EE 647- HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATION

Development in High Voltage Vacuum

Circuit Breaker

PRESENTER: SHAIKH TAUQEER AHMED

STUDENT NUMBER # 43916566
SUBMITTED TO: DR. ABDUULRAHMAN ALI AL-
ARAINY
 PRESENTATION SCHEME
 Introduction.

 Working of VCB.

 Advantages and Disadvantages of VCB.

 Development in High Voltage Vacuum Circuit Breaker.

 Proposed new design High Voltage VCB.

 Conclusion.
 Introduction.

 A Vacuum circuit breaker

is a circuit breaker in
which vacuum is used to
extinct the arc. VCB have
excellent interruption
and dielectric recovery
characteristics, and can
interrupt the high
frequency currents which
result from arc
instability, superimposed
on the line frequency
current.
 Introduction.

Construction of Vacuum Circuit Breaker

 Working of VCB.
 In VCB two contacts called electrode remains
closed under normal operating conditions.
When fault occurs on any part of the system,
the trip coil of the circuit breaker gets
energized and contacts are separated.

 When the contacts of the breaker are opened

in vacuum (10-7 to 10 -5 torr), an arc is produced
between the contacts by the ionization of
metal vapors of contacts.

 The arc is quickly extinguished because the

metallic vapors, electrons and ions produced
during arc condense quickly on the surfaces of
the circuit breaker contacts, resulting in quick
recovery of dielectric strength.

 VCBs are capable of interrupting currents with

a very high (di/dt), typically in the range of
150 – 1000 A/μs.
 Advantages of VCB.
 They are compact, reliable and have
longer life.
 There are no fire hazards.
 They can interrupt wide range of
fault current.
 The outstanding feature of a VCB is
fast in operation so ideal for fault
clearing.
 Low inertia and hence require
smaller power for control operation.
 No noise is produced while
operating.
 Require less power for control
operation.
 It has higher dielectric strength.
 Disadvantages of VCB.

 The main disadvantage of VCB is that it is

uneconomical at voltages exceeding 38 kVolts.

 The cost of the breaker becomes excessive at

higher voltages. This is due to the fact that at
high voltages (above 38 kV) more than two
numbers of the circuit breaker are required to be
connected in series.

 Moreover, the VCBs production is uneconomical

if produced in small quantities.
Development in High Voltage Vacuum Circuit
Breaker.
 The development of high-voltage (HV) vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs) start
point 1969 to 2017.

 In this period, vacuum being used at ever increasing voltages, and today
increasing numbers of vacuum circuit breakers at 72.5kV, 126kV and 145kV
are in service.

 245kV Double Break VCB proposed Concept

 HV VCBs technologies are discussed, which include

 HV vacuum insulation,
 High current interrupting,
 Technology with long contact gaps,
 Increasing nominal current,
 Operating mechanism characteristics, and
 Contact bouncing damping.
 Development in High Voltage Vacuum Circuit
Breaker.
There are many technologies that support HV VCB, such as the following.

1)High-voltage insulation technology, which includes vacuum insulation and external

insulation of vacuum interrupter (VI).

2)Interruptingtechnology with long contact gaps. Generally, HV vacuum insulation

requirements lead to long contact gaps where vacuum arcs are more difficult to be
controlled by a magnetic field. To interrupt high short circuit current successfully with
long contact gaps, axial magnetic field (AMF) technology is preferred.

3)Nominal current increasing technology. High-voltage circuit breaker needs high nominal
current level. Also, heat conduction path of HV VCB is long that is an obstacle to increase
the nominal current level.

4)Operating mechanism characteristic technology. The opening and closing characteristics

provided by operating mechanism should cooperate with the vacuum arc characteristics in
obtaining an optimum performance.

5)Contactbouncing damping technology. This phenomenon is particularly obvious in HV

VCB, because the closing velocity and contact stroke in HV VCBs are higher than that of
medium voltage ones.
 Development in High Voltage Vacuum Circuit
 Breaker.
At present single break vacuum circuit breakers are commercially available up
to 145kV rated voltage, and in fact have been available for a number of years.

 Multi break VCB up to 126kV have been around for a very long time, in fact
since the 1960’s.

 Existing Technology
72.5kV Single Break VCB
 Development in High Voltage Vacuum Circuit
Breaker. 126-kV Two-Break VCB
 A 126-kV/1250-A/31.5-kA two-
break VCB is shown in Fig.

 Two VIs are in series. There is a

capacitor connected with each VI
in parallel. The external
insulation of the two VIs is by SF6
gas.

 The height of the prototype is

2650 mm. Spring-type mechanism
is used.

 Its average opening velocity is 2.4

m/s, and the average closing
velocity is 1.8 m/s.
 Development in High Voltage Vacuum Circuit
Breaker.
 Various companies have 145kV Single Break VCB (courtesy JAEPS)
produced vacuum circuit
breakers for voltages ranging
from 72.5kV to 145kV with using
both multiple and single break.

Size comparison of: 36kV,

72.5kV, and 145kV Vacuum
Interrupters (all for GIS breakers)
 Proposed new design High Voltage VCB.
 In the latest development a 245kV Double Break VCB Concept
proposed design for a 245kV
Vacuum Circuit Breaker,
specifically the design of the
Vacuum Interrupters.

 The design is based on a “T” style

transmission breaker, with two
Vacuum Interrupters in series.

 The proposed VCB uses a single

permanent magnetic actuator
with a toggle mechanism to
provide the opening and closing
forces required and the
synchronization of the two
Vacuum Interrupters.

 The circuit breakers and vacuum

interrupters were electrostatically
modelled in 3D using ElecNet
software
One of the Interrupter Head
 Conclusion
 Vacuum circuit breakers are well suited for the duties that a circuit
breaker must perform.
 A vacuum circuit breaker is a quiet, fast and efficient circuit breaker.
 The electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of insulating materials
have been greatly improved over the period of time.
 VCB have long operating life and low maintenance.
 It have vast applications in the industrial and power systems.
 Modelling shows that using a double break design, 245kV rating vacuum
circuit breaker is certainly Viable.
 Using two 145kV rated vacuum interrupters in series does not result in
the optimum solution.
 This indicates that 245kV rating is certainly achievable using available
technology