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Kurrat M., (2017), Dielectric Simulation of Capacitive Switching Behavior For Vacuum Circuit Breaker PDF
Kurrat M., (2017), Dielectric Simulation of Capacitive Switching Behavior For Vacuum Circuit Breaker PDF
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ABSTRACT
Abstract- Switching of capacitor banks or cables leads to small breaking currents in
comparison with short-circuit currents. After current interruption the circuit-breaker
must withstand twice the peak value of the system voltage. Furthermore, restrikes can
lead to voltage multiplication. The conjunction of relatively small breaking currents with
high voltage stress must be considered in detail. This leads to a reconsideration of an
appropriate design of contact speed and gap distance for capacitive switching duties. In
particular the dielectric strength (DS) of the contact gap plays a major role regarding
restrike performance. To simulate the capacitive switching performance of a certain
contact system, the DS of a contact gap is required. A former study with a notable
number of restrikes allows the calculation of the rate of rise of dielectric strength
(RRDS). Taking this into consideration restrike simulations for vacuum circuit breaker
for distribution and transmission voltages are presented. The evaluation of the
simulations yields necessary requirements for contact speed, stroke and dielectric
strength.
Index Terms — Vacuum circuit breaker, vacuum interrupter, switching in vacuum,
capacitive switching, double-break, post-arc current.
1 INTRODUCTION
CAPACITIVE switching is the process of energization For distribution systems with compensated neutral the
or de-energization of no-load cables, capacitor banks or filters capacitive voltage factor for earth fault condition ݇ ൌ ͳǤ
in alternating-current a.c. circuits at distribution or transmission should be applied.
voltages [1]. The switch-on process may involve high voltage
and high current transients. The interruption of capacitive
currents generates high recovery voltage values ݑ of 2 per unit.
Thus there is a certain probability of dielectric breakdown of
the contact gap [2]. This dielectric breakdown occurring after
more than a quarter cycle after current interruption and
discharge or change the voltage of the load capacitor is called
restrike. In the case of multiple restrikes the capacitor and
recovery voltage, ݑ and ݑ , respectively, increase stepwise.
This voltage escalation would destroy the insulation of the
adjacent equipment or the switch. Figure 1 shows the schematic
for switching a capacitor bank. The recovery voltages are built Figure 1.. Schematic for capacitive current switching.
up by the three-phase capacitor and supply voltage sources.
Analyzing the switching process by a single-phase circuit a For transmission systems with non-effectively earthed
capacitive voltage factor has to be introduced to the supply neutral system an earth fault factor of ݇ ൌ ͳǤͶ is typically
voltage in equation (1) to simulate the neutral potential shift: applied to the system voltage U. According to the definition of
݇ሺൌ ݇ ሻ in IEC 60071-1 [2] ݇ may take different values
ݑ௦ ൌ ݇ ή ඥʹΤ͵ ή ܷ ή ܿݏሺ߱ ή ݐሻ ሺͳሻ depending on the earth system. Figure 2 (top) shows the
constant capacitor voltage after capacitive current interruption
Manuscript received on 30 November 2016, in final form 23 July 2017, accepted at supply peak voltage (t = 0). The rate of rise of recovery
25 September 2017. Corresponding author: M. Kurrat. voltage ݑ ൌ ݑ െ ݑ௦ is given for a 50 Hz a.c. supply voltage.
'2,7'(,
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Contact travel
double break
Recovery Voltage
Withstand voltage
Figure 12. Restrike simulation after capacitive current interruption at single break
minimum arcing time due to heavy pre-arcing duties and low RRDS.
The double break has ideally twice the DS of the single break
Capacitor Voltage Supply Voltage and supersedes the maximum value of the single break by 40%.
The VCB design has to take care about an even voltage
distribution across both contact gaps. Test results of double
break arrangements showed a voltage ratio between both
contact gaps of 0.7/0.3 without grading capacitors [7]. Thus a
vital research demand is upcoming for field grading and
conditioning methods of VCB. Field grading by capacitive
shield coupling is a commonly used technique in high-voltage
engineering. A steering capacitor cascade corrects the voltage
distribution inside the contact system of a double break VCB
[7, 9, 10]. A voltage ratio of 0.55/0.45 could be realized. Field
Recovery Voltage Withstand voltage grading capacitance values range from 50 pF up to 2000 pF.
The second positive aspect for high RRDS is the higher
velocity of the double break arrangement. The contrary contacts
movement doubles the total contact speed. Thus a double
breaker needs less kinetic energy for the same total opening
Figure 13. Successful capacitive current interruption simulation at speed than a single breaker.
minimum arcing time with faster switching actuator and sufficient
RRDS.
The single break VCB simulation applies the dielectric
strength given by equation (3) with a 1 mm gap withstand
It should be emphasized again that this low DS is typical for voltage ܷௗଵ ൌ ʹͺ for a contact system in operation. To
single-phase, single polarity capacitor bank switching [2]. minimize the DS demands an effectively earthed neutral system
Furthermore the supply voltage under earth fault condition of the capacitor bank is assumed. The question is if the rate of
reflects the worst case scenario for restrikes. rise of DS of a single break VCB would be sufficient for
capacitive switching at a transmission voltage of ܷ ൌ ͳͳͲ
4 TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
݇ܿ= 1.2 for power cable
In recent years applications of VCB at transmission voltage systems. The contact stroke is enlarged to 80 mm. The actuator
levels have become reality [5]. The DS of double and single is speeded up to a maximum contact velocity of 6 m/s. The
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Supply Voltage
Withstand Voltage
Recovery Voltage Withstand Voltage
Recovery Voltage
the field are required to define pre-arcing and switching [4] P.G. Slade, Electrical Contacts: Principles and Applications, 2nd
Edition, CRC Press, 2014.
transient recovery voltages TRV in modern filters or reactive [5] CIGRE WG A3.27, The Impact of the Application of Vacuum
power banks. Switchgear at Transmission Voltages. CIGRE Technical Brochure 589,
At transmission voltage the simulation shows the principal 2014.
advantage of multi break concepts. In reality, a mechanical [6] H. Knobloch, S. Giere nd H.C. Kärner, “Dielectric Strength of Double
and Single-Break Vacuum Interrupters - Experiments with Real HV
design with a synchronous behavior of the two gaps is needed. Demonstration Bottles”, IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 8, No.
Especially the development of integrated field grading systems 1, pp. 43 – 47, 2001.
seems to be a promising task for even voltage distributions and [7] T. Fugel and D. Koenig, “Influence of grading capacitors on the breaking
minimized post-arc charge influence. performance of a 24-kV vacuum breaker series design”, IEEE Trans.
Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 569 – 575, 2003.
[8] A. Horn and M. Lindmayer, “Investigations on the series connection of
two switching gaps in one tube in vacuum”, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci,
REFERENCES Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 1594 – 1599, 2005.
[9] B. Kühn, M. Kurrat, D. Gentsch, Field grading method of a double
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Electrotechnical Engineering, 2011. Hochspannungstechnik, Berlin, Germany, 2016
[2] F. Körner, M. Lindmayer. M. Kurrat, D. Gentsch, “Switching Behavior [10] D. Huang, S. Shu and J. Ruan, “Transient Recovery Voltage Distribution
of Different Contact Materials under Capacitive Switching Conditions”, Ratio and Voltage Sharing Measure of Double- and Triple-Break
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[3] IEC 60071-1:2006, Insulation co-ordination - Part 1: Definitions,
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