AIR – BREAK CIRCUIT BREAKER

Air atmospheric press is used as an arc extinguishing medium in Air Break CBs. These CBs employ
high resistance interruption principle. The arc is rapidly lengthened by means of arc running and arc chutes
and the resistance of the arc is increased by cooling, lengthening and splitting the arc. The arc resistance
increases to such an extent that the voltage drop across the arc become more than the supply voltage and the
arc gets extinguished. These CBs are used in d.c. circuits and a.c. circuits up to 12 kV and are usually indoor
type.
There are two sets of contacts, main contacts and
arcing contacts. Main contacts conduct the current in
closed position of the CB. They have low contact
resistance and are silver-plated. The arcing contacts
arc hard, heat resistant and are usually made of
copper alloy. While opening the contacts, the main
contacts dislodge first and the current is shifted to the
arcing contacts. The arcing contacts dislodge later
and arc is drown between them. The arc is forced to
move upwards by electromagnetic forces and the
thermal action. The arc ends travel along arc runners
and the arc is split by the arc splitter plates. The arc
is extinguished by lengthening, cooling and splitting
the arc. In some breakers arc is drawn in the
direction of the splitter by magnetic field. In such
CBs the blow out system is switched on as soon as
the arc leaves the contacts and commutes to a pair of
arc runners. The blow out coils provide a magnetic
field in such a direction that the arc footing is
subjected to an upward movement, there by moving
the arc in the upward direction.

AIR BLAST CIRCUIT BREAKER

(ABCB)

The ABCBs need an auxiliary compressed air

system, which supplies compressed air to the CBs. For opening operation, air is admitted in the arc extinction
chamber. The air blast takes away the ionized gases along with it and assists arc extinction. After a few
cycles the arc is extinguished by the air blast and the arc extinction chamber is filled with high pressure air
(20 to 30kg/cm²). The high pressure air has higher dielectric strength than that of atmospheric pressure.
Hence a small contact gap of a few centimetres is
enough.
The flow of air around contacts is guided by the nozzle
shaped contacts. It may be axial, radial or cross blast
type (fig.2). In axial, blast type airflow, the air flows
axially to the arc from high pressure reservoir to the
atmospheric pressure through a convergent divergent
nozzle. The difference in pressure and the design of
nuzzle is such that as the air expands into low-pressure
zone, it attains almost supersonic velocity. The axial
flow of air removes the heat from the periphery of the arc and the diameter of the arc reduces to a low value
at current zero. At the same time it drives away the ions or electrons from the contact space, which helps in
rapid building up of dielectric strength. The arc extinguishing process in the axial-blast breaker is highly
efficient, so much so that at low currents the process may take place before current zero (current chopping)
leading to high transient voltage in the system. However, this disadvantage is offset to some extent by the
fact that the length of arc and the corresponding distance between contacts need only be small due to the high
efficiency of the interruption process at heavy currents. Also, if current chopping does take place, this contact
space will break down again before the transient voltage has reached a level, high enough to damage the
system insulation. This short break presents a further problem in that it may not be sufficient to withstand the
recovery voltage after final extinction unless the high pressure jet is maintained. To overcome this difficulty
an additional break is provided in form of a simple isolate switch is series with the main break. This isolating
switch is opened automatically immediately after the arc is extinguished and before the air pressure is
removed. The main breaking contacts arc then reclosed and the system isolation is obtained by the isolating
switch.
These CBs are used for 11kV to 1100kV systems for various applications. They offer faster and repeated
operations with auto-reclosures etc.

THE OIL CIRCUIT BREAKER

In this type of C.B the contacts arc immersed in oil. When the arc forms, the heat generated
decomposes the oil into its constituent gases. This process itself absorbs some arc energy. The arc is actually
contained within a gas bubble. This gaseous bubble tends to rise to the free surface of the oil, taking with it
the ionized arc products and due to the pressure head of the oil, it is replaced by the clean cool oil in the
contact space. Thus an insulating barrier is interposed between the contacts tending to prevent re-striking.
The oil serves an additional purpose in that it provides insulation between the live metal parts of the
assembly and the structure in which they arc contained.
A general disadvantage of this form of CB is that the oil must be
contained in a closed tank and the gaseous products during the
arcing process get collected at the top of the tank. The tank is not
completely filled, an air–cushion being provided to act as a
buffer, but even so care must be taken to avoid explosion of the
gas-air mixture in this cushion due either to compression or the
temperature of the gas. A strong tank is thus necessary and it is
useful to provide a vent pipe in the case of CBs above 150MVA
rupturing capacity. The various types of oil CBs are discussed in
more detail below.

(a) Plain Break Type (Bulk Oil CB)

The contact arrangements are shown in the fig.3. This is mechanically simple and avoids the necessity of
making permanent current-carrying connections to moving parts; it does however, mean that there arc two
breaks in series for each phase. Although this was the first type of oil CB to be developed, it was found that
its behavior was somewhat erratic at high currents due to the unpredictable nature of the gas –bubble. Its use
is thus limited up to breaking capacity of 150MVA. It is now obsolete.

(b) Self- Generated Pressure Type

In this type of CB the contacts arc enclosed in a small insulated

cylinder inside the larger tank, the whole being filled with oil. Pressure
is generated in the small chamber by the action of arc itself and this
pressure is applied to the arc in order to extinguish it. The first device of
this nature to be developed was the explosion pot (shown in fig.4) type.
When the moving contact is with drawn through the lower orifice, the
pressure generated inside the cylinder causes the arc products to be
expelled through it. The pot is then refilled with clean oil through the
small vent provided at the top.

(c) Externally Generated Pressure Type

The nature of gas-bubble is unpredictable especially at higher currents, and accordingly to produce
uniform operating conditions at various operating currents externally generated pressure type CB was
developed using a piston to produce an oil movement in the contact space at the instant of current
interruption. The pressure generated by the piston is independent of current magnitude. Although the
operating time for this form of CB is very nearly constant over a wide range of currents, the arrangement is
rarely used owing to its mechanical complexity.

(d) Low Oil Content CB (Minimum Oil CB)

In the bulk oil type of CB the oil performs two functions, first as an arc extinguishing medium and
second, as an insulation between the live parts of the CB and the earthed metal tank in which they are
contained. The oil necessary for extinguishing purpose is about 10% of the total amount of oil. In order to
reduce the volume of oil required and hence the physical dimension of the CB, the low oil content type has
been developed. In this type of CB, the CB contains only the oil required for the extinction of the arc, and the
metal tank is replaced by a bakelised paper cylinder enclosed in porcelain. This type of construction requires
two porcelain insulators, the lower one providing an insulated support from earth and the upper unit
containing the fixed and moving contacts. For arc extinction, this type of CB employs the same principle as
those of self-generated pressure or externally – generated pressure type CBs.

Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) CIRCUIT BREAKER

This type of CB is used from 3.6kV to 760kV. However, at present they arc generally preferred for
voltage above 72.5 kV.

Properties of SF6 gas

SF6 gas is prepared by burning coarsely crushed roll sulphur in the fluorine gas in a steel box. The gas
thus prepared contains other fluorides, such as, S2 F10 are SF4, which are further purified.

Physical properties

 Colorless
 Odorless
 Nontoxic. Pure SF6 is not harmful to health.
 Non-inflammable.
 Gaseous state at NTP.
 Density: heavier gas, density is about 5 times that of air at 20c and atmospheric pressure.

Liquefaction of SF6 gas

The gas starts liquefying at low temperatures. The temperature of liquefication depends on pressure.
At pressure of 15kg/cm², the gas starts liquefying at 10c. Hence, thermostatically controlled heats are
provided which maintain the gas temperature above about 16c in case of high-pressure system.

Heat Transferability

It is 2.0 to 2.5 times that of air at same pressure. Hence, for equal conductor size, the current carrying
capacity is relatively more.

Arc-time constant

It is defined as the time between current zero and the instant the conductance of contact space reaches
zero value. Due to electro negativity of SF6 gas, the arc-time constant is very low and the rate of
improvement of dielectric strength is high. Hence SF6 CBs are suitable for switching conditions involving
high rate of rise of TRV.
Chemical properties of SF6 gas

1. Stable up to 500C.
2. Inert gas does not react with the metallic and insulating parts of the CB.
3. Electronegative gas.
4. Products of decomposition due to arc, are SF4 and SF2, which once again recombine upon cooling to
form the original gas.
5. Moisture due to influx from outside presents various problems is SF6 CBs, due to formation of
hydrogen fluoride, which attacks the metallic and insulating parts of the CBs.

Arc Extinction in SF6 CB

In SF6 CB, the gas is made to flow from a
high pressure zone to a low pressure zone
through a contingent-divergent nozzle (fig.6).
The mass flow is a function of nozzle throat
diameter, the pressure ratio, and the time of
flow. The nozzle is located such that the flow
of gas covers the arc. The gas flow attains
almost supersonic speed in the divergent
portion of the nozzle, there by the gas takes
away the heat from the periphery of the arc,
causing reduction in the diameter of the arc.
Finally the arc diameter becomes almost zero
at current zero and the arc is extinguished.
The arc space is then filled with fresh SF6 gas
and the dielectric strength of the contact space
gets rapidly recovered due to the electro-
negativity of the gas.

Vacuum Circuit Breaker

They have been developed during last twenty years and can be classified in the following two categories:

1. Vacuum interrupters for indoor switchgear and kiosks, rated up to 36kv.

2. Vacuum CBs rated at 72kv and above. They are suitable for outdoor installations and having two or
more interrupters in series per pole.

Arc extinction in vacuum interrupters

The arc interruption process in vacuum interrupters is quite different form that in other types of CBs.
The vacuum as such is a dielectric medium and arc can not persist in ideal vacuum . The separation of current
carrying contacts draws an arc between them. An intensely hot spot or spots are created at the instant of
contact separation from which metal vapour shoots off, constituting plasma. Then the contact space is filled
with vapour of +ve ions liberated from contact material. The vapour density depends on the current in the
arc. During the decreasing mode of the current wave the rate of release of the vapour reduces and after the
current zero the medium regains the dielectric strength provided vapour density around contacts has
substantially reduced.
When interrupting a current of the order of a few hundred amperes under high vacuum, the arc
generally has several parallel paths each arc originating and sinking in a hot spot of current. Thus the total
current is divided in several parallel arcs, which repel each other so that the arc tends to spread over the
contact surface. Such an arc is called diffused arc. The diffused arc gets interrupted easily.
At higher values of currents, of the order of a few thousand amperes, the arc gets concentrated on a small
region and becomes self- sustained arc. The concentrated arc around a small area causes rapid vaporization of
the contact surface.
The transition from diffused arc to the concentrated arc depends upon the material and shape of contact, the
magnitude of current and the condition of electrodes. The interruption of arc is possible when vapour density
varies in phase with the current and arc remains in diffused state. The arc does not strike again if the metal
vapour is quickly removed from the contact zone.
Thus the arc extinction process in vacuum CB is related to a great extent to the material and the shape
of the contacts and the technique adopted in condensing the metal vapour.
The contact geometry is so designed that the root of the arc keeps on moving so that the temperature
at one point on the contact does not reach a very high value. So soon after natural current zero the remaining
metal vapour condenses and the dielectric strength builds up rapidly and the re-striking of arc is prevented.