Testing-Circuit Breakers

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Testing- Circuit Breakers

Circuit Breaker
Make or break the electrical circuit either manually or remote under normal load conditions Break the circuit automatically under fault conditions

Where it is used?
Industries Substations Generating stations

Functions of circuit breaker


Protect against Short circuit fault Ground fault Switching

THERMAL TYPE

MAGNETIC TYPE

Arc phenomenon
Arc depends upon following factors Degree of ionization Cross section area of the arc Length of the arc

Arc phenomenon
Arc can be extinguished by Arc splitters Increasing the length of the arc Using arc extinguishing substances between the electrodes

ARC INTERRUPTION

Contact opening times ~ 0.5 ms Total fault clearance time ~ 8 ms

Classification of circuit breakers


Air Circuit Breaker Vacuum Circuit Breaker SF6 Circuit Breaker Oil Circuit Breaker

MCB ELCB

H V Circuit breaker
Current sensor Mechanism to trip or make the contacts fixed and moving contacts Adjustments to set fault current Trip circuit

Specifications
Voltage(kV) Rated current(A) Short circuit current(KA) Fault clearance time (ms)

Why testing?
To evaluate Constructional characteristics Operational characteristic Electrical characteristic of the circuit

Operational characteristics of CB
To evaluate Arcing voltage Current chopping characteristics Rate of decrease of conductance

Physical characteristics
Speed of contact travel Number of breaks Size of the arcing chamber Medium in which arc is extinguished

Electrical characteristics of the circuit


Applied voltage Type of fault in the system Time of interruption Rate of rise of recovery voltage

What to be tested?
Making or breaking capacity Fault clearance time as per the specifications

Types of tests
Dielectric tests-Over voltage withstand test Temperature rise test Mechanical test Short circuit test

Short circuit tests


Ability to safely interrupt the fault current at a given period of time Direct test in the network Direct test in the laboratory Synthetic tests

Direct test in the network


Testing in actual network in which it is intended to operate.

Direct test in the laboratory

Master circuit breaker can be tripped if the test device fails to operate properly

Synthetic testing
Synthetic Testing of Circuit Breakers:
It is not economical to have a single source to provide the required short circuit and the rated voltage The effect of a short circuit and recovery voltage as a combination of the effects of two sources One of sources supplies the a.c. current and the other the high voltage a.c. current source supplies the heavy current at a low voltage Recovery voltage is simulated by a source of comparatively high voltage of small current capacity

Vc- Low voltage, high current generator Lc- Current controlling inductance 1 - Master breaker 3 - Main switch T CB under test 4 - Auxiliary breaker 6- Trigger gap Cv - Capacitor charged

Reference Kamaraju n Naidu

Surge Diverter
Voltage surge A sudden rise in voltage for a very short duration on the power system is known as voltage surge.

Causes- lightning, Switching surges


Surge diverter is a protective device which conducts high voltage surges on a power system to ground.

Rod Gap Surge diverter

Testing of Surge Diverter


To protect the power system against transient voltages due to lightning and switching surges. Invariably used from distribution voltages (400 V) to highest transmission system (765kV and above) Behaviour :
Non-conductor for operating power frequency voltages As a short circuit for transient over voltages of impulse character Able to discharge the heavy current Recover its insulation without allowing the follow-up of the power frequency current

Tests on Surge Diverters


Power Frequency Spark-over Test: This is routine test The arrester has to withstand at least 1.5 times the rated value of the voltage for five successive applications. Both dry and wet conditions are tested

100% Standard Impulse Spark-over Test:


To ensure that the diverter operates positively Std. impulse voltage of a pre-set magnitude specified in the specifications applied Arrester has to spark-over every time in each of the ten successive applications Both positive and negative polarity waveforms applied Hundred per cent flashover voltages is the required spark-over voltage.

Front of Wave Spark-over Test


To ensure that diverter flashes over for very steep fronted waves of high peaks 1OO kV/ s, per 12 kV of the rating is used The test is done by conducting hundred per cent spark-over voltage test for increasing magnitudes of the standard impulse wave. The time to spark-over is measured. Intersection of the V-t characteristic and the line with slope of the virtual steepness of the front gives the front of a wave spark-over voltage.

Residual Voltage Test


Conducted on pro-rated diverters of ratings in the range 3 to 12 kV only. The voltage developed across the Non-Linear Resistor units (NLR) during the flow of surge currents through the arrester is-called the 'residual voltage Standard impulse currents are applied and voltage developed across the diverter is recorded with CRO Graph is drawn between the current magnitudes and the voltage developed across the diverter pro-rated unit Residual voltage corresponding to the exact rated current is obtained from the graph

High Current Impulse Test on Surge Diverters


Current impulse wave of 4/10 s of peak value is applied Two such applications are done on the units under test with sufficient time for cooling The unit is said to pass the test, if:
the power frequency spark-over voltage before and after the test does not differ by more than 10% the voltage and current waveforms of the diverter do not differ significantly in the two applications, and the non-linear resistance elements in the diverter do not show any sign of puncture or external flashover.

Long Duration Impulse Current Test

The diverter is said to have passed the test, if :


the power frequency spark-over voltage before and after the application of the current wave does not differ by 10% the voltage across the diverter at the first and the last application does not differ by more than 8%, and there is no sign of puncture or other damage

Operating Duty Cycle Test


Gives better closeness to actual conditions Diverter is kept energized at its rated power frequency supply voltage The rated impulse current wave is applied first at a phase angle of about 30 from the a.c. voltage zero. If the power frequency follow-on current is not established, the angle at which current wave is applied is advanced in steps of 10 up to 90 or the peak position of the supply voltage wave till the follow-on current is established. During the follow-on current period, the peak voltage across the diverter should be less than or equal to the rated peak voltage.

Twenty applications of the impulse current at the selected points on the voltage wave are made in four groups. The arrester is said to have passed the test, if:
the average power frequency spark-over voltage before and after the test does not differ by more than 10% the residual voltage at the rated current does not vary by more than 10% the follow-on power frequency current is interrupted each time no significant change, signs of flashover, or puncture occurs to the pro-rated unit

Other Tests
Mechanical tests like porosity test, temperature cycle tests, and others Pressure relief test The voltage withstand test on the insulator housing of the diverter The switching surge flashover test The pollution tests

Measurements of Radio Interference Voltage

Noise generated in the radio frequency band may be measured:


by the radio frequency line to ground voltage known as the radio influence voltage or RIV (in laboratory) as an interfering field by means of an antenna known as the radiated radio interference voltage or RI (field investigation)

Circuit for RIV measurement

Test Circuits for the Measurements


The RIV meter calibrated as per standards The important components of the circuits are:
The radio frequency choke to limit the loss of the RIV voltage and to conduct energy from the sample. The choke itself should be free from noise, and its impedance should be less than 1500 The coupling capacitor C (< 0.001 F); it should be free from noise in the operating range and the resistance of R should be equal to 800. Coaxial cable (CA): A coaxial cable of characteristic impedance 185 shall be connected between the resistance R and the radio noise meter.

When the radio noise meter measurements are stated, following information have to mention
The specifications of the meter used The frequency range of measurements The band pass characteristics The open circuit and the detector characteristics have to be mentioned

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