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At present, multibreak vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs) have attracted more attention in order to meet the requirement of the environmental protection, high-voltage VCBs, capacitive current switch-off, and the dc current breaking. The advantages and disadvantages of multibreak VCBs are analyzed and discussed according to the research status. Then, the synergy effect of multibreak VCBs is proposed, which is the interaction among the arc memory, current zero characteristic, and the postarc characteristic. The target of the synergy effect is the synergy between the dynamic dielectric recovery strength and the postarc dynamic voltage distribution. The maximum breaking capacity can be obtained in the above-mentioned synergy control. Finally, the optimization design, key technology, basic theory, and application of multibreak VCBs are discussed. With the development of multibreak VCBs, it will be widely used in high-voltage level, HVdc, and pulsed-power switchgear in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 order to find the synergy of double-break vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs), we conducted a synthetic test including different vacuum gaps, different type electrodes, and different grading capacitors. The double-break VCBs are composed of Axial Magnetic Field (AMF) and Transverse Magnetic Field (TMF) contact VCBs, which can constitute four combinations. The optimal combination of AMF and TMF type electrodes was obtained by comparing with the breaking capacity and voltage distribution of the four combinations. The breaking capacity of double-break VCB with AMF and TMF type electrodes in series while the AMF interrupter is on the lower side is largest because the voltage distribution is the most even which is caused by the different equivalent capacitances of different interrupters. The optimal matching vacuum gaps of the best combination were obtained by a synthetic test of different vacuum gaps, which may make the grading capacitors of double-break VCBs small, even obsolete. The combination of maximum breaking capacity was series AMF type interrupters with suitable grading capacitors of 500–2000 pF. The experimental results provide the best combination and matching control mode for VCBs with double-break. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]