Oil Circuit Breaker

A comparison of Circuit Breakers (CBs)

Rated Voltage Preferred CB Type

Below 1 kV - Air break circuit breaker (ACB)
(low voltage)
3.6 kV to 12 kV - Vacuum circuit breaker
- SF6 circuit breaker
36 kV - Minimum oil break circuit breaker
- Vacuum CB, SF6 circuit breaker
145 kV to 245 kV - Minimum oil break circuit breaker
outdoor, ABCB
- SF6 Outdoor Puffer type
>420 kV - SF6 Outdoor Puffer type
Oil Circuit Breaker
o The oil circuit breaker is the one of the oldest type of circuit
breakers.
o Mineral oil/transformer oil is used in arc interruption chamber.
o The oil has better insulating property than air.
o When electric arc is drawn under oil, the arc vaporizes the oil and
creates a large bubble of hydrogen that surrounds thearc.
o The oil surrounding the bubble conducts the heat away from
the arc and thus also contributes to deionization and extinction of
the arc.
o Disadvantage of the oil circuit breakers is the flammability
of the oil.
o The maintenance necessary (i.e. changing and purifying the oil).
Types of Oil Circuit Breaker
 Bulk oil circuit breaker (or BOCB)
 Minimum oil circuit breakers (MOCB)
Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker (BOCB)
Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker (BOCB)
o Bulk oil circuit breaker (or BOCB) is a such type of the
circuit breakers where oil is used as
 arc quenching media as well as
 Insulating media between current carrying contacts and
earthed parts of the breaker.
o The oil used here is same as transformer insulating oil.
o These types of breakers are designed in all voltage rangesfrom
36 kV up to 245 kV.
o Modern arc-controlled oil breakers have an arc control
device surrounding the breaker fixed contacts to improve
extinction of arc.
Arc Control Device
o The trapped gas get released through the arc control
device.
o The arc is forced to bow into the lateral vents, which
increases the length of the arc and shortens the
interruption time.
o The construction and venting of arc control devices issuch
that-
o The gases flow axially or radially with respect to the arc
o The arc extinguished by blast effect.
o The gas formed by the arc causes high pressure inside thearc
control device.
Disadvantage of Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker
(BOCB)
 Large quantity of oil is necessary
 The entire oil in the tank is likely to get deteriorated
 The sludge is formed in the proximity of the arc
 The entire oil in the tank needs replacement
 Frequent maintenance require.
 Prone to restrikes
 Short contact life
 Possibility of explosion
 For HV, application BOCB lost its simplicity
Minimum Oil Circuit Breakers (MOCB)
 Also known as poor or small oil circuit breaker
 In minimum oil breakers the oil is used only for extinguishingof the
arc.
 The arc control devices are the same as for the bulk-oil
breakers.
 However, unlike bulk oil circuit breakers, these designs placethe
interrupting units in insulating chambers.
 To improve breaker performance, oil is injected into the arc.
 The interrupter containers of the minimum oil breakers are made of
insulating material and are insulated from the ground.
 The features of designing MOCB is to reduce requirement ofoil,
and hence these breaker are called minimum oil circuit breaker.
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Auto-reclosure
Auto-reclosure
 Automatic reclosure (Auto-reclosure) is a key element inthe
concept of self-healing grids.
 Auto-reclosure is used to recover the original status ofthe
network very fast without any human interaction.
 It capable of opening a medium voltage feeder or in high
voltage line in fault or abnormal operating conditions.
 The reclosure are placed on overhead transmission lineand
nearer to the CB.
 The functionality of the reclosure is embedded in the
protective relay.
Auto-reclosure
 There is a distinct difference between a re-closure anda
circuit breaker.
 The circuit breaker breaks the circuit in case of a fault. It
requires manual reset.
 The re-closer on the other hand momentarily opens acircuit
in case of a fault, and then automatically restores service after
the fault clears.
 Final trip at the end of an unsuccessful sequential shoot.

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Auto-reclosure
o Majority of line faults clear automatically after a short
period.
o According to statistics, 80% to 85% of faults at transmission
and distribution lines are temporary faults.
o Lightning is the most usual case for temporary faults butthere
are other reasons too.
o The auto-reclosure, prevents minor transient short
circuits.
 a tree branch touching the cables in strong windy conditions,
 or overheads cables making contact due to wind gusts.
Principle of Operation
Principle of Operation
Principle of Operation
 Benefits of Auto-reclosure
 Protect lines and customer, isolating automatically faultsand
restoring the service if the fault has been cleared.
 Improve the continuity of service.
 Improve stability and power quality.
 Some of these faults may occur in remote and offsite
locations.
 With the reclosure automatically breaking and restoringpower,
the substation can be unattended.
Summary

o A comparison of CBs
o Oil Circuit-breaker Construction and
Operation
o Types: BOCB, MOCB
o Auto-reclosure
Possible Questions/Answers
o Q1.Classify and compare circuit breakers.
o Q2. Make a comparison of CB according to arc extinction
medium, rated voltage.
o Q3.Discuss the construction and principle of operation oil
Circuit-breaker.
o Q4.What are the merits and demerits of oil Circuit-breaker?
o Q5.What are the points to be inspected for the maintenance of
oil circuit breaker?
o Q6.What is re-closure? Difference between re-closure and CBs. Write
down the benefits/significance of re-closure.

o Q7. Write down the operating sequence of auto-re-closure in power

system protection.