Niche Market Testing

by Lynn Hamrick, ESCO Energy Services

A Primer for Testing Medium-Voltage

Breakers in the Industrial Environment

D
uring its 20-40 year service life, a circuit breaker must be constantly mon construction of a medium-voltage
prepared to operate. Typically, long periods of inactivity often elapse air circuit breaker, the movable contact
is mounted on a contact arm that is
during which the breaker’s mechanical and electrical components never pivoted to open or close the contacts by
move. The circuit breaker is the active link in a fault clearance situation. When a a spring powered operating mechanism
fault occurs on the electrical system, the associated fault current must be inter- triggered through the trip or closing
coils by a control switch or closing relay
rupted quickly and reliably. This action is referred to as fault clearing. If a breaker (i.e., protective relay). Smaller open-
fails to clear a faulted circuit, the resulting damage can be very serious in terms ing springs are put in tension during
closing and assist in opening when
of both personnel injury and equipment damage. Even though circuit breakers
the trip coil is given tripping energy
are comparatively reliable, circuit breaker failures can and do occur. Therefore, from the control switch or protective
circuit breakers must be tested and maintained to ensure proper operation dur- relays. These protective relays may also
be used to provide auxiliary functions
ing these faults. along with over-current protection.
Many circuit breakers provide longer service lives than expected. If you can The current interruption capability
ascertain that a breaker is in good condition, you can continue to use it rather of air circuit breakers is dependent in
than replace it at its estimated end-of-life. For the remainder of this discussion, part upon their ability to extinguish
we will concentrate on medium-voltage (1 kV up to 35 kV) circuit breakers the arc that is generated when the
utilized within an industrial environment. breaker main contacts open or close. A
medium-voltage air circuit breaker in
Different Medium-Voltage Breaker Designs an industrial environment is typically
a draw-out type in which a breaker is
There are three basic designs of medium-voltage breakers: movable so as to be separated (“racked
Air Circuit Breaker – Air circuit breakers are the prevalent type of medium voltage out”) from the power source in order
breaker in an industrial environment due to the typical age of the equipment and to facilitate maintenance or connected
their lower cost; however, very few of this type of breaker are still being manu- (“racked in”) to the power source using
factured. Air circuit breakers are commonly used in medium-voltage electrical either a manual or motor-assisted rack-
distribution systems and include operating mechanisms that are mainly exposed ing capability.
to the environment. Since the air circuit breakers are rated to carry current con- Vacuum Circuit Breaker – Vacuum
tinuously, the exposure to convection cooling air assists in keeping the operating circuit breakers are the most popular
components within reasonable temperature limits. A typical air circuit breaker type of medium-voltage breaker in an
includes a main contact assembly, which is either opened (“tripped”), interrupting industrial environment due to their
a path for power to travel from the source to the load, or “closed”, providing a smaller size and improved reliability
path for power to travel from the source to the load. In many air circuit breakers, over air circuit breakers. Vacuum cir-
the force necessary to open or close the main contact assembly is provided by an cuit breakers are similar to air circuit
arrangement of compression springs. In many air circuit breakers, the mechanism breakers with the difference being
for controlling the compression springs comprised of a configuration of mechanical that the main contacts are housed in a
linkages between a latching shaft and an actuation device. The actuation device may vacuum chamber (“bottle”). One of the
be manually operated, or electrically operated with trip and close coils. In a com- contacts is fixed relative to the bottle

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 and to an external electrical conductor which is intercon- Insulation resistance – This test should be performed
nected with the circuit to be controlled by the circuit breaker. phase-to-phase and phase-to-ground (i.e., case, if appli-
The other separable main contact is movable. The moveable cable) with the breaker closed, as well as across the open
contact assembly is usually comprised of a stem of circular contacts for each phase. For medium-voltage breakers, the
cross-section having the contact at one end enclosed within manufacturer should provide the testing voltages and ac-
a vacuum bottle and a driving mechanism at the other end ceptance values for this test. When not available or where
which is external to the vacuum bottle. An operating rod no recommendations are provided, the following abbreviated
assembly comprised of a push rod, which is fastened to table from ANSI/NETA MTS-2007 may be used.
the end of the stem opposite the moveable contact, and a
driving mechanism provide the motive force to move the Insulation Resistance Test Values –
moveable contact into or out of engagement with the fixed MV Breakers
contact. Compression springs are provided in connection
with the operating rod assembly in order to be able to Recommended
separate the moveable contact from the fixed contact and Nominal Rating of Minimum Test Minimum
to assure the necessary force so that the contacts will not Breaker in Volts Voltage, DC Insulation Resistance
in Megohms
accidentally open under inappropriate conditions. As with
2,500 1,000 500
the air circuit breaker, the actuation device may be manually
or electrically operated by trip and close coils triggered by 5,000 2,500 1,000
a protective relay. These protective relays may also be used 8,000 2,500 2,000
to provide auxiliary functions along with over-current pro- 15,000 2,500 5,000
tection. Vacuum circuit breakers offer many advantages as
25,000 5,000 20,000
compared to other types, including: relatively long life due
to controlled contact erosion; maintenance-free operation 35,000 and above 15,000 100,000
provided by enclosure of the contacts within the hermeti-
cally sealed housing; excellent operational reliability due to
the use of hard contact materials; little or no atmospheric Dielectric withstand voltage – This basically an ac or dc
contact contamination, which contamination can detri- high potential test. This test should be performed from
mentally form oxides and corrosion layers on the contacts; the line side of each phase with the breaker open and
little or no noise during operation due to containment of the load side of that phase and line and load sides of the
arcing within the hermetically sealed housing; relatively few other phases tied together and tied to ground. For vacuum
environmental effects; and very low current chop, resulting circuit breakers, this test will also provide an indication of
in a minimal induced transient voltage spike during circuit the vacuum bottle integrity. For medium voltage breakers,
interruption so that surge suppressors are typically not the manufacturer should provide the testing voltages for
required. A medium-voltage vacuum circuit breaker in an this vacuum bottle integrity. It should be noted that for
industrial environment is also typically a draw-out type. a medium voltage vacuum breaker, only use of an ac high
Oil Circuit Breaker – Oil circuit breakers, which are potential is recommended. When not available or where no
typically located outdoors, were the past standard but are recommendations are provided, the following abbreviated
becoming more rare in the industrial environment as they table from ANSI/NETA MTS-2007 may be used
are being replaced with air or vacuum circuit breakers. Oil
circuit breakers have all contacts and mechanism housed
within an oil-filled tank, which provides for both an in- Dielectric Withstand Test Voltages –
sulation and arc-quenching capability. A typical oil circuit MV Breakers
breaker includes the same operational characteristics as an
air circuit breaker. A medium-voltage oil circuit breaker in Maximum Field Maximum Field
Nominal System
an industrial environment is typically a stand-alone type (Line) Voltage
Applied AC Test Applied DC Test
and requires that oil be drained and the breaker de-tanked (kV) (kV)
to perform maintenance. 1.2 6.0 8.5
2.4 9.0 12.7
Suggested Electrical Tests 4.8 11.4 16.1
There are three basic electrical tests that should be per-
8.3 15.6 22.1
formed on medium-voltage circuit breakers as part of a
preventive maintenance program. 14.4 20.4 28.8
18.0 24.0 33.9
Contact resistance – This test should be performed from
line-to-load terminals for each phase with the breaker 25.0 30.0 42.4
closed. The values should be within 50% of each other and 34.5 42.0 59.4
comparable to similar circuit breakers.

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 In addition to these basic tests, the protective relays
should be tested for functionality with all implemented pro-
tective functions being tested. In an industrial environment,
over-current protection is typically the main, and possibly
only, function provided by the protective relay; however, if
there are other protective functions being provided, they
should also be tested. It is also important that the breaker
actually be tripped and closed by the manual controls, and
tripped by the protective relay to ensure that the relay and
breaker are operating correctly. This will functionally test the
trip and close coils as well as the protective circuit.
Power-factor or dissipation-factor testing should be
considered as an additional test of each breaker’s insulation
system. For oil circuit breakers, a tank loss index should be
determined and, where individual mechanisms are provided
by phase for operation, time-travel testing should be con-
sidered for each phase. Oil sampling is also recommended
annually with oil sample quality analysis being provided for
dielectric breakdown, acid neutralization number, interfacial
tension, moisture, color, and power factor. Where cubicle
heaters are provided, functional testing of the heaters should
be verified.
In conclusion, even though circuit breakers are reliable
when compared to other electrical devices, circuit breaker
failures occur. When a breaker fails to operate, the result-
ing damage can be very serious in terms of both personnel
injury and equipment damage. Therefore, circuit breakers
must be tested and maintained to ensure proper operation
during these faults.

As Operations Manager of ESCO Energy Services

Company, Lynn brings over 25 years of working
knowledge in design, permitting, construction, and
startup of mechanical, electrical, and instrumenta-
tion and controls projects as well as experience in
the operation and maintenance of facilities.
Lynn is a Professional Engineer, Certified En-
ergy Manager and has a BS in Nuclear Engineering
from the University of Tennessee.

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