A NEW APPROACH TO S'IJPPRESS ARCING IN CURRENT 2.

4
INTERRUPTION

William W. Chen, Member IEEE

Advanced Technology & Analytics
SQUARE ID, GROUPE SCHNEIDER
3700 6th Street, SW, Cedar Rapids, IA52406

-
ABSTRACT
In an e:tisting circuit breaker, mechanical relay, contactor, or switchgear, almost 100% of the
interruption energy is consumed by arcing during a current interruption. A new approach[ 11 to
suppress arc is to convert up to 100% interruption energy into thermal energy with a positive
temperature coefficient resistivity (PTC) material. The PTC material could be doped-BaTi03-
ceramics, conductive polymer, or metallic P'I'C element.
A computer simulation was conducted to guide a short circuit experiment of a circuit breaker
prototype. In the prototype a PTC tungsten wire was connected in parallel with a first pair of
contacts but in series with a second pair contacts. During a short circuit interruption in the
experiment, the first pair contacts was opened first by an insulating wedge. The arc was suppressed
and extinguished quickly around the first pair contacts. The current was then shunted to the
tungsten arid the second contacts. The tungsten limited the current and dissipated most of the
energy. The second contacts finally interrupted the current within the first half cycle. Simulations
and tests were completed at single phase circuit levels of 138 V/100 kA and 284 VAOO kA.
Results indicate that 80% interruption energy was consumed by the tungsten and only 20% the
energy by arcing.
Key Words: Current interruption, Current limitation, PTC, Conductive polymer,
Arc suppression, Circuit breaker, Mechanical relay, Contactor, Switchgear, Switch

I. INTRODUCTION
Research concerning arc suppression has been going
on for almost a century. The conventional approach has
been to extinguish a liigh-power arc after it occurs
between the separating contacts. This approach has been
and still is being used in virtually a11 circuit breakers,
mechanical relays, contactors, and switchgear. The
approach comprises expensive arc-quenching media such
as sulfur hexafluoride(SEi6),vacuum, magnetic fields, oil,
and compressed air. There are environmental issues
related to some of the arc-quenching ambients. For
example, SF6 is believed to be a greenhouse gas and the
US EPA is developing a voluntary program to eliminate
emissions of the gas from the switchgear [9-121. In this
conventional approach, almost 100% of the interruption
energy is consumed by arcing during a current
interruption. The interruption energy is the energy
released by the circuit from the moment the contacts start
to separate until the time the circuit is finally interrupted.
Since arcing takes nearly 100% of the interruption energy,
the arc suppression effectiveness of the conventional
approach is limited.
A new approach to suppress arc has been recently
explored [I]. The new approach is to convert up to 100%
of the interruption energy into thermal energy with a
positive temperature coefficient resistivity (PTC) material.
The PTC material could be doped-BaTi03-ceramics,
conductive polymer, or metallic PTC element. The
resistivity of the PTC material increases as the
temperature increases. For a polymer or a ceramic PTC,
the resistivity increases sharply over a narrow temperature
range after the temperature reaches a certain threshold
0
value. The threshold temperature is about 120 C for a
polymer PTC [3]. For a metallic PTC, the resistivity
increases gradually over a wide temperature range.
Early in 1953, Fritz Kesselring first disclosed the use
of a parallel PTC resistor across a pair of contacts to
suppress the arc [2]. The PTC resistor Kesselring
disclosed was metallic material such as pure iron,
tungsten, or chromium. Raychem Corporation started
producing polymer PTC products for low voltage
applications about two decades ago [3]. The polymer

0-7803-4925-3/98/$10.000 1998 IEEE. 87

PTC products are being widely used to protect electronic point of the tungsten. The resistance of the tungsten is
circuits and batteries. R. S. Perkins, et al. investigated a increased about 15 times its room temperature value
new PTC resistor for power applications [4].The new Line ierminsl

PTC resistor was (V,Cr)203 with room temperature

resistivity down to 0.001 ohm.cm. ABB developed a

'3:
d.3

current limiting module, ~ which they call Prolim, for C0"lllClS

motor starters and controllers about five years ago 15, 61.
The Prolim is made from conductive polymer PTC (w Wire

material, and used together with a circuit breaker. Most \\,

recently, J. Skindhoj et al. demonstrated a current limiter
based on a metaUpolymer composite with a room
temperature resistivity of 0.01 ohm.cm 171.
As will be discussed in this paper, a short circuit
simulation using VisSim software was conducted to guide
the design of a circuit breaker prototype. The prototype
was tested in a high power lab. The objective of the
computer VisSim simulation and the test was to verify the
fundamental theory behind the new approach. The results
of the simulation and experiment are described and
discussed in this paper. The work published here provides
one example of using the new approach for current
interruption.
11. EXPERIMENT
Fig. 1 shows the circuitry of the circuit breaker
prototype. It was a single pole breaker, and was modified
from an existing industrial breaker. Two pairs of contacts
were connected in parallel in the prototype. A PTC
tungsten wire was connected in parallel with the first pair
of contacts but in series with the second pair of contacts.
Fig. 2 shows the sketch of the single pole breaker. An
insulating wedge was arranged on the line side of the
breaker. E. Belbel and M. Lauraire used the wedge
mechanism in a new breaking technology ten years ago
181.
Mag plate Primary contaCls
Load terminal
Fig. 2 Sketch of the single pole breaker prototype
because of the PTC effect. The physical dimensions of the
tungsten wire were specially designed for this purpose.
The tungsten limits the let-through current and dissipates
most of the interruption energy. The secondary contacts
finally interrupt the circuit afterwards.
Under normal operation, most of the current passes
through the primary contacts. The magnetic force
produced by the current is not great enough to drive the
wedge unless short circuit current is flowing. The contact
force between the primary contacts is not affected by the
wedge. Since the cold resistance of the tungsten wire is at
least ten times greater than the contact resistance, a little
current is shunted through the tungsten wire. The tungsten
does not cause any temperature problems in normal
operation due to the low current through it.

Secondary contacts

U d
Line Primary contacts Load
1
Fig. 1 Circuitry of the breaker prototype tested

During a short circuit, the "mag-plate'' is pulled to the

right by the electromagnetic force. The "mag-plate'' drives
the wedge to open the primary contacts causing the arc
between them to extinguish. All the let-through current
then passes through the secondary contacts and the PTC
tungsten. The short circuit let-through current heats the
tungsten up to a high temperature that is near the melting

88
 The short circuit interruption tests were conducted in a
high power laboratory at Square D Company, Cedar
Rapids, Iowa. Fig. 3 shows the test circuit. The circuit
breaker prototype was connected according to UL489
requirements. Two identical prototypes were tested. “ 0 ’
operations in which the circuit breaker is closed prior to
the test and the short circuit is closed on it using the test
station closing switch, were used for the tests. The first
prototype was tested at 138 VI100 kA with closing angle
0
at 160 and power factor of 19%. The second prototype
was tested at 284 VI100 .k4 with closing angle at 0’ and
power factor of 18%.
111. COMPUTER MODEL
The length and diameter of the tungsten wire were
decided from the computer simulation. VisSim software
was used for the simulation.
The available current I,,(tj) was simulated from the
following equation:
where VA(tj)is the phase voltage at time ti, Rs and L,rare
resistance and inductance of the circuit respectively. The
let-through current lLet.l(tl) was calculated from the
following:
and
where Rul(t,) and R,2(tj) are the arc resistance of the
primary and secondary contacts respectively, and were
obtained from measurement data. The resistance of the
tungsten wire Rw(tj)was calculated from the following
equation:
Rw(t,) = 4p(T(t,))k/i?tD2) (4)
where p(T(ti))is the resistivity of tungsten as a function of
temperature, L and D are the length and diameter of the
tungsten wire respectively. The L and L;) were parameters
that could be manipulated during the simulation. The
temperature T(t,) of the tungsten as a function of time ti
was calculated from the following:
89
where C,(T(t,)) and HT(tj)) are capacity and density of
tungsten respectively. The energy dissipated by the
tungsten E, was calculated according to the following:
The total interruption energy El is the sum of the tungsten
energy E, and the energy dissipated by arcing between
the primary and secondary contacts.
The following four assumptions were made for the
simulation:
a) The tungsten wire is heated up adiabatically by the
short circuit current.
b) The inductance of the breaker and the tungsten wire can
be neglected for the simulation.
c) The secondary contacts start to open 0.001 second later
than the primary contacts during a short circuit
interruption.
d) The effect of tungsten dilation on its resistivity could be
neglected.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The length and diameter of the tungsten wire were
determined to be 0.36m and 0.0046m respectively from
the computer simulation. The shape of the tungsten wire
was designed as shown in Fig. 2. The reason to bend the
tungsten wire in that shape was to reduce the inductance
of the wire. When the inductance of the wire is reduced to
the minimum, it is easier to shunt the let-through current
to the wire. The parameters of the tungsten wire are
largely dependent on the interrupting rating of the circuit
breaker. They are also related to the wedge and breaker
mechanism.
Some major results of the tests and the computer
simulations are shown in Table 1 below. Both the
computer simulation and the test results indicate that
about 80% of the interruption energy was consumed by
the tungsten wire during the short circuit interruptions.
 50000 T

I Time Is)
. I

0
.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007

-50000

-=
h

5
2
-100000
L

5
-150000 t --t Iava.
+Isim.

-200000 ;

-250000

Fig. 4 Simulated let-throughand available currents and tested let-through current at 138 VI 100 kA

250000

200000

2
L

5 100000

50000

0 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008

Time (s)

Fig. 5 Simulated let-through and available currents and tested let-through current at 284 VI100 kA

90
 Table 1 Major results of the tests and the computer simulations
I Circuit I Closing I Type of I 12t
138 V/100 kA
284 V/100 kA
The energy consumed by the tungsten was dissipated
through the heat. Since the tungsten took most of the
interruption energy, only about 20% of the energy was
consumed by arcing. The arc and pressure were
dramatically reduced in the circuit breaker prototypes
during the short circuit interruptions.
Figs. 4 and 5 show the current traces resulted from
actual tests and computer simulations. The available
current is the current in the circuit if there is no circuit
breaker connected in the circuit. Since the circuit breaker
provided current limitation during the short circuit, the
actual let-through current was evidently less than the
available current. The current limitation effectiveness of
the breaker prototype is largely dependent on three
factors. The first factor is how quickly the wedge can be
driven into the primary contacts and extinguish the arc
between them. The second factor is the tungsten
parameters - the diameter and the length specifically.
The last factor is how quickly the breaker mechanism can
open the two sets of contacts.
The test prototypes were modified from an industrial
breaker that has been produced for several decades. The
interrupting rating of the industrial circuit breaker is
limited to 138 VI42 kA and 284 V/30 kA for individual
poles, because of the high interruption pressure. The
current rating is 400A. After the modification by adding
the tungsten and the wedge, the two breaker prototypes
passed two shots at 138 V/100 kA and 284 VIlOOkA
respectively. If there had not been a tungsten wire
absorbing most of the interruption energy, the circuit
breaker case would havie been broken by the pressure
during the first interruption of 138 V/100 kA.From this
perspective, the new approach to suppress the arc can be
used to increase the interrupting rating of a circuit
breaker.
There are many ways to use the new approach for
current interruption. The test and simulation published in
this article illustrates only one of the many ways.
There is a fundamental difference between the new
approach and the conventional technology in current
interruption. The arc is used to help a current interruption
in the conventional technology. The arc voltage rises as a
set of contacts separates from each other. The circuit is
interrupted when the arc voltage overcomes the system
voltage. Since all the interruption energy turns into arc
energy, the arc energy lias to be dissipated quickly in
I WEnergy I Arc I Interruption I
order to build up the arc voltage. People use arc stacks to
consume the arc energy in most low voltage circuit
breakers. When the arc energy is too high to be consumed
by the arc stacks, a shock wave with resulting pressure is
generated. However, resistance is added quickly to the
circuit when a set of contacts starts to open and interrupt a
circuit in the new approach. The resistance is provided by
a PTC component connected in the circuit. The resistance
increases as the let-through current increases. The system
voltage is overcome largely by the voltage across the PTC
component, or by the voltage across the resistance added.
Little arc voltage is needed to overcome the system
voltage. The added resistance of the PTC component will
not only limit the current but will also absorb most of the
interruption energy. With the new approach, a new
generation of circuit breakers and interrupters could be
designed for current interruption from low to high
voltages.
Since arc energy is dramatically reduced during a
current interruption with the new approach. The
requirement of contacts and contact materials is different
between this approach and the conventional technology.
New forms and different types of contacts will be needed
for current interruptions with the approach published in
this paper.
IV . CONCLUSIONS
(1) It is feasible to convert about 80% of the
interruption energy into the heat of a PTC component
instead of arc energy in a circuit breaker device during
a current interruption.
(2) The new approach to suppress an arc reduces
pressure for a circuit breaker in a short circuit
interruption.
(3) The new approach of arc suppression can be used to
increase the interrupting rating of a circuit breaker
made from the conventional technology.
(4) Computer simulations and tests at 138 VI100 kA and
284 V/100 kA single phase short circuits demonstrated
that 80% of the interruption energy was consumed by
the tungsten and only 20% of the energy by arcing.
91
 V. REFERENCES
[I]. W. W. Chen, “Methods of Arc Suppression and
Circuit Breakers with Electronic Alarmers”, U S
Patent 5,629,658, May 13, 1997.
[2]. F. Kesselring, “Current Limiting Apparatus”,
U S Patent 2,639,357, Zollikon, May 19, 1953.
[3]. F. A. Doljack, “PolySwitch PTC Devices -A New
Low-Resistance Conductive Polymer-Based PTC
Device for Overcurrent Protection”, IEEE Trans.
CHMT, Vol. CHMT-4, No. 4, pp 372-378, December
1981.
[4]. R. S. Perkins, A. Ruegg, M. Fischer, P. Streit, and A.
Menth, “A New PTC Resistor for Power
Applications”, IEEE Trans. CHMT, Vol. CHMT-5,
No. 2, pp 225-230, June 1982.
[5]. T. Hansson, “Polyethylene Current Limiters for
Short-circuit Protection”, ABB Review, No. 4/92, pp
35-38, 1992.
[6]. T. Hansson, and P. Karlstrom, “PTC Element” U S
Patent 5,382,938, ABB, Jan. 17, 1995.
[7]. J. Skindhoj, J. Reichenbach, and R. Strumpler,
“Repetitive Current Limiter Based on Polymer PTC
Resistor”, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, Vol. 13,
No. 2, pp 489-494, April 1998.
92
[8]. E. BelbeI and M. Lauraire, “A New Breaking
Technology, Independent from the Contact
Material”, 13th International Conference on Electric
Contacts, pp 150- 155, Lausanne, Switzerland,
September 1986.
[9]. US EPA, Inventory of U. S. Greenhouse Gas
Emissions and Sinks: 1990 - 1994, 1995, pp 47-49
[ 101 M. Maiss and I. Levin, “Global Increase of SF6
Observed in the Atmosphere”, Geophysical Research
Letters, Vol. 21, No. 7, pp 569-572, April 1994.
[ 1 I] M. K. W. KO, N. Dak Sze, and W. C. Wang,
“Atmospheric Sulfur Hexafluoride: Sources, Sinks
and Greenhouse Warming”, Journal of Geophysical
Research, Vol. 98, No. D6, pp 10,499-10,507, June
1993.
[ 121 E. Dutrow, “United States Environmental Protection
Agency’s Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emission
Reduction Program: Sulfur Hexafluoride Emissions
From Electrical Transimission and Distribution
Systems”, Conference on Electrical Transmission
and Distribution Systems, Sulfur Hexafluoride, and
Atmospheric Effects of Greenhouse Gas Emissions,
pp 341-344, Washington, DC, Angust 1995.