Technical Article

INNOVATIVE
SOLUTION FOR SAFETY NEEDS

AIR CIRCUIT BREAKER

Designed for both industrial and marine application, HYUNDAI Air Circuit Breakers have innovative structure, Various protections and reliable performance.
Suresh Duggal, General Manager, SPACEAGE SWITCHGEARS LTD

T
206 PURCHASE

he main application of switchgear is in the protection of circuits against damage caused by faults and the restoration or preservation of supplies to as large a part of the system as possible following a fault. In this function they must add reliability to the system rather than contribute to system problems. Providing fault occurrences are rare then system disruption caused by the switchgear, either for maintenance or operational problems has to be very rare. Hence the main objective of

any switchgear development must be to improve the reliability of the switchgear itself as well as its performance as a protective device.

Air circuit breakers

Air has been used as the insulator in switchgear across the entire voltage range from miniature circuit breakers at domestic voltage to air-blast circuit breakers at transmission voltages up to 800kV. For the

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purpose of this paper the term air circuit breaker will be used to describe a threephase circuit breaker using air at atmospheric pressure as the insulator. Early switches were plain-break which stretched an arc between a stationary and moving contact with no means of arc control. Arcing times were consequently long and voltage and current ratings limited. Performance was increased by the use of various arc control devices, probably the best and therefore the most commonly used arc control device is the arc chute. Arc chutes comprise a number of bare metal plates arranged at right angles to the length of the arc chute with spacers between the plates to allow the arc to be split up into a number of series smaller arcs, increasing its resistance and extracting heat. Eventually the arc is no longer able to sustain itself. When interrupting high short circuit currents the anode to cathode voltage drop is approximately 30V across each pair of plates. In dc circuit breakers if enough plates are used in series the arc voltage across the chute can be greater than the system voltage, forcing the current down to zero and thereby interrupting the current.

relating to safety of people, technical and economic requirements. The chosen switchgear must: withstand and eliminate faults at optimized cost with respect to the necessary performance, limit the effect of a fault to the smallest part possible of the installation in order to ensure continuity of supply. Achievement of these objectives requires coordination of protection device performance, necessary for: managing safety and increasing durability of the installation by limiting stresses, managing availability by eliminating the fault by means of the circuit-breaker immediately upstream. The circuit-breaker coordination means are: m Cascading m Discrimination. If the insulation fault is specifically dealt with by earth fault protection devices, discrimination of the residual current devices (RCDs) must also be guaranteed. Circuit-breaker functions: This connection device is able to close and break a circuit regardless of current up

The design of LV installations leads to basic protection devices being fitted for three types of faults:
Overloads Short-circuits Insulation faults.

Operation of these protection devices must allow for: the statutory aspects, particularly

to its breaking capacity. The functions to be performed are: m Close the circuit, m Conduct current, m Open the circuit and break the current, m Guarantee isolation. The requirements concerning installation, cost optimization, management of availability and safety generate technological choices concerning the circuitbreaker.
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Electrodynamics Withstand (EDW) and high thermal withstand characterized by a short time withstand current lcw are essential. EDW is designed to be as great as possible by an own current compensation effect.

Circuit-breaker category
m Category IEC 60947-2 defines two circuitbreaker categories: m Category A circuit-breakers, for which, no tripping delay is provided. This is normally the case of moulded case circuit-breakers. These circuit-breakers can provide current discrimination. m Category B circuit-breakers, for which, in order to provide time discrimination, tripping can be delayed (up to 1 s) for all shortcircuits of value less than the current lcw. This is normally the case of power or moulded case circuit-breakers with high ratings. For circuit-breakers installed in the MSBs, it is important to have an lcw equal to lcu in order to naturally provide discrimination up to full ultimate breaking capacity lcu. Standard IEC 60947-2 specifies the main data of Industrial Circuit- Breakers: m The utilization category, m The setting data, m The design measures, Etc. It draws up a series of very complete tests representative of circuit-breaker real operating conditions.

The Main Switchboard (MSB)

This unit is the key to the entire electrical power distribution: availability of supply is essential in this part of the installation. Short-circuit currents are high due to: the proximity of the LV sources, amply sized busbars for conveying high currents. This is the area of the power circuit-breakers.

Functions and technologies of the protection devices

Protection devices and their coordination must be suited to the specific features of the installation. At the main switchboard, the need for energy availability is greatest, At the sub-distribution switchboards, limitation of stresses in event of a fault is important, At final distribution, user safety is essential. Main data of these circuit-breakers: of industrial type, meeting standard IEC 609472, with a high breaking capacity lcu from 40 to 150 kA, with a nominal rating of 1000 to more than 6000A, Continuity of supply is ensured by total discrimination: upstream with the protection fuses of the HV/LV transformer (*), downstream with all the feeders (time discrimination). (*) The value of HV/LV discrimination lies above all in the fact that resumption of operation has fewer constraints in LV (accessibility, padlocking). This offers considerable advantages for continuity of supply. These circuit-breakers are designed for high current electrical distribution: they are normally installed in the MSBs to protect high current incomers and feeders; they must remain closed in event of short-circuits so as to let the downstream circuit-breaker eliminate the faults. Their operation is normally time-delayed.
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Assessment Of Switchgear
In assessing the merit of any particular switchgear design, the factors below must be considered: m Service Continuity: The ability to provide a continuous and reliable operation not only during normal conditions, but also during and after a fault clearance or after routine maintenance is of the highest importance. m Operation Facilities: It is often necessary to allow for independent control through different sections of the substation, either to isolate certain loads that have undesirable characteristics or to maintain the fault level of a system within a predetermined value. m Simplicity: This aids safety and reliability by reducing the chances of faulty operation and making interlocking requirements simpler. m Extensibility: The necessity for adding additional circuits is not always foreseen but almost invariably required. This must be possible at a minimum cost with a minimum interruption to the supply.

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The above factors can in general be balanced one against the other but occasionally some salient feature of the electric system or of the geography of the substation may override these factors.

Causes of Arcing Faults

Arcing faults are commonly caused by the following: Foreign tools dropped into equipment that may cause short - circuit, produce sparks, and initiate arcs; Entry of foreign bodies (e.g., rodent, snake, squirrel); Misalignment of moving contacts and corrosion of equipment parts. This weakens the contact between conductor terminals and increases the contact resistance. So, heat is generated on the contacts and sparks may be produced leading to arcing faults with nearby exposed conductors; Dirt contamination or dielectric breakdown. Dirt on insulating surfaces can provide a path for current, allowing it to flashover creating arc discharge across the surface. The flashover can also be created by condensation of vapor and water dripping on insulating surfaces; Careless cover or device removal that gives an opportunity for accidental touching with live exposed parts producing arc faults; Over voltages across narrow gaps. If the air gap between conductors of phases or phase conductor and earth is narrow enough, the electric field intensity through the air gap may ionize the air during over voltages producing arc faults; and Improper maintenance procedures.

parameters such as system voltage, arcing fault current, working distance from arc source, and fault duration. The hazard level depends on many system variables including equipment type, prospective bolted fault currents, and characteristics of upstream protective devices.

Taking care of all above switchgears safety requirement HYUNDAI has introduced a new innovative breaker with the following features.
m High breaking capacity Hyundai Air Circuit Breakers realize high breaking capacity and short-time withstand current with advanced technologies. l HiAN type: up to Icu 120kA, Icw 100kA at AC500V l HiAH type: Icu 130kA, Icw 65kA at AC500V m

Customized design

l Minimized dimension difference of ACBs make easy to design switchboards. Breakers can also be replaced according to system specification changes. l All type ACBs have same panel cut-out size, so it is also easy to standardize the switchboard design. l All circuits and manual operation parts are in front side. This front mounted design enables easy wiring, operation and inspection. l Easy insertion to cradle, line and load

Arc Flash Consequences

Process downtime due to accidents. Loss of product and lost revenue. Equipment damage. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citation and fines.

Human Consequences:
Treatment of victims is very expensive. Victims may not retain their life quality. Loss of skilled manpower and loss of morale. Higher insurance costs. Workers potentially exposed to arc flash hazard must be adequately protected. The severity of this hazard is measured by the amount of energy that an arc delivers to an exposed worker. Incident energy and flash protection boundary vary based on different
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side reverse connection and convenient replacement of APR, trip device and motor also offer greater satisfaction to customers. m

Multi-function ACB protection relay (APR)

l By mounting of high-reliable multi function protection relay, ACBs can conduct perfect performance. 6 types of APR are available according to required functions.

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Front view of ACB

Safety provision

The fully molded body increases the safety in any application. l The neutral pole contact closes earlier than the main circuit contacts and opens later. l This early-make late-break N pole contact effectively prevents the occurrence of the abnormal l Voltages between the phase lines and the neutral line, thus ensuring safety. l Internal surge protection device suppresses the surge of ACB itself and protects against mis-operation of loads. l Various accessories also contribute to safety features.

Various accessories and options

From: - Suresh Duggal General Manager

Various accessories are available for better safety, convenience and performance of ACBs.

SPACEAGE SWITCHGEARS LTD

68, IDC, Mehrauli Road Gurgaon-122001 Phone: 0124 - 2310124 E-mail : duggal.s@spaceagegroup.org
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All accessories are easy to install and maintain.