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REFURBISHMENT AND LIFE EXTENSION OF CIRCUIT BREAKERS

M. ILLSLEY* M. A. WALDRON
National Grid
United Kingdom

SUMMARY

National Grid has significant populations of air-blast circuit-breakers which have been in service for
up to approximately 50 years, most of which were installed during an intensive construction period
during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Whilst some designs are exhibiting significant reliability issues
and are being targeted for replacement, the reliability of others can be managed by the application of
appropriate refurbishment (defined by us as life extension) activity. This activity is undertaken by
National Grid at dedicated refurbishment centres; an approach which has proven effective financially,
achieving a high quality output and a good retention of technical expertise.

Until recently, National Grid’s activities in this area have been focussed upon reconditioning, which is
defined by us as a limited scope, mid-life activity required to achieve the anticipated technical asset
life of around 40 years. However, for some designs which do not suffer from major mechanical
deterioration and/or design limitations, it has now been demonstrated that refurbishment can deliver
life extension beyond anticipated technical life for some, if not all, of the population.

The paper describes National Grid’s replacement prioritisation process for circuit-breakers and, having
identified candidates for replacement, the factors that influence the viability of establishing a
refurbishment programme in order to defer replacement. Refurbishment of air-blast equipment is
particularly effective for designs where the primary deterioration mechanisms relate to sealing
components which are relatively straightforward to replace. By means of specific examples, this paper
shows that refurbishment can be cost effective for large populations but that, conversely, due to
aspects such as set-up costs and establishment of suitable expertise, it is unlikely to be cost effective
for small populations unless the work required is minimal. Attention is also draw to work that has been
undertaken on a particular design of air-blast circuit-breaker in order to demonstrate that the short-
circuit interrupting performance of the refurbished assets remains acceptable and has not been
compromised either due to age or the refurbishment actions.

KEYWORDS

asset management – circuit-breaker – replacement prioritisation – condition assessment –

[email protected] 1
1. INTRODUCTION

This paper presents National Grid’s approach to identifying and prioritising circuit-breaker families
for replacement or refurbishment. Attention is drawn to a range of criteria which contribute to the
decision-making process, including historic reliability, operating environment, ongoing maintenance
support (cost of ownership), availability of refurbishment spares, family population size, condition
information, deterioration mechanism(s), system development needs, system access and estimated life
extension available from refurbishment. The benefits and practicalities of aligning work on other
primary components such that the residual life of the entire bay is the same is also presented.

The paper makes specific reference to the experience gained from refurbishment of the Reyrolle
275kV OBR60 non-pressurised head air-blast circuit-breaker although the principles outlined can be
applied across a range of equipment.

2. ASSET REPLACEMENT PLANNING AND PRIORITISATION

Accurate modelling of long-term replacement volumes is essential for the sustainable asset
management of large, complex, asset-intensive infrastructure such as a transmission network. National
Grid’s replacement modelling is based on predicting when an asset will reach a ‘state requiring
replacement’. The management and operation of a transmission system requires that failure of assets
in service is minimised. An ‘operate until fails’ approach is unacceptable for assets that:
• Are critical to secure bulk power transmission to customers
• Have potential safety and environmental consequences on failure
• Have long repair or replacement times
Hence this ‘state requiring replacement’ is defined in terms of the predicted ability of the asset to
continue to function reliably and safely in a cost-effective manner. Conversely, in order to ensure
efficient use of limited capital and resources, it is important that replacement modelling is not overly
conservative and that early replacement of serviceable assets is avoided.

Within National Grid, asset replacement planning is mainly driven by “lead assets” such as circuit-
breakers and transformers, which are relatively costly to replace. The asset lives of switchgear families
are quantified in terms of a distribution between the “earliest onset of significant unreliability” to the
“latest onset of significant unreliability”, with a value for anticipated asset life being declared within
this range. These lives and the associated distributions are directly related to the known life-limiting
factors affecting the various switchgear types. The ranges reflect both random variations in
deterioration and more specific site-related and duty-related effects. As an example, an indoor, low-
duty, transformer circuit-breaker would typically be expected to achieve the latest onset of significant
unreliability for its family, whereas a high duty, outdoor unit at a coastal site would be planned for
replacement at that family’s earliest onset of significant reliability. For some designs, mid-life
reconditioning or enhanced maintenance is required in order to achieve the anticipated asset life.

The planning of asset replacement/refurbishment at the most appropriate time within the asset life
range is ensured by condition assessment. This condition assessment process takes into account the
location, operational duty, fault and defect history, together with other data derived from visual
inspections, and engineering knowledge of the family and specific asset knowledge of specialists and
site staff within National Grid. In particular, forensic analysis of decommissioned units from within
families is used to verify known, and identify previously unknown, deterioration mechanisms.
Forensic analyses provide valuable information for scoping of refurbishment work content and assist
with the development of refurbishment specifications and future maintenance activities. Furthermore,
detailed condition assessment can be used to identify inherent design weaknesses and susceptibility to
deterioration due to age, duty and operating environment.

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Due to its criticality to the capital investment planning process, the review of technical asset lives is a
continuous process and is validated through ever-increasing operational experience, condition
assessment and forensics. The interactions between condition assessment data and the overall
replacement prioritisation process are shown in Figure 1.

Figure. 1: Use of condition data to define asset lives

In order to further refine and improve this process, a system of ‘Asset Health Indices’ is being
developed to provide robust and auditable prioritised lists of replacement candidates on the basis of
relevant performance and condition criteria. These indices are being developed using a systematic
approach which can be applied to various technology areas.

As shown Figure 2, these Asset Health Indices will be integrated into the overall replacement
prioritisation process, which also takes account of network and local criticality factors and the
availability of resources and system access required to deliver planned work.

Outages
Health criteria Resources
Criticality
Intervention options Alignment with System drivers
Consequences of failure
Asset Health Index Categories Scheme bundling

Asset Health Priorities Replacement Priority Scheme Priority

Asset Health Indices Replacement Indices

Figure. 2: The role of Asset Health Indices in the replacement prioritisation process

3. REFURBISHMENT CONSIDERATIONS

Whilst, in the first instance, the Asset Health Indices are used to identify assets for planned
replacement, there are cases where refurbishment (and the associated extension of anticipated asset
life) of the asset is a technically feasible and cost-effective alternative.

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The decision to refurbish instead of replace follows careful consideration of a number of criteria. For
refurbishment to be an effective solution:

• The population size must be sufficiently large. The costs associated with developing the
technical content of a refurbishment procedure, and the set-up costs of a dedicated facility to
undertake the work, mean that it is difficult to make refurbishment of small populations cost-
effective.
• The ongoing lifetime cost of supporting a refurbished circuit-breaker family must be
considered. It may be more cost-effective to replace highly complex units that require frequent
intervention. A nett present cost analysis can be undertaken to assess this factor.
• Continuing spares support must be considered. Whilst some spares can be re-engineered
without significant risk, this is not appropriate for performance-critical components such as
those within circuit-breaker interrupters. If such components are unavailable (or not available
cost-effectively), refurbishment is unlikely to be a realistic option.
• The availability of original manufacturer support must be investigated.
• Adequate technical expertise must be available both to develop and deliver the refurbishment
and to support the refurbished population to its end of life. Large populations facilitate the
retention of expertise much more easily than small populations.
• The condition and deterioration mechanisms of the asset type must be well understood, and
there must be effective mitigation and rectification measures available to address these such
that the intended life extension is achieved. Certain life-limiting aspects of air-blast switchgear
are well understood, such as oxygen embrittlement of ‘O’ ring seals and loss of elasticity (and
consequent compression setting) of cork-based gaskets. These can be technically and cost-
effectively addressed.

From a system availability perspective, a further benefit of refurbishment is the reduced outage
duration period. For air-blast circuit-breakers, this is typically 6 weeks for a refurbishment instead of 8
weeks for a planned replacement. Refurbishment also provides greater scope for the early return to
service of a circuit in the event of an emergency.

4. REFURBISHMENT OF AIR BLAST CIRCUIT-BREAKERS

National Grid retains a large population of air-blast circuit-breakers (of both pressurised head and non-
pressurised head designs) which were installed during the period from the early 1960s to the mid-
1970s and have now reached a state where they are being considered for replacement. In particular,
those operating at 275 kV and below are now approaching or have reached their state requiring
replacement. Since the mid-1980s, a hybrid strategy of circuit-breaker replacement supported by
reconditioning (defined by us as limited intervention which enables an asset to reach its anticipated
life) has been pursued. Reconditioning of 400 kV, 275 kV and a limited number of 132 kV pressurised
head air-blast circuit-breakers has ensured that reliable operation has been achieved for the duration of
their anticipated asset lives and has made a major contribution to optimising the overall replacement
strategy.

To support this hybrid strategy, a number of dedicated National Grid reconditioning centres were set
up to provide workshop facilities. With various designs of air-blast equipment (both reconditioned and
non-reconditioned) now being considered for replacement, it was logical to review the possibility of
using a similar model for refurbishment and hence life-extension. The first major candidate to be
considered in this way was the Reyrolle 275kV OBR60 design, for which an extensive refurbishment
programme is now under way.

Considering the example of the OBR60, there was a significant amount of existing knowledge within
National Grid, including experience of deterioration and failure mechanisms. Technical
recommendations and reports made over the period from the late 1980s to date were reviewed and
used as a major input to the development of the refurbishment specification. Detailed, targeted

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condition assessment findings were used to enhance, supplement and extend this information such
that, as far as reasonable practicable, the present condition, and scope for effective refurbishment, of
the design was fully understood.

Detailed material analysis formed a significant part of the condition assessments. An extensive library
of condition-related reports was built up during the refurbishment development process which provide
enduring support for the decisions made and a technical reference in the event of future problems.
Various aspects of the performance of the existing materials were examined, such as hardness,
material composition and degree of wear/deterioration and, where original equipment manufacturer’s
support was not available, this data was used to develop specifications for replacement materials. Any
decision to replace material with modern equivalents, or revise original equipment manufacturer’s
recommendations, was recorded via a technical review process to provide an auditable trail.

Where such analyses demonstrated that original components had suffered no significant deterioration
from their new state, this information has been used to justify the continued use of these parts -
thereby optimising the scope of work within the refurbishment to only address those items
demonstrated to be necessary.

Whilst the basic aim of, and justification for, refurbishment is to maintain equipment in a fully-
serviceable condition for an extended period, opportunities to improve aspects of design, construction
or maintenance are taken where they are readily available. In the case of the OBR60, setting of the
contact pressure during assembly was identified as a critical aspect of the design for which the
original, 1960s techniques were not reliable. Specialised testing equipment was developed using load
cells to accurately measure the pressures and hence ensure that moving contact pressures were
correctly set. In order to verify the technique, a 2000-operation mechanical endurance test of the
contact system was performed to ensure mechanical performance was not compromised. As part of
these tests, the original lubricant was replaced with one recommended following a previous research
and development project into primary contact lubrication. Contact condition was monitored
throughout the 2000 operations with no further application of lubricant. At the conclusion of the
testing, the condition of the fingers was good with evidence of only light scoring of the copper contact
silvered surface. The backing springs showed no evidence of cracking (a condition which has been
seen in service) and all of the fingers exceeded the hardness requirement of 90HB.

4.1 Short-Circuit Testing

The planned operation of 275kV air-blast switchgear for a further 20 years or more beyond their
anticipated technical life raises questions regarding the continued ability of such designs to meet basic
performance criteria, such as fault interrupting capability. In order to improve confidence in this area,
and to confirm that no design changes had been made that would compromise the basic performance
of the design, a short series of short-circuit proving tests was undertaken on a refurbished circuit-
breaker pole. Since there are two design variants of the OBR60, two heads (four interrupters) were
constructed to the standard 15GVA (OBR60) design and two were constructed to the enhanced
18GVA (OBR60/72E) design as detailed in original Reyrolle documentation. Prior to testing, the test
object was fully assembled in the UK and was proven to operate identically to an installed circuit-
breaker in all relevant respects.

The test programme was designed to get maximum information about both the dielectric and thermal
interrupting performance of each variant of the circuit-breaker whilst avoiding the need to refurbish
the heads during the test programme. The chosen programme to achieve this was to perform short-
circuit test duties T30, T100S and short-line fault L90 on each variant. The tests were performed as ½
pole tests with a voltage sharing ratio of 52%. The OBR60 tests were based on a rated current of
31.5kA. The OBR60/72E tests were based on a current of 40kA, rather than the rated value of 37.8kA,
in an attempt to align the rating with IEC standard 40kA equipment.

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 Figure 3: OBR60 during successful short circuit interruption

All test procedure and the transient recovery voltage (TRV) parameters for T100s and SLF L90 were
in accordance with IEC 62271-100 and applicable Short-circuit Testing Liaison guidance. The TRV
parameters for T30 were in accordance with National Grid’s enhanced requirements to reflect
transformer limited fault conditions. The tests were undertaken at the KEMA high power laboratories
in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and the test object is shown in Figure 3. The test sequence demonstrated
that the circuit-breaker designs in question, as refurbished by National Grid, perform well under 100%
terminal fault interrupting conditions i.e. at their rated values of short-circuit current. The main
limitation of the design relates to the ability to withstand aggressive transient recovery voltage
conditions such as short-line fault and transformer limited fault interruption. In these areas, some
minor deviations from modern testing acceptance criteria were noted, particularly regarding the
necessary arc durations associated with single phase faults. This limitation under aggressive TRV
conditions can also be seen in the original test documentation and the recent testing has fully
replicated the original test performance in these areas.

In addition to providing strong support for the ongoing use of the refurbished OBR60 on the National
Grid transmission network, these results provide good general confidence in the ongoing suitability for
service of other designs of air-blast circuit-breaker which were originally tested to the same, or
similar, specifications and using similar test methods. Whilst repeat short-circuit testing is not
considered necessary or appropriate for all circuit-breaker designs being considered for refurbishment,
further verification exercises of this type would be considered if significant design modifications were
introduced as part of refurbishment.

4.2 Conclusions for OBR60 Refurbishment

From the work done to date it has been concluded that refurbishment of the OBR60 will provide an
extended life of 60 years for the circuit-breaker and will improve National Grid’s planned replacement
profile in this area as shown in Figure 4. The repeat testing has confirmed that the design, in its
refurbished state, retains its original short-circuit interruption capability and that there is some scope
for rating enhancement. On this basis, National Grid has initiated a comprehensive refurbishment
programme for this design, including the provision of dedicated workshop facilities.

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 275kVOBR60 Air-blast Circuit Breaker lives Circuit breaker replacement volumes - all kV

1.2 100
Cumulative probability

Switchgear bays
1 80
0.8
60
0.6
40
0.4 More desirable
20
0.2 profile
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
Age Year

Refurbished Non-refurbished Without OBR 60 refurbishment With OBR60 refurbishment

Figure 4: Impact of OBR60 refurbishment upon asset life and replacement profile

5. SUBSTATION BAY REFURBISHMENTS

In order to optimise access to the network, maximise use of resources and ensure the most cost-
efficient overall management of assets, it is desirable to undertake targeted work on all assets within a
substation bay such that their remnant life is aligned with that of the lead asset. This assists with future
replacement planning and allows complete substation replacement in the future with minimal early
asset write off costs. The bay assets, which include disconnectors, earthing switches, instrument
transformers, overhead connections and protection systems, are all condition-assessed using both
existing generic knowledge of asset deterioration and age-limiting mechanisms, and more specific
bay-by-bay information. A site-specific scope of work for each bay details the refurbishment or, where
necessary, replacement requirements for the bay assets such that they align with the extended life of
the circuit-breaker.

Figure 5: 300kV instrument transformer condition assessment

For example, a 300 kV hairpin type current transformer, from a large family, was targeted for
condition assessment following 40 years of service (Figure 5). The findings indicated that an
instrument transformer of this type and age was not showing significant signs of deterioration
and would be a suitable candidate for life extension.

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6. FURTHER REFURBISHMENT CANDIDATES

Within National Grid, there are opportunities to carry out refurbishment of other air-blast switchgear
designs and of other equipment families, but in all cases the basic criteria mentioned previously must
be met to make this worthwhile.

Some modern SF6 circuit-breakers utilising electronic components in their control systems are now
circa 20 years old and are demonstrating signs of aging of the electronics, the lives of which are
known to be considerably shorter than the life of the circuit-breaker primary components. A
programme of re-design and replacement of these has now been instigated with the equipment
manufacturer in order to maintain performance and reliability and to mitigate early asset replacement
costs. Similarly, whilst service experience indicates that the interrupting components of modern SF6
circuit-breakers in normal use will typically achieve an asset life of 40 to 50 years, associated
hydraulic or pneumatic operating mechanisms appear likely to require replacement of sealing
components prior to this. Options are presently being explored to undertake these activities as a
planned mid-life reconditioning as outlined above.

Finally, National Grid has large populations of particular disconnector designs installed in the 1960s
and 1970s. These are, by nature of their design, robust and continue to provide good operational
performance however, after 40 years of service life, issues are emerging such as inaccessible bearing
surfaces that require lubrication and primary contact surface deterioration. These can result in stiff
operation, contact burning and subsequent loss of reliability. The lubrication access and primary
contact surface issues can be addressed by implementing refurbishment of the disconnector arm
assemblies at a designated workshop facility.

7. CONCLUSIONS

National Grid has a large volume of air-blast circuit-breakers in a state requiring replacement.
Duplicating the original construction volumes would be expensive, inefficient in terms of resources
and difficult to accommodate in terms of system access (especially when considered in conjunction
with the need to replace other asset types). The successful reconditioning of certain circuit-breaker
families has given us confidence that targeted refurbishment can be used to defer asset replacement
and hence “smooth” the replacement profile. However, a range of criteria must be considered when
taking the decision to refurbish rather than replace, to ensure that the chosen option is both cost-
effective and technically viable.

Refurbishment of air-blast equipment is particularly effective for designs where the primary
deterioration mechanisms relate to sealing components which are relatively straightforward to replace.
This paper shows that refurbishment can be cost effective for large populations but that, conversely,
due to aspects such as set-up costs and establishment of suitable expertise, it is unlikely to be cost
effective for small populations unless the work required is minimal. Suitable testing and verification of
asset performance and rating has been undertaken to ensure that there is no loss of safety and
environmental performance, reliability or availability.

Refurbishment not only provides an alternative to replacement, but can reduce future maintenance
activities and therefore maximise availability whist reducing future operational expenditure. In many
cases, lubrication requirements prevent the extension of maintenance intervals and hence
improvements in design, materials and lubrication (which may be undertaken as part of refurbishment)
can significantly reduce the need for periodic maintenance.

Provided the decision-making criteria can be satisfied, refurbishment is an efficient, deliverable option
to assist with the long-term management of large replacement volumes, providing both capital and
operational expenditure efficiencies for air-blast circuit-breakers and other asset types.