How predictive maintenance for

circuit breakers optimizes

safety, reliability, and costs

by Markus Hirschbold

Executive summary
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Introduction

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Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

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Operational conditions
What causes a
circuit breaker to
age and require
maintenance?

1.

2.

1.E+05
Mechanical endurance

1.E+04

Electrical endurance

Instantaneous protection
Number of cycles

1.E+03

1.E+02

Long time protection Short time protection

1.E+01
Electrodynamical
Minimum aging current Long time protection setting withstand
Short time protection setting

1.E+00
0.1 1 10 100
Caliber of the circuit-breaker Interrupted current (*In) Instantaneous protection setting

Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

 Rev 0
Environmental conditions
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Humidity Corrosion of metal surfaces.
Deterioration of dielectric quali-
ties of plastics. Deterioration of
electronic components, in partic-
ular SMCs and silver-coated
components. Degradation of op-
toelectronic components.
Salt
SO2 Sulphur diox-
ide
Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers
Appearance of red rust on
iron, white rust on zinc.
Blue deposit on copper, black
deposit on silver.
White traces on case.
Appearance of dendrites on
electronic boards.
Erosion of copper tracks.
Oxidation of connectors of in-
tegrated circuits mounted on
supports.
4
Increase in friction. Risk of
mechanical breakage re-
sulting in non-operation of
mechanisms. Increase in
contact resistance (clusters
and main contacts). Risk of
a reduction in insulation.
Short-circuiting of circuit re-
sulting in non-operation of
control unit protection,
measurement, indications
and communication func-
tions. Breakage of compo-
nents. Poor contact with in-
tegrated circuit support.
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H2S Hydrogen Sulphurization of silver, this phe- Major blackening of exposed Increased resistance of dis-
sulphide nomenon is accelerated by high silver surfaces. Appearance of connecting contacts ex-
temperatures. dendrites on electronic and posed to air. Excessive de-
power circuits. vice temperature rise.
Short-circuiting of circuits
resulting in non-operation
of the trip unit.
Cl2 Chlorine Corrosion of metal parts. Oxidation. Inter-granular corro- Increase in friction. Risk of
sion of stainless steel. mechanical rupture. Break-
ing of stainless-steel
springs.
NH3 Ammoniac Attacks polycarbonates, cor- Cracking of polycarbonates. Risk of rupture. Increased
rodes copper. Blackening of copper. temperature rise.
NO2 Nitrogen Corrosion of metal parts. Oxidation. Increased temperature rise.
oxide
Oily Attacks polycarbonates. Cracking of polycarbonates. Risk of rupture. Increased
atmospheres temperature rise.

For more
information

Human error and its potential effect on maintenance & reliability

1
Evaluation Of Failure Data Of HV Circuit-Breakers For Condition Based Maintenance

Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

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Reactive,
preventative,
or predictive
maintenance? Reacting when something fails

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Preventing failures with regular checks

For more
information

Item/equipment Task/function Interval

Air circuit breakers, medium voltage
Visual inspection / clean Annually
Insulation
Electrical tests 3 years
Visual inspection / clean Annually
Contacts Adjust Annually
Electrical test 3 years
Visual inspection / clean Annually
Arc interrupters Electrical test 3 years
Air-puffer operational check Annually

Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

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Item/equipment Task/function Interval

Visual inspection Annually
Operating mechanism Operational check / adjustment Annually
Operational check Annually
Trip device circuit

Air circuit breakers, low voltage

Visual inspection / clean / Annually
adjust
Electrical tests 3 years
Vacuum circuit breakers
Visual inspection / clean / Annually
adjust
Contact checks / vacuum 3 years
integrity
Electrical tests 3 years
Molded-case circuit breakers
Visual inspection / clean 3 years
Mechanical test 2 years
Electrical test 3-5 years

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Predicting needs to optimize performance and costs

Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

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Benefits of
predictive over preven-
tative maintenance
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Embedded
intelligence
enables deep
insight

2
Internet of things: ‘interconnecting (physical and virtual) things based on existing and evolving intero p-
erable information and communication technologies’ - ITU

Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

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Predictive
analytics
enables
Calculating failure risks
proactive
service

Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

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Example of typical breaker aging calculations

ti
% Ag  % Ag 0  
i TF i
1
 % Ag 0    ti  Ai
TF0 i

%Ag0 : Aging at time t0

ΔTi : Time spent in under (i) operating conditions since t0
(TF)i : Time to failure calculated with operating conditions (i)
TF0 : Time to failure in nominal conditions. This value will be defined on a per device
reference basis in the databases.
Ai : Acceleration factor for the operating conditions (i)

For more
information ASA : Acceleration factor for salty atmosphere aging
(e.g. proximity to ocean of <10 km = moderate, <1 km = high)
ACG : Acceleration factor for corrosive gas aging
AH : Acceleration factor for humidity aging
AD : Acceleration factor for dust aging
AV : Acceleration factor for vibrations aging
AT : Acceleration factor for temperature aging

Interpreting and acting on breaker aging information

Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

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Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

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Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

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Conclusion

Next Steps
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2.

3.

About the author

Markus Hirschbold (P.Eng., CEM, PMP), is responsible for offer creation of Schneider Electric’s
Power Monitoring software. He has held various key positions in R&D, Services, Power Quality, Project
Management and Offer Marketing during his 23-year tenure at Schneider Electric. He has been Seg-
ment Director for Healthcare since 2009, responsible for the creation of electrical distribution and en-
ergy management solutions for Healthcare facilities. Markus holds in excess of 30 patents related to
Schneider Electric hardware and software.

Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers

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Resources

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Predictive maintenance for circuit breakers