IEEE Transactions on Paver Apparatusand Systems, Vol. PAS-94, no.

6, NwemberlDecember 1975
HIGH POWER CIRCUIT BREAKER TESTS USING THE BALANCED SYNTHETIC CIRCUIT
A. D. Stokes
Ballada
Department of Electrical Engineering University
of Sydney Australia

R.
S. Rovelli
Centro ElettrotecnicoSperimentaleItaliano,
Milan0 - Italy

Abstract-A new arrangement for synthetic testing of switchgear

has been developed and verified at high power levels. The new procedure
allows the transient recovery conditions to be selected independently of
the injection frequency and will therefore make it possible to carry out
the full range of tests covered in the recently published IEC and ANSI
standards. Circuit configurations are given to meet specific test conditions, and a consideration has been given to questions of breaker interaction. A method of assessing circuit performance in the face of strong
interaction is proposed.
INTRODUCTION

b)Theinjectioncircuit
consisting of L1 and the capacitor Ch
which is precharged to a voltage a little higher than the f d recovery
voltage Vr. The extent to which the precharge exceeds Vr depends on
the circuit losses during the current injection period and is intended to
compensate for theselosses leaving a voltage Vr at current zero.
with the TRV
c) An auxiliary network,normallyidentical
circuit, precharged at a voltage 2 Vr and of opposite p o l a r i t y to theprecharge on
The TRV and injection circuitsare arranged in the same way as for
a conventional parallel current injection synthetic test.At the appropriatetimeduringthe
flow of power frequencycurrent spark gap SG,
fgure 1' (a), is closed and a normal injectionof current takes place. The
size of
is determined only by the optimum injection frequency, and
for the balanced circuit doesnot depend on theTRV frequency. In fact,
as shown later, theTRV frequency canif necessary be the same, or even
lower than the injection frequency.
changes,
During the period of currentinjection the voltage on
and at the moment of current zero has reversed polarity as shown in
figure 2.

a.

A new circuit has been developed for synthetic tests of circuit

breaker performance in cases where the transient recovery voltage has a
low frequency. Such tests are required when breakers are to be used at
high system voltages, butaredifficult
to carry out withsynthetic
methods, particularly those based on current injection. Not only are
large amounts of capacitive energy needed to ensure correct conditions
during the recovery phase, but conflicting requirements must be met
during the arcing and recovery periods. If conditions are adjustedto give
the correct recovery wave form, the period of current injection is much
t& long and vice versa.
Transient network studies, Stokes and Rovelli, 19731 have shown
that this problem can be overcome on a model system if the test circuit
isdivided into two balanced parts. The new arrangement also offers
considerable flexibility in assembling test circuits to simulate the conditions present on thepower system duringswitching operations.
In the first part of the paper the results of high power trials of the Fig. l(a). The balanced syntheticcircuitwith
single frequency TRV
network
new circuit are reported. These tests have been aimed at establishing a
test circuit to meet the new IEC duty. The results generally speaking
c o n f m the picture obtained in model studies, and additional circuits
meeting the new ANSI standard have been developed using the model
system27 3In the second part of the paper the need for network equivalence
between the test station circuitand power system is considered.
Attention has been focussed mainly on equivalence during the curh'
rent zero period. The resultsof this work suggest that careful control of
the high-speed elements of the TRV circuit is needed if the system
stresses during the current zero period are to be faithfully reproduced in
proof of performance tests. In many cases equivalence based on the
similarity between standard four parameter TRV envelopes will not be
sufficient and instead the actual values and topology of the high speed Fig. 1 (b).Circuit during current injection showing in heavy. outline the
elements is important in determining the actual breaker
stress during
principal elements after clearance of the
auxiliary breaker
the period of interaction.

THE BALANCED SYNTHETIC CIRCUIT

A full description of the balanced synthetic circuit wasgivenin
the earlier paper, and here only an outline of the basic operation will
be given.
Figure 1 shows the layout of the balanced synthetic circuit, which
can be thought of as consisting of three parts.
a) The TRV circuit together with the inductanceL1.

Paper T 75 094-8, recommended and approved by the IEEE Switchgear Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presentation at the IEEE PES
Winter Meeting, NewYork, N.Y., January 26-31,1975. Manuscript submitted
September 5,1974;made available for printingNovember 22,1974.

Fig. l(c). Circuit after current zero showing in heavy outline the principal elements

2160

It should be emphasised that up to the moment

of current zero the
balanced circuit is exactlythe same as the normal parallel current
injection scheme since the sphere gap SG*is not yet fired. After current
zero the circuit voltages are as follows. Across the TRV network the
circuit breakermaintainsapproximatelyzerovolts.
Across Q the
voltage is Vr and across auxiliary network.
V* = 2Vr
Ifnow the auxiliary spark gap SG* is closed, figure 1(c),the
complete circuit becomes electrically balanced about the point at which
Q is connected. A currentI* flows from the auxiliary network through
L1*, and is equal in phase, amplitude and frequency to the current I
which flows through L1 into the TRV control circuit.

Without this compensating current the entire current flow needed

to excite the TRV circuit must came fromch. To avoid excessive interaction itis usual inparallel current injectionschemes to keep Q > 10 C1.
However, with low TRV frequencies C1 is quite large, so that Ch must
be very large. This in turn means that the injection frequency which is
determined by Q and L1 is very low and may cause an unacceptable
distortion during the current injection period.
With the balanced circuit t h i s problem is overcome by supplying
the TRV drive current independently ofQ. When the circuit is correctly
adjusted the main TRV network is excitedinthe
samewayas
if
supplied by a zero impedance generator. For this reason, the balanced
syntheticcircuit should be capable of exactlyreproducingthe TRV
stresses that would be obtained inan ideal directtestatthe
same
recovery voltage and with the same TRV.
HIGH POWER TESTS
High power balanced synthetic tests have been carried out using

this circuit arrangement, withthe TRV network proposed by Narancic4

for direct tests with the
IEC four parameter TRV envelope at 100%
duty. Similar tests have also been made with the normal parallel current
injection, PCI, method to compare the performance of the two circuits
when using the same injectioncapacitor and TRV network. In both
cases the circuit used is shown in figure 3. For balanced tests the auxiliary gap SG* is closed at current zero and for PC1 tests it is left open.

Fig. 2. Voltages and currents in the balanced synthetic circuit

a) Auxiliary circuit voltage V*
b) Transient recovery voltage
c) Injection capacitor voltage v h
d) Injection current Ih
Scales: Vertical lv/div
Horizontal 200m s/div
As a result no current is drawn from the capacitor Q and the
voltage Vh will remain unchanged at v h = v r throughout the recovery
period.

Auxiliary
breaker

Figure 4 shows the results of a balanced test on a single pressure

SF6 breaker. The standard coordinate values for the TRV envelope are
given in table 1, row 1, whilst the parameters of the test wave are given
in row 2. The two envelopes differ by less than 3%. In t h i s case, however, the test conditions are favourable to a good agreement because the
test breaker has a very low arcing voltage, and a very little interaction at
currentzero. The actual TRV showed therefore closely follow the
inherent wave form of the circuit.
However, after current zero the voltage on Q was observed to increase
by some 6% during the period up to the crest voltage of the TRV. There
are two reasons for such a change. Firstlywith the particular test
arrangement used it was not convenient to correct the precharge voltage
As a
on Q forcircuit and arc losses duringtheinjectionperiod.
consequence the precharge voltage on C1* was higher than required for

L1=2.45 mH

SG

SG*

20 LIF

10 R

= 390 FIH

- ------

Power frequency circuit for major current loop

Currentinjectioncircuitfor
PC1 tests
Current injection circuit for balanced tests

Fig. 3. Circuit configuration for high power tests

2161

Test conditions during current injection:

- Voltage: 37 kV dc
- Current: 37 kA (50 Hz eq)
- Half period of injected current: 11 30 ps
- Time to TRV crest: 678 ps
Fig. 4. Oscillogram record of balanced synthetic test on single pressure
SF6 breaker.
a correct balance condition. Also it was found during the analysis of
the test records that the stray inductance in the supply circuit was not
insignificant but instead increased the effective inductance in the branch
containing L1 by approximately 10%.
The&factors were taken into account when determiningthe
actual values of test voltage and current. However, the accurate TRV
a) PC1 circuit as in Figure 3,
obtained suggest that imbalances of this order are not critical to the b) balanced circuit
operation of the circuit for practical testing.
upp& traces - breaker current 5 1.8 A/div
lower traces - breaker voltage 6 kV/div
time scale - 10 ps/div
TESTS WITH BREAKER FAILURE AND
INFLUENCE OF SWITCHING TRANSIENTS
Fig, 5 . Oscilloscope records showing the failure of an air blast circuit
breaker
On the original record used to prepare Figure 4, the moment of
closingof the auxiliary gap can be detected because the improvised
arrangement of element used for the auxiliary circuit in thesetests
allows a switching disturbance to influence the measuring equipment.
SIMULATION OF TESTS CONDITIONS
FOR VERY HIGH SERVICE VOLTAGES
However evidence from allof thetestrecords
shows that this
switching transient is confined to the measuring system. Itis not present
on the transientrestriking voltage and does not affect the stresses
If we consider a testusing an injection frequency of 500 H z , at the
imposed on the circuit breaker.
various servicevoltages above 100 kV, the ratio between the TRV
Figures 5 (a) and (b), for example, show the results of tests canied equivalent frequency (corresponding to the time t2) and the injection
out on an air blast breaker when stressed beyond it's recovery limit. A frequency, fTRv/fi, decreases in proportion of the increase of voltage;
verylarge amplification of the current zero
period has been used to see table 11. . This ratio fTRV/fi is the fundamental parameter which
indicates the possibility ofachieving
thecorrect
TRV waveform.
clearly illustratethedetails of the measurement and breakerfailure
The tests ofrows'2-3-6 in Table I, made with injection frequencies
phenomena.
As pointed out in theoriginal paper the PCI, and balanced circuits between 443 Hz and 1900 H z , have times corresponding to the 1.70 kV
give identical stresses during the initial part of the TRV, and for times IEC condition.
However if we look at the ratios fTRv/fi of respectively 1.86 up to 100 ~s or so after current zero.
In this particular case breaker failure occurs within 20 ps of cur- 0.91 - 0.44 we can see that the above tests simulate the conditions for
145 kV - 300 kV - 525 kV service voltages in Table 11. The results of
rent zero. It takes place in the same way and at the same time with both
test circuits and c o n f m s the expected equivalence during the time of these tests are shown in figures 4-6 and 7 (d). In all the above cases the
TRV fits accurately to the segment lines of a 4 parameterenvelope. The
thermal reignition.
However it can also be seen that the switching disturbance has not coordinate values differ by about 5-10% from the standard waveshape.
Such differences are to be expected because inaccuracies referred
effected the failure characteristic so that the fast oscillations on the
to earlier in the balance condition become increasingly critical withvery
TRV record cannot be presentacross the circuit breaker.
It is expected that with a more permanent arrangement
of the low ratios of TRV to injection frequency. Also the injection conditions
auxiliary network the circuit connections and measurement links can be are different and may influence the interaction between the breaker
improved in such a way as to eliminate, or reduceto an acceptable level and the circuit particularly in the case of Figure 7 (d)where the greatest
departure is in the timet l .
the entryof such disturbances into the measuring system.
2162

50 kV

- lmo

500

lo30

Em t1,mus)-

i'
1

( a )p . c . i .t e s t ,o ff i g u r e
SF6 breaker ,
i n j ef rcet qi oune n c y

4,
443 Hz

TRY
V
-loo0

c
1Mo

50 kV

1500 t OJSl

c
-loo0

500

lax,

1500

( b )p . c . i .t e s t ,o ff i g u r e
SF6 breaker ,
inJection frequency

t (*I

6,

934 Hz

TRY

Test conditions during current injection:

- Voltage: 38 kV dc
- Current: 38 kA (50 Hz eq)
- Half period of injected current:
535~s
- Time to TRV crest :
677ps

50 kv

Fig. 6. Oscillogram record of balanced synthetic test on a single pressure

SF6 breaker.

TRV

PARALLEL CURRENT INJECTION TESTS

( c )p . c . i .t e s t ,
a i r b l a s t breaker,
in j e c t i on frequency 1900Hz

(d)
Balanced
test,
c( cf )
,
air blast breaker,
injectionfrequency 1900Hz
half period of injected

For tests with the normal parallel current injection circuitthe later
part of the TRV is quite different as shown in Figure 7 (a) to 7 (c).
These results were obtained using the same TRV circuit and injection
conditions as for figures 4 , 6 and 7 (d) respectively and have waveforms
with the parameters given in table 1 rows 7 , 8 and 9. With an injection
frequency of 443 H z the P C 1 TRV falls some 40% short of the full
crest voltage and has a timet2 which is less than half the standard value.
At 897 Hz the wave has lost its four parameter character
and at 1900 H z ,
correspondingwith the nominaltestconditionat680kV,
the TRV
wave has a negative voltage oscillation.
However, in each case the initial rate of rise of TRV is within 5%
of the corresponding value obtained with the balanced circuit. This fact
suggests that extensive testing to establish the equivalence between
balanced synthetic, and direct tests is unnecessary as such tests have already confirmed the necessary equivalence for the PC1 circuit which is
virtually identical to the balanced arrangement for times after current
zero appropriate to thermal reignition.

Fig. 7. Selectionof test results for different

ps injection frequenciesand
test conditions

THE EXCOS WAVEFORM

BALANCED CIRCUIT EQUIVALENCE

The balanced synthetic test principle is quite general, and can be

applied equally well to meeting other testing standards. Figures 8 (a) and
(b) show a double frequency TRV circuit which has been developed to
meet the new ANSI standards. The TNA record of figure 8 (b) is compared in figure 8 (c) with the standard
excos envelope for a nominal test
condition of 550 kV, 40 kA, 60 Hz. Similar results have been obtained
for other 60 Hz test conditions of the ANSI standard C374722-1971.
To produce a comparable TRV envelope using the parallel current
injection scheme, a very largeinjection capacitance Q>20 C1, is needed.
This gives a current injection frequency (of about 200 H z ) which is far
too low for acceptably small current distortion. If in the specific case
referred to in figure 8 a parallel current injection test is made with an
injection frequency of 500 Hz, the TRV collapses after approximately
300 jls.

A major feature of previous studies of synthetic testing equivalence

has been to establish a close correspondance between direct and synthetictestresults.Thereareinfacttwoquestions
to be considered
i) Can the test current, direct or synthetic, closely represent the
system behaviour, and
ii) Are the interaction phenomena during the current zero period
the same as those expected on thesystem.
The flexibility of the balanced system is such that tests can be
matched to a wide variety of specified conditions. The actual requirements for an accurate power system equivalence have yet to be established, and in the absence of such information, equivalence has usually
beenassured inrelation to directtestprocedures.Inparticularthe
p.c.i. current has been shown to give equivalent results when correctly
applied.

In

1000 A

-500

21 63

( e )I n j e c t e dc u r r e n tf o r
balancedtest i n (d)

500

1000

fluence of arc voltage, and the degree of prezero current distortion are
all the same as for the conventionalp.c.i. circuit.
During the early postzeroperiod,
when thermal, and mixed
thermaldielectric reignitions may occur the TRV development is the
same as for the p.ci. circuit. It is only during the later developmentof
the TRV that the influence of the compensating branchof the balanced
circuit becomes apparent.
This behaviour, which is indicated in the high power test resultsof
figures 6 and 7 has been confmed by calculation as shown in figure 9.
The three curves shown correspond with the direct test wave, the p.c.i.
response, and the TRV of the balanced circuitfor the case of a 2parameter TRV. Essentially identical results are obtained for each case
during the critical period of interaction.

T W
I,..

l.0

4)

Fig.
- 9. Calculated TRV for:
a) direct circuit
b) p.ci. circuit (300-500-1000-2000Hz)
c) balanced circuit

RRRV

R ( R a t e d ANSI),

1mS

t 2 = Time t o p o i n t

P (ANSI))

Fig. 8. Test circuit and waveforms for breaker tests according to the
ANSI standard.
(a) Test circuit
(b)
550 kV,
. . Transient network analyser record foratestat
40 kA, 60 Hz
(c)
.-,ComDarison with ANSI standard ex-cos envelow.
(d) Form=ul& giving the values of the test parameien according
to ANSI STANDARDS C37.0722-1971.
~

~~~~

In this connection we can note that the balanced system is identical with the p.c.i, cir. before current zero so that the results of previous

studies showing satisfactory equivalence can be directly applied to the

new arrangement.Thustheconditions
of currentinjection,the
in-

Additionalstudies have been carried outto investigate the influence of pre-zero current distortion. As a model of current distortion,
a complete chop of current has been used. Such a model is useful for
several reasons.
i) Current chopping does occur in a
variety of switching operaations.
ii) It is the most extreme form of pre-current zero interaction and
has the greatest effecton the initial partof the TRV.
i
i
i
)It provides a simple and direct method of comparing different
TRV circuits in relation to interaction performance. It can moreover be
used to check the behaviour of an assembled test circuit prior to full
scale testing.
To develop t h i s approach further letus assume that the interrupted
current is as shown in figure 10 a. The transient response of the system
can be determined using the current injection method (Colclaser and
Buettuer '695)with an injected current of the form given in figure 10 b.
Alternativelytwocurrent
waves could be considered to be injected
simultaneously as shown in figures 10 c and d. The first of these
(figure 10 c) gives the inherent or prospective TRV for an ideal i n t e m p
tion, and is used as the basis of the present IEC and ANSI standards.
The second component of injected current (figure 10 (d)) modifies the
inherent TRV and its effect for linear circuits can be treated by superposition.
The interaction studies have been made both by calculation for an
ideal TRV circuit, and using a model. Figure 9 shows the overall TRV
without interaction, figure 10 illustrates the principle of superposition
which can be adopted to representachoppedcurrentinterruption.
Figure 10 (e) also shows a typical model TRV result. Figure 1 1 gives
furtherresults by calculation, and emphasises thecompleteidentity
between the interactionbehaviour of the direct, ideal p.c.i. and balanced
test procedures.
The calculated results are especially usefull in such a comparison
because these give an exact response of each system as shown without

21 64

II

Fig. 11. Calculated chopped current interruptions for the same conditions as in fig. 9, for different chopping conditions.
a) Direct circuit
b) P.c.i. circuit
c) Balanced circuit

Fig. 10. Chopped Current Interruption and Corresponding Injected Currents for TRVAnalysis.
a) Current waveform near zero with breaker produced current
chop.
b) Corresponding injected current for TRV waveform analysis
(see text).
c) and d) Ramp and step components of the injected current
in (b).
e) Typical TNA record of the initial TRV with and without
current chop.
Legend for Fig. 10 (e)
(i) Top
TRV
with
current
chop.
(ii) 2nd top:(at 2nd major time division)
TRV without current chop butincluding the TNA equivalent of pre current zero.
(iii)3rd top: Voltage zero.
(iv) 4th top: Chopped current corresponding with TRV wave (i).
(v) 5thtop: Current wave interrupted at the natural zero corresponding with TRV wave (ii).
(vi) Bottom: Zero current line.

for example the complication of stray capacitance which introduces

unwanted time delay in model results. The TRV obtained experimentally
from such a model forthe ANSI circuit, with added time delay
capacitance is shown in figure 12. Two cases are illustrated, one for interruption at current zero, the other with a chop 50 ps before the
natural zero.
Experience gained both from model studies, and by calculation
has indicated that particular care is necessary, in choosing the components of the test circuit, and particularly those elements which determine the highspeed parts of the TRV. Unless these elements are
properly representative of the power system components different interaction behaviour will be obtained during the high power test. Because
of the flexibility of the balanced synthetic circuit these elements, and

Fig. 12. Response details for the ANSI circuit of figure 8.

Top
- TRV with currentchop, 2 V/div
Middle - TRV with no chop, 2 V/div
Bottom - Current, 2,4, mA/div,
Time
- 20 microseconds/div

particularly Co and R1 in figure 8 can be chosen to exactly match the

power system parameters even when the TRV frequency is very low.
CONCLUSIONS
High power tests have been carried out to demonstrate the potential of the balanced synthetic circuit for provingcircuit breaker performance at high service and correspondingly low TRV frequencies.
The test circuit is based on the normal p.c.i. method but with an
auxiliary circuit which maintains the correct supply voltage across the
TRV network under conditions for which this is not possible with the
p.c.i. circuit.
During the tests reported here the balanced synthetic circuit was
adjusted to give TRV frequencies appropriate to the IEC specifications
for a service voltage of 170 kV and a phase factor of 1.5.

2165

Table I

- Summary of high power test results

Test
circuit

Charging

Recovery

voltage
Vh
kvdc

voltage U r

Standard

Figure

f~~~

fi

No

(Rati0)

(Ratio)

1 .oo U t

2 Balanced

37

1.12 U t

1.86

3 Balanced

38

1.13 U t

0.91

4 Balanced

33

1.06 U t

5 Balanced

31

1.04 U t

6 Balanced

38

1.14 U t

7(d).

7 p.c.i.

37

0.81 U t

7(a)

8 p.c.i.

41

0.43 U t

7(b)

9 p.c.i.

37

0.13 U t

7 ( ~ )

waveforn
f o r 170kV

To a l l o wf o rc i r c u i ta n da r cl o s s e st h ec h a r g i n gv o l t a g ei ne a c hc a s e
t h et e s tv o l t a g e

Ut,

i . e . ,( V h )p r e c h a r g e

was23%

= 1 . 2 3 U t a n d( V '

1.86
1.80

0.44

h i g h e rt h a n

) p r e c h a r g e = 2 ( v h )p r e c h a r g e .

Table 11. Ratio of TRV equivalent frequency to injection frequency, in

function of service voltage.

TRV frequency

525

500

1920

260

0,52

765

500

2800

178

0,35

The a c ' t u a fl r e q u e n c yo tf h el o w e ro tf h et w oc o m p o n e n t so b t a i n e d
u s i n gt h eN a r a n c i cc i r c u i ti s0 . 8 7t i m e st h ee q u i v a l e n tf r e q u e n c y
1
(-)
shown i nt h et a b l e .
2166

absence of a generai proof of equivalency for any synthetic method, the

current injection methods received their recognition on the basis that
duringtthe crucial interaction interval the circuit has the same parameters as the direct one. However, this is not exactly true. E.g. the inductance of the PC1 circuit must be larger than the inductance of the
direct circuit depending on the ratio of TRV and injected frequencies.
Lacking this dependency, thebalanced circuit can have exactly the same
parameters as the simulated direct circuit. The practical importance of
this point is difficult to evaluate because of absence of knowledge on
sensitivity of test results to the accuracy of inductance representation.
Even though the sensitivity may depend on the specific type of the
breaker, I would expect that the requirements on inductance canbe
relaxed to tolerances up to *So%. Did the authors omit to mention the
equivalence of inductances because they have data indicating the unimportance of inductance representation?
The balanced circuit represents a considerable step forward. However, I see still practical limitations in its general use stemming from the
size of its capacitor bank. This bank charged to double the test voltage
has to be 4 times as big as the waveshaping bank (C1) and several times
as big as the main bank. Together with other equipment which has to
duplicate all the elements of the PC1 circuit, the investment cost and
operating complicacy becomes considerable. One has then to ask the
question whether this is the price we are willing to pay for obtaining the
slow frequency peak of the test voltage. After all, this is only a problem
of dielectric stress. For such testing purposes the high impedance circuit
may be acceptable as well as inserting of other test equipment which
would temporarily raise the voltage at later times. The authors worked
with similar ideas some time ago. Did they come to the conclusion that
these approaches are not feasible and that the balanced circuit is the
sufficient answer? The authors comment along these points would be
appreciated.

The Narancic TRV control networkused to illustrate the principle

of the balanced synthetic test gives an excellent approximation to the
usual equivalent power system network for the w e of the terminal short
circuit as outlined in ANSI C37.072-1971. For times after current zero
appropriate to thermal reignition the twocircuits have vktually identical
response so that it should be possible to reproduce interactionphenomena correctly.
REFERENCES
[ 1 ] A. D. Stokes and S. Rovelli,Proc. IEE, vol. 12 1, No. 3 March 1974.
[ 21 American National Standard Requirements for Transient Recovery

Voltage for ACHighVoltage Circuit Breakers Rated on a Symmetrical Current Basis, ANSI C37.072-1971.
[3] American National Standard Schedule of Preferred Transient Recovery Voltage Ratings and Related Required Capabilities for AC
HighVoltage Circuit Breakers Rated on A Symmetrical Current
Basis, ANSI C37.0722-1971.
[4] V.N. Narancic, CIGRE International Working Group document,
Development of a test circuit to produce a transient recovery
voltage defined by four parametersdirect testing, WG 13.04.
[ 5 ] R. G. Conclaser and D. E. Buettner, IEEE Trans.,PAS88 July,
1969, pp. 1028-1035.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was carried out whilst one of the authors (ADS) was on
sabbatical leave from the University of Sydney. He would like to thank
the CESI organization forthe provision of excellent facilities and
technical assistance and Messrs. Lucia and Figini for their help in carrying outthe high power tests. He would also like to thank Messrs.
Heffeman and Saujani of the Universityof Sydney for their help in
collecting the model circuit results used in the interaction study.

V.N.Narancic (HydroQuebec Institute of Research,Varennes, Quebec,

Canada): I would like to congratulate the authors for their valuable

contribution to the field of synthetic testing of circuit breakers.
The most important point made by the authors is that since the
frequency of the injected current is not dependent on the TRV circuit
frequency, what will provide the means of reducing the distortionof the
short4rcuit current.
Their second point is that the proposed balanced test circuit offers
an economical solution for reducing the battery energy.
Discussion
The prupose of this discussion is to give further information about
Jan Panek (General Electric Company, Philadelphia, Pa.): The authors the TRV circuit used in the proposed synthetic test circuit when testing
should be complimented to their paper. It is not only the novel idea but according to IEC specifications. This circuit was developed primarily for
also the theoretical and experimental support brought forward in the direct testing. Since the stray capacitance of the test circuit (busbars,.repaper which deserve credit. The main contribution is of course seen in actors, transformers) is relatively high (tens to hundredsof nanofarads)
the simple way of eliminating the dependence of the TRV frequency on the parameters are chosen to compensate this stray capacitance and to
the frequency of the injected current. This dependence sets both ensure the required time delay (2%).
theoretical and practical limits to the applicability of current injection
If the circuit is used for synthetic testing, the values of the main
methods. Unfortunately, these limits remain far below the requirements parameters (Cl-Rl) must be kept low since they have a definite
on test parameters, particularly with higher voltages. This underlines the influence on theenergy requirements of the total test circuit; thisin fact
is possible because of the relatively low stray capacitance of the synvalue of the contribution.
The authors comparison of the balanced and PC1 circuits could be thetic test circuit. Computer optimized parameters aregiven in the
supported by one more advantage in favor of the balanced circuit: In comparative table below (Table 1).
Manuscript
received

February
1975. 10,

February 13,1975.

Manuscript
received

Table 1
ReductionSynthetictesting

Direct t e s t i n g

C1=

C1=

0.117 t2/L

c2=

1.1

L2=

0.18 L

l c2

c1

L2=

0.105 t 2 / L

1.1

c1

0.18 L

10%

1
--

(Resistance R2 does not have an important role in energy balance)

2167

Withsuch modifications, the parallel capacitance of the circuit

breaker, Co, (see Fig. 3 in the discussed paper) could be reduced from
5 0 0 nF to 5-10 nF which in turn would allow the other circuit parameters (C1 , C2, R1) to be reduced, as shown in Table 1 above. This twofold reduction represents a further economy as regards the energy of
the battery.
In the case of testing according ANSI standards, the same saving is
again possible owingto reduction of the magnitude of resistance R1.
Finally I have a question toask to the authors about the
application
of a balanced circuit to the testing of circuit breakers for EHV: What is
the rated voltage limit due to double voltage of the balancing branch?

A. D. Stokes, R. Ballada, and S. Rovelli: We would like to thank the

discussers for the valuable contributions on the paper.
We understand that the main point is the evaluation of the cost of
a test installation suitable to test using the balanced circuit; Dr.Panek
has indicated in a very comprehensive way the fundamental advantages
of the b.c. and we have only to c o n f m that the requirement on the
value of the inductance is important. According to our experience,
gained during the execution of comparison tests, the tolerance on the
inductance is t20%. This point was not stressed in the paper because
the p.c.i. circuit can be arranged within the above limits by splitting the
TRV capacitor bank in two parts one parallel to the breaker and the
other parallel to the inductance.
However low frequency TRVs cannot be obtained with the p.c.i.
REFERENCE
circuit, even exceding the above tolerance. Dr. Panek estimates that the
[ 11V.N.
Narancic: Development of a test circuit for testing high- capacitive energy of the b.c. is higher than in the p.c.i. and is in excess
voltage circuit breakers according to new IEC and ANSI standards, by 4 times the energy of the TRV network. Mr. Spindle estimates is excess by 4 times the energy of the current injection capacitor.
direct testing, IEEE Conference paper C 73454-4, PAS Winter
In fact, even under the assumption that the p.ci.circuit is feasible,
Power Meeting, NewYork, January 1973.
it requires for the current injection capacitor a precharging voltage of
about 1,4 times the final recovery voltage E, while the b.c. needs a precharging voltage equal E.
Without entering into details of the problem which we have
H. E. Spindle (Yestinghouse Electric Corporation, Trafford, Pa.): The analysed in the previous paper (l), a comparison of the two circuits can
authors are to be congratulated on their experiment verification of their be made only on the total capacitive energy basis, taking into account
earlier theoretical work.The oscillograms shown inFigure 5 are an that the injection frequency in the b.c. can be increased up to 700Hz
excellent justification for the equivalence of the test circuit. However, (this fact permits also a reduction of the current distortion).
We nave not yet estimated the cost of a b.c. on the basis of an
since the voltage and current measurements very near current zero arecritical to theevaluation of circuit breaker performance, would if not be industrial design, but we assume that the cost ofthe additional elements
desirable to delay the switching of the auxiliary spark gap until after (inductance, sparkgap, charging system) equals the savings onthe
capacitive energy. A real problem, as Dr. Panek has pointed out, is the
this critical period.
The requirement of yet another capacitor bank four times as large operating complication due to the necessity of an additional spark gap.
as thecurrent injection capacitor and requiring doublethe charging We think it is what we have to pay to test under conditions which are
voltage seems to be a very high price to pay for atest that c6uld be not feasible with the p.c.i. cir.
These testconditions seem to us particularly important in the
adequately demonstrated by two part tests. That is first a test that
provides the initial recovery with a linear voltage rise and then second a domain of UHV breakers (with breaking capacities beyond 63kA and
times to crest of TRV beyond 5OOps) when during the interruption itis
test that shows the eventual peak with a l-cos voltage wave form.
likely that late thermal reignitions occur. In such a case the two part
test with the second part of the test made with a dielectric method
Manuscript received February13,1975.
may not be valid while the b.c. represents a solution of general application both in respect of thermal and dielectric reignition.
As to the question posed by Mr. Spindle on the switching of the
auxiliary sparkgap a study on the TNA showed that a delay of about
40p after current zero modifies the TRV only of about 2%.This delay
V. Zajic and G.St-Jean (HydroQuebec Institute of Research, Varennes, can be adopted in practical testing and doesnt affect the equivalence
Quebec,Canada): The authors are to be congratulated for fmding a around zero.
circuit in which the injection frequency is independent of the TRV
Mr. Narancic contribution is very interesting since it shows that if
frequency especially at the low TRV frequencies required at high rated is possible to calculate the parameters of a direct circuit taking into
voltage levels.
account also thestray capacitances; in such a way it ispossible to
In fact, with parallel current injection technique, at high rated improve the accuracy of the calculation of the equivalent synthetic
voltages, the TRVs produced have to peak before the time specified by circuit.
the standards, inorder to keep the injection frequency above an
As forthe
rated voltage limit of the b.c. mentioned by Mr.
acceptable &um.
This of course makes the voltage wave somewhat Narancic, there is no theoretical limit; however we think that practical
more severe than the standards require, but it is in the vicinity of the limit may be represented by the developement of triggered sparkgaps
having the performances required to the auxiliary sparkgap in theb.c.;
peak where the voltage rate isusually less significant.
Since simple two-frequency circuits, like the Narancic circuit, can today this development is limited to cover thetest voltages(single
already produce the required voltage rates in the initial part of the TRV phase) up to 250kV r.m.s. The increasing of the testing voltage, to
and the proper peak value, if somewhat early, we wonder if the authors cover the requirements of a complete pole of the 765kV system, this
would go ahead and build a balanced version of such a circuit (Fig. 3) refers also the point raised by Dr. Zajc and Mr. St. Jean, is a general
for voltageratings up to 765 kVeven though it meant doubling the problem and may discover in the b.c. method some advantages related
complexity only to delay the occurrence of the peak voltage. Also, we to the feasibility and to the economy. In fact the question whether
wonder if the increased dimensions of the total circuit along with the build up a station capable of testing a complete pole 765kV depends on
insulating distances required would not make it unacceptably large and many factors like primarily the cost of such a large synthetic plant,
whatever the scheme adopted shall be, and secondly the cost of the
expensive.
Manuscript received April 8, 1975.

Manuscript received April 8,1975.

System 1 i ne
voltage
voltage
kV

Recovery
p = l ,5

kV

Capacitive
energy
required
Balanced c i r c u i t
kJ

145

177

540

170
2130 245

208
300

810

current
le1
Para1
injectioncircuit
kJ

The tablegivesthecomparisonofthetotalenergyforthe
TRY a t 100%dutyusingtheNarancic
TRV c o n t r o l c i r c u i t ,
c i r c u i tc u r r e n t ,w h i t h
an injectedfrequencyfortheb.c.
2168

767
2210
6620
IEC standard

and 50kA s h o r t
of 700Hz.

direct plant designed to the size of the synthetic one and the resulting
total cost of the installation.
We at CESI have made voltage distribution measurements which
permit to define criteria to extrapolate the results of tests made on a
module to a full pole (2). The f m t results published in CIGRE 1974 (3)
relevant to three types of circuit breakers were encouraging and we are
pursuing this research on many types of industrial circuit breakers. In
answer to the question relating to the time to crest of TRV, it seems to
us that the test circuit should be designed in order to simulate as close
as possible the Standard stresses, which take into account the 95% of
of the actual conditions in the system. Of course it is possible to use
other circuits under the assumption that they are more conservative (4)
if they are cheaper and simpler. But we are not sure that this will favour
Q e economy of the breaker design and the standardization of the
the breaker types.

REFERENCES
[ 11 A. D. Stokes, S. Rovelli:Balanced

synthetic circuit: new circuit

for high power testing with low frequency transient recovery
voltage. h o c . IEE. Vol. 121 N. 3 March 1974, pp 184190.
[2] Manganaro, Rovelli, Villa: Preliminary result on the study of current zero conditions due toinitial TRVs in laboratory tests and in
the system. Paper presented at the 7th current zero club meeting
New Castle, Sett. 1973.
[3] Calvino, Mazza, Mazzoleni, Villa: Some aspects of the stresses supported by H.V. circuit breaker clearing short circuit, CIGRE 1974,
Rep. 13.08
[ 4 ] Calvino, Formica: Behaviour of circuit breakers during faults in
circuits with high natural frequency. CIGRE 64. Rep. 131.

2169