Optimum Design of a Novel 40.5kV Three-poles in Common Fast Vacuum Circuit Breaker

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present the optimum design of a novel prototype of 40.5 kV fast vacuum circuit breaker (FVCB) with three-poles in common electromagnetic repulsion actuator (ERA), which is intended to be engaged in switching shunt reactors. The prototype could cut a mass of cost comparing with other types of FVCBs which have independent ERA for each phase. Through multi-body dynamics simulation in ADAMS, the optimum crank arm dimension of the prototype was achieved. In optimization, the impact factors mainly include the number of coil turns (N), capacitance of the energy-storage capacitors (C), and charging voltage (U). In order to obtain the dependence of average opening speed $\left( {\bar v} \right)$ on N, C, U, we perform a linear-regress analysis after determining the significance of each impact factors. Taking the average speed and cost into account, the optimum parameters were as follows: N = 15, C = 20 mF, and U = 560 V. The mechanical characteristic experiment was carried out to validate the feasibility of optimum design parameters. Results showed that the average speed of the prototype can rise up to 3.7 m/s in the case of the optimum parameter, which almost coincided with the simulation result of 4.0 m/s with little errors.