TRV

What is it? Why should I care?

Current - TRV - Recovery Voltage
CURRENT
TRANSIENT RECOVERY
VOLTAGE
RECOVERY
VOLTAGE
TRV (Transient Recovery Voltage)
TRV is the voltage across a current
interrupting device (circuit breaker, switch, fuse, etc.)
immediately after current interruption.
TRV is the power system response to a
sudden change in network topology.
TRV can be analyzed by the method of
current injection. A current equal but
opposite to the interrupted current is
injected where the circuit breaker is.
What difference does TRV
make to a Switching Device?
The TRV capability of a switching device,
compared to the TRV imposed by the
power system, will determine whether or
not the switching device will break the
current it is asked to break.
What TRV means to a CB or
switching device
When the current is broken, the interrupter
must recover dielectric strength faster than
the circuit can build voltage across it.
This applies to Switches, Fuses, Circuit
Switchers, any device that interrupts
current flow.
Including solid state, vacuum, or plasma
devices.
Prospective TRV
This is the TRV inherent in the circuit without
the influence of the interrupting device.
The interrupting device itself can modify the
TRV.
The more it modifies the TRV, the more will be
the switching losses.
When TRV studies are done they obtain
prospective TRV
Current interrupting devices are tested against
prospective TRV
Current Zeros
current zero - the normally occurring
instantaneous zero values of current which
occur twice each cycle in an alternating
current circuit. (120 per second for
60Hz)
The ideal AC circuit breaker would stop
the current at the naturally occurring
current zeros.
Alternating current through CB
I
R
L
C
B
Current zeros
CB Current Ratings
and related capabilities
Continuous Current
Overload Current
Short Circuit Current (rms symmetrical)
Total Current: AC + dc components
dc time constant of 45 ms is standard
1 or 2 s of short circuit current while closed
Close and latch peak current 2.6 x SCC
Short Circuit Current
What does it look like?
The short circuit current is heavily influenced by
the power sources on the system.
At the present, these are for the most part,
rotating machines.
An initial current burst may come from energy
stored in system capacitance.
Normally the capacitive discharge is a small
contributor to the short circuit current, but in any case,
it is pretty much over before the short circuit is
detected, much more so by the time a circuit breaker
actually opens.
Short circuit current waveforms
Shor t Ci r cui t Cur r ent
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
1 42 83 124 165 206 247 288 329 370 411 452 493 534 575 616 657 698 739 780 821 862 903 944 985 1026 1067
Symmetrical (fault
initiates at voltage peak)
Offset (fault initiates at
voltage zero)
CB Voltage Rating
and related capabilities
Rated maximum voltage is the maximum line to
line voltage for application
Dielectric test values : line to ground and open gap
Lightning Impulse (LIWL) [BIL]
Switching Impulse (SIWL)
1 minute 60/50 Hz withstand
Transient Recovery Voltage (TRV) Capability; keyed
to short circuit rating. Higher SC ratings have faster
TRV Capability at a given current.
Capacitance current switching capabilities
Line dropping
Capacitor bank
UG Cable dropping
Other CB Ratings
Interrupting Time = time from initiation of a trip
signal to the interruption of current in all poles.
Reclosing (1/3 second)
Capacitance Current Switching
Shunt Reactor Current Switching
Out of Phase Switching Current [typically
0.25 x interrupting rating with a TRV peak 2.5
p.u. and a time to crest 2 x normal]
Background to Understanding TRV
Energy storage in electric networks
Transient Analysis
Elementary RLC Circuits
Elementary Traveling wave Principles
Where is energy stored in an
electric network?
If there were no energy storage, there
would be no TRV.
Magnetic field (where is that?) arises
from?
Electric field (where is that?) arises from?
Simple oscillatory LRC Circuit
Natural frequency f = 1/(2LC )
Natural impedance = (L/C)
R
L
C
CB
Simple transient circuit analysis
Consider what the circuit behaves like in
the steady state or quasi steady state
immediately before and immediately after
a switching event.
Then consider how to get from before to
after
Guess what the transient behavior could be.
Steady state voltage across and current
through a closed CB
I
V
Steady state voltage across and current
through an open CB
V
I
Simple oscillatory LRC Circuit
Natural frequency f = 1/(2LC )
Natural impedance = (L/C)
R
L
C
CB
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
Current - TRV - Recovery Voltage
CURRENT
TRANSIENT RECOVERY
VOLTAGE
RECOVERY
VOLTAGE
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
During the interruption process the arc rapidly loses conductivity
as the instantaneous current approaches zero. Within a few
microseconds after current zero, current stops flowing in the
circuit.
The power system response to the current interruption is what
generates TRV.
The difference in the power system response voltage from the
source side to the load side of the circuit breaker is the TRV.
The breaking operation is successful if the circuit breaker is able
to withstand the TRV and the power frequency recovery voltage.
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
The nature of the TRV is dependent on the circuit being
interrupted, whether primarily resistive, capacitive or inductive,
(or some combination). Additionally, distributed and lumped
circuit elements will produce different TRV waveshapes.
When interrupting a fault in at the circuit breaker terminal in an
inductive circuit, the supply voltage at current zero is
maximum.
The circuit breaker interrupts at current zero, at a time when the
power input is minimum, and the voltage on the supply side
terminal reaches the supply voltage in a transient process called
the transient recovery voltage.
TRV frequency is
with L = short-circuit inductance, C = supply capacitance.
C L 2
1
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
Current and TRV waveforms during interruption of inductive current
CURRENT
TRANSIENT RECOVERY
VOLTAGE
Supply voltage
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
If a pure resistive circuit is interrupted, the supply voltage is zero
at the time of interruption, therefore there is no TRV.
Current and TRV waveforms during interruption of resistive
current
CURRENT
RECOVERY VOLTAGE
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
TRV and recovery voltage in resistive, inductive or capacitive
circuits
-2
-1,5
-1
-0,5
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
2,5
RESISTIVE
CIRCUIT
INDUCTIVE CIRCUIT
with stray capacitance
CAPACITIVE
CIRCUIT
INDUCTIVE CIRCUIT
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
There is a TRV for any interruption not just for fault interruptions.
Fault interruptions are often considered to produce the most
onerous TRVs. Shunt reactor switching is one of the exceptions.
TRVs can be oscillatory, triangular, or exponential and can
occur as a combination of these forms. A dc offset may also be
present as is the case for lines with series capacitors.
A network can be reduced to the simple parallel RLC circuit for
TRV calculations. This representation is valid for short-time
frames until voltage reflections return from remote buses.
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
The TRV in the parallel RLC circuit is oscillatory (underdamped) if
The TRV in the parallel RLC circuit is exponential (overdamped) if
C L R /
2
1

C L R /
2
1

R
C
(Vcb)
L
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
1,2
1,4
1,6
1,8
2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
TRV (p.u.)
R / (L / C)
0.5
=
10
4
2
1
0.75
0,5
0,3
t / RC
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
By lowering the resistance in the equivalent circuit, for example
when adding a resistance of low ohmic value in parallel to the
interrupting chamber(s), it is possible to effectively reduce the
rate-of-rise of TRV. This possibility has been widely used for
many years to ease the current interruption by air-blast circuit
breakers.
When longer time frames are considered, typically several
hundreds of micro-seconds, reflections on lines have to be
taken into account. Lines or cables must then be treated as
components with distributed elements on which voltage waves
travel after current interruption. These traveling waves are
reflected and refracted when reaching an open circuit or a
discontinuity.
Key Descriptors of TRV
TRV Peak
TRV Rate of rise (RRRV)
Long term (100ms) recovery voltage.
4 parameter TRV
Typical TRV problem apps
Series inductor (reactor) limited fault i.e. the fault
impedance is largely from a lumped inductor (eg.
TLIs, CLRs, flow control Inductors) (RRRV concern)
Short Line Faults (SLF) at lower currents (critical
currents) (RRRV concern)
Transformer limited faults ( where a transformer is a
major part of the fault impedance and there are no parallel lines or
cables to slow the TRV) (RRRV concern)
Switching small inductive currents (shunt reactors) (current
chopping, reignitions, RRRV)
Lines with series capacitors (high TRV peak)
Very long lines with a large Ferranti effect (>250
miles) (high TRV peak)
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
7.2 Series reactor limited fault
The system TRV may exceed the standard capability curve, which is
described by a two-parameter envelope where u
c
and t
3
are defined in
ANSI C37.06 for 10% short-circuit breaking capability, maximum
voltage. For currents between 10% and 30% of rated short-circuit
current, values of u
c
and t
3
can be obtained by linear interpolation.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
TIME (s)
V
O
L
T
A
G
E

(
k
V
)
SYSTEM TRV CURVE
TRV CAPABILITY FOR A STANDARD BREAKER
Simple oscillatory LRC Circuit
Natural frequency f = 1/(2LC )
Natural impedance = (L/C)
R
L
C
CB
Elementary Traveling Wave
Concepts
Surge impedance Z = the instantaneous ratio of voltage
to current on a distributed parameter line
Reflection and transmission coefficients
open circuit positive voltage reflection
short-circuit negative voltage reflection.
Voltage reflection coefficient = (Z2 - Z1)/(Z2 + Z1)
Voltage transmission coefficient = 2Z2/(Z1 + Z2)
Z1 is the surge impedance of the source line
Z2 is the surge impedance of the "receiving" line
ITRV and Short Line Faults
All SF6 breakers have some difficulty
handling the steep rates of rise of TRV
caused by short line faults. Line-to-ground
capacitors and/or capacitors across the
open gap have been used to delay the
initial TRV ramp.
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
Traveling waves on a faulted line after current interruption
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
Voltage distribution on the line at different times after current interruption
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
Time variations of voltages at three locations on the faulted line
VOLTAGE AT CIRCUIT BREAKER
TERMINAL POINT C x = 0
VOLTAGE HALF WAY
TO FAULT x = 0.5 L
VOLTAGE 3/4 OF WAY
TO FAULT x= 0.75 L
TIME
VOLTAGE (p.u.)
0
2
- 2
t
L
0.5 t
L
t
L
/4 3 t
L
/4 1.5 t
L
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
Annex D Calculation of SLF quantities
Result of digital simulation
TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS
TRVs for line faults are determined on a single-phase basis.
The fault current for a line side fault is somewhat reduced from that
obtained for a bus fault due to the additional reactance of the line.
I
T
= fault current through the circuit breaker for a single-phase fault at
the breaker terminal
I
L
= the reduced current for a line fault.
S L
LG
L
X X
V
I
+
=

V
LG
X
S
X
L

T
LG
S
I
V
X =
T LG L
LG
L
I V X
V
I
/ +
=

TRV HV CIRCUIT BREAKERS

The transmission line parameters are given in terms of the effective
surge impedance, Zeff, of the faulted line and the amplitude factor, d
Zeff = (2Z
1
+ Z
0
)/3
Z
1
is the positive sequence surge impedance
Z
0
is the zero sequence surge impedance
v is the velocity of light
is 2 system power frequency (377 rad/s for a 60 Hz system)
v X
Z
d
L
eff
2 =
CDo
CDp CDo
V
V V
d
+
=
CB Fundamentals
A real circuit breaker has at least four states:
open - very low conductivity but finite dielectric strength
closed - high conductivity but limited current capability
interrupting - increasing dielectric strength, after current zero
closing - decreasing dielectric strength
It takes a finite time to go from open to closed, or closed
to open.
If the circuit breaker gets "stuck" while interrupting, or at
the wrong place while closing, it can be destroyed.
How CB Interrupters work
Circuit breakers use Electric Arc dynamics to
accomplish interruption.
What is an electric arc?:
a high density plasma (fully ionized gas)
charge carriers: ions and electrons
charge moves due to the electric force
One of the features of ac circuit breakers is that arc
interruption naturally takes place very close to the
normally occurring current zeros on the ac wave.
Contact opening
As contacts begin to open, the contact force
decreases, and the area actually making contact
decreases.
Both these cause contact resistance to increase.
Eventually the energy dissipated in the contact
will cause a molten metal bridge to form.
Magnetic forces will enlarge the molten bridge,
which assumes a tubular shape, until the forces
cause it to explode, and an arc forms.
CB Dielectric Recovery
The objective is to "quench" the arc. Have it go from a highly
conductive state to an insulating state at just the right moment, fast
enough to accomplish successful interruption.
A stable arc is in an energy balance. The energy removed from the
power system is balanced by the cooling energy. A 10,000 amp arc
with 100 volts drop consumes 1 MW.
As the current approaches zero the input energy also approaches
zero, and the plasma column rapidly loses conductivity.
If cooling is sufficient the voltage across the cooling plasma column will
not drive enough current to sustain the temperature required for
conducting the next half cycle and the arc will extinguish.
These few microseconds around current zero are referred to as the
energy balance or thermal region.
Temperatures of circuit breaker arcs are in the range of
10,000 - 20,000 K
From Conducting Plasma to
Insulating Gas
Thermal Region - the first few tens of
microseconds after current cessation
Characterized by removal of charge
carriers from the plasma
Transition region is characterized by
recombination of ions and electrons.
Dielectric region (after 100 microseconds)
Characterized by cooling gas, increasing
density and dielectric strength.
Puffer vs self blast
Pure Puffer
Interrupting effort not
dependent on arc current
Good performance
throughout current range
If it can do 100% of rated
it will do anything less
Requires strong
mechanisms to develop
the puff pressure
Self Blast
Interrupting effort heavily
dependent on arc current
at currents around 20
30% of rated, it may
struggle
Possibility of critical
currents
Mechanism can be about
20% the energy of a full
puffer mech
Vacuum vs SF
6
Vacuum CB
Low operating energy
No interrupting window
Flash of open contacts
will self clear
Performance based on
contact material, purity,
and cleanliness
Very fast TRV capability
1s
SF6 CB
Moderate operating
energy
Limited interrupting
window
Flash of open contacts
wont clear
Performance based on
Gas flow dynamics
weak on Fast TRVs
Vacuum vs SF
6
Vacuum CB
Low capacitance current
inrush capability 7kA for
class C2
Requires semiconductor
level cleanliness and
purity in manufacture of
interrupter
SF6 CB
Extreme capacitance
current inrush capability
100kA?
Interrupter can be
assembled in normal
clean environment
Oil vs SF
6
OIL CB
Pretty good with fast TRV
Restrikes almost every
operation with capacitor
switching
Good for at most 5 full
fault operations
500 operation mechanical
life
High maintenance if
frequently operated
SF
6
CB
Weak on fast TRV
Good for capacitor
switching
Good for at least 20 full
fault operations
2000 10000 operation
mechanical life
Often wont need
maintenance for 12 +
years
Oil vs SF
6
OIL CB
Heavy clunky device
Uplift on fault clearing
Made to old standards
and will not perform up to
1999 standards
Can literally explode if
operated beyond its short
circuit rating
SF
6
CB
Reasonably light weight
device
Almost no external
reaction forces when fault
clearing
Breaker may burn down
but no hydrogen
explosion or fire if
overdutied
References
IEEE C37.04 CB Requirements
IEEE C37.06 CB Ratings
IEEE C37.06.1 Fast TRV
IEEE C37.011 TRV application guide
http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pes/switchgear/TechPres near
bottom of page 3
rd
entry under tutorial on TRV 2003
RWA Engineering
r.alexander@ieee.org,
Roy@rwayengineering.com
(rwayengineering.com)