O&M of HV Switchgear

Types of Operating Principles

Types of Operating Principles

Bulk Oil Minimum or Small Oil SF6 Vacuum

Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker

Three interrupter poles housed in a common metal tank filled with insulating oil. Commonly called the DEAD TANK design. Bulky, thick steel walls provided to withstand the tremendous gas and oil pressure created within the arc chamber by the arc during short circuit. The interrupter, solely depends on the turbulent flow of oil and gas bubbes to quench the arc, is known as a Plain break Interrupter.

Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker (contd)

The insulating oil Helps to cool and quench the arc Insulates live parts from the tank An example:
Reyrolle LMT2 6.6kV switchgear (4 panels) would need 1 drum of oil for replacement of oil.

The Circuit Breaker can be supplied with solenoid (eg. Reyrolle A5T) or spring mechanism for closing and tripping.

Pictures of Reyrolle C-series BOV and Reyrolle LMT2 BOV

Ring Main Unit Typical Features

Normal Current 800A, voltage 22kV & below Available in bulk oil, vacuum and SF6 versions No relay protection, only earth fault indicator Single stroke manual closing; available also in motor charged version Idiot proof interlocks Usually dead-tank, sealed and suitable for outdoor installation.

Ring Main Unit Load Break Switch

Features
Quick-Acting-Fault-Making Switch No interrupter

Capabilities
Making: Up to rated short circuit making current Breaking: Only rated normal current

Ring Main Unit

Fuse Switch or Switch Fuse
Features
Quick-Acting-Fault-Making Switch Current limiting fuse link and isolator

Capabilities
Making: Up to rated short circuit making current Breaking: Up to fuse rating

Small Oil Volume (SOV) Circuit Breaker

Oil is purely used for arc quenching and NOT for insulation Insulation is provided by the dielectric material of the pole. In general, replacement of oil in SOV circuit breaker is recommended after every fault interruption.

Small Oil Volume (SOV) Circuit Breaker

During the opening operation, the piston assembly effectively causes oil rush into the arc quenching device to expedite arc extinction

Example: CalorEmag ZE4

Properties of SF6 (Sulphur Hexafluoride)

Colourless, odourless, non-toxic, non-flammable Five times heavier than air Chemically inert up to 150 degC. Decomposes into SF4, SF2, S2, F2, S, F etc at high temperature No carbon component Good di-electric strength, good arc quenching medium

Types of SF6 Circuit Breaker

Single Pressure Puffer
Uniform pressure in SF6 gas compartment; gas compressed and discharged through puffer during circuit interruption.
Double Pressure Puffer High and Low pressure SF6 gas compartments; high pressure gas discharged through puffer into low pressure region during circuit interruption.
Single Pressure Puffer

Rotating Arc Quencher Magnetic coil assists quenching of arc during circuit interruption.

Types of SF6 Circuit Breaker

Construction of SF6 circuit breakers of late, adopt the same structure of a small oil volume circuit breaker in that the three interrupter poles are housed in insulated live poles. Eg Y-SF6 22kV circuit breaker The poles are filled with pressurised SF6 (1-5 bars) supplied from a common reservoir Any gas leakage can be monitored through a pressure gauge.

Vacuum Circuit Breaker

Vacuum interrupters employ no insulant like oil or gas in its arc quenching device. No maintenance Require relatively smaller mechanical energy for contact closing and opening. Interrupting device:
A pair of flat contacts housed in a completely sealed bottle kept at a pressure of 10-3 mm of mercury. With absence of any conducting material, contact gap kept as small as 15mm.

Vacuum Circuit Breaker

Arc extinction: After a natural current zero, the remaining metal vapour condenses on the shields of the vacuum bottle and the dielectric strength builds up rapidly across the parted contacts to prevent a RESTRIKE. The uniquely high dielectric strength of vacuum ensures that the current is almost always interrupted on the first current zero encountered. Result: CURRENT CHOPPING. If improper control => OVERVOLTAGE (2 3 times normal voltage) OR cause damage to transformer insulation.

Vacuum Circuit Breaker

Advantage as compared to other circuit breakers:
Very short contact travel Elimination of clumsy drive rod and piston system

Movement of the contact within the bottle is permitted by the use of stainless steel bellows at the base of the bottle. Size of vacuum bottle is determined by external factors:
Requirements on creepage clearance Basic Impulse Level

Gas Insulated Switchgear

IEC 517
Metal enclosed switchgear in which the insulation is obtained, at least partially, by an insulating gas other than air at atmospheric pressure.

Features
Constant environment Filled with SF6 gas at 1-1.5 bars Vacuum interrupter Metal-clad or metal enclosed Compact

Gas Insulated Switchgear Problem #1

Compact CT Chamber Switchgear can be compact because it is designed with static relay protection system in mind smaller relay mounting less CT burden requirements and smaller size & weight o CT. With the use of electromechanical relays for distribution switchgear, the size of Current Transformer will definitely be large. An example can be found in Siemens 22kV GIS

Gas Insulated Switchgear Problem #2

Compact cable chamber and special terminations Switchgear are all designed with pre-moulded plug-in type of cable termination. As termination plug is short, its reliability depends very much on the care exercised by the jointers in adhering to the correct dimensions and cleanliness of the terminations. Also the switchgear is designed for single core cable system. As such, termination of cable plug is more difficult for our three-core cable system.

Gas Insulated Switchgear Operating Mechanisms

Manual- or motor-charged spring operating mechanisms (VCB) Manual or electrical operating system (VCB) Open/Close circuit breaker at high speed

CB ON

CB OFF

Isolator OFF

Ready-toEarthed

Earthed ON

Gas Insulated Switchgear Operating Mechanisms

3PDS (Three-position disconnector system with closed/ open/earthing positions) is operated manually (for Meiden GIS) or electrically (for Siemens GIS)
8 Three-position switch Switching positions -a. Closed b. Opened c. Ready-to-earth Siemens GIS

Perform status indications.

Gas Insulated Switchgear Construction

Barrel Type
Single phase encapsuated No possibility of phase to phase fault More O-ring seals

Barrel type

Drum & Cubicle Type

3 phases encapsualted Phase to phase fault possible Less compartment, less possibility of leaks Less space of terminating cables