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A circuit breaker is a mechanical switching

device, capable of making, carrying and breaking
CIRCUIT BREAKER currents under normal circuit conditions. It is also
capable of making and carrying currents for a
specified time and breaking currents under
ACCORDING TO THEIR specified abnormal circuit conditions, such as
those of a short circuit.

ARC QUENCHING MEDIA

WHAT IS CIRCUIT BREAKER ?

TYPES OF CIRCUIT BREAKER  This operates using high velocity blast of air which quenches the
arc.
 It consists of blast valve , blast tube & contacts.
1. Air Circuit Breaker (Air Blast)  Blast valve contains air at high pressure.
2. Vacuum Circuit Breaker  Blasttube carries the air at high pressure & opens the moving
contact attached to spring.
3. Oil Circuit Breaker
 Air should be kept clean & dry to operate it properly
4. Sulfur Hexafluoride Circuit Breaker

AIR CIRCUIT BREAKER (AIR BLAST)

Advantages:
 High speed operation as compared
to OCB.
 Ability to withstand frequent
switching.
 Facility for high speed reclosure.
 Less maintenance as compared to
OCB.
Disadvantages:
 Little moisture content prolongs
arcing time.  The air blast circuit breakers are preferred for arc furnace duty and
 Pressure should be checked traction system because they are suitable for repeated duty. This
frequently for frequent operation. type of circuit breaker are finding their best application in systems
 Risk of fire hazards due to over operating in range of 132kV to 400 kV with breaking capacity up
voltages.
to 700 MVA.
 It can’t be used for high voltage
operation due to prolonged arc
quenching.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES APPLICATION (AIR BLAST CIRCUIT BREAKER)

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 This breaker makes use of oil for quenching the arc.

 These are of two types Advantages:
 BOCB (Bulk oil Circuit Breaker)  Oil has good dielectric strength.
 MOCB (Minimum oil Circuit Breaker)  Low cost.
 Oil is easily available.
 The circuit breaker which uses more oil or which is bulky is called bulk oil circuit  It has wide range of breaking capability.
breaker.
 The construction is simple and it consists of fixed and moving contacts enclosed in
a strong weather –tight earthed tank containing oil up to a certain level and an air
Disadvantages:
cushion above the oil level.  Slower operation.
 It is designed for 11kv-765kv.  It is highly inflammable , so high risk of fire.
 The contacts are immersed in oil bath.  High maintenance cost.
 Oil provides cooling by hydrogen created by arc.
 It acts as a good dielectric medium and quenches the arc
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
OIL CIRCUIT BREAKER

 It contains an arc interruption chamber containing SF6 gas.

 SF6 rapidly absorbs the free electrons in the arc path to form
These breakers are used up to 11 KV with an immobile negative ions to build up high dielectric strength.
interrupting capacity of 250MVA.  It also cools the arc and extinguishes it.
 After operation the valve is closed by the action of a set of
springs.
 Absorbent materials are used to absorb the byproducts and
moisture.

APPLICATION
SF6 CIRCUIT BREAKERS

ADVANTAGES
 When two contacts of this circuit breaker are separated
 Very short arcing period due to superior arc quenching property of SF6 . in vacuum an arc is struck and hot spots are formed on
 Can interrupt much larger currents as compared to other breakers. the surface of the contacts .These hot spots produce
 No risk of fire. metal vapor and plasma the amount of vapor in plasma
depends on how rapidly the vapor is emitted from
 Low maintenance, light foundation.
contact surface which depends on the arc current. The
 No over voltage problem. current is of alternating nature, it pass through zero
 There are no carbon deposits. several times, so the rate of vapor emission also
becomes zero , and the vapor already emitted gets
condensed . During this process the dielectric strength
DISADVANTAGES builds up rapidly and the restriking of arc is prevented.
 SF6 breakers are costly due to high cost of SF6.
 SF6 gas has to be reconditioned after every operation of the breaker, additional
equipment is required for this purpose
VACUUM CIRCUIT BREAKERS
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

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 Compact in size
 Reliable and long life
 Outdoor application where maintenance required is
 Heavy fault can be interrupted effectively
minimum.In the high voltage system from 22 KV to
66kV power Circuits.  No gas is generated after arc extinction operation
 Operation is not noisy
 Arc energy is low
 No risk of fire

APPLICATION
ADVANTAGES

Vacuum has to be maintained at desired

level always

DISADVANTAGES