OBJECTIVE:

 At the end of this unit a student will know

 What is switchgear?
 What is a circuit breaker?
 Elementary principles of circuit breaker
 Arc phenomenon and interruption
 Circuit breaker ratings and specifications

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 WHAT IS SWITCHGEAR?
 The apparatus used for switching, controlling and protecting
the electrical circuits and equipment is known
as switchgear.

 It protects the power system from harm during fault

conditions and ensures maximum continuity of supply.

 It switches on or off generators, transmission lines,

distributors and other equipments under both normal and
abnormal conditions.
3

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 SWITCHGEAR
 It consists of
 Potential transformer
 Current transformer
 Relays
 Switches (recloser)
 Fuses and
 Circuit breakers
 During normal operation switchgear permits to switch on or
off equipments and during faulty conditions it detects the
fault and disconnects the unhealthy section from the
system. 4

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 FUSE
 A switch with ordinary fuse is the simplest form of
switchgear and is used to control and protect lights and
other equipments in homes.

 But such means of control presents two disadvantages.

1. when fuse blows out it take time to restore supply.
2. fuse cannot successfully interrupt heavy fault currents
on modern high voltage and large capacity circuits.
 So use of switches and fuses are limited to low voltage and
small capacity circuits and a dependable means of control
such as circuit breakers are used on high voltage system
5
(3.3kV).
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 CIRCUIT BREAKER

 Definition:
 Circuit breaker is equipment, which
can make or break a circuit manually
or automatically under all conditions
i.e. no load, full load and short
circuit/ abnormal conditions.

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 CIRCUIT BREAKER
 Operating Principle
 It consists of fixed and moving contacts which remain closed
under normal condition
 When fault occur the trip coil are energized and the moving
contacts are pulled apart

 When contacts get separated an arc will be struck between the

contacts, which will not only delay current interruption process
but also generate enormous heat, which may cause damage to
the system or to the circuit breaker itself.

 So the main problem with circuit breaker is to extinguish the arc

within the shortest possible time.
7

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 PROCESS OF FAULT CLEARING
CB CT
Transmission Line
S

Fault
PT

Trip

Setting

Current from CT
Trip Signal
to CB
Voltage from PT
8

Setting
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 ELECTRIC ARC PHENOMENON
 When fault occurs current flow through contacts before
they are being separated.

 At the instant when contact separates, the contact area

decreases and the large fault current cause increased
current density and hence rise in temperature occur due
to which the surrounding air or oil get ionized.
 They acts as conductor and an arc is struck between
9
them.
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 ELECTRIC ARC PHENOMENON
 The arc provides a low resistance path and current flows
till the arc persists.
 The current flow depends on the arc resistance. As the
resistance increases current flow between the contacts
decreases. Arc resistance depends on:
1. Degree of ionization – arc resistance increases with
decrease in number of ionized particles.
2. Length of arc – arc resistance increases with length of
the arc i.e. separation of contacts.
3. Cross-section of arc – arc resistance increases with
10
decrease in the area of x-section of the arc.
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTENANCE OF ARC
 Potential difference between contacts –
 If contacts have small separation the potential difference
between them is sufficient to maintain the arc.
 So in order to extinguish the arc the separation can be
increased to such a distance that the potential difference
becomes inadequate to maintain the arc.
 Ionized particles between contacts –
 The ionized particles between the contacts tend to maintain
the arc.
 If the arc path can be deionizer by cooling or removing the
ionized particles arc extinction can be facilitated. 11

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 IMPORTANT TERMS/ DEFINITIONS
 Arc Voltage –
 The voltage that appears across the contacts of circuit
breaker during the arcing period is known as arc voltage.
 Its value is low except for the current zero, at current zero
the arc voltage rises rapidly to peak value.
 It tends to maintain the current flow in the form of arc.

12

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 IMPORTANT TERMS/ DEFINITIONS
 Restriking Voltage –
 It’s the transient voltage that appear across the contacts at or near
current zero during arcing period.
 This voltage is caused by rapid distribution of energy between
magnetic and electric fields associated with plants and transmission
lines of the system. Current interruption depends on this voltage.
 If the restriking voltage rises more rapidly than dielectric strength of
medium arc persists for another half cycle else arc will fail to restrike
and current will be interrupted.

13

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 IMPORTANT TERMS/ DEFINITIONS
 Recovery Voltage –
 It’s the normal frequency voltage (rms) that appear across the contacts of
circuit breaker after final arc extinction. It is approximately equal to the
system voltage.
 When contacts are opened current drops to zero at every half cycle. At
current zero dielectric strength of the medium can be increased and thus
prevent the break down by restriking voltage.
 Consequently the final arc extinction takes place and circuit current is
interrupted. After this current interruption the voltage appearing across the
contacts is known as recovery voltage

14

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 IMPORTANT TERMS/ DEFINITIONS
 Rate of Rise of Restriking Voltage –
 It is the rate of increase of restriking voltage and is abbreviated by
R.R.R.V.
 The ratio of peak restriking voltage to the time taken to reach the
peak voltage from zero.
 It is R.R.R.V, which decides whether the arc will re-strike.
 If R.R.R.V is greater than the rate of rise of dielectric strength

between the contacts, the arc will re-strike.

 The arc will fail to re-strike if R.R.R.V is less than the rate of

increase of dielectric strength between the contacts of the

breaker.
 The value of R.R.R.V depends on:

 1. Recovery voltage
15
 2. Natural frequency of oscillations

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 RESISTANCE SWITCHING
A deliberate connection of a resistance
in parallel with the contact space (or
arc) is called resistance switching.
 This is to reduce the restriking voltage,
RRRV, and severity of the transient
oscillations.
 A part of arc current flows through this
resistance resulting in a decrease in
the arc current and increase in the
deionization of the arc path and
resistance of the arc.
 This process continues and the current
trough the shunt resistance increases 17
and arc current decreases.
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 1. INTERRUPTION OF SMALL INDUCTIVE CURRENT (CHOPPING)
 Definition: It is the phenomenon of circuit interruption before the natural
current zero is reached. The powerful deionizing effect causes the
current to fall abruptly to zero well before the natural current zero is
reached. This phenomenon is known as current chopping.
 Disadvantage: High voltage transient across the contacts of the circuit
breaker.
Current finally suppressed
before natural zero

Arc Voltage

Prospective values of
18
Voltage produced with
chopping
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 1. INTERRUPTION OF SMALL INDUCTIVE CURRENT CHOPPING
 As soon as the current interrupted the value of i becomes zero.
 But the electromagnetic energy stored in the system cannot become
instantaneously zero and converts into electrostatic energy as the system
has some capacitance.
 According to law of conservation of energy, we have
1 2 1 2
Li  Cv
2 2

vi L
C
 V is called as prospective voltage.
 This is extremely high as compared to the normal system voltage

19

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 2. INTERRUPTION OF CAPACITIVE CURRENTS
VR
 The interruption of capacitive current produces high
voltage transients across the gap of the CB
 At M: the capacitive current is zero and the system C CL

s
voltage is maximum. If the interruption occurs, the
capacitor CL remains charged at the maximum value of
the system voltage. 5emax
Voltage after
 After M: voltage across the gap is the difference of VC second restrike Q
and VCL
 At N: i.e half cycle from A, the e= vC = vCL M N T
voltage across the gap is twice the
maximum value of VC. At this
moment, the arc may restrike
 If the arc restrike, the voltage A

across the breaker becomes Capacitive First

practically zero. current i current S
 Thus, the voltage across the gap zero
R P
falls from 2VCmax to zero. A severe Voltage after first 3emax
20
high frequency oscillations occurs restrike
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 2. INTERRUPTION OF CAPACITIVE CURRENTS
 The voltage oscillates about point S
between R and N, i.e. between -
3emax and emax 5emax
Voltage after
 At P: the system voltage reaches second restrike Q
its positive maximum shown by the
point T, at this moment the voltage e= vC = vCL M N T
across the gap becomes 4emax.
 The capacitive current reaches zero
again and there may be an
interruption. A

 If the interruption occurs at this Capacitive First

moment, the transient voltage current i current S
oscillates between P and Q zero
R P
 In this way the voltage across the Voltage after first 3emax
restrike
gap increases.
 But in practice, it is limited to 4
21
times the peak value of the system
voltage
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 3. INTERRUPTION OF TERMINAL FAULTS
 A fault occurring very near to the
terminal of the CB is known as the
terminal fault.
 Under this condition the fault or short
circuit current depends upon the source
voltage Vn and source impedance X (wL)
as the impedance between the breaker
and the fault is negligible.
 After the arc extinguishes at natural
zero, the circuit recovers and a
transient recovery voltage appears
across the breaker pole.

22

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 5. ASYNCHRONOUS OR PHASE OPPOSITION SWITCHING
 Phase opposition may occur when the breaker recloses after a
fairly long pause, during which generators G1 and G2 fall out of
synchronism.
 The recovery voltage has a maximum value when the two voltages
are in phase opposition i.e., 1800 out of phase

23

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 ARC EXTINCTION/ INTERRUPTION: METHODS
 The CB should be capable of extinguishing the arc without causing
any damage to the equipment or danger to personnel.
 The arc plays vital role in the behavior of CB.

 Methods of Arc Interruption:

 High resistance method – In this case the arc is controlled in

such a way that its effective resistance increases with the time
so that the current is reduced to such a value that heat
produced by it is not sufficient to maintain the arc and thus the
current is interrupted or the arc is extinguished.
 Low resistance method – In this method the arc resistance is
maintained low till current zero during which arc extinguishes
naturally and is prevented from restriking in spite of rising
voltage across the contacts. 25

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 HIGH RESISTANCE METHOD:
 Resistance of the arc can be increased by:
 Cooling of arc:
 Cooling of arc brings about recombination of ionized particles.
 This increases the arc resistance

 Cooling removes heat from the arc

 Cooling is brought about by bringing the arc in contact with cool air

 Increasing the arc length:

 Increasing the gap length between contacts
 But it is not practicable to draw the arc out to such length in hv systems

 Reducing the cross-section of arc:

 By having small area of contact, or
 By letting the arc pass through a narrow opening

 by this the voltage necessary to maintain the arc is increased

 Splitting of arc:
 Splitting of arc into small arcs in series, each one of these arcs experience 26
the effect of lengthening and cooling.
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 HIGH RESISTANCE METHOD:
 Disadvantages:
 Because of the resistive nature of the arc discharge, most the
energy in the system will be dissipated within the CB.
 therefore, while designing the CB, provision for mechanical
strength to withstand such sudden release of large quantities
of energy must be made.
 This is the main disadvantage of this method.

 So it is restricted to DC CB and air break type CB of relatively low

capacities of order of a few hundred MVA.

27

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 LOW RESISTANCE/ CURRENT ZERO INTERRUPTION:

 This method is applicable only in ac circuit interruption

because there is natural zero of current 100 time in a
second for 50hz, 3-phase system.
 This property of ac circuit is exploited for interruption
purpose.
 The arc resistance is kept low until the current is zero
where the arc extinguishes naturally and is prevented
from restriking after it has gone out at a current zero.

28

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 LOW RESISTANCE/ CURRENT ZERO INTERRUPTION:
 The phenomenon of arc extinction can be explained by two theories:
1. Energy Balance or Cassie Theory:
 Statement: If the rate of heat dissipation between
contacts is greater than the rate at which heat is
generated, the arc will be extinguished, otherwise
restrike.
2. Recovery Rate or Slepian’s theory:
 Statement: If the rate at which the ions and electrons

combine to form or are replaced by neutral molecule i.e.,

the rate at which the gap recovers its dielectric strength
is faster than the rate at which voltage stress rises, the
arc will be extinguished.
29

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 ENERGY BALANCE OR CASSIE THEORY
 The heat generated varies from time to time depending
upon the separation of breaker contacts.
 Initially when the contacts are about to open, the
restriking voltage is zero and, therefore, the heat
generated is zero.
 Again when the contacts are fully opened, the
resistance between the contacts is also infinite and
hence the heat generated is zero.
 Between these two limits the heat generation reaches a
maximum. Now if the heat so generated could be
removed by cooling, lengthening and splitting the arc at
a rate higher than that of generation, the arc is 30
extinguished.
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 RECOVERY RATE OR SLEPIAN’S THEORY
 The rapid increase of dielectric strength of the medium near
current zero can be achieved by either causing the ionized
particles in the space between contacts to recombine or
 Sweeping the ionized particles away and replacing them by un-
ionized particles as soon as the current becomes zero, so that
rising contact voltage or restriking voltage cannot breakdown the
space between the contacts.
 This can be achieved by the following methods:
 Lengthening of the Gap
 Increasing the pressure in the vicinity of the arc
 Cooling
 Blast effect

31

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 RECOVERY RATE / SLEPIAN’S THEORY:
 Lengthening of the Gap:
 The dielectric strength is proportional to the length of the gap between the
breaker contacts
 So lengthening by rapid opening of the breaker contact is an obvious process

 Increasing the pressure in the vicinity of the arc:

 The increase in the density of particles causes higher rate of deionization and

thus the dielectric strength of the medium between the contacts is increased
 Cooling:
 If the particles are allowed to cool, the natural combination of ionized

particles will take place more rapidly and resulting increase in dielectric
strength of the medium. (cooling by conduction to adjacent parts)
 Blast effect:
 By blowing a stream of air through the arc ionized particles between the

contacts are swept away and replaced by un-ionized particles.

 These un-ionized particles increase the dielectric strength of the medium

considerably. 32

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 LIMITATIONS OF RATE OF RECOVERY THEORY:

 This theory assumes that the restriking voltage and build-up

of dielectric strength are independent quantities. (not true)
 The energy relation in the arc extinction is not considered.

 Theory is incomplete as the concept of arcing phase is not

covered
 Assumptions of restriking voltage and rate of rise of
dielectric strength are comparable quantities is wrong as
these two are not similar.

33

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 CURRENT INTERRUPTION IN AC VS DC CIRCUITS
 Current interruption is easier in AC circuits than in DC Circuits.
 In an AC circuit the current waveform passes through the zero twice
during each cycle, i.e., 100 times in a second.
 But in DC circuit there is no current zero, since voltage and current
waveforms are continuous.
 Hence, the arc that is generated in DC circuits exists continuously
between the opened contacts. Resulting ultimately in flashover.
 The heat generated by the arc is intense
 Method to overcome this difficulty:
 For small currents: contacts are broken quickly before air gets

ionized
 For heavier currents: the arc is blown off by creating a magnetic
field having the property of deflecting the arc.
 The magnetic field is created by blow-out coils through which the
current to be broken flows. The arc path is deflected until it is 34

blown upwards in special arc chutes.

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 CB RATINGS
 A circuit breaker is required to perform the following three duties:
 It must be capable of opening the faulty circuit and breaking the fault
current.
 It must be capable of being closed on to a fault
 Must be capable of carrying fault current for a short time while another
breaker is clearing the fault.
 Depending on the above duties circuit breaker has three ratings
 Braking capacity,
 Making capacity and
 Short time capacity.
 In addition to the above, a CB should be specified in terms of:
 Number of Poles
 Rated Voltage
 Rated Current
 Rated Frequency and 35

 Operating Duty
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 CB RATINGS/ BREAKING CAPACITY
 Definition: The highest rms value of short circuit current that the CB is
capable of breaking under specific condition of transient recovery voltage
and power frequency voltage. Instant of Contact
 Expressed in kA rms at contact separation Separation
 The breaking current is expressed by two values: Envelope of
current wave
1. Symmetrical Breaking Current: rms value of ac
component of short circuit current at the  I AC  Total short
 
instant of separation of contacts  2 circuit current
I AC
Symmetrical Breaking Capacity  Recovery Voltage(E) 
2

2. Asymmetrical Breaking current: rms value of the

combined sums of ac and dc components  I   I 
2
AC 2
DC
 2
2
I 
Asymmetrical Breaking Capacity  E   AC   I DC 
2

 2
 Conventionally the breaking capacity of a CB in MVA is given by:
36
3  Rated Volatge kV
Breaking Capacity MVA 
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1 Rated Breaking Current kA
 CB RATINGS/ MAKING CAPACITY
 Definition: the making capacity of CB depends upon its ability to
withstand the effects of electromagnetic forces which are
proportional to the square of the peak value of the making current.

 Making current of a CB when closed on a short circuit is the peak

value of the maximum current wave (including dc component) in the
first cycle of the current after the circuit is closed by CB.

Rated Making Current  1.8  2  Rated Short  Circuit Breaking Current

or

Making Capacity  2.55  Symmetrical Breaking Capacity

37

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 CB RATINGS/ SHORT TIME CAPACITY
 Sometimes CB is required to carry short-circuit current for short
intervals without tripping. This happens in case of momentary faults
on the transmission lines and the fault is automatically cleared and
persists only for 1 or 2 seconds.
 For this reason the CBs are short-time rated and they trip only
when the fault persists for a duration longer than the specified time
limit.
 Definition: is the rms value of current that a CB can carry in a fully
closed position without damage, for a specified time interval under
prescribed conditions.
 It is normally expressed in kA for a period of 1 second or 4 seconds
known as one-second rating and four-second rating respectively.
 These ratings are based on thermal limitations.
38

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 CB RATINGS/ OTHER TERMS
 Number of Poles: the no of poles per phase is a function of
operating voltage.
 Rated Voltage: the rated maximum voltage of a CB is the highest
rms voltage, above nominal system voltage, for which the CB is
designed and is the upper limit for operation.
 Rated Current: is the rms value of the current which the CB shall be
able to carry at rated frequency and at the rated voltage
continuously, under specified conditions.
 Rated Frequency: is the frequency at which the CB is designed to
operate.

39

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 CB RATINGS/ OPERATING DUTY
 Operating Duty: of CB consists of the prescribed number of unit
operations at stated intervals.
 It denotes the sequence of opening and closing operations which the CB
can perform under specified conditions.
 For the CB without auto-reclosing feature
 O – t – CO –t’ – CO
 O – t’’ – CO
 where O – Opening Operation, CO – Closing followed by opening without any
intentional time lag, t, t’ – time lag in minutes, 3 min (IEC); t’’ – time lag in
seconds, 15 sec
 B – 3 – MB – 3 – MB (BSS)
 where B- breaking; MB – Making followed by breaking without any intentional time
delay
 For the CB with auto-reclosing feature
 O – Dt – CO, where Dt is dead time in cycles
40
 B – Dt – MB (BSS)
Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1
 ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF CB
 The main duties which a CB has to perform in addition to
satisfying the rated breaking capacities and rated making
& breaking times are:
1. Interruption of small inductive currents, current chopping

2. Interruption of Capacitive Currents

3. Switching of capacitor banks

4. Interruption of terminal faults

5. Interruption of short-line faults

6. Asynchronous switching 41

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 4. INTERRUPTION OF SHORT LINE (KILOMETRIC) FAULTS
 The faults occurring between a distance of few km to a few tens km
from the CB are called short-line or kilometric faults.
 Such faults are characterized by high frequency of restriking voltage of
order of 10 to 100 kHz depending upon the line length and fault location.
 The interruption of fault current imposed a serious duty on the CB.

 This is because of the transient recovery voltage is accompanied by high

frequency line side component.

42

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 AUTO RECLOSURES
 It is the automatic closing of a CB in order to restore an element
to service. It is done by automatic tripping of the CB.
 In power system 80 to 90% of faults are temporary in nature, and
these faults will be cleared if the fault current is interrupted for a
short duration, is the basis of auto-reclosing scheme.
 If the fault persists even after a reclosure, then tripping and
reclosing operations are performed.
 If the fault is temporary or semi-permanent, it will be cleared in
these attempts.
 If it is a permanent fault than the breaker contacts remain open
after the above attempts and it has to be reset manually after
repairs in the system
43

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1

 AUTO RECLOSURES
 Advantages:

1. Auto reclosing CBs enhance the stability margins.

2. Improves the system reliability.

3. In the remote areas, the auto reclosing feature minimizes the

need for an operator to close the CB manually, whenever it
trips.
4. Unnecessary longer duration outages due to temporary faults
can be avoided.
5. In case of radial feeders fed from only one end, the continuity
of supply during temporary faults is maintained.
6. It allows flow of synchronizing power through the
interconnection during single line to ground faults using single
phase auto reclosing scheme. 44

Aditya Group of Engineering Colleges_EEE_SGP_Unit_1