(16BT70202)

SWITCHGEAR AND PROTECTION

Unit-2 : FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS

Syllabus

Fuses - types of fuses & characteristics; Circuit breakers - elementary

principles of arc interruption, recovery voltage, restriking voltage, RRV, average and
maximum rate of rise of restriking voltage, current chopping and resistance switching.
Construction and principle of operation - minimum oil circuit breaker, air blast circuit
breaker, vacuum circuit breaker and SF6 circuit breaker; Isolators.

8 September 2022 NSM, Dept. of EEE, SVEC. 1

CIRCUIT BREAKERS
 Circuit Breaker (CB)
A Circuit Breaker is an
equipment which can:

• Make or break a circuit either

manually or by remote control
under fault or normal
conditions.

• Break a circuit automatically

under fault conditions.
 Operating principle of CB
• A circuit breaker essentially consists of fixed and moving contacts
called electrodes.

• Under normal conditions, these electrodes remains closed and will not
open automatically until and unless the system stability becomes
faulty.

• It can also be operated manually when ever required (under

maintenance or while replacing any equipment).

• When ever the contacts of a circuit breaker are separated under fault
conditions an arc is struck between them.
• The current thus able to continue until the discharge ceases.

• If it continues over long period which may cause damage to

system or to the circuit breaker itself.

• The main problem in a CB is to extinguish arc within the shortest

possible time. so that heat generated by current may not reach a

dangerous value.
 Arc phenomenon
•When short circuit occurs, a heavy current flows through the contacts of the
circuit breaker before they are operated by the protection system.

•At instant when the contacts begin to separate the contact area decreases
rapidly and large fault current causes increased current density and hence rise

in temperature.

•The heat produced in the medium between contacts is sufficient to ionise the
air or vaporize and ionise the medium.

•The ionised air acts as conductor an arc struck between the contacts.
 Arc phenomenon Contd…

• During the arcing period, the current flowing between the contacts

depends upon the arc resistance.

• The arc resistance depends upon the following factors

1. Degree of ionisation

2. Length of arc

3. Cross section of arc

 Arc voltage

• It is the voltage that appears

across the contacts of the CB
during the arc period.
• As soon as the contacts of CB
separate, an arc is formed, the
voltage at which the arc
produced is called arc voltage.
• Its value is very small.
 Restriking voltage
• It is the transient voltage that
appears across the contacts at
or near current zero during
arcing period.
Restriking phenomenon:
• At current zero, a high voltage
frequency transient voltage
appears across the contacts.
• This transient voltage is called
Restriking voltage
 Recovery voltage
• At the point of arc extinction at current zero, the voltage across the breaker
terminals which until now equalled the arc voltage becomes the voltage of
the system.

• The normal frequency r.m.s voltage that appears across the breaker poles
after final arc extinction has occurred, is termed as the Recovery voltage.

• The instantaneous value of the recovery voltage at the instant of arc

extinction is called the Active Recovery voltage.
 Expression for Restriking Voltage and RRRV Contd...

The transient voltage that appears across the contacts at the instant of arc
extinction is called Restriking Voltage.
RRRV is nothing but rate which is expressed in Volts per micro-second. This will
represent the rate at which transient voltage is increasing.
With as the restriking voltage in volts then

The maximum instantaneous value attained by the restriking voltage is called the
Peak restriking voltage.
 Expression for RRRV and Maximum RRRV

RRRV =

And
Average Rate of Restriking Voltage
 Classification of Circuit Breakers
Based on the medium of arc
quenching circuit breakers are classified as follows,

Oil circuit breakers

1.Bulk oil CB 2. Minimum oil CB

Air circuit breakers

1.Axial blast 2. Cross blast 3.Radial blast

Vacuum Circuit breakers

SF6 Circuit breakers
Minimum oil Circuit Breaker
 Minimum oil Circuit Breaker
• By the name oil is used as arc quenching medium.

• Only small percent (10%) of oil used for arc quenching and
remaining oil used for insulation.

Construction:
• In this two contacts are separated from each other but both filled
with oil.

• It has two chambers while upper chamber is the circuit breaking

chamber while lower one is the supporting chamber.

• The two chambers are separated by a partition and oil.

• One chamber is prevented from being

mixed with the other chamber.

• It consists of :

1.Supporting chamber

2.Circuit breaker chamber

a) Upper &lower fixed contacts

b) Moving contact

c) Turbulator

3. Top chamber
 Operation of Minimum oil Circuit Breaker

• Under normal operation the moving contact remain engaged with the
upper fixed contact.

• When fault occurs the moving contact is pulled down by the tripping
strings and arc is produced.

• The arc energy vaporises the oil and produces gases under high
pressure.

• This process deposits suspended particles and makes the oil impure.
 Minimum oil Circuit Breaker
Advantages:
• It requires lesser quantity of oil.

• It requires smaller space.

• There is less risk of fire.

• Maintenance problems are reduced.

Disadvantages:
• Due to smaller quantity of oil, the degree of carbonisation is increased.

• There is a difficulty in removing the gases from the contact space in time.

• The dielectric strength of the oil detoriorated rapidly due to high degree of carbonisation.

Applications of Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker

1. For indoor applications, minimum oil circuit breakers can be used upto 36 kV.

2. For outdoor applications, minimum oil circuit breakers can be employed upto the line voltages of 220

kV.
Air-blast circuit Breaker
 Air-blast circuit Breaker
• In air blast circuit breakers, compressed air at a pressure of 10-30
kg/cm is employed as an arc quenching medium.
2

• Air blast circuit breakers are suitable for operating voltages of 132 kV
and above. They have also been used in 11kV-33 kV range for certain
applications.

• At present, SF6 circuit breakers are preferred for 66 kV and above.

• Vacuum circuit breakers are preferred for 11 kV – 33kV range.

• Therefore, the air blast circuit breakers are becoming obsolete.

 Air-blast circuit Breaker Contd...

Depending upon the direction of air-blast in relation to the

arc, air-blast circuit breakers are classified into :

Axial-blast type CB
null

Cross-blast type
CB

Radial-blast type
CB
 Air-blast circuit Breaker Contd...

Axial-blast In which the air-blast is

type CB null directed along the arc path as
shown in Fig.null
 Air-blast circuit Breaker Contd...

 The air reservoir is connected to the arcing

Axial-blast chamber through an air valve.
 The high pressure air entering the arcing chamber
type CB null pushes away the moving contact against spring
pressure.
 The moving contact is separated and an arc is
struck. At the same time, high pressure air blast flows
along the arc and takes away the ionized gases along
with it.
 It may be noted that in such circuit breakers, the
contact separation required for interruption is
generally small (1·75 cm or so). Such a small gap may
constitute inadequate clearance for the normal
service voltage.
 Therefore, an isolating switch is incorporated as a
part of this type of circuit breaker. This switch opens
immediately after fault interruption to provide the
necessary clearance for insulation.
 Air-blast circuit Breaker Contd...

In which the air-blast is directed

Cross-blast
at right angles to the arc path as
type CB
shown in Fig.
 Air-blast circuit Breaker Contd...

The cross-blast lengthens and forces the arc

Cross-blast into a suitable chute for arc extinction.
When the moving contact is withdrawn, an arc
type CB is struck between the fixed and moving contacts.
The high pressure cross-blast forces the arc
into a chute consisting of arc splitters and
baffles. The splitters serve to increase the
length of the arc and baffles give improved
cooling.
The result is that arc is extinguished and flow of
current is interrupted. Since blast pressure is
same for all currents, the inefficiency at low
currents is eliminated.
The final gap for interruption is great enough to
give normal insulation clearance so that a series
isolating switch is not necessary.
 Air-blast circuit Breaker Contd...

Radial-blast
type CBnull In which the air-blast is
directed radially as shown in
Fig.null
 Air-blast circuit Breaker Contd...

Advantages:
An air-blast circuit breaker has the following advantages over an oil circuit breaker:

(i) The risk of fire is eliminated.

(ii) The arcing products are completely removed by the blast whereas the oil deteriorates with successive

operations; the expense of regular oil replacement is avoided.

(iii) The growth of dielectric strength is so rapid that final contact gap needed for arc extinction is very small. This

reduces the size of the device.

(iv) The arcing time is very small due to the rapid build up of dielectric strength between contacts. Therefore, the

arc energy is only a fraction of that in oil circuit breakers, thus resulting in less burning of contacts.

(v) Due to lesser arc energy, air-blast circuit breakers are very suitable for conditions where frequent operation is

required.

(vi) The energy supplied for arc extinction is obtained from high pressure air and is independent of the current to

be interrupted...
 Air-blast circuit Breaker Contd...

Disadvantages:
(i) The air has relatively inferior arc extinguishing properties.

(ii) The air-blast circuit breakers are very sensitive to the variations in the

rate of rise of restriking voltage.

(iii) Considerable maintenance is required for the compressor plant

which supplies the air-blast.

VACUUM CIRCUIT BREAKER
 Vacuum Circuit Breaker
Vacuum is used as arc quenching medium (Range from 10-7 to 10-5 torr)
Construction:
•It consist of fixed contact, moving contact and arc shield mounted inside a
vacuum chamber.
•The movable contact is connected to the control mechanism by stainless
steel bellows.
•This enables the permanent sealing of the vacuum chambers as to
eliminate the possibility of leak.
•A glass vessel or ceramic vessel is used as the outer insulating body, which
prevents the deterioration of the internal dielectric strength.
Operation:
• when the breaker
operates, the moving
contact separates from
the fixed contact and an
arc is struck between the
contacts.
• the produced arc is
extinguished in a vacuum.
 Vacuum Circuit Breaker Contd…
Advantages of VCB
• They are compact, reliable and have longer life.
• There are no fire hazards.
• There is no generation of gas during and after operation.
• They can interrupt any fault current. The outstanding feature of a VCB is that it can break any heavy
fault current perfectly just before the contacts reach the definite open position.
• They require little maintenance and are quiet in operation.
• They can successfully withstand lightning surges.
• They have low arc energy.
• They have low inertia and hence require smaller power for control mechanism.

Applications:
Vacuum circuit breakers are being employed for
outdoor applications ranging from 22 kV to 66 kV. Even with limited rating of say 60 to 100 MVA, they are
suitable for a majority of applications in rural areas.
Vacuum Circuit Breaker Contd…
 SF6 Circuit breaker
SF is used as arc
quenching medium because it is electro negative gas and has a string tendency to absorb electrons.

Construction:

• It has fixed and moving contacts.

• Enclosed in a chamber

containing SF gas.

• This chamber is

connected to SF reservoir.

• The valve mechanism permits a high pressure

SF from the reservoir to

flow towards the arc interruption chamber.

•The fixed hallow cylindrical current carrying contact fixed with an arcing horn.

•The moving contact is also hallow type.

Construction of SF6 CB Contd…
 Operation of SF6 CB

• In closed position of breaker the contacts remain surrounded by

sf6 gas at a pressure of about 2.8 kg/cm2 .

• When breaker operates, the moving contact is pulled and an

operating valve which permits gas with pressure of 14kg/cm2 .

• The high pressure SF6 gas absorbs the free electrons and arc is

extinguished.
 Advantages of SF6 CB
• Very short arc quenching time

• Can interrupt much larger currents

• Noiseless operation

• No moisture problem

• No risk of fire

• No carbon deposits so that insulation problems are eliminated

• Low maintenance cost

• Light foundation requirement

 Disadvantages of SF6 CB

• High cost

• Additional equipment is required

• More maintenance

• SF6 gas is harmful to human beings and causes pollution

 CURRENT CHOPPING

The phenomenon of current interruption before

the natural current zero is termed as current

chopping.
 CURRENT CHOPPING Contd…
Theory of Current Chopping
Generally the arc extinction in a circuit breaker take place at natural current zero. But this is
true if the capacity of the breaker to extinguish the arc is varies with the level of fault current. This
means that, the arc extinction capability of breaker will always ensure that arc extinction is taking
place at natural current zero.

In Air Blast Circuit Breaker or Vacuum Circuit Breaker, the fault clearing capacity is fixed and
independent of the fault current level. In this case, when breaker is used to break the circuit of
unloaded transformer or shunt reactor, the current will be brought to zero well before the natural
current zero. This is because, the breaker is interrupting only the magnetizing current which is very
less compared to full load current or fault current.  As the capability of breaker arc extinction is high
enough, therefore the low magnetizing current will be brought to zero before the natural current zero
position. This phenomena is known as Current Chopping.
 CURRENT CHOPPING Contd…
Consider the circuit showing interruption of inductive currents.
Let, 
L = Inductance of the system 
C = Capacitance of the system 
i =Instantaneous value of arc current
V = Instantaneous value of capacitor voltage (which appears across the
breaker when it opens)
 CURRENT CHOPPING Contd…
Under normal condition, the current flowing through the inductor is I (say) and hence the

stored magnetic energy in it is (LI2 / 2). But as soon as the breaker is open, current chopping

will take place and the current through the reactor becomes zero. Due to this sudden drop of

current through the inductor, a high voltage will be developed across it according

to Faraday’s Law. Therefore, the voltage across the capacitor will also rise. Now, the

question arises, where did the store energy of reactor go?

• The stored energy in the inductance of reactor is basically transferred to the capacitor.

Therefore mathematically we can write as

LI2 / 2 = CV2 / 2
Here V = Voltage across the capacitor
Thus, V = I √(L/C)
This is the prospective voltage or Arc Voltage across the capacitor during current chopping.
Notice that this prospective voltage is above the natural voltage of the system. 
 CURRENT CHOPPING Contd…
If this prospective voltage is very high when compared

with the gap withstanding voltage, then the gap

breakdowns and so "the arc restrikes. Again the current is

chopped (interrupted) because of high quenching force

and so, restriking occurs. This process repeats until the

current is suppressed finally without any restrike and this

occurs near current zero as shown in the figure.

In order to reduce the phenomenon of current chopping, the

overvoltages are to be reduced. This is possible by connecting voltage—

grading (or non—linear) resistors across the circuit breaker contacts

during arc interruption. In medium voltage systems, an RC surge

absorber is connected across line and ground in between the inductive

load and the circuit breaker. As a result, the RC combination absorbs the

overvoltages.
 Resistance switching
• The interruption of low inductive currents and interruption of capacitive

currents give rise to severe voltage oscillations.

• These excessive voltage surges during circuit interruption can be

prevented by the use of shunt resistance R across the circuit breaker

contacts.

• This process is known as Resistance Switching.

 Resistance switching Contd...

• Severe Voltage oscillation occurs by

1) the breaking of capacitive currents

2) breaking of low inductive currents

• this can be avoided by resistance switching where a resistance is

connected in parallel with the arc that is on parallel with the contacts of

the circuit breaker

• With the arc so shunted by the resistance a part of the arc current flow

through the resistance

 Resistance switching Contd...
• This result In a decrease in arc current and an increase in the rate of
deionization of the arc path and the resistance of the arc.

• This leads to a further increase in the currents through the shunt

resistances.

• This build up of process continues until the current path through the arc
is substituted by that through resistance either wholly or in greater part.

• In later case, the small value of the current remaining in the arc path
becomes so unstable that it is easily extinguished.