The document discusses different types of circuit breakers used in electrical equipment. It describes the components, operation, and maintenance of circuit breakers. The main types discussed are air blast, oil, SF6, and vacuum circuit breakers. Air blast circuit breakers use air to extinguish arcs and are suitable for low voltages. Oil circuit breakers use insulating oil and are older technology. SF6 circuit breakers use sulfur hexafluoride gas which has excellent arc-quenching properties. Vacuum circuit breakers operate in a high vacuum environment which allows for reliable interruption of faults.
The document discusses different types of circuit breakers used in electrical equipment. It describes the components, operation, and maintenance of circuit breakers. The main types discussed are air blast, oil, SF6, and vacuum circuit breakers. Air blast circuit breakers use air to extinguish arcs and are suitable for low voltages. Oil circuit breakers use insulating oil and are older technology. SF6 circuit breakers use sulfur hexafluoride gas which has excellent arc-quenching properties. Vacuum circuit breakers operate in a high vacuum environment which allows for reliable interruption of faults.
The document discusses different types of circuit breakers used in electrical equipment. It describes the components, operation, and maintenance of circuit breakers. The main types discussed are air blast, oil, SF6, and vacuum circuit breakers. Air blast circuit breakers use air to extinguish arcs and are suitable for low voltages. Oil circuit breakers use insulating oil and are older technology. SF6 circuit breakers use sulfur hexafluoride gas which has excellent arc-quenching properties. Vacuum circuit breakers operate in a high vacuum environment which allows for reliable interruption of faults.
The document discusses different types of circuit breakers used in electrical equipment. It describes the components, operation, and maintenance of circuit breakers. The main types discussed are air blast, oil, SF6, and vacuum circuit breakers. Air blast circuit breakers use air to extinguish arcs and are suitable for low voltages. Oil circuit breakers use insulating oil and are older technology. SF6 circuit breakers use sulfur hexafluoride gas which has excellent arc-quenching properties. Vacuum circuit breakers operate in a high vacuum environment which allows for reliable interruption of faults.
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Electrical Equipment:
CIRCUIT BREAKER EENG 130 – ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE OUTLINE Circuit Breaker Components of a circuit breaker Operation of a circuit breaker Types of Circuit Breakers Maintenance of Circuit Breakers Circuit Breaker A device used for protecting electrical equipment from damage and for controlling of electrical power system. Components of Circuit Breaker Actuator lever - used to manually trip and reset the circuit breaker. Also indicates the status of the circuit breaker (On or Off /tripped). Actuator mechanism - forces the contacts together or apart. Contacts -Allow current to flow when touching and break the flow of current when moved apart. Terminals – connecting end of circuit breaker Bimetallic strip – holds the contacts Operation of Circuit Breaker The electricity magnetizes the electromagnet. When the current jumps to unsafe levels, the electromagnet is strong enough to pull down a metal lever connected to the switch linkage. The entire linkage shifts, tilting the moving contact away from the stationary contact to break the circuit. The electricity shuts off. Types of Circuit Breakers Circuit Breakers are classified by voltage levels: 1. Low Voltage Circuit Breaker 2. Medium Voltage Circuit Breaker 3. High Voltage Circuit Breaker Low-voltage circuit breaker They are commonly used in domestic, commercial and industrial application. Example: Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) : Rated Current – not more than 100AT Molded Case Circuit Breaker (MCCB) : Rated Current – up to 2500AT Medium Voltage Circuit Breaker Medium-voltage circuit breakers can be assembled into metal-enclosed switchgear for indoor use. Individual components installed outdoors in substation. Medium-voltage circuit breakers rated between 1 and 72kV. High Voltage Circuit Breaker High voltage circuit breakers are used in electrical power transmission networks for protection and control. High voltage circuit breakers varies. Usually, power transmission work is usually rated 72.5kV or Higher. They are always solenoid-operated through current transformers. Types of Circuit Breakers Circuit Breakers are further classified by the medium for extinguishing arcs. 1. Air Blast Circuit Breaker 2. Oil Circuit Breaker 3. SF6 Circuit Breaker 4. Vacuum Circuit Breaker Air Blast Circuit Breaker Suitable for high current interruption at low voltage, this type of circuit breaker uses air at atmospheric pressure as an quenching medium.
It employs two pairs of contact main contact and the arcing contacts. They have low contact resistance. The main contact carries the current when breaker is at the closed position. When contacts are opened, the main contacts separate first, the arcing contacts remain in closed position. Therefore the current is shifted from main contacts to the arcing contacts. Air Blast Circuit Breaker These circuit breakers are available in the voltage 400 to 12kv. They are widely used in the low and medium voltage system. It provides overcurrent and short-circuit protection for electric circuits over 800A to 10kA. Advantages of Air Blast Circuit Beaker
It is used where frequent operation is required because of lesser arc energy. It is risk free from fire. Small in size. It requires less maintenance. Arc quenching is much faster Speed of circuit breaker is much higher. The time duration of the arc is same for all values of current. Disadvantages of Air Blast Circuit Breaker
The air has relatively lower arc extinguishing properties
It contains high capacity air compressor. From the air pipe junction there may be a chance of air pressure leakage Application and Uses of Air Circuit Breaker
It is used for protection of plants, electrical machines, transformers,
capacitors and generators Air circuit breaker is also used in the Electricity sharing system and GND about 15Kv Also used in Low as well as High Currents and voltage applications. Oil Circuit Breaker
In this type of circuit breaker oil is used, but mineral oil is
preferable. It acts better insulating property than air. Oil Circuit Breaker The moving contact and fixed contact are immerged inside the insulating oil. When the separation of current takes place, then carrier contacts in the oil, the arc in circuit breaker is initialized at the moment of separation of contacts, and because of this arc in the oil is vaporized and decomposed in hydrogen gas and finally creates a hydrogen bubble around the arc. Oil Circuit Breaker This highly compressed gas bubble around and arc prevents re-striking of the arc after current reaches zero crossing of the cycle. The OCB is the oldest type of circuit breakers. Different types of Oil Circuit Breaker 1. Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker 2. Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker Oil Circuit Breaker Bulk oil circuit breaker When the current carrying contacts in the oil are separated, then an arc is generated between the separated contacts. The arc which is established will produce rapid growing gas bubble around the arc. The moving contacts will move away from the fixed contact of arc and this result the resistance of the arc gets increased. Here the increased resistance will cause the lowering the temperature. Hence the reduced formations of gasses surround the arc. Advantages Good cooling property because of decomposition Oil has high dielectric strength It acts like an insulator between earth and live parts. The oil used here will absorb arc energy while decomposing Disadvantages
It will not permit high speed of interruption
It takes long arcing time Minimum oil circuit breaker The minimum oil circuit breaker will place the interrupting unit in an insulating chamber at the live potential. But insulating material is available in interrupting chamber. It requires less amount of oil so it is called as minimum oil circuit breaker. Advantages
It requires less maintenance.
It is suitable for both automatic operation and manual. It requires smaller space The cost for breaking capacity in MVA is also less. Disadvantages
Oil deteriorates because of carbonization.
There is a possibility of explosion and fire As it has a smaller quantity of oil, so carbonization increases. It is very difficult to remove gases from the space between the contacts. SF6 Circuit Breaker SF6 (Sulphur Hexafluoride) under pressure gas is used to extinguish the arc. It has excellent dielectric, arc quenching, chemical and other physical properties which is better than oil or air. As circuit breakers are totally enclosed and sealed from atmosphere so it is very careful where explosion hazards exist. Properties of SF6 Circuit Breaker 1. Physical properties: (a) Colorless, odorless, non-toxic and non- inflammable gas. (b) Pure gas is not harmful to health. (c) It has excellent heat transfer property. Properties of SF6 Circuit Breaker 2. Chemical properties: (a) It’s chemically stable at atmospheric pressure and temperature. (b) It is chemically inert. (c) It’s non-corrosive on all metals at ambient temperatures. Vacuum Circuit Breaker
The arc quenching takes place in medium. The
operation of switching on and closing of current carrying contacts and interrelated arc interruption takes place in vacuum interrupter. Vacuum Circuit Breaker The dielectric strength and interrupting ability of high vacuum is superior to those of porcelain, oil, air and SF6 at atmospheric pressure. Vacuum Circuit Breaker When contacts are separated in high vacuum, an arc is drawn between them. The arc does not take place on the entire surface of the contacts but only a few spots. It’s enclosure is made up of insulating material such as, glass, porcelain or glass fiber reinforced plastic. Vacuum CB is now very popular for voltage rating up to 36kv. Advantages of Vacuum Circuit Breaker VCBs are reliable, compact and long life They can interrupt any fault current. There will be no fire hazards. No noise is produced It has higher dielectric strength. It requires less power for control operation. END
