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Chap 36 PDF
Chap 36 PDF
I Introduction
The correct operation of switchger is necessary for protection of the system. The
failure of switchgear in the event of a fault is likely to result in a disaster. The switchge’ar and
relaying system should be alert during the year, moment to moment, though it might not be
called upon to operate due to the absence of fault. Now, a serious, unexpected fault may
occur any time and the switchgear which was in quiscent state has to operate immediately. For
such an operation, regular and detailed maintenance is necessary. The lack of maintenance
may result in failure in operation. With rotating machines the fault or stoppage is noticeable,
not so with the switchgear. Hence regular inspection is a must.
The switchgear manufacturer generally supplies ‘Instruction Manual of Installation,
Operation and Maintenance.’ These manuals should be’carefully studied by maintenance staff.
Certain training is necessary for the maintenance men. In addition, the code of practice
booklets published by the standards institutiolls, regulations of electrical installations etc.,
should be strictly followed. Detailed programme of maintenance of switchgears should be prepared
‘with pre-determined intervals between inspections. The period may, be one to three months
for switchgear operating frequency and six months to twelve months of switchgear operating
rarely. After .operation of the circuit breaker on abnormal condition, inspection should be
carried out as early as possible. Further, it is unwise to leave the circuit breaker dosed for a
period longer than six months without opening, because the mechanisms may become sluggish
and contacts may need cleaning. Hence during the periodic maintenance, the circuit breaker is
purposely opened and closed.
The maintenance schedule is usually in the form of log sheets on which weeks, months
of the year are tabulated. Each equipment in the sub-station or the plant is provided with a
column. The maintenance period is indicated against each equipment. Further each major
equipment is provided with a history card. The details about inspection, operation and remarks
are written on these cards.
The 'spares' are important for maintenance duty. Record of spares required for each
equipment, and the plant is kept ready. The spares are kept in stock with proper inventory
control.
The maintenance work is done accordiug to the schedule. In case of difficult jobs, the
manufacturer is consulted. The manufacturer provides trained personnel on request and necessary
payment.
1. Period of Inspection
(a) Under Normal Conditions. (1)Once in 6 months or 12 months for c. b. operating in-frequently.
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(2) Once in 1 month or 3 months for c.b. operating repeatedly or according to the mam4.
facturer’s recommendations.
(b) On clearing a fault. As soon as the circuit breaker can be isolated from the service.
(c) Overhaul. Once in three years or as recommended by the manufacturer.
(d) Replacement. When the life period expires. This is a matter of economics and, technical
considerations.
3. When the breakers operates on fault, the internal and external inspection should be
carried out as soon as the operating schedule permits.
(a) Examine the Oil. /If badly deteriorated change it.
(b) Check Arcing Contacts. Clean with smooth file. If badly demaged, replace them.
(c) Inspect the insulation, carefully check the surface.
(d) Check the arc control device. If damaged, replace the plates.
(e) Check the tripping circuit and operating mechanism.
(f) Be sure that no tools are left in the tank.
Some further details are given below.
Contacts : Contact pressure is important. In medium voltage circuit breaker it is about 5 kg.
The pressure is tested as follows.
A feeler gauge of 0’002 inch is inserted between the contacts. This is pulled by a spring
balance, until the feeler is freed. The pressure indicated on the baladce is recordea, This
method is, how ever, not very reliable. Springs should be adjusted or replaced if contact
pressure is insufficient. Another way is to measure contact resistance. The contact resistance
is of the order of 20 micro-ohms for 1200 A normal current rating. The resistance between the
ends of the pole gives the measure of the contact resistance.
If contacts are badly burned, they should be replaced.
If lightly burned, pitted or metal globules are present or the surface is slightly uneven,
they are cleaned by fine glass paper or fine file. Original contour should be preserved. While
cleaning the contacts, minimum material should be removed. On any account the contacts of
the circuit breaker should not be oiled or greased.
Arc Control Devices : Slight blackening is not harmful. The condition of plates is important. If
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badly burned or deformed, the entire arc control device may need replacement. But normally
only the plates which have burned need replacement. All vents and openings should be cleaned.
Insulators Porcelain insulators should be inspected for any sign of crack or defects.
They should be cleaned with trichlore ethylene. Carry out tests recommended by the
specifications.
Opening Mechanisms Check opening and closing operations by manual signal and
tripping by mean of relay. Clean all moving parts. Lubricate the sliding parts and surfaces. Avoid
excessive lubrication. Check the tightness of nuts, bolts, pins, etc’. Check the springs. Check
thc terminal blocks and the wiring. Check the auxiliary switch.
Relays It is advisable not to adjust the relay mechanism. The faulty relay should be
sent to the manufacture since relay repair is a specialized job.
Contacts of relays should be inspected for any sign of burning where necessary, glass
paper should be used for cleaning. All the terminals of the relays should be checked, for
tightness. The wiring should be checked for security.
Insulating Oil A sample of insulating oil is taken from the bottom of the circuit breaker
tank. Dark and brown, clouds indicate deterioration. Oil in good condition has pale yellowish
uniform colour. It is tested by means of portable oil-testing set which consists of a auto-
transformer, voltmeter, tripping device etc. The voltage can be gradually increased. Oil in good
condition should withstand 30 kV r.m.s. for one minute in a standard oil testing cup with 4 mm.
gap between electrodes.
The oil should be tested during the periodic check-up and whenever the circuit brea.ker
clears a fault.
Oil Maintenance. Oil maintenance is carried out in accordance with the standards titled
Code, Practices of Maintenance of Insulatiog Oils’. The code refers to the contamination of oil
and determination of whether the oil is suitable for further service. It also gives the procedure
of treatment of oil on sight.
Contamination of oil due to moisture or solids can be dealt with satisfactorily on site.
Centrifugal separators are effective in removing free water and fine solid impurities. Filters
remove with solid impurities. The oil is heated to about 60°C by means of electric heater. .
The purification set consists of purifier, heater, de-airator, oil pumps, strainer and other
accessories. The oil is circulated through the purifier till the desired dielectric strength is
obtained.
The following standards should be referred,
I.S. : 3072 Installation and maintanance of switchgear. .
I.S. : 355 Insulating oil for transformers and switchgear.
C.P. 1008 (B.S)
Maintenance code and practice for switchgear and oil
C.P. 1009 (B.S.)
Safety The maintenance work should be carried out with written permission of responsible
people. A scheme should beadopted to issue permit card authorising the maintenance work to’
be done. Steps should be taken by the concerned authorities to ensure safety. These steps
include:
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(1) Isolation of the part from live parts during the period of maintenance. No switching on by
mistake.
(2) Danger notices such as the one given below should be placed.
Watch!
Men at Work
Don’t Touch
(3) The neighbouring points should be locked to avoid switch ing by a third person.
(4) Earthing. The work equipment and conductors should be earthed by means of earthing
connections, from both ends.
(5) Power tools, safety devices should be provided to the electricians.
(6) The electricians should be well trained. .
(7) First-aid should be available.
(8) Switching on should be allowed only after completion of work after cancellation of the
permit by the authority. Death can be caused even on 400 V installations, because of negligence.
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3
The drawings include
(1) Circuit diagrams of the plant.
(2) Civil engineering plans, foundation plans etc.
(3) Dimension drawings of equipment.
(b) Location of switchgear. The switchgear may be
(i) Indoor
(ii) Outdoor
Indoor switchgear should be located in a clean, dry room, free from vermins, snakes,
moisture, dust etc. Floor should be dry and levelled. The floor should withstand load of about
1000 kg/ms (200 lb/sq. ft), Enough space should be left in front and in the rear of the
switchgear as recommended by the manufacturer. (About) 1.7 metres in front and 0.7 mm the
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rear of 11 kV drawout switchgear). The following points are kept in mind,
(1) Fire proof doors, roof, ceilings etc.
(2) Sealing of cable ducts.
(3) Sub-division of switchgear.
(4) Installation of fire-fighting apparatus,
(c) Unpacking. The equipment is packed in crates and is brought to site by railway and motor-
truck. The packings are lowered on the site by means of rope, hoist or crane carefully. Care is
taken that they are always maintained in upright position throughout. On unpacking, the items
are checked against the list. Further the items are carefully inspected visually. If any damage is
found, the matter should be informed to the manufacturer and insurance company immediately,
and the damaged equipment should be returned.
(d) Foundation. The foundation is prepared according to the foundation plan. Holes are
provided for foundation bolt. Trenches and passages are provided for cables and other piping.
The floor should be correctly levelled and marked according to the drawing.
(e) Erection. The equipment is installed according to the procedure mentioned in the instruction
manual. Some types of lifting device, special tools etc. may be necessary. The assembly is
erected vertically, The verticality is checked by means of spirit level. If necessary, packing
pieces are added in the base plate for obtaining proper level. After doing necessary adjustments
and checking the level, the concrete mixture is poured into holes around foundation bolts and
the nuts are tightened, It should be remembered that porcelain insulator columns are weak in
tension. During erection, they should not be shifted under assembled state. The assembly is
carried out on site and the assembled units are not shifted.
(f) Bus-bars. earthing connections. The bus-bar contacts and making surfaces of connectors
should be cleaned with emergy paper or smooth file, The bus-bars are assembled as soon as
they are cleaned. Special grease is applied.
(g) Connections of main cable. The cable terminal box should be clean and moisture should
be removed by blow lamps. The cable filling compound should be warmed to about 157 to 168°C
and aJIowed to cool to pouring temperature of about 135-140°C. The buckets used for filling
should be pre-heated to about 80°C, before use. The compound is poured slowly down in the
cable box to avoid splashing and inclusion of air bubbles, and should be topped periodically to
ensure good bond between the body at the compound and the topping layer. The level of the
compound should be about 45 mm below the top cover to allow expansion during service
conditions. The cable cover is bolted when the compound gets cold. No moisture or dirt should
enter while filling the compound. The P.V.C. hose is sleeved ort the cable conductor which is
protected by ‘varnish cambric tape. The terminal lug is soldered to the cable conductor.
(h) Earthing. The earthing bar of the switchgear, the metallic ‘non-current carrying parts are
connected to station earthing system.
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despatched in separate packings. The floor is prepared for all the three poles of the c.b., pipe
line of compressed .air and cables for control are taken through trenches. The power connections
come from overhead conductors. The assembly is .carried out for each pole. The insulators are
mounted on air receiver. The arc extinction. chambers are then fixed. .Finally connection are
made between the arc extinction chambers. Compressed air supply is givvn. Tests are carried
out on site. Here also the assembly and .commissioning is carried out by the trained staff.
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4. Checking Polarity of CT's (Fig 2)
Sometime oil circuit breakers are despatched with current transformers in position and
connected upto the terminal board.
According to B.S. 81 the polarities of CT’s are marked as folIows.
Primary T1 and T2 corresponding
Secondary (T1) and (T2)
The polarity can the tested by means of D.C. battery source. low resistance and
sensitive moving coil d.c. voltmeter with centre zero.
Connect positive lead of battery to the supply terminal ofbreaker T1 with resistance in
series, touch breaker terminal T2 to the negative lead. The voltmeter is connected to the
secondaries of CT, (T1) to positive terminal and (T2) to negative terminal. In such case the
voltmeter will kick to the right if polarity is correctly marked.
6. Dynamic Characteristics
The contact movement, contact separation, contact touch etc. are recorded by means
of transducers and ultra-voilet recorders. -The records of trip coil signal aDd closing signal are
also obtained on the same record.
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Summary :
The installation and maintenance of switchgear is carried out according to well defied
procedures by trained personnel. Regular and correct maintenance .is necessary for proper
functioning of switchgear.
In a field type testing station, the power required for testing is derived from a large
power system. The circuit breaker to be tested is connected to the power system. Large
amount of power is easily available for testing. Hence, this method of testing is economical for
testing of circuit breakers, particularly high voltage circuit breakers. But it lacks flexibility. Its
drawbacks are:
(i) For research and development work, tests cannot be repeated again and again without
disturbing the power System.
(ii) The power available for testing varies, depending upon the loading conditions of the system.
(iii) It is very diHicult to control the transient recovery voltage, RRRV, etc.
In a laboratory type testing station, the power required for testing is taken from specially
designed generators which are installet1 in the laboratory for such testing. Its advantages are:
(i) For research and development work, tests can be carried out again and again to confirm
.the designed characteristics and capacity.
(ii) Current, voltage, restriking voltage, RRRV, etc. can be controlled conveniently.
(iii) Tests for circuit breakers of large capacity can be carried out using synthetic testing.
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Short-circuit generator
In a laboratory, short-circuit generators are used to provide power for testing. The
design of such generators is different from a conventional generator. These are specially
designed to have very low reactance to give the maximum short-circuit output. To withstand
high eletromagnetic forces their windings are specially braced and made rugged. They are
provided with a flywheel tq supply kinetic energy during short circuits. This also helps in speed
regulation of the set. The generator is driven by a three-phase induction motor.
The short-circuit current has a demagnetising effect on the field of generator. This
results in reducing the field current. Consequently, the generator’s emf is reduced. Impulse
excitation or super excitation is employed to counteract the damagnetisation effect of armature
reaction. At the time of shortcircuit, the field current is increased to about 8 to 10 times its
normal value.
Short-circuit transformer
Such a transformer has a low reactance and it is designed to withstand repeated short-
circuits. To get different voltages for tests, its windings are arranged in sections. By series and
parallel combinations of these sections, the desired test voltage is obk1ined. To get lower
voltage than the generated voltage, a three-phase transformer is generally used. For voltages
higher than the generated voltages, nonnally banks of single phase transformers are employed.
As the transforyner remain in the circuit for a short time, they do not pose any cooling problem.
Making switch
This switch is used to apply short-circuit current at the desired moment during the test.
The making switch is closed after closing the master circuit breaker and the test circuit
breaker. It must be bounce-free to avoid its burning or contact welding. To achieve this, a high
pressure is used in the chamber. Its speed is also kept high.
Capacitors
Capacitors are used to control RRRV. They are used in synthetic testing which will be
discussed while describing such testing. Capacitors are also used for voltage measurement
purpose.
2. Testing Procedure
During the short-circuit test, several switching operations are performed in a sequence
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in a very short time. For example, the sequence of switching operations for breaking capacity
test is as follows.
(i) After running the driving motor of the short-circuit generator to a certain speed it is
switched off.
(ii) Impulse excitation is switched on.
(iii) Master circuit breaker is closed.
(iv) Oscillograph is switched on.
(v) Making switch is closed.
(vi) Circuit breaker under test is opened.
(vii) Master circuit breaker is opened.
(viii) Exciter circuit of the shqrt-circuit generator is switched off)
It is not possible to perfonn this sequence of operations manually. There is an automatic
control for the purpose. The time of operation for the above sequence is of the order of 0.2
second.
3. Direct Testing
In direct testing, the circuit breaker is tested under the conditions which actually exist
on power systems. It is subjected to restriking voltage which is expected in practical situations.
Figure F1 shows an arrangement for direct testing. The reactor X is to control short-circuit
current C, R1 and Rz are to adjust transient restriking voltage. Short-circuit tests to be
performed are as follows.
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Test for making capacity
The master circuit breaker and the making switch are closed first, then the short-circuit
is initiated by dosing the circuit breaker under test. The rated making current, i.e. the peak
value of the first major loop of the short-circuit current wave is measured.
1
I= -- [I02 + 4(I12 + I32 + I52 + I72 + I92) + 2(I22 + I42 + I62 + I82 + I102)
3
4. Indirect Testing
The testing of HV circuit breakers of large capacity also requires very large
capacity of the testing station, which is uneconomical. It is also not practical to increase the
short-circuit capacity of the testing station. Therefore, indirect methods of testing are used
for the testing of large circuit hreakers. The important indirect methods of testing are:
(i) Unit testing
(ii) Synthetic testing
Unit testing
Generally, high voltage circuit breakers are designed with several arc interrupter units in
series. Each unit can be tested separately. From the test results of one unit, the capacity of
the complete breaker can be determined. This type of testing is known as unit testing.
Synthetic testing
In this method of testing, there are two sources of power supply for the testing, a
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current source and a voltage source. The current source is a high current, low voltage source.
It supplies short-circuit current during the test. The voltage source is high voltage, low current
source. It provides restriking and recovery voltage.
There are two methods of synthetic testing-parallel current injection / method and
series current injection method. Parallel current injection method is widely used as it is capable
of providing RRRV and recovery voltage as required by various standards.
Figure 5 shows a circuit for synthetic testing. It is a circuit for parallel current injection
method of synthetic testing. The high current source is a motor driven generator. It injects a
high short-circuit current I1 into the circuit breaker under test at a relatively reduced voltage,
V8. The inductance L1 is to control the short-circuit current. The master circuit breaker and the
circuit breaker under test are tripped before current I1 reaches its natural zero. These circuit
breakers are ruily opened by the time t0. The capacitor C1 is a high voltage source to provide
recovery voltage. It is charged prior to the test, to a voltage 2 Vs This voltage is equal to the
peak power frequency vol tage which will appear across the contacts at the moment the circuit
breaker under test interrupts the current. L2 and C2 control transient recovery voltage and
RRRV. The triggered spark gap is fired at tb slightly before the short-circuit current I1 reaches
its natural zero. It is done to properly simulate the pre-current zero zone during the test. There
is a control circuit to fire the triggered spark gap at the appropriate moment. Figure 9.28 shows
waveforms during synthetic testing.
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