Performance trend and indicator analysis on vacuum circuit breaker current-zero measurements

Abstract

Nowadays, the vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) is the most popular circuit breaker used in distribution networks. A good performance of the VCB is necessary for the reliability of a network. Therefore, they are extensively tested in high power Laboratories, before the breakers are put into service. Testing, however, is expensive, and different test duties are required before a conclusion can be drawn about the performance of a new design or modification. The tests mainly focus on the interruption capability of the breaker. It would be an achievement to use this data also as performance indicators and for trend prediction, with the aim to reduce the number of test duties. The work presented here makes a part of a research programme with the goal to construct a database with detailed current-zero measurements of arc voltages and post-arc currents. The measurements are performed at the high current laboratory of the technical university in Eindhoven and at the high power laboratory, of KEMA in Arnhem. The measurements are recorded with a 12 bits, 40 MHz transient recorder. Breakers of different manufacturers are used in a variety of test circuits. The paper presents the results of the trends in the switching performance obtained so far.