CIRCUIT BREAKER

WHAT IS A CIRCUIT BREAKER?

• A circuit breaker is an equipment that breaks a

circuit either manually or automatically under
all conditions at no load, full load or short
circuit.
 WORKING PRINCIPLE OF
CIRCUIT BREAKER
Ø The basic circuit breaker consists of a simple switch,
connected to either a bimetallic strip or an
electromagnet.
Ø The electricity magnetizes the electromagnet When
the current jumps to unsafe levels, the electromagnet is
strong enough to pull down a metal lever connected to
the switch linkage.
Ø The entire linkage shifts, tilting the moving contact
away from the stationary contact to break the circuit.
The electricity shuts off.
Operating Principle
Two contacts called electrode remains closed
under normal operating conditions. When fault
occurs on any part of the system, the trip coil of
the circuit breaker get energized and contacts
are separated.
 Arc Phenomenon

• An arc is struck when contacts are separated. The

current is thus able to continue. Thus the main
duty of a circuit breaker is to distinguish the arc
within the shortest possible time.
• The arc provides the low resistance path to the
current and the current in the circuit remains
uninterrupted.
ØThe arc resistance depends upon the
following factors.

ØDegree of ionization
ØLength of the arc

ØCross Section of the arc

Methods of Arc Extinction

High Resistance Method

Low Resistance Method

 TYPES OF
CIRCUIT
BREAKER

OIL AIR BLAST SF6 VACCUM

CIRCUIT CIRCUIT CIRCUIT CIRCUIT
BREAKER BREAKER BREAKER BREAKER
 Breaker Used In 132KV Grid
Station

• Oil Circuit Breaker

• Vacuum Circuit breaker
• SF6 Circuit Breaker
Bulk Oil Circuit breaker
Air
cushion
 Low Oil Circuit Breaker
Consists of two parts.
Supporting
Chamber.
Circuit-Breaking
chamber( consist
of fixed and
moving contact)
 Disadvantages Of Oil Circuit Breaker

• It is inflammable and there is a risk of fire.

• It may form an explosive mixture with air.
• It requires maintenance.
• Absorbs moisture, so dielectric strength
reduces.
• Oil leakage problem.
• Oil has to be replaced after some operations
because of the carbonization of oil.
 Air Circuit Breakers
In air circuit breakers, air is used as arc quenching medium. The air has
several advantages over the oil as arc extinguishing medium. These are
as follows:
• Risk of fire and maintenance associated with the use of oil is
eliminated.
•Mechanical stresses that set up due to gas pressure and oil movement
are eliminated.
•The cost of regular oil replacement due to deterioration of oil with
successive breaking operation is absent.
 Air Circuit Breaker Working
Principle
• In the air circuit breakers, the arc is extinguished by increasing its
resistance. The arc is lengthened with the help of arc runners and arc
chutes and its resistance is increased by cooling, splitting and
lengthening.
• The arc resistance is increased to such a value that the voltage drop
across the arc becomes more than system voltage and the arc is
extinguished at current zero instant of AC wave. The air circuit
breakers can be broadly classified into two types:
v Plain Air Circuit Breakers
v Air Blast Circuit Breakers
• Plain air circuit breakers further can be subdivided into following
categories:
v Plain Break Type
v Magnetic Blow-out Type
v Arc Chute Typ
 Plain Break Type Air Break
Circuit Breaker
• In this type, contacts are made in the shape of two horns. The arc
initially strikes across the shortest distance between the horns and is
then moved slowly upwards by the convection currents caused by
heating of air during arcing and interaction of magnetic and electric
fields.
• The arc expands from one tip to the other when horns are fully
separated. This results in lengthening and cooling of the arc. These
circuit breakers are used up to 500 V and low power circuits because
at higher ratings, the arc may spread to adjacent metal parts.
 Magnetic Blow-out Type Air
Break Circuit Breaker
• In this type circuit breaker, arc extinction is achieved by means of a
magnetic field produced by the current in blow-out coils connected
in series with the circuit being interrupted. The magnetic field
moves the arc into arc chutes where the arc is lengthened, cooled
and quenched.
• The breaking action of such breakers becomes more effective with
large currents. Therefore, these circuit breakers are used for high
rupturing capacities.
 Air Break Circuit Breaker
Construction | Arc-chute Type
• Construction of air
c i r c u i t
breaker (arc-chute
type) used for low
and medium
voltage is shown
in the figure.
• There are two sets of contacts in such breakers named as main
contacts and arcing contacts. Main contacts are usually made of
copper and carry the current in the closed position of the circuit
breaker. They are silver coated to make low contact resistance.

The arcing contacts are hard, heat resistant and usually made of a
copper alloy. Arcing contacts are used to reduce the damage of main
contacts due to arcing. These contacts can be replaced easily. The
arcing contacts close before and open after main contacts. Here
blow-outs consist of steel inserts in the arcing chutes.

These are so arranged that the magnetic field induced in them by the
current in the arc moves it upward faster. When the arc comes into
contact with the cool surfaces of the steel plates made in arc chute, it
gets rapidly cooled. Thus the arc is quenched by lengthening and
excessive power loss. The main problem in this type of circuit
breakers is inefficiency at low currents where the electromagnetic
fields are weak.
 Air Circuit Breaker Operation |
Arc-chute Type
• On the occurrence of a fault, main contacts separate first and the
current is shifted to the arcing contacts. Now the arcing contacts
separate and the arc is struck between them. This arc is pushed
upwards by the electromagnetic forces and thermal action. The arc
ends travel along the arc runners. The arc is split by arc splitter
plates. The arc is quenched by lengthening, cooling and splitting.

Applications of Plain Air Circuit Breakers

• These circuit breakers are employed in AC circuits as well as DC
circuits up to 12 kV. Such circuit breakers are usually of indoor type
and installed on vertical control panels. As they have no oil, they are
recommended where there are possibilities of fire and explosion.
 Vacuum Circuit Breaker

• Vacuum is used as an arc quenching medium.

• Have greatest insulating strength.
• 10-7 to 10-5 pressure is to be maintained.
• Used in 6.6 kV and 11kV panel in control
room of grid station.
Vacuum Circuit Breaker
 Advantages
• Compact, reliable and have longer life.
• No fire hazards.
• No generation of gas during and after
operation.
• Can interrupt any fault current.
• No noise is produced while operating.
• Require less power for control operation.
 SF6 Circuit Breaker
1. Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) gas is used as an arc
quenching medium.
2. SF6 is an electro-negative gas.
3. It has strong tendency to absorb electrons.
4. When contact are opened in a high pressure flow of
SF6 gas, arc produced.
5. Free electron in the arc are captured by the gas.
6. Which build up enough insulation strength to
extinguish arc.
7. it is much effective for high power and high
voltages services,
Construction of SF6 circuit breaker:
The figure above shows the parts of a typical SF6 circuit breaker. It
consists of fixed and moving contacts enclosed in a chamber (called arc
interruption chamber) containing SF6 gas.
This chamber is connected to the SF6 gas reservoir. When the contacts of
breaker are opened, the valve mechanism permits a high-pressure SF6 gas
from the reservoir to flow towards the arc interruption chamber.
The fixed contact is a hollow cylindrical current carrying contact fitted with
an arcing horn.
The moving contact is also a hollow cylinder with rectangular holes in the
sides to permit the SF6 gas to let out through these holes after flowing
along and across the arc.
The tips of fixed contact, moving a contact and arcing horn are coated with
copper-tungsten arc-resistant material.
Since SF6 gas is costly, it is reconditioned and reclaimed by a suitable
auxiliary system after each operation of the breaker.
Working Principle of SF6 circuit breaker:
In the closed position of the SF6 circuit breaker, the contacts remain
surrounded by SF6 gas at a pressure of about 2·8 kg/cm2.
When the breaker operates, the moving contact is pulled apart and an arc is
struck between the contacts.
The movement of the moving contact is synchronised with the opening of a
valve which permits SF6 gas at 14 kg/cm2 pressure from the reservoir to
the arc interruption chamber.

The high-pressure flow of SF6 rapidly absorbs the free electrons in the arc
path to form immobile negative ions which are ineffective as charge
carriers.
The result is that the medium between the contacts quickly builds up high
dielectric strength and causes the extinction of the arc.
After the breaker operation (i.e., after arc extinction), the valve is closed by
the action of a set of springs.
 Advantages
• Simple construction, less cost.
• SF6 gas is non flammable, non toxic &
chemical inert gas.
• Same gas is recirculated in the circuit.
• Maintenance free C.B.
• Ability to interrupt low and high fault current.
• Excellent Arc extinction.
Advantages Of SF6 Over Oil Circuit Breakers

• Short arcing time

• Can interrupt much larger currents
• Gives noiseless operation due to its closed gas circuit
• No moisture problem
• No risk of fire
• No carbon deposits. So no tracking and insulation
problems
• Low maintenance cost
 Main Circuit Breakers
• LV generator circuit-breakers and other large distribution
circuit-breakers (600-6000 A) on board ship are traditionally
of the air break type called ACB (air circuit breaker). This
means that the circuit-breaker contacts separate in air.
• High voltage (HV) installations e.g. ,at 6.6 kV and 11 kV
generally use the vacuum interrupter type or gas-filled
(sulphur hexafluoride - SF6) breakers.
• In a vacuum interrupter the contacts only need to be separated
by a few milii metres as the insulation level of a vacuum is
extremely high.
• The quality of the vacuum in the sealed interrupter chamber is
checked by applying a short duration HV pulse (e.g. 10 kV for
a 6.6 kV breaker) across the open contacts.
• In the gas breaker the contacts separate in a special interrupter
chamber containing SF6 gas typically at 500 kPa (5 bar) at
20oC.
• The operating mechanism for vacuum and SF6 breakers is
similar to that employed for an ACB.
• shows how each main circuit breaker is mounted on guide rails
inside a main switchboard cubicle from which it must be
withdrawn and isolated from the bus-bars for maintenance and
testing. The breaker and its guide rails are usually mounted in
a special cassette bolted into the switchboard cubicle and
electrically connected to the bus-bars.
• If repair work demands that the breaker is to be completely
removed from its cassette then usually a special hoist or fork-
lift is required for large, heavy-duty units.
• The action of withdrawing the circuit breaker causes a safety
shutter to cover the live bus-bar contacts at the rear of its
cubicle.
• The mechanical linkage in a circuit breaker is quite complex
and should not be interfered with except for maintenance and
lubrication as specified by the manufacturer.
• The main fixed and moving contacts are of copper (sometimes
of special arc-resistant alloy or silver tipped) and usually
silver-alloy coated. Main contacts should not be scraped or
filed. If the main contacts suffer severe burning they will
probably require realignment as specified by the manufacturer.