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Back-to-back capacitor switching performance of vacuum interrupters after

high frequency sub-microsecond voltage impulse conditioning

Conference Paper · October 2013

DOI: 10.1109/ICEPE-ST.2013.6804337

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Bacl<-to-bacl< Capacitor Switching Performance
of Vacuum Interrupters after High Frequency
Sub-microsecond Voltage Impulse Conditioning
He Yang, Yingsan Geng, Zhiyuan Liu, Yingyao Zhang, Xiaoshe Zhai and Y ongHui Li
State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
Abstract- The objective of this paper is to investigate
back-to-back capacitor switching restrike characteristics
of vacuum interrupters (VIs) after conditioning by using a
series of high-frequency sub-microsecond voltage impulses.
7.2 kV VIs are conditioned by several hundreds of batches
of sub-microsecond high voltage impulses (1000Hz, O.ls).
The peak value of each impulse reaches 100kV. If a
breakdown occurs under a voltage impulse,
frequency conditioning current of several kA (peak value)
would flow through the VI. Then the back-to-back
capacitor switching tests are carried out at the inrush
currents with peak values of 2 kA and 5 kA, respectively.
The peak value of the recovery voltage reaches about 15
kV. The experimental results show that the
probability can be reduced significantly by using this high
frequency voltage impulses conditioning method. By using
VIs which are not conditioned as a benchmark,
restrike probability of the conditioned VIs is reduced from
17.9% to 9.6% at the inrush current of 2 kA. With a
higher inrush current of 5 kA, the restrike probability
reaches higher to 30.4% with the no conditioned VIs.
However, the restrike probability reduces significantly to
7.9% after the conditioning. For VIs which
conditioned, the contact surfaces are fully covered by the
molten metal layer resulting from the conditioning current.
The contact welding areas caused by the inrush current
are much broader and the depths are much shallower than
that of VIs in benchmark.
1. !NT RO DUCT ION
Back-to-back capacitor switching is one of the most
challenging tasks for vacuum interrupters (VIs) [1-4]. A
back-to-back capacitor switching CO operation includes
two processes: a making process and a subsequent
breaking process. During the making process, a
prestrike arc occurs in the vacuum gap once the electric
field strength exceeds the dielectric strength between
the two contacts. Then a high frequency and high
amplitude inrush current flows through the VI. The
contact surfaces are locally melted by the prestrike arc.
At last the two contacts could be welded together.
During a following breaking operation, the welding
area is ruptured. Then the protrusions, craters and
particles could be generated on the contact surfaces.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China under Project NO. 5fI77122 and 51221005 and by the State
Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment Fund
under Grant EIPEJ3304 and EIPEllll8.
2013 2nd International Conference on Electric Power Equipment - Matsue, Japan
These damages directly influence the high-voltage
withstand ability of VIs. So it is considered to be the
potential sources of the restrikes.
Thus, many studies investigated how to reduce the
damages resulted from the prestrike arc in back-to-back
capacitor switching. For example, a study by Delachaux
et al. [2] showed that slower closing speed can result in
a high higher restrike probability because more pre-arcing
energy was injected to the contact surface. Yokokura et
al. [3] found that CuW contact material was the best
material for a back-to-back capacitor switching duty
compared with CuTeSe, CuBi and CuCr. Korner et al.
[4] showed that a pair of spiral type contacts had a
restrike better dielectric behavior than a pair of butt type
contacts as the erosion areas caused by pre-arcing are
larger. However, research so far has no efficient method
the to reduce the restrike phenomena in back-to-back
capacitor switching by using VIs.
The objective of this paper is to investigate
back-to-back capacitor switching restrike characteristics
of VIs after conditioning by using a series of
high-frequency sub-microsecond voltage impulses.
are
Compared with benchmark VIs which are not
conditioned, the sizes of the contact welding areas are
much broader and the restrike probabilities are much
lower. The results could provide a further viewpoint to
consider VIs' back-to-back capacitor switching
performance.
11. EXPERIMENTA L SETUP
A synthetic test circuit for evaluating back-to-back
capacitor switching performance of VI is shown in Fig.
1. This test circuit is composed of three sub-circuits: an
inrush current source circuit, a current source circuit and
a voltage source circuit. The details of this test circuit
are presented in [5]. Fig. 2 shows a typical oscillogram
of making process. The upper trace is the contact
closing travel and the lower trace is the inrush current.
Fig. 3 shows a subsequent breaking process oscillogram
of the test VI. The lower trace represents the switching
current I. After current zero, a recovery voltage with a
peak value of 15 kV (the upper trace in Fig. 3) is
applied to the test VI. A restrike occurs at crest of the
third circle of the recovery voltage. There were also
several restrikes occurring later in Fig. 3.
 In the tests, twelve 7.2 kV VIs are used. The contact
diameter is 30 mm and the contact material is CuCr 25
(Cr weight is 25%). The contact gap is adjusted to 4 mm .

Six VIs are conditioned by a high frequency voltage

impulses conditioning technique. The details of this
conditioning technique are presented in [6]. During the
conditioning process, the frequency and the duration of
C: Current source capacitor; C1: Voltage source capacitor;
each batch of high voltage impulses are set to 1000 Hz
C2: Inrush current source capacitor; L: Current source inductance;
and 0.1 s, respectively. So each batch is composed of
L2: Inrush current source inductance; T: Voltage source transformer;
100 voltage impulses. The peak value of each impulse SW,,,,: Test VCB; SW,uneu,: Current source isolation VCB;
reaches 100 kY. Conditioning is executed under a SWg: Synchronous VCB; SWyoh"ge: Voltage source isolation VCB;
contact gap of 0.8 mm Firstly, the moving contact of a
. SWimush: Inrush current source isolation VCB;
VI is conditioned by applying 200 batches of high Fig. I. A synthetic test circuit for back-to-back capacitor Switching.

voltage impulses. Then another 200 batches of high

E's
voltage impulses are applied to the fixed contact. .§.
-;; '
Additionally, the other six VIs without any conditioning >
f!.
I-
are used to be a benchmark. ];]3
"
To evaluate the back-to-back capacitor switching 02
U
performance of each test VI, a series of 80 making and -'0 -8 -G -4 -2 0 10
Time (ms)
breaking operations is executed for each VI. A detail of
the test conditions is shown in Table 1. The amplitudes �4
" 2
of the inrush currents are set to 2 kA and 5 kA, which .,
� 0
correspond to the test series b and c, respectively. In u
� ·2
each test series, there are 3 test VIs which are not
�-4
conditioned and another 3 test VIs which are
-.'10 -8 -G -4 ·2 0 10
conditioned by the high frequency voltage impulses Time (ms)

technique. The test condition is set to the worst case, in Fig. 2. A typical oscillogram of a making process (the upper trace is a
which the switching current is less than 1 A. In contrast, contact travel; the lower trace is an inrush current).
Rcl.-ike Rett·ikc
the switching current with hundreds of amperes would
have a conditioning effect [4, 7]. The peak value of the
recovery voltage is about 15 kV (2·Upeak). The full
period of recovery voltage application is 500ms.

111. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

1
A. Restrike Probability
•

NVVv\,-
Table 2 shows a result of the restrike probabilities of
the test VIs. The restrike is referred to the breakdowns
01'-1 -.....
l (\r�
which occur after (l/4)-T of the recovery voltage (T is a • I
cycle of the recovery voltage that is 20 ms). The
��=-�-������=��-�
reignitions is referred to the breakdown which occurs Time (ms)
before (l/4)-T of the recovery voltage. In test series b Fig. 3. A typical oscillogram of a breaking process (the upper trace is
the recovery voltage; the lower trace is the switching
with Iinmsh = 2 kA, the average value of the restrike
probabilities is 17.9%, corresponding to VIs of No.21, TABLE I CONDT10NS FOR CAPACITIVE CURRENT SWITCHING TEST
No.22 and No.23 which are not conditioned (See Table Test series b T est series c

1)., The average restrike value of 17.9% is about 1.9 Not Not
Conditioned Conditioned
conditioned conditioned
times of that of 9.6% corresponding to the VIs of Test VIs
No.21 No.2lc No.51 No.5lc
No.21c, No.22c and No.23c which are conditioned by No.22 No.22c No.52 No.52c
the high frequency voltage impulses conditioning No.23 No.23c No.53 No.53c
technique. Inrush IrKRnH=2 kA IrKRnH=5kA
When the amplitude of the inrush current increases to current Frequency: 3800 Hz
5 kA in test series c, the average value of the restrike Switching
<I A
probability of the VIs (No.51, No.52 and No.53) which current

are not conditioned reaches 30.4%. For VIs (No.51c, Utrv = U", •• x (1 - coswt)
Recovery
No.52c and No.53c) which are conditioned by the high
voltage
U .... = 7 2k� ..J2
· 3
x 1.25 = 7.35kV
frequency voltage impulses conditioning technique, the
Duration: 500 ms
average value of the restrike probabilities decreases to
Test duty C - 0: 80 times
7.9%.

2
 Thus, it is obviously that the restrike probabilities are TABLE 2 RESTRIKE PROBABILITY FOR TEST SERIES B AND TEST SERIES C

in direct proportion to the amplitudes of the inrush Test series Test VI Restrike probability Average value
currents for the VIs which are not conditioned. But the
No.21 13.8%
average values of the restrike probabilities are almost
No.22 20.0% 17.9%
same with the amplitudes of the inrush currents
b
increasing for the VIs which are conditioned by the high No.23 20.0%
frequency voltage impulses conditioning technique. Ln,"sh = 2 kA No.21c 6.3%

No.22c 11.3% 9.6%

B. Contact Surface Conditions
No.23c 11.3%
Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 show the photographs of the contact No.51 4l.3%
surfaces after 80 CO operations in test series b (VIs of 30.4%
No.52 28.8%
No.22 and No.22c) and in test series c (VIs of No.52
c
and No.52c), respectively. For VIs of No.22 and No.52 No.53 21.3%

which are not conditioned, each VI has a damaged Ln,"sh = 5 kA No.51c 7.5%
contact surface with a macroscopic protrusion after the No.52c 13.8% 7.9%
80 back-to-back capacitor switching tests. It suggests No.53c 2.5%
that virtually all the prestrike phenomena occur in the
same area on the contact surface during the making YI_No.22 Th. Ii)[.d contad

operations. In the meanwhile a crater is formed on the

opposite contact surface that is facing to the
macroscopic protrusion. With the increase of the inrush
current, not only the macroscopic protrusion formed on
the contact surfaces of the No.52 VI is significantly
higher but also the crater is larger in size than that of the
No.22 VI by comparing the photographs of the contact
(a) The fixed and moving contact surfaces of the No.22 VI which is not
surfaces as shown in Fig. 4 (a) and Fig. 5 (a). conditioned after 80 operations in test series b
For VIs of No.22c and No.52c which are conditioned
by the high frequency voltage impulses conditioning
technique, it indicates that the inrush current arcs do not
melt a unique area of the contact surfaces during the
prestrike processes. Fig. 4 (b) shows that two obvious
welding areas are generated on the contact surfaces of
the No.22c VI. These welding areas are much larger in
size than that of the No.22 VI which is not conditioned.
(b) The fixed and moving contact surfaces of the No.22c VI which is
Fig. 5 (b) shows a similar situation for the No.52c VI.
conditioned after 80 operations in test series b
Except three large welding areas, some obscure welding Fig. 4. Photographs of the contact surfaces after 80 operations in test
areas are also generated on the contact surfaces of the series b of I'mnsh = 2 kA (VIs ofNo.22 and No.22c) .
No.52c VI. Thus, according to the conditions of the test
VI, the inrush currents can modify the contact surfaces VI_J '0.52 Tho moviog contact
Tes t cries c lillnWl = kA
significantly in different ways during the making
operations

IV D ISSCUSSION

In back-to-back capacitor switching, a prestrike can

cause an inrush current in range of several kilo-amperes
(a) The fixed and moving contact surfaces of the No.52 VI which is not
at a kHz frequency to flow through a VI during a
conditioned after 80 operations in test series c
making operation [4]. The arc foot of the prestrike arc
on either electrode melts the contact surfaces locally,
which may finally cause a contact welding after the two
contacts touch together. During a following breaking
operation, the welding areas on the contact surfaces are
damaged as rupturing. The dielectric strength of the
contact gap in the vacuum interrupter is significantly
influenced by the contact surface conditions.
It is suggested that in vacuum insulation the electric (b) The fixed and moving contact surfaces of the No.22c VI which is
conditioned after 80 operations in test series c
field is not determined by U/d where U is the voltage Fig. 5. Photographs of the contact surfaces after 80 operations in test
impressed across a contact gap d, but is given by PU/d series c of I'mnsh = 5 kA (VIs of No. 52 and No.52c) .

3
 [I]. The enhancement factor � is related to the contact
surface conditions of a VI. For VIs which are not
conditioned before back-to-back capacitor switching
test, the dielectric strength of the vacuum gaps is
significantly influenced by the damages located on a
particular area on the contact surfaces as shown in Fig.
4 (a) and Fig. 5 (a). The macroscopic protrusions (0.7
mm for the No.22 VI and 1.3 mm for the No.52 VI) are
formed on the contact surfaces, which are comparable to
the contact gap of 4 mm. The craters (10.6 mm2 for the
No.22 VI and 31.0 mm2 for the No.52 VI) are formed
on the opposite contact surfaces. So the enhancement
factor � can increase quickly due to the serious damages
caused by the inrush currents.
Moreover, the inrush currents have a significant
influence on the field emission current during the period
of the recovery voltage by serious damages generated
on the contact surfaces [8-10]. In case of the higher
inrush current, higher value of the field emission current
is observed during back-to-back capacitor switching
[10]. Thus, when the amplitude of the inrush current is 5
kA, higher protrusions and broader craters are formed
on the contact surfaces, which finally induced more
restrike phenomena than that of inrush current of 2 kA
The conditions of the contact surfaces directly
influence the physical processes of the prestrikes in
back-to-back capacitor switching tests. For VIs which
are conditioned by the high frequency voltage impulses
conditioning technique, the conditioning region
occupies nealy the whole contact surface [6]. The
contact surfaces can be covered by the molten metal
layer resulting from the high frequency conditioning
current of several kA. After the welding areas are
ruptured in a subsequent breaking process, the
macroscopic protrusions of conditioned VIs are much
lower in height than that of the VIs which are not
condtioned, as shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. The same
figures also suggest the craters are shadower with
conditioned VIs than that of VIs without conditioning.
Thus, the conditioned VIs show a better dielectric
behavior. The restrike probabilities can be reduced
significantly by the high frequency voltage impulses
conditioning technique.
V. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, we investigate the restrike
characteristics of VIs in back-to-back capacitor
switching for a conditioning method that use a series of
high-frequency sub-microsecond voltage impulses. The
conclusions are as following.
I) With the increase of the inrush current from 2kA to
5kA, the restrike probabilities of the conditioned VIs are
almost the same, which are 9.6% and 7.9%, respectively.
This is significantly contract to the VIs which are not
conditioned. In that case the restrike probability
increases from 17.9% to 30.4% as the inrush current
increases from 2kA to 5kA.
2) For VIs which are not conditioned, higher
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microscopic protrusions and more concentrate areas of
craters are observed on the contact surfaces compared to
the conditioned VIs. At the same time, for VIs which
are conditioned by the high frequency voltage impulses
conditioning technique, the area of the contact welding
caused by the prestrikes are much broader and the
depthes are much shallower, which may help to reduce
the restrike probability in back-to-back capacitor
swithcing tests.
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E-mail ofauthors:yanghe43@hotmail.com
liuzy@mail.xjtu.edu.cn