Effect of high-frequency high-voltage impulse conditioning on inrush current interruption of vacuum interrupters

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of a high-frequency high-voltage impulse conditioning technique on the inrush current interruption phenomena. In this paper, the inrush current interruption phenomena referred to the actual interruption and the currentless period following interruption. First, Six 7.2 kV vacuum interrupters (VIs) were conditioned by 400 batches of voltage impulses. The duration of each batch were set to 0.1 s. The peak value of each impulse could reach up to 100 kV. The repetition frequency of the impulse was set to 1000 Hz. The contact gap was 0.8 mm. The VIs were tested for the inrush current interruption performance with inrush current set to 2 kA and 5 kA, with a frequency of about 3800 Hz. The experimental results showed that there were two different types of inrush current interruption depending on high-frequency high-voltage impulse conditioning. The inrush current interruption type I referred to the inrush current interruption during the prestrike process before the contacts touched. This type inrush current interruption could be caused by the erosion of prestrike arc. Moreover, the high frequency voltage impulse conditioning influenced the occurrence frequency, the number of interruptions and the duration of the inrush current interruption type I. The inrush current interruption type II referred to the inrush current interruption during the contact bouncing process after the contacts touched. The inrush current interruption type II occurred only in the case of the VIs after conditioning. Furthermore, the occurrence frequency of the inrush current type II decreased with increasing inrush current.

[1]  R.P.P. Smeets,et al.  Capacitive current switching duties of high-voltage circuit breakers: background and practice of new IEC requirements , 2000, 2000 IEEE Power Engineering Society Winter Meeting. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37077).

[2]  Mu Longhua.  Shunt capacitor bank switching strategy based on precharge circuit , 2009 .

[3]  Paul G. Slade,et al.  The Vacuum Interrupter: Theory, Design, and Application , 2007 .

[4]  G. C. Damstra,et al.  Switching transients during energizing capacitive load by a vacuum circuit breaker , 1993 .

[5]  A. Greenwood,et al.  Capacitance switching with vacuum circuit breakers-a comparative evaluation , 1991 .

[6]  R. Voshall,et al.  An Indirect Test Circuit for Testing Vacuum Interrupters for Capacitor Switching Duty , 1980, IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems.

[7]  Yingsan Geng,et al.  A high efficiency conditioning method of vacuum interrupters by high frequency voltage impulses , 2012, 2012 25th International Symposium on Discharges and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum (ISDEIV).

[8]  V. Hinrichsen,et al.  Field emission currents in vacuum breakers after capacitive switching , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation.

[9]  H. Schellekens.  Capacitor bank switching with vacuum circuit breakers , 2008, 2008 China International Conference on Electricity Distribution.

[10]  Yingsan Geng,et al.  Capacitive switching of vacuum interrupters and inrush currents , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation.

[11]  F. Korner,et al.  Switching behavior of different contact materials under capacitive switching conditions , 2008, 2008 23rd International Symposium on Discharges and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum.

[12]  D. Gentsch,et al.  Study of vacuum circuit breaker performance and weld formation for different drive closing speeds for switching capacitive current , 2010, 24th ISDEIV 2010.

[13]  K. Niayesh,et al.  Switching of capacitive currents and the correlation of restrike and pre-ignition behavior , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation.