XXIII-rd Int. Symp.

on Discharges and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum – Bucharest - 2008

Research on Synchronous Breaking Technology

of Vacuum Circuit Breaker
Shaohua Ma1, Zhiyuan Cai1 and Jimei Wang2
1
College of Electrical Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang 110023, P.R.China
2
College of Electrical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xian 710049, P.R.China

Abstract- In this paper an approach of synchronous A. Generally Expression of Short Circuit Current
breaking technology of vacuum circuit breaker is In a power system, a short circuit current may
presented. In order to predict the zero of a short circuit generally be expressed as follow
current, the recurrence formula is built according to the h
general expression of short circuit current, and it is simple
without complex calculation and easy to come true by
hardware and software. The simulation results for the
actual measurement short circuit current show good
predicting ability and high precision. Furthermore,
support vector machine (SVM) is using for compensating
the offset of the breaking time from the driving mechanism,
and the model is built by minimum mean-square value
SVM.
I. INTRODUCTION
For a vacuum circuit breaker synchronous breaking
is of advantage to improve its breaking capability,
reduce its electrical wear and prolong its life. However
some key problems have not yet come, including how to
i (t )  
Ae  O t  ¦ a j cos nZ t  b j sin nZ t . (1)
j 1
where i(t) is the instantaneous value of the short circuit
current; A is the initial value of the decaying direct
current component; Ȝ is the decaying time constant of
the decaying direct current component; Ȧ is the
angular frequency of the fundamental component; h
is the order of the highest harmonics component; aj is
the sinusoidal component of the j order harmonics; bj
is the cosine component of the j order harmonics.
The discrete time series i(k) of i(t) can be educed
from (1) as follow
i (k ) A exp(O k TS )
h
(2)

predict the zero of the short circuit current and how to
adjust the offset of the breaking time from the driving
mechanism.
In this paper the short circuit current is analyzed so
as to build the recurrence formula of predicting its zero,
and the simulation results for the actual measurement
short circuit current show that it is easy to come true
and nothing remains but to satisfy the conditions as
follows, such as the effective number of bits (ENoB) of
the analog to digital converter (ADC) is equal to 12 bit,
the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the measurement
circuit is equal to 60dB, the sampling period is equal to
32 times in every fundamental wave etc. Support vector
machine (SVM) is using for adjusting the offset of the
breaking time from the driving mechanism, and the
predictive model of the breaking time with few support
vectors is built by minimum mean-square value SVM. It
is easy to be programmed.
II. PREDICTION OF SHORT CIRCUIT CURRENT ZERO
In order to implement synchronous breaking of
vacuum circuit break, it is needed to predict the zero of
a short circuit current so as to give breaking command
on a proper time. Thus it is important to build the
module for predicting the zero of a short circuit current,
which is simple and easy to come true by hardware and
software.
978-1-4244-2841-0/08/$25.00 ©2008 IEEE
 ¦ a j cos nZ kTS  b j sin nZ kTS . 
j 1
where k is the serial number of the discrete sample
points, k=0, 2, …, m-1; m is the number of the sample
points; TS is the sample period.
In order to predict the zero of a short circuit current,
some numerical filtering methods are adopted including
Fourier transform, least square method and adaptive
filter etc. There methods estimate the characteristic
quantities of i(t) from i(k) according to the general
expression of a short circuit current, and then estimate
the zero of i(t). Due to complex arithmetic and
reiteration, it is difficult to realize using a general
microprocessor, so digital signal processor (DSP) is
often adopted, and the measurement circuit with high
precision is needed.
B. Recurrence Formula of Predicting Short Circuit Current
In order to predict the zero of a short circuit
current according to i(k), recurrence formula is built
in this paper.
The principle of recurrence formula is follow as:
building up a simple recurrence formula, which can
estimate the instantaneous value i(m) of the short
circuit current according to i(0), i(1), …, i(m-1), and
then estimate i(m+1) , i(m+2),…i(m+n). If i(m+n-1)
is negative to i(m+n), the zero of i(t) is between
i(m+n-1) and i(m+n), and may be estimated by
interpolation. Formula (10) can be using for predicting the short
It may be educed from (2) circuit current with the decaying direct current
component and the fundamental component, and the
O sample time window needed is about half
i(k ) A exp( k)
Nf fundamental period.
(3)
h 2 ʌjk h 2 ʌjk For the short circuit current with the higher
 ¦ a j sin  ¦ b j cos . harmonic components, if (5), (6) and (10) can still be
j 1 N j 1 N
satisfied, short circuit current may be estimated
where N is the sample times of every fundamental according to the recurrence formula.
period. Suppose the short circuit current contains the
Suppose the short circuit current only contains the decaying direct current component and thrice as well
decaying direct current component and the as less than thrice harmonics, it may be educed from
fundamental component, it may be educed from (3) (3)
3
­i (0) A  b1 ­
° °i (0) A  ¦ j 1
bj
® O . (4) °
°i ( N / 2) A exp( 2 f )  b1 ʌj 3 ʌj
O 3
°
¯ °i ( N / 4) A exp( 4 f )  ¦ a j sin  ¦ b j cos
2 j1 2
° j 1
® (11)
The sum I(0) of i(0) and i(N/2) may be educed as °i ( N / 2) A exp( O 3
)  ¦bj
follow ° 4f j 1
°
°i (3 N / 4) A exp( O )  ¦ a sin 3ʌj  ¦ b cos 3ʌj
3 3
ª O º
I (0) i (0)  i ( N / 2) A«1  exp( )» . (5) °¯ 4f
j
2
j
2
¬ 2f ¼
j 1 j 1

After a lapse of one sample point, the sum I(1) of It may be educed from (11)
i(1) and i(N/2+1) may be educed as follow 3
I (1) i (1)  i ( N / 2  1) I ( j) ¦ i (kN / 4  j )
k 0
O ª O º (6) (12)
A exp( ) «1  exp( )» . O ª O º
Nf ¬ 2f ¼ A exp( ) j «1  exp( )»
Nf ¬ 4f ¼
Divide (5) by (6), it may be educed as follow where j is the order number, j=0, 1, …
O I (1) It can be educed from (12)
exp( ) . (7)
Nf I ( 0)
i (3 N / 4  j )
>I ( j  1)@2  2
¦ i(kN / 4  j ) . (13)
I ( j  2) k 0
Again a lapse of one sample point, the sum I(2) of
where j is the order number, j=2, 3, …
i(2) and i(N/2+2) may be educed as follow It can be seen from (13) that i(3N/4+2),
I ( 2) i(2)  i( N / 2  2) i(3N/4+3), …, i(3N/4+m) can be estimated according
to i(0), i(1), i(2), i(3), …, i(N/4+1). Formula (13) may
O ª O º (8) be used for analyzing short circuit current with the
A exp( ) 2 «1  exp( )» .
Nf ¬ 2f ¼ decaying direct current component and the thrice as
well as less than the thrice harmonics, and the sample
According to (5), (7) and (8), it may be educed as
time window needed is about 3/4 fundamental period.
follow
In a similar way, for the short circuit current
i ( N / 2  2)
>I (1)@2  i ( 2) . (9)
contains the decaying direct current component and
I (0) seventh as well as less than thrice harmonics, it may
be educed as
It can be seen from (9) that i(N/2+2) can be
estimated according to i(0), i(1), i(2), i(N/2), …,
i (7 N / 8  j )
>I ( j  1)@2  6

i(N/2+1). If regarding i(N/2+2) as the known value, ¦ i(kN / 8  j ) . (14)

I ( j  2) k 0
i(N/2+3) may also be estimated, repeating this
where j is the order number, j=2, 3, …
process, i(N/2+4), i(N/2+5), …may be estimated
It can be seen from (14) that i(7N/8+2),
orderly.
i(7N/8+3), …, i(7N/8+m) can be estimated according
Recurrence formula of predicting short circuit
to i(0), i(1), i(2), i(3), …, i(7N/8+m-1). Formula (14)
current is as follow
may be used for analyzing the short circuit current
i( N / 2  j )
>I ( j  1)@2  i( j ) . (10)
with the decaying direct current component and the
I ( j  2) seventh as well as less than the seventh harmonics,
and the sample time window needed is about 7/8
where j is the order number, j=2, 3, …
fundamental period.
C. Influencing Factor and Basic Requirement structural risk minimization, SVM constructs the
Using (14) to estimate the aero of a short circuit mathematical model by learning and training according
current, the sample time window should be over 7/8 to the data of small samples, and has excellent
fundamental period, and the sample period should be generalization ability.
supposed to over 32 time per fundamental period. Choosing a non-linear function I(·) to transform the
Due to the quantization error of ADC and the noise non-linear problem to the linear problem so as to map
of the measurement circuit, the actual measurement the sample vectors (x1,y1), …, (xi,yi), …, (xn,yn), xiRm,
short circuit current contains inevitably some noise yiR to the feature space with high dimensional, and
signals. The simulation results show that if ENoB of then make non-linear regression on the feature space
ADC is up to 12bit and SNB of the measurement with high dimensional. So the optimal linear
circuit is up to 60dB, the predicting precision may regression function is expressed as
satisfy the demand in order to implement the f ( x) w ˜ I ( x)  b . (15)
synchronous control.
where w is the weighting vector; b is the offset.
D. Simulation of Actual Measurement Short Circuit Current
The optimal w and b should satisfy
In order to verify the recurrence formula of predicting
short circuit current, some dozens of actual 1 2 1
R ( w) w  J ˜ Remp ( w) . (16)
measurement short circuit currents are analyzed by (14). 2 2
The effective number of bits (ENoB) of ADC is equal
where Ȗ is the penalty function.
to 12bit, the sample period is equal to 625μs. The
For the least square SVM the optimization problem
simulation results show that the predicting errors are
can be expressed as
with in r100μs, the one of the simulation results is
shown in fig.1, it can be seen that the simulation §1 1 n ·
min R min ¨ w T w  J ¦ [ i2 ¸
function is almost accord with the actual measurement w,b ,[ 2
© 2 i1 ¹
short circuit current, the estimation offsets of the first (17)
­ y [ w TI ( x i )  b] 1  [ i
zero to the fifth zero are respectively -78, 46,-71, 74 s.t. ® i
and -79μs, i.e. it can predict the zero of the short ¯[ i t 0 i 1,  , n
circuit current in advance of over 50ms.
According to Karush-Kuhn-Tucke condition (KKT)
1500 and Lagrangian function as well as the kernel
function K(x, xi)=IT(x)I(xi) , it can be educed as
1000
ªb º ª0 º
T 1
«a » W W W «1» > @ (18)
current /digital quantity

¬ ¼ ¬ ¼
500
where
0 ª0 y1  yn º
«y y 1 y 1 K(x1 ,x1 )  1/Ȗ  y 1 y n K(x1 ,x n ) »»
W « 1
-500 «    »
Oscillogram of short circuit current « »
Measured value ¬ yn y n y 1 K(x n ,x1 )  y n y n K(x n ,x n )  1/Ȗ ¼
-1000 Simulation function
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
According to ai and b, the predicting function can
time /ms  be obtained as follow
1
Fig.1 Measured value of short circuit current and its simulation y ( x) . (19)
function curve ¦ ai y ( xi ) K ( x, xi )  b
iSV

where SV is the set of the support vector.

III. SELF-ADAPTING COMPENSATE OF OPENING TIME B. Self-adapting Compensate of Opening Time
Although the opening time of PMA is stable, but it The input parameters of the predicting model are
would change as some external factor including the the initial voltage U0 and the ambient temperature ș,
initial voltage of the energy capacitor, the ambient the output parameter of the predicting model is the
temperature and the wear and tear of the contact etc., so opening time tOpen. Choosing Gaussian Radial
it is needed to predict the opening time in order to Basis Function as the kernel function
compensate its offset so as to ensure the synchronous 2
§ xx ·
control precision. K ( x, x i ) exp¨ 
i ¸.
¨ ¸ (20)
A. Arithmetic of Compensation of Opening Time 2V 2
© ¹
SVM is adopted in order to compensate the opening
time. SVM is one of the statistic learning methods where ı is the kernel parameter.
developed in the middle 1990’s. Based on the aim of Adopting mean square error (MES) to judge the
performance of the model 0.13ms, which can satisfy the synchronous control
precision.
2
1 k ª f ( xi )  fˆ ( xi ) º IV. HARDWARE REALIZATION
MSE ¦« » . (20) The hardware block diagram is shown in fig.2, FPGA
k i 1 «¬ f ( xi ) »¼ is using for predicting the zero of the short circuit
current, single-chip microcomputer is using for
where f ( xi ) is the output of verification sample i;
measuring the armature position, the ambient
fˆ ( x i ) is the output of the model.
temperature, the voltage of energy storage capacitor and
Training samples and verification samples are
the short circuit current etc., and compensate the
obtained by testing, after training the predicting
opening time according the measured values in order to
model is built, its MSE is equal to 2.610 912 165 294
give the opening command.
775e-005, the predicting error is within -0.14ms to

Power supply

Armature position

Measurement circuit of Measurement circuit of Measurement circuit of

temperature position frenqency
Ambient
temperature

Measurement circuit of Frequency multiplier

Single-chip microcomputer
voltage
Voltage of energy
storage capacitor
FPGA

Measurement circuit of
Driver circuit of exciting coils
current
Current

Exciting coils Main control module

Fig.2 Structure block diagram of synchronous control

of the opening time PMA are built by minimum

The FLEX10E FPGA manufactured by ALTERA Co.
is adopted. By means of maxplus II, FPGA is
programmed, simulated and validated. The response
time is only 80μs and predicting precision is perfect.
V. CONCLUSION
Recurrence formula based on arithmetic operation has
advantage of simple computational process, high
predicting precision, and it isn’t needed high hardware
configuration.
SVM is the best general machine learning theory
developed from statistical learning theory, and suit to
do prediction from small samples by learning. The
opening time of PMA is related to the charging
voltage of the energy storage capacitor and the
ambient temperature etc., in order to improve the
synchronous control precision, the predictive models
mean-square value SVM so as to obtain the
predictive function, which related to few support
vectors is easy to be programmed.
REFERENCES
[1] K. Horinouchi, M. Tsukima, N. Tohya, et al, “Synchronous
Controlled Switching by Vacuum Circuit Breaker (VCB) with
Electromagnetic Operation Mechanism.” Proceedings of the 2004
IEEE International Conference on Electric Utility Deregulation,
Restructuring and Power Technologies, pp.529-534, 2004.
[2] Nguyen, Ha-Nam; Ohn, Syng-Yup; Chae, Soo-Hoan; Song, Dong
Ho; Lee, Inbok, “Optimizing weighted kernel function for support
vector machine by genetic algorithm.”, Lecture Notes in Computer
Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial
Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), pp.583-592,
2006.
E-mail of authors: mash_dq@sut.edu.cn