB
Minimum Oil Circuit Breakers
Bulk Oil Circuit Breakers
Minimum Oil Circuit Breakers
 Used in large numbers for Medium
voltage Distribution system
 Low Capacity Applications
 Low Fault MVA
 Up to 11KV Application
 Disadvantages of using oil as
quenching media
 MOCB does not employ a steel tank
 Its container is made of porcelain or other
insulating material
 Consists of two sections
 Upper chamber
 Lower chamber

 Upper chamber contains

 An arc control device
 Fixed and moving contacts

 Lower chamber acts as

 An insulating support & Contains the
operating mechanism
 Two chambers are filled with oil
 But physically separated from each
other
 Arc control chamber is placed in a resin
bounded glass fiber cylinder
 Also filled with oil
 Fiber glass cylinder is then placed in a
porcelain cylinder
 Annual space between fiber glass
cylinder & Porcelain insulator is filled
with oil
Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker
Advantages

1. Current transformers can be

accommodated on the bushings.
2. Can be used for 3.3kV to 420kV.
Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker
 Used in large numbers for High voltage
Distribution system
 High Capacity Applications
 High Fault MVA
 Up to 110KV Applications

 Oil Performs two function

 Acts as an arc extinguishing medium
 Serves as insulation between live
terminals & earth
Limitations of Bulk Oil CB
 Requires a huge amount of oil at HV
 Flammability
 High maintenance cost
Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker
Air Blast CB
 Compressed air at a
pressure of
20-30Kg/cm2 is
employed
 As an arc quenching
medium
 Air blast CB are
suitable for operating
voltages of 132Kv &
Above
Air Blast Circuit Breakers
 Air is compressed in reservoir up to 14
atmospheric pressure.
 The compressed air is released &
directed towards the arc at high velocity
 The arc is then extinguished
 Suitable for Medium Voltage Application
 ACB’s are also used for switching motors
of higher rating
Air blast Circuit Breaker
Advantages of ACB
 Cheapness & Free availability of the
interrupting medium
 Chemical stability & inertness of air
 High speed operation
 Elimination of fire hazard
 Short & consistent arcing time
 Less burning of contact
 Less maintenance

 Suitability of frequent operation

 Facility for high speed re-closure
Limitations of ACB
 An air compressor plant has to be installed and
maintained
 A high level of noise, when air is discharged
 Problem of current chopping
 Problem of re-striking voltage
Types of Air Blast CB

Cross Blast CB
Axial Blast CB
Cross Blast Circuit Breakers
 A HP blast of air is directed
perpendicularly
 To the arc for its interruption
 Arc is forced into a suitable chute
 Sufficient lengthening of the arc is
obtained
 Resulting
in the introduction of
appreciable resistance in the arc
itself
Contd.
Resistance switching is not
common in this type of CB
Cross blast CB are suitable for
interrupting
High Current up to 100KA @
comparatively Lower voltage
Axial Blast Circuit Breakers
 A HP blast of air is directed longitudinally
 In line with the arc
 Axial blast are suitable for EHV & Super
HV applications
 Interrupting chamber is fully enclosed in
porcelain tubes
 Resistance switching is employed
 To reduce transient over voltages
Air-Break Circuit Breakers
 Oil Circuit Breakers are not suitable
for Heavy current interruption at LV
 Due to carbonization of oil
 Air-break CB are quite suitable for
high current interruption at LV
 Air at Atmospheric pressure is used
as an arc extinguishing medium
 Principle of increasing Arc R is
employed for Arc interruption
 Employs two pairs of contacts
 Main contact & Arcing contacts
 Main contacts carry current
 When the breaker is in closed
position
 Main contacts have low contact
resistance
 When contacts are opened
 The main contacts separate first &
the arcing contact still remain
closed
 Current is shifted from the main
contacts to the arcing contact
 Arcing contacts separate late on &
the arc is drawn between them
 Arc R is increased by lengthening,
splitting & Cooling the arc
Air Break Circuit Breaker
 Arc length is rapidly increased
employing
 Arc runners & Arc chutes
 Arc moves upward by both
electromagnetic & Thermal effects
 Moves along the arc runner & then
it is forced into a chute
 Split by arc splitters
 A blowout coil is employed to
provide magnetic filed to speed up
arc movement
 To direct the arc into arc splitters
 Arc interruption is assisted by
current zero
 High R is obtained near current
zero
Air Break Circuit Breaker
 ACB’s are required to CARRY short
circuit current for a specified time
 Which is usually one second
 Is invariably more than what the
downstream devices require to interrupt
faults
 In case the downstream devices fail to
interrupt the fault current, the, breaker
acts as a back-up protective device
Air Break Circuit Breaker
SF6 CIRCUIT BREAKERS
 Novel properties of SF6
• Sulphur Hexafluoride or SF6 circuit breaker is a type of circuit breaker that
uses pressurized SF6 gas (@14kg/cm^2 )to extinguish the arc.
• It has good dielectric strength.
• It is an electronegative gas.
• Inert, non-toxic, non-flammable and heavy gas.

• It is a dielectric gas having superior insulating property.

• Excellent arc quenching properties far better than air or oil.
• Emission free SF6 can protect the environment- is the most potent
greenhouse gas known. It is 22,800 times more effective at trapping infrared
radiation than an equivalent amount of CO 2 .
• It is used for arc quenching in high voltage circuit breakers up to 800 kV in
power stations, electrical grids.
Electronegativity of SF6
• SF6 gas has very high electronegativity. It has a strong
tendency to absorb free electrons. When an arc is struck
between the contacts, it absorbs the free electrons from it. It
converts into negative ions which are heavier than electrons.
Due to its heavyweight, its mobility is reduced. Therefore, the
mobility of the charges in SF6 gas has low mobility which
enhances the dielectric strength of the medium since the
movement of charges is responsible for current flow.
 But decomposes to SF4, SF2, S2,F2,S & F @1000°C &
above
It has superior dielectric strength which is directly proportional to the
pressure. Its arc quenching capabilities is almost 100 times better than
air. The frequency of the voltage does not affect its dielectric strength.
• Corona inception voltage
Corona inception voltage for SF6 in a non-uniform electric field is also considerably
higher than that for air.
• Dielectric constant
Because of being non-polar (i.e., dipole moment is zero), the dielectric constant of SF6 is independent
of the frequency of the applied voltage. Further, the dielectric constant changes by only 7% over a
pressure range of 0 to 22 atmospheres.
• Arc-interrupting capacity
Construction of SF6 Circuit Breaker
• The SF6 circuit breakers consist of two main parts:
I) Interrupter Unit
• The interrupter unit consists of two types of current-carrying
contacts i.e. the fixed and movable contact. The fixed contacts as
its name suggest do not move while the movable contact moves
back and forth using an arm actuated by a mechanism.
• There is a vent for the inlet and outlet of the pressurized SF6 gas
to cool off the arc as well as extinguish it.

II)Gas System
• The SF6 is a very expensive gas and the emission of its product
gases is hazardous for the environment. Therefore, a closed gas
system is used, where the used SF6 is recombined for reuse. Its
pressure is also maintained as its dielectric strength greatly
depends upon it.
Types of SF6 Circuit Breaker
• Non-Puffer Type SF6 Circuit Breaker (This circuit
breaker works on the same principle as air blast
CB.)
Single Pressure Puffer Type SF6 Circuit Breaker
• Double Pressure Puffer Type SF6 Circuit Breaker
Double Pressure SF6 CB
 Early design of SF6 CB
 Operating Principle is similar to that of air-blast
CB
 SF6 Gas from HP compartment is released to
the LP compartment
 To extinguish the arc
 Need for Auxiliaries such as
 Compressors, filters & Control devices

 Nowadays becomes obsolete

Double Pressure SF6 CB
Puffer type SF6 CB
 Also called as single pressure or impulse type
SF6 CB
 Gas is pressurized by a moving cylinder system
& is released through a nozzle
 To quench the arc
 Moving cylinder & moving contacts are coupled
together
 When the contacts separate & Moving cylinder
moves
 The trapped gas is compressed
SF6 Circuit Breakers
 The trapped gas is released thro’ a
nozzle & flows axially to quench the arc
 There are two types of tank design
 Live
Tank design
 Dead Tank design

 In live tank design, interrupters are

supported on porcelain insulators
 Preferred for outdoor sub-stations
 In dead tank design, interrupters are
placed in SF6 filled tank,
 Which is at earth potential
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
• Problem of imperfect sealing –leakage of gas
• Suffocation
• Arced SF6 is poisonous and should not be inhaled
• Influx of moisture
• Special facilities for transportation of gas-costly
• At 15 atm pressure, Gas liquifies at a temp of 10
deg C. Hence thermostatically controlled heaters
are needed at low temp.
Vacuum Circuit Breaker
 Interruption chamber is vacuumed
 Vacuum as quenching media
 No gas which is ionized to form the arc
 An arc is formed from the vaporized
contact material
 Small mechanical energy required for
tripping
 Features include high speed interrupting
time
Vacuum Circuit Breakers
 Long working life due to minimized contact
wear & shock
 Very small damage to contacts (life up to 30
years).
 Maintenance of circuit breaker is reduced
 Service interval lies between 10,000 & 20,000
operations
 Used for Feeders & Mains protection
 Rugged Housing & Small in size
 Superior Than SF Breaker
6
Advantages
 Suitability for repeated operations,
 least maintenance,
 silent operation,
 long life,
 high speed of dielectric recovery,
 less weight of moving parts
Vacuum Circuit Breakers
Vacuum Circuit Breakers
Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker
• An Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) is a device
used to
directly detect currents leaking to earth from an
installation and cut the power.
• There are two types of ELCBs:
1. Voltage Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (voltage-
ELCB)
2. Current Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (Current-ELCB).

Refer the material (pdf) sent

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Testing of CB
• Routine test
• Type test
Testing of Circuit Breakers
 Types of Tests
 Routine Test
 Performed on every pieces of CB’s in the

premises of Manufacturers
 To confirm the proper functioning of CB

 Type Tests
 Performed in a High Voltage laboratory

 Performed on sample pieces of CB of each

type
 To confirm their characteristics & rated

capacities according to the design

 All routine & type tests are performed according
 To Indian Standard (IS) Codes or
 To International Electromechanical Commission
(IEC) codes or
 British Standard (BS) Codes
 Important Type tests are
 Breaking Capacity
 Making Capacity
 Short-time current rating
 For CB’s of smaller capacity
 Tests are carried out by direct testing techniques
 For CB’s of larger capacity
 Tests are carried out by Synthetic testing
method
Other Tests on CB’s
 Mechanical tests
 Thermal tests
 Dielectric tests
 Power frequency & Impulse tests
 Capacitive charging current breaking
tests
 Small inductive breaking currents
Short-Circuit Testing Stations
 Two Types of Short circuit testing
stations
 Field type Testing Station
 Power reqd. for testing is derived
from large Power Station.
 Laboratory type Testing Station
 Power reqd. for testing is taken from
specially designed generators
 Which are installed in the laboratory for
testing
Field type Testing Station
 Advantages
 Large amount of power is easily available for
testing
 Economical method of testing CB’s for HVCB
 Limitations
 Lacks flexibility
 For R&D work, tests cannot be repeated again &
again without disturbing the PS
 Power available for testing varies, depending
upon the loading conditions of the system
 It is very difficult to control the transient recovery
voltage, RRRV, etc
Laboratory Testing Stations
 For R&D work, tests can be carried out again & again to
confirm the designed characteristics & Capacity
 Advantages
 For R&D work, tests can be carried out again & again to
confirm the designed characteristics & Capacity
 Current, Voltage, Re-striking voltage, RRRV, etc can be
controlled conveniently
 Test for CB’s of large capacity can be carried out using
synthetic testing
 Limitations
 High cost of installation
 Availability of limited power for testing of CB
Laboratory Testing Stations consists of

Short Circuit Generator

Short Circuit transformer
Master Circuit Breaker
Making Switch
Capacitors
Reactors and Resistors
Short Circuit Generator
 Used to provide power for testing
 Design of such generator is different from a
conventional generator
 Have very low Reactance to give max. short
circuit output
 To withstand high electromagnetic forces their
windings are specially braced & made rugged
 Provided with Flywheels to supply kinetic
energy during short circuits.
 Also helps in speed regulation
 Generator driven by three phase induction
motor
Contd.
 SC current has a demagnetizing effect on the
field of generator
 Which results in reducing the field current
 Consequently, the generator's emf is reduced
 Impulse excitation or Super excitation is
employed
 To counter act the demagnetization effect of
armature reaction
 At the time of short circuit
 The field current is increased to about 8 to 10
times its nominal value
Short Circuit Transformer
 Has a low reactance
 Designed to withstand repeated SC
 To get different voltages for tests
 Its windings are arranged in sections
 By series & parallel combinations of these
windings, the desired test voltage is obtained
 To get lower voltage than the generated
voltage, a three phase transformer is used
 To get higher voltages than the generated
voltages, normally banks of single phase
transformers are employed
Master Circuit Breaker
 Used as a Backup CB
 If the CB under test fails to operate
 The master CB opens

 Master CB is set to operate at a pre determined

time after the initiation of the SC
 After every test, it isolates the CB under test
from the supply source
 Its capacity is more than the capacity of the CB
under Test
Making Switch
 Used to apply SC current at the desired
moment during the test
 Closed after closing the master CB & the test
CB
 It must be bounce free to avoid its burning or
contact welding
 To achieve this, a high pressure is used in the
chamber
 Its speed is also kept high
Capacitors
 Used to control RRRV
 Used in synthetic testing
 Also used for voltage measurement
purpose
Reactors & Resistors
 Used to control SC test current
 Also control power factor
 Resistor controls the rate of decay of the DC
component of the current
 Control the transient recovery voltage
Testing Procedure
 During SC test, several switching operations
are performed in a sequence in a very short
time
 Sequence of switching operations for breaking
capacity test is as follows:
 After running the driving motor of the SC
Generator to a certain speed it is switched off
 Impulse excitation is switched On
 Master CB is closed
Contd.
 Making switch is closed
 CB under test is opened
 Exciter Circuit of the SC generator is switched off

 It is not possible to perform this sequence of

operations manually
 An automatic control is used for the purpose
 Since the time of operation for the above
sequence is of the order of 0.2 second
Direct Testing
 The CB is tested under the conditions
 Which is actually exist on Power System

 It is subjected to re-striking voltage

 Which is expected in practical situations
 The Reactor X is to control SC current
 C,R1 &R2 are to adjust transient re-
striking voltage
Test for Breaking Capacity
 First of all, the Master CB & the CB under test
are closed
 Then the SC current is passed by closing the
making switch
 SC current is interrupted by opening the CB
under test at the desired moment
 The following measurements are taken
 Symmetrical breaking current
 Asymmetrical breaking current
 Recovery volatge
 Freq. of oscillation & RRRV
Contd.
 The CB must be capable of breaking all
currents up to its rated capacity
 It is not possible to test at all values of
current
 Tests are performed at 10%, 30%, 60% &
100% of its rated breaking capacity
Test for Making Capacity
 The Master CB & Making Switch are closed first
 Then the SC is initiated by closing the CB Under
test
 Rated making current i.e., the peak value of the
first major loop of SC current wave is measured
Duty Cycle Test
 B – 3 – B – 3 – B tests are performed at
 10%, 30% and 60% of the rated symmetrical
braking capacity
 B – 3 MB – 3 – MB tests performed at
 Not less than 100% of rated symmetrical
breaking capacity
 Not less than 100% of the rated making capacity

 Can also be performed as two separate tests

 M – 3 – M make test
 B – 3 – B – 3 – B break test
Contd.
 B – 3 – B – 3 – B Tests are performed at
 Not less than 100% of the rated Asymmetrical breaking capacity

 B denotes breaking operation

 M denotes making operation
 MB denotes the making operation followed by the breaking
operation without any intentional time delay
 Cost of Breaker
 The cost of CB depends on
 Working Voltage in KV
 Operating Capacity in Amps
 Rupturing Capacity in MVA
 Speed of Operation in milliseconds
 CB Capacity in MVA
 Capacity of the CB always expressed in terms
of Fault MVA
 Cost of CB Depends upon the fault level
 Fault Level Depends on
 Generation end
 Transmission end
 Distribution end
Auto-Reclosuring in Circuit Breakers
 In electric power distribution, an autoreclosure is a circuit breaker equipped with a
mechanism that can automatically close the breaker after it has been opened due to a fault.
 Autoreclosure schemes are used particularly in coordinated protection schemes for
overhead line power distribution circuits. These circuits are prone to transient faults such as
nearby lightning strikes, wind-borne debris, animals climbing the insulators etc. This fact is
employed as a basis for auto reclosures schemes. In such schemes, after the relays at both ends
of the line have picked up, the circuit breakers are tripped as far as possible at the same time
and reclosed after time has been allowed for deionization. The fault disappears if it is transient,
and line is fully restored to service after the reclosure. A double or triple attempt of isolation and
reclosure can be made if the fault is not cleared after the first reclosure. If the fault persists, the
breaker may permanently open till it is reset manually.