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For interruption operations at higher voltage levels sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is the dominating insulation and interruption medium. In medium to high voltage levels vacuum has advantages compared to SF6. In order to expand the operation voltage levels of vacuum circuit breakers (VCB), two approaches are possible. The first is the enlargement of the single contact gap and second is the series arrangement. In both cases the Time–Distance-Curve of the contact travel is one factor that influences the interruption performance of VCBs. The usage of a single gap for higher voltage levels requires an increased contact distance. In dependence of different interruption operations, like short circuit or capacitive interruption, a controlled Time–Distance-Curve could be useful. For experimental investigations a vacuum single break test setup using a brushless servo motor with a frequency converter is built. The electrical control of the drive enables parameter variations of the Time–Distance-Curve. The velocity, acceleration, deceleration, and final contact gap can be adjusted as required for testing and later in field application. For fine control a mechanical simulation considering the regulation loop between frequency converter and drive as well as the mechanical components is employed. Finally, tests of the setup for interruption operations are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some vacuum interrupters (VIs) are equipped with transversal magnetic field contacts. A transversal directed Lorentz force makes the arc move circularly. The local surface temperature of the arc root is usually above the melting point at high current. The temperature of the heated and molten contact surface of a VI can be measured using a high-speed thermography camera. We present a methodology for determining the surface temperature. For this purpose, the emissivity of the contact material must be known. For Cu, we determined the emissivity at \varepsilon \mathrm {liq} = 0.053 (liquid) and \varepsilon \mathrm {sol} = 0.035 (solid) for a spectral wavelength range of 1.5–1.7 \mu \textm . Switching tests were performed using spiral contacts (CuCr 75/25) with a diameter of 68 mm and a 50-Hz half-wave sinusoidal current of 19 kA (rms). We examined the temperature of cooling anode spots of two different switching tests with various arc burning times and arc diameter. During the cooling phase of the anode spots, we observed a plateau in temperature at both measurements with different slope and duration. The plateaus started at the liquidus temperature of 1903 K of CuCr 75/25. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Vacuum interrupters (VIs) are designed for a long operating life. Even after a large number of switching operations, they should still provide good arc extinction and be able to withstand high voltages. Switching operations produce substantial masses of metal vapor that condense on the inner component parts of the VI. The VIs are equipped with shields to protect the ceramic surfaces from being coated by metal vapor. Since the first VI was put into service, a large number of shield designs have been developed. If the shield design consists of a floating shield with two end shields, there are two gaps between these shields. These gaps are necessary for insulation when the VI is in the open position, but during the switching operation metal vapor can flow through these gaps and coat the ceramics. If the deposited area on the alumina ceramics reaches a critical value, the dielectric performance of the VI can become reduced. Standard VIs have been tested with a floating shield and two end shields that did not overlap the floating shield. After performing switching operations, the coated ceramics were examined. Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) was used here to obtain a very detailed view of the thickness of the deposited layers. With EPMA, it is possible to detect very thin layers in the range of nanometers. To provide a better understanding of how strongly different deposited layers can affect the dielectric performance of the VI, surface resistance measurements were carried out. These were performed with a high-resistance meter, which is able to measure up to 10^16~\Omega using a 1-kV voltage source. Electric field simulation was carried out to know how the coatings do affect the electric field inside the VI and why they can cause breakdowns during lightning impulse voltage tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vacuum circuit breakers are widely used in the medium-voltage area. The majority of the installed vacuum tubes are equipped with electrodes using the transverse-magnetic-field design forcing the electric arc on a circular motion to avoid severe local overheating. A vacuum test switch was used to investigate the arc movement behavior between spiral- and cup-shaped electrodes at high-current interrupting operations. The switch was equipped with viewing ports allowing an observation from two rectangular views. Mounted sample contacts were made of CuCr 75/25 in different diameters. A digital 8-bit high-speed camera was used to record the arcing process with frame rates of 33 000 frames per second. Behavior patterns were investigated and compared with the arc voltage and the instantaneous current. Parameters such as the arc velocity and the current density on the contacts could be determined by means of the recordings. A static simulation model delivered Lorentz forces for a comparison between both designs. The experiments were conducted with short circuit currents from 20 to 60 kA (root mean square) with a frequency of 50 Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the relevant IEC standards vacuum circuit-breakers have to meet various needs, e.g. the interruption capability, making operations, and dielectric strength. Besides the interruption of short-circuit currents, switching of capacitive currents causes high stress of the circuit-breaker. Switching of capacitor banks, overhead lines, or cables leads to very small currents in comparison with short circuit currents. After current interruption the circuit-breaker must withstand twice the peak value of the system voltage. Furthermore, restrikes can lead to voltage multiplication. This conjunction of relatively small breaking currents with high voltage stress must be considered in detail. This work introduces a test arrangement for combined tests of making operation, current interruption, and dielectric stress of a vacuum gap under capacitive switching condition. A test vessel permits investigations of various contact materials and designs. It is connected to a synthetic test circuit which provides the appropriate test currents and capacitive voltage. During the test sequence the contacts are stressed by inrush-currents up to 4.5 kA peak, followed by a breaking operation at 500 A peak and a subsequent capacitive voltage up to 50 kV peak. Both the appearance of pre-ignitions at contact closing and the behavior under capacitive voltage stress after breaking are indications of the contact surface conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]