PSP MODULE 4 :-

Auto reclosing:- Auto reclosing is a phenomenon in which

the breaker tries to reconnect the line between two points with the
delay or without delay at the time of the fault.

Theory of Circuit interruption:-

Arc in Circuit Breaker : Discharge in a.c. circuit breakers, generally in the
form of an arc, occurs in two ways. When the contacts are being separated
arcing is possible even when the circuit emf is considerably below the
minimum cold electrode breakdown voltage, because of the large local
increase in voltage due to the circuit self-inductance. This way of drawing
an arc is common to both d.c. and a.c. circuit breakers.

The second method occurs only in a.c. circuit breakers. In this case the Arc
in Circuit Breaker is extinguished every time the current passes through
zero and can re-strike only if the transient recovery voltage across the
electrodes already separated and continuing to separate reaches a
sufficiently high value known as breakdown voltage. It is known that the arc
phenomenon depends upon: The nature and pressure P of the medium.
The external ionizing and deionizing agents present. The voltage V across
the electrodes

Circuit Constants in Relation to Circuit Breaking:

Characteristics of Rate of Rise of Restriking Voltage : The important
Characteristics of Rate of Rise of Restriking Voltage which affect the circuit
breaker performance are: amplitude factor, rate of rise of restriking voltage
(RRRV). Amplitude Factor: The amplitude factor is defined as the ratio of the
peak of transient voltage to the peak system frequency voltage. Circuit
Constants in Relation to Circuit Breaking …
Circuit Breaker Rating : The ratings of a circuit breaker refer to the
characteristic values that define the working conditions for which the circuit
breaker is designed and built. Circuit breakers must be capable of carrying
continuously the full load current, without excessive temperature rise, and
should be capable of withstanding the electrodynamic forces. The circuit
breaker should also be in a …

Current Chopping : When interrupting small inductive currents such as

transformer excitation currents, circuit breakers tend to clear before the
natural current zero is reached. This is because the low-current ionized
conducting path may become prematurely unstable, forcing the low arc
current to zero along a very steep wave front. This phenomenon is known
as current chopping and this in turn is …

INCOMPLETE

Restriking voltage: The transient voltage appear across the

contacts of circuit breaker at current zero period during arcing is
known as Restriking voltage. The rate of rise of re-striking voltage is
directly proportional to the natural frequency.

OR

When the current across the contact of the circuit breaker is zero, a high-
frequency transient voltage develops in the whole breaker contact and is
produced by the sudden distribution of energy between the electric and
magnetic field. This transient voltage is called restriking voltage. The voltage
appears across the breaker contacts at the moment of final current has a serious
influence on the arc extinction process. Under the influence of this voltage, the
arc tries to restrike and hence it is named as the restriking voltage.

After the zero current, the arc gets extinguished, if the rate of rising of restriking
voltage between the contact is less than the rate at which the dielectric strength
of the medium between the contact gains. Immediately after the final current
interruption, the voltage that appears across the breaker contacts (transient
voltage) superimposed on the power frequency system voltage (recovery
voltage).
Considered a simple circuit, having a circuit breaker CB, as shown in the figure
below. Let L be the inductance per phase of the system up to the fault point; R
be the resistance per phase of the system up to the fault point, and C be the
capacitance of the circuit.

When the fault occurs in the system under fault condition the contacts of the
breaker are open, and the capacitance C is short-circuited by the fault, and the
short circuit current is limited by the resistance and the inductance.

When the breaker contacts are opened, and the arc certainly quenches at some
current zero, a voltage v is suddenly applied across the capacitor and therefore
across the circuit breaker contacts. The current i which would flow to the fault
is not injected in the capacitor and inductor. Thus

Assuming
Zero time at zero currents when t = 0 and the value of current and voltage
before opening of circuit breaker is expressed as

On substituting the above

values in equation (1), we get
The solution of the standard equation is

From the equation,

The above expression is for restriking voltage where

Vmax is the peak value of recovery voltage (phase -to-neutral) t is time is seconds.
L is inductance in Henrys, C is the capacitance in farads and v is the restriking
voltage in volts. The maximum value of restriking voltage is 2Vmax and occurs at

Characteristic of Restriking Voltage

The important characteristic of restriking voltage which affects the performance

of the circuit breaker is as follows –

Amplitude Factor – It is defined as the ratio of the peak of transient voltage to

the peak system frequency voltage.

The rate of Rising of Restriking Voltage – It is defined as the slope of the

steepness tangent of the restriking voltage curve. It is expressed in kV/µs.
RRRV is directly proportional to the natural frequency. The expression for the
restriking voltage is expressed as

The transient voltage vanishes rapidly due to the

damping effect of system resistance, and the normal frequency system voltage is
established. This voltage across the breakers contact is called recovery voltage.
Current chopping:-
Current chopping in circuit breaker is defined as a phenomenon in
which the current is forcibly interrupted before the natural current
zero. Current Chopping is mainly observed in vacuum circuit
breaker and air blast circuit breaker.

Circuit Breakers: Types of circuit breakers (air

blast, air break, oil, vacuum, SF6 , DC circuit
breaker):-
A circuit breaker is an electrical safety device designed to protect
an electrical circuit from damage caused by overcurrent. Its basic
function is to interrupt current flow to protect equipment and to
prevent the risk of fire.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF CIRCUIT BREAKER :-

[Link] BLAST CIRCUIT BREAKER:-
Air blast circuit breaker used compressed air or gas as the arc interrupting
medium. In the air blast, circuit breaker compressed air is stored in a tank and
released through a nozzle to produce a high-velocity jet; this is used to
extinguish the arc. Air blast circuit breakers are used for indoor services in the
medium high voltage field and medium rupturing capacity. Generally up to
voltages of 15 KV and rupturing capacities of 2500 MVA. The air blast circuit
breaker is now employed in high voltage circuits in the outdoors switch yard for
220 KV lines.

Though gasses such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, freon or hydrogen are used as
the arc interrupting medium, compressed air is the accepted circuit breaking
medium for gas blast circuit breakers.
The desirable features to be found in air blast circuit breaker are
[Link] SPEED OPEARTION
[Link] FOR FREQUENT OPERATION
[Link] MAINTENANCE
[Link] SIZE
5. ELIMINATION OF FIRE HAZARD
Types of Air Blast Circuit Breaker

1. Axial blast Air Circuit Breaker

2. Cross Blast Air Circuit Breaker

Drawback of Air Blast Circuit Breaker

In the air blast circuit breaker, it is necessary that the compressed air at the
correct pressure must be available all the times, involving in the largest
installation of a plant with two or more compressors. The maintenance of this
plant and the problem of air leakages at the pipe fittings are some factors which
operate against air blast circuit breaker and it costly for low voltage as
compared to oil or air break circuit breaker.

Air Break Circuit Breaker

In air break circuit breaker the arc is initiated and extinguish in substantially
static air in which the arc moves. Such breakers are used for low voltages,
generally up to 15KV and rupturing capacities of 500MVA. Air circuit
breaker has several advantages over the oil, as an arc quenching medium. These
are

 Elimination of risk and maintenance associated with the use of oil.

 The absence of mechanical stress that is set up by gas pressure and
oil movement.
 Elimination of the cost of regular oil replacement that arises due to
deterioration of oil with the successive breaking operation.
In the air break, circuit breaker the contact separation and arc extinction take
place in air at atmospheric pressure. In air break circuit breaker high resistance
principle is employed. In this circuit breaker arc is expanded by the mean of arc
runners, arc chutes, and arc resistance is increased by splitting, cooling and
lengthening.

The arc resistance is increased to such an extent that the voltage drop across the
arc becomes more than the system voltage, and the arc gets extinguished at the
current zero of AC wave.

Air break circuit breakers are employed in DC circuits and Ac circuits up

to 12,000 voltages. Such breakers are usually of indoor type and installed
on vertical panels or indoor draw out switch gear. AC circuit breakers are
widely employed indoor medium voltage and low voltage switchgear.
Applications of Air Break Circuit Breaker

Air break circuit breaker is suitable for the control of power station auxiliaries
and industrial plants. They do not require any additional equipment such as
compressors, etc. They are mainly used in a place where there are possibilities
of fire or explosion hazards. Air break principle of lengthening of the arc, arc
runners magnetic blow-up is employed for DC circuit breakers up to 15 KV.

Drawback of Air Break Circuit Breaker

A drawback of arc chute principle is its inefficiency at low currents where the
electromagnetic fields are weak. The chute itself is not necessarily less efficient
in its lengthening and deionizing action than at high currents, but the arc
movement into the chute tends to become slower, and high-speed interruption is
not necessarily obtained

Oil Circuit Breaker

Oil circuit breaker is such type of circuit breaker which used oil as a dielectric
or insulating medium for arc extinction. In oil circuit breaker the contacts of the
breaker are made to separate within an insulating oil. When the fault occurs in
the system the contacts of the circuit breaker are open under the insulating oil,
and an arc is developed between them and the heat of the arc is evaporated in
the surrounding oil. The oil circuit breaker is divided into two categories

 Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker

 Low Oil Circuit Breaker
Advantages of Oil as an Arc Quenching

1. The oil has a high dielectric strength and provides insulation between
the contact after the arc has been extinguished.
2. The oil used in circuit breaker provides a small clearance between the
conductors and the earth components.
3. The hydrogen gas is formed in the tank which has a high diffusion
rate and good cooling properties.
Disadvantages of Oil as an Arc Quenching

1. The oil used in oil circuit breaker is inflammable and hence, cause a
fire hazard.
2. There is a risk of formation of explosive mixture with air.
3. Due to decomposition of oil in the arc, the carbon particles is
generated which polluted the oil and hence the dielectric strength of
the oil decreases.
Maintenance of oil circuit breaker

After a circuit breaker has interrupted by short-circuit current, sometimes their

contacts may get burnt due to arcing. Also, the dielectric oil gets carbonized in
the area of the contacts, thereby losing its dielectric strength. This results in the
reduced breaking capacity of the breaker. Therefore, the maintenance of oil
circuit breaker is essential for checking and replacement of oil and contacts.

Vacuum Circuit Breaker

A breaker which used vacuum as an arc extinction medium is called a
vacuum circuit breaker. In this circuit breaker, the fixed and moving contact is
enclosed in a permanently sealed vacuum interrupter. The arc is extinct as the
contacts are separated in high vacuum. It is mainly used for medium voltage
ranging from 11 KV to 33 KV.

Vacuum circuit breaker has a high insulating medium for arc extinction as
compared to the other circuit breaker. The pressure inside the vacuum
interrupter is approximately 10-4 torrent and at this pressure, very few molecules
are present in the interrupter. The vacuum circuit breaker has mainly two
phenomenal properties.

1. High insulating strength: In comparison to various other insulating

media used in circuit breaker vacuum is a superior dielectric medium.
It is better than all other media except air and SF6, which are
employed at high pressure.
2. When an arc is opened by moving apart the contacts in a vacuum, an
interruption occurs at the first current zero. With the arc interruption,
their dielectric strength increases up to a rate of thousands time as
compared to other breakers.
The above two properties make the breakers more efficient, less bulky and
cheaper in cost. Their service life is also much greater than any other circuit
breaker, and almost no maintenance are required.

Advantages of Vacuum Circuit Breaker

 Vacuum circuit breaker does not require any additional filling of oil
or gas. They do not need periodic refilling.
 Rapid recovery of high dielectric strength on current interruptions
that only a half cycle or less arcing occurs after proper contact
separation.
 Breaker unit is compact and self-contained. It can be installed in any
required orientation.
 Because of the above reasons together with the economic advantage
offered, vacuum circuit breaker has high acceptance.
Disadvantage of Vaccum Circuit Breaker

 Requirements of high technology for production of vacuum

interrupters.
 It needs additional surge suppressors for the interruption of low
magnetizing currents in a certain range.
 Loss of vacuum due to transit damage or failure makes the entire
interrupter useless, and it cannot be repaired on site.
Applications of Vacuum Circuit Breaker

 Because of the short gap and excellent recovery of vacuum circuit

breaker, they are very useful as very high speed making switches in
many industrial applications.
 When the voltage is high and current to be interrupted is low these
breakers have definite superiority over the other breakers.
 For low fault interrupting capacities the cost is low in comparison to
other interrupting devices.
 Because of the least requirements of maintenance, these breakers are
very suitable for the system which requires voltage from 11 to 33 kV
Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) Circuit Breaker
A circuit breaker in which SF6 under pressure gas is used to extinguish the arc is
called SF6 circuit breaker. SF6 (sulphur hexafluoride) gas has excellent
dielectric, arc quenching, chemical and other physical properties which have
proved its superiority over other arc quenching mediums such as oil or air. The
SF6 circuit breaker is mainly divided into three types

 Non-puffer piston circuit breaker

 Single- puffer piston circuit breaker.
 Double-puffer piston circuit breaker.
The circuit breaker which used air and oil as an insulating medium, their arc
extinguishing force builds up was relatively slow after the movement of contact
separation. In the case of high voltage circuit breakers quick arc extinction
properties are used which require less time for quick recovery, voltage builds
up. SF6 circuit breakers have good properties in this regards compared to oil or
air circuit breakers. So in high voltage up to 760 kV, SF6 circuit breakers is
used.

Properties of Sulphur hexafluoride Circuit Breaker

Sulphur hexafluoride possesses very good insulating and arc quenching

properties. These properties are

 It is colourless, odourless, non-toxic, and non-inflammable gas.

 SF6 gas is extremely stable and inert, and its density is five times that
of air.
 It has high thermal conductivity better than that of air and assists in
better cooling current carrying parts.
 SF6 gas is strongly electronegative, which means the free electrons
are easily removed from discharge by the formation of negative ions.
 It has a unique property of fast recombination after the source
energising spark is removed. It is 100 times more effective as
compared to arc quenching medium.
 Its dielectric strength is 2.5 times than that of air and 30% less than
that of the dielectric oil. At high pressure the dielectric strength of the
gas increases.
 Moisture is very harmful to SF6 circuit breaker. Due to a combination
of humidity and SF6 gas, hydrogen fluoride is formed (when the arc is
interrupted) which can attack the parts of the circuit breakers.

Dc circuit breaker

What is the 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.

Prevent electrical fires and other safety hazards that can result from overcurrent conditions.

Generally applicable to solar photovoltaic power generation and power distribution systems,
battery energy storage systems, new energy vehicle DC charging systems, etc.

A system in which the input power supply terminal of the circuit breaker is DC current.

General DC circuit breakers include DC MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker), DC MCCB

(DC molded case circuit breaker), and Type B RCD (Residual Current Device).
Types of DC Circuit Breakers

DC circuit breakers come in various types, each with its unique features and applications:

I. Thermal-Magnetic Circuit Breakers: These breakers combine a thermal element, which reacts
to heat generated by overcurrent, and a magnetic element, which responds to high current
levels, to provide protection in a wide range of situations.
II. Electronic Circuit Breakers: Utilizing electronic components, these breakers can offer faster
response times and adjustable settings for overcurrent protection.
III. Hybrid Circuit Breakers: Combining both mechanical and electronic components, hybrid
breakers can provide fast, reliable protection while minimizing the risk of nuisance tripping.
IV. Part 3: The Role of Voltage Meters in DC Systems

DC Circuit Breaker MCB (DC Miniature circuit breaker)

DC miniature circuit breaker MCB is specially designed for direct current (DC) circuit
applications and is used for over-current and short-circuit protection in electrical appliances
or electrical equipment.

DC MCB and the AC MCB are same functions. but, the usage scenarios of AC MCB and DC
MCB are different.

DC MCB mostly uses for direct current (DC) systems application, such as new energy, solar
photovoltaic (PV) and Solar cell energy storage system. The voltage state of DC MCB is
generally DC 12V-1500V.

The difference between AC MCB and DC MCB in physical parameters on products.

The AC MCB are marked as LOAD and LINE on products, and the DC circuit breaker
symbol marked as positive (+), negative (-) signs and the direction of the current on products.

DC MCCB (DC Molded Case Circuit Breaker)

DC MCCB (DC Molded Case Circuit Breaker) are ideal for energy storage, transportation,
and industrial DC circuits.

DC molded case circuit breaker with same functions of AC MCCB, it has overload and short-
circuit protection functions for high-current power distribution systems.

They are also used in ungrounded battery supply circuits for emergency back-up and standby
power. Available up to 150A, 750 VDC and up to 2000A, 600 VDC. For DC breakers used in
grounded photovoltaic systems in solar installations, application engineering and review
ensures protection requirements are met.
DC MCCB (DC Mold Case Circuit Breaker) is a circuit control protection device for energy
storage, transportation and industrial DC circuits. They are also used in ungrounded battery-
powered circuits to provide emergency backup power and backup power. TONGOU produce
high voltage dc circuit breaker TONGOU DC MCCB can provide up to 150-800A, 380V-
800V DC.

Advantages of Circuit Breaker:

 Circuit-breakers are a great replacement for mechanically operating
fuses.
 Circuit-breakers are highly reliable.
 Circuit-breakers are more functional.
 Circuit-breaker can be fixed once, easy to reset and lasts for a long time

Testing of Circuit Breaker

Testing of circuit breakers is more difficult as compared to other electrical
equipment like transformer or machine because the short circuit current is very
large. Testing of the transformer is mainly divided into two groups, type tests,
and routine tests.

Type Tests of Circuit Breaker

Type tests are conducted for the purpose of proving the capabilities and
confirming the rated characteristic of the circuit breaker. Such tests are
conducted in the specially built testing laboratory. Type tests can be broadly
classified as the mechanical performance test, thermal test, dielectric or
insulating test, short circuit test for checking the making capacity, breaking
capacity, short time rating current and operating duty.

Mechanical Test – It is mechanical ability type test involving the repeated

opening and closing of the breaker. A circuit breaker must open and close at the
correct speed and perform its designated duty and operation without mechanical
failure.

Thermal Test – Thermal tests are carried out to check the thermal behavior of
the circuit breakers. The breaker under test deal with the steady-state
temperature rises due to the flow of its rated current through its pole in a rated
condition. The temperature rise for rated current should not exceed 40° for
current less than 800A normal current and 50° for normal value of current 800A
and above.

Dielectric Test – These tests are performed to check power frequency and
impulse voltage withstand capacity. Power frequency tests are kept on a new
circuit breaker; the test voltage changes with a circuit breaker rated voltage.

The test voltage with a frequency between 15-100Hz is applied as follows. (1)
between poles with circuit breaker closed (2) between pole and earth with
circuit breaker open, and (3) across terminals with circuit breaker open.

In impulse tests impulse voltage of specified magnitude is applied to the

breaker. For outdoor circuit dry and wet tests are conducted.

Short -Circuit Test – Circuit breakers are subjected to sudden short-circuits in

short-circuit test laboratories, and oscillograms are taken to know the behavior
of the circuit breakers at the time of switching in, during contact breaking and
after the arc extinction.

The oscillograms are studied with particular reference to the making and
breaking currents, both symmetrical and asymmetrical restriking voltages, and
switchgear is sometimes tested at rated conditions.

Routine Tests of a Circuit Breaker

Routine tests are also performed as per recommendations of the standards of

Indian Engineering Service and Indian Standards. These tests are performed on
the manufacturers’ premises. Routine tests confirm the proper functioning of the
circuit breaker. The routine tests confirm the proper functioning of the circuit
breaker.

Power frequency voltage test being the same as mentioned under the heading of
type tests, the millivolt drop test is performed to determine the voltage drop
within the current path of the breaker mechanism. Operational test is performed
on the breaker by simulating its tripping by artificially closing the contacts of
the relays.