Power Circuit

Breaker
 A circuit breaker is an automatic

electrical switch designed to protect

an electrical circuit from damage

Power Circuit Breaker caused by overload or short circuit.

Its basic function is to interrupt

current flow after protective relays

detect a fault.
Parts of Circuit Breaker
Frame
Protects internal parts of
the circuit breaker from
outside materials
Arc Extinguisher
Extinguishes an arc when
Contact the circuit breaker
Allows the current to interrupts a fault.
flow through the circuit
breaker when closed.
Operating Mechanism
Provides a means of
Trip Unit opening and closing the
Opens the operating circuit breaker
mechanism in the event of a
prolonged overload or short
circuit.
Types of Circuit
Breakers
Circuit breakers are primarily divided into two
main categories:
AC Circuit Breaker

DC Circuit Breaker
 AC Circuit Breaker
AC circuit breakers can be further categorized into two subtypes: low
voltage circuit breakers and high voltage circuit breakers. Low
voltage circuit breakers are those with values below 1000V, while high
voltage circuit breakers are those with values above 1000V. High
voltage circuit breakers are then subdivided into two main categories:
oil circuit breakers and oil-less circuit breakers.
Oil Circuit Breaker
An Oil Circuit Breaker is a type of circuit

breaker that securely breaks the circuit by

quenching the arc using insulating oil as a

dielectric medium. The oldest kind of

circuit breaker is the OCB.

 Bulk Oil Circuit Low Oil Circuit
Breaker Breaker
Bulk oil circuit breakers employ In a low oil circuit breaker, oil is primarily
transformer oil as both the arc extinction utilized for extinguishing the arc through a
medium and an insulating material between blast action. Its primary role within the low
the two conducting components of the oil circuit breaker is to disrupt the
circuit breaker. The rating range for oil formation of the arc, rather than serving as
circuit breakers spans from 25MVA at an insulating medium for live components
2.5KV to 5000 MVA at 230KV. against the earth.
Oil-less Circuit Breaker
The following are various types
of Oil-less circuit breaker
 Air Circuit Breaker
an electrical device used to provide
Overcurrent and short-circuit protection for
electric circuits over 800 Amps to 10K
Amps. Air circuit breakers operate using
pressurized air. ACB is equipped with push
buttons for manual operation.
 Air Blast Circuit Breaker

The Air Blast Circuit breaker is a type of circuit

breaker where at high pressure the air blast is used
for arc extinction in the electrical circuit. These
type of circuit breakers are finding their best
application in systems operating in the range of
132 kV to 400 kV with breaking capacities up to
7000 MVA.
 SF6 Circuit Breaker
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) circuit breaker is a
type of high-voltage electrical switchgear
device. It is a dielectric gas that is far better
than air or oil at insulating and quenching
arcs. It is utilized for arc quenching in high-
voltage circuit breakers up to 800 kV. SF6
gas has very high electronegativity.
 Vacuum Circuit Breaker
A vacuum circuit breaker is a breaker that
uses a vacuum as an arc extinction medium.
The fixed and movable contacts in this circuit
breaker are contained in a permanently sealed
vacuum interrupter. It is mainly used for
medium voltage ranging from 11 KV to 33
KV.
 DC Circuit Breaker
DC circuit breakers refer to circuit breakers used in DC power
distribution systems from overcurrent and potential hazards. They
perform the following functions: Interrupt the flow of current
when it exceeds a predefined threshold. Protect electrical
components from damage caused by excessive current.
HVDC Circuit Breaker

HVDC Circuit Breaker The HVDC

circuit breaker is a switching device that

interrupts the flow of normal and

abnormal direct current. HVDC has a

very high voltage level of up to 800Kv.

End