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The paper focuses on the vacuum arc commutating characteristic which is a common basic problem in resistive fault current limiters. The current commutating characteristic of the current can be diverted into the current limiting resistor from the vacuum circuit breaker is mainly researched. The influence of the current amplitude, the current limiting resistor resistance, the arcing time, the transverse magnetic field and the current frequency on the time of the current commutation and the current in the moment of the completion transition is investigated and analyzed. According to the experimental results, the mathematical description of the vacuum arc commutating characteristic is obtained. The interaction between the vacuum arc and the transverse magnetic field is discussed. The paper provides the foundation for the structure and parameters optimization of the resistive fault current limiter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes the equivalent circuit of postarc dynamic voltage distribution (PDVD) in multibreak vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs). The equivalent circuit is composed of controlled postarc sources, postarc resistors, and equivalent capacitors. The sheath growth and the postarc process of double-break VCBs are analyzed. The PDVD is divided into four processes: the initial transient recovery voltage (TRV) process, the oscillating TRV process, the stable TRV process, and the power-frequency voltage process, which can be analyzed by the equivalent circuit. The novel equivalent circuit of the PDVD in multibreak VCBs is gained by introducing the controlled postarc current source. The test platform is set up in the synthetic circuit. The postarc current, grading capacitor current, and the TRV are measured to analyze the PDVD in the above four processes. The test results verify the theoretical analysis. Therefore, the mechanism of the PDVD in multibreak VCBs is obtained and described by the equivalent circuit, which is useful to gain even voltage distribution and improve the breaking capacity of multibreak VCBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When double‐break vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs) interrupt the fault current, the series arc will generate their individual magnetic fields in different breaks. The magnetic field in one break will influence the arc in another break if the magnetic field is strong enough or the two breaks are very close. In this case, an interactive magnetic field effect happens. This field is also called the bias magnetic field (BMF). BMF can cause anode erosion and affect the performance at current zero. The distribution of BMF and the optimal configuration of the double‐break VCBs were obtained by the electromagnetic field simulation using the Ansoft Maxwell software. Based on the simulated magnetic field data, in the experiments, the interaction between the series vacuum arcs in double‐break VCBs was equivalent to the interaction between a single vacuum arc and the magnetic field generated by a Helmholtz coil. A high‐speed CMOS camera was used to record the trajectory of the vacuum arc plasma under different BMFs with different types of contacts. The results show the BMF can increase the arc voltage, and the arc becomes unstable. When the BMF becomes stronger, the arc voltage increases, and the arc becomes more unstable. In addition, for different types of contacts, the development process of the arc and the influence level are different under the same BMF. For a Wan‐type transverse magnetic field (TMF) contact or strong BMF, metal sputtering is evident and anode erosion becomes serious. For a cup‐type axial magnetic field (AMF) contact, the influence of BMF on the series arc plasma in double‐break VCBs is less than that of the Wan‐type TMF contact. The results of this work may be helpful for the design of compact double‐break VCBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reveal the mechanism of the residual magnetic field in vacuum interrupters (VIs), the vacuum arcs and the postarc characteristic with external AMF at current zero are investigated. The magnetic field of the 10-kV/20-kA VIs is analyzed. And then, the phase shift and the residual AMF are obtained. The test platform is established in the synthetic test circuit. The pulsed AMF is applied at current zero with the pulsewidth of 4 ms, and the magnitude can be adjusted from 0 to 200 mT. The transparency VIs with external AMF at current zero is observed by the high-speed CMOS camera to analyse the vacuum arcs development. The postarc current and transient recovery voltage are measured by the postarc current measuring equipment and the voltage divider so that the postarc characteristic such as postarc current and postarc charge can be obtained. The influence of the pulsed AMF at current zero on the vacuum arc development and postarc characteristic is gained and the mechanism of the AMF at current zero is analyzed, which can be useful to special AMF contact design for different applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the influence of the pulsed AMF arc control on the vacuum arc and the post arc characteristic to reveal the mechanism of AMF arc control in different control time and find the proper AMF arc control. The pulsed AMF control system is designed and the pulse width is adjusted from 1.5 ms to 10 ms by changing the capacitors. The test circuit is set up in the synthetic test circuit and the test vacuum interrupter (VI) is transparent in order to observe the development of the vacuum arc by the high speed CMOS camera. The rated voltage and current of the test VI is 10 kV and 25 kA respectively. The post arc current of the test VI is measured in order to analyze the post arc characteristic, such as the post arc charge, post arc conductance and dynamic dielectric strength. The development of vacuum arc and the post arc characteristic influenced by the pulse width, magnitude and control time of the pulsed AMF is obtained, which is useful to special magnetic contacts design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the vacuum arc commutation between the vacuum arc and the parallel-connected insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBTs) of dc microgrid hybrid circuit breakers (HCBs). The principle of the dc HCB is analyzed and the vacuum arc commutation is the important process in dc HCB interruption, in which the arcing time and the interrupting time are depended. The test circuit of the vacuum arc commutation is established by simplifying the parallel-connected IGBTs to an on-state resistance with large thermal capacity. The influence of the magnitude of the main current, the resistance of the IGBTs, and the externally applied transverse magnetic field (TMF) on the vacuum arc commutation is investigated by the electrical measure and the development of vacuum arc which is observed by a high-speed CMOS camera. The criteria of the vacuum arc commutation are obtained. The interaction between the vacuum arc commutation and the externally applied TMF is researched and the optimal magnitude of the TMF is gained. The vacuum arc commutation characteristics of dc HCB can be useful for parameters design and control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on the vacuum arc commutating characteristic (VACC) between the parallel-connected vacuum arc and the shunt resistor, which is the base of the postarc current (PAC) measure. The test platform is established in the synthetic test circuit. The influence of the current magnitude, shunt resistor, arcing time and current frequency on time of the current commutation and the current in the moment of the completion transition is investigated. The mathematic description of the VACC is obtained, which is useful to parameter design of the PAC measure. The PAC of 10-kV vacuum circuit breakers is measured in synthetic test circuit. The photos of the vacuum arc and the waveform of the current commutation are gained to verify the success of the commutation. In conclusion, the VACC is gained and applied to measure the PAC. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper proposes a novel post-arc current measuring equipment (PACME), which is composed of vacuum switch, transfer resistance, protective gap and high-precision current sensor. The principle of the measurement is based on current transfer characteristic between the vacuum switch and transfer resistance. The current-transfer model of the post-arc current measurement is established to gain the characteristic of vacuum arc conductance and the completion time of current transfer influenced by the transfer resistance, current of main circuit and the contacts opening time. The vacuum arc of PACME extinguished just before the main current approach zero while the main current is completely transferred to the transfer resistance. According to the simulation result, the PACME is designed, especially; the transfer resistance is non inductive and over current protection. The post-arc current of vacuum switch with axial magnetic field (AMF) and transverse magnetic field (TMF) contacts was measured in synthetic short-circuit test. The measuring result of post-arc current is accurate and small interference, which satisfied the post-arc current measurement of vacuum circuit breakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the influence of the axial magnetic field (AMF) arc control on voltage distribution (VD) of double-break vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs) in order to gain balanced VD, and thus enhance the breaking capacity. The interaction of vacuum arc plasma, postarc current (PAC), and AMF is discussed. We conduct the breaking test of double-break VCBs with externally applied AMF of a different pulsewidth, magnitude, and a different moment. The PAC, postarc charge, and the VD are measured to analyze the relationship between the AMF arc control and the VD. The optimal AMF arc control and the relationship between the AMF magnitude and the unbalanced voltage ratio are gained when the grading capacitors were 400 pF. The experimental test showed that the proper AMF arc control can improve the unbalanced VD. The mechanism is that the proper AMF arc control can make the postarc charge small and stable, so the unbalanced postarc charge, which caused the unbalanced VD is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In tank-type multi-break vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs) and gas-insulated switchgear (GIS), the non-uniform distribution of vapor shield potential in the vacuum interrupters impacts the post-arc process significantly. To explore the effect of the vapor shield potential on the development of the post-arc sheath, a particle-in-cell model with shield potential control is proposed to obtain two-dimensional distributions of post-arc particles. Based on the synthetic test circuit and probe array, the test platform of the post-arc characteristic diagnostic is set up to verify the influence of vapor shield potential distribution on the post-arc sheath. The extinguishing process of the vacuum arc is also observed by the high-speed CMOS camera. Simulation and experimental results show that at shield potential of 0.5 transient recovery voltage, the post-arc sheath develops most rapidly and the distribution of cathode spots is the most uniform. These findings can provide valuable insights for the design of vacuum interrupters and the control of shield potential in tank-type GIS. • A new structure of series special self-voltage sharing vacuum interrupters in tank-type circuit breakers or gas insulated switchgear is proposed. • A PIC simulation model for the post-arc sheath development in the vapor shield potential control of vacuum interrupters is established. • A probe diagnostic approach is employed to analyze the decay process of post-arc residual plasma in vacuum interrupters. • The vapor shield potential affects the development process of the post-arc sheath, with the best effect observed when the shield potential is at 0.5 TRV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]