Power System Protection

BY Ajay Bhardwaj
Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering
SKIT, Jaipur.

1
 Contents
• Introduction
• Elements of a Protection System
• Zones of Protection
• Protection Settings: Primary and Back-up protection
• Functions of Equipment Protection
• Functions of Protective Relays
• Required Information for Protective Setting
• Protection Settings Process
• Functional Elements of Protective Relays
• Operating Characteristics of Protective Relays
• Overcurrent and Directional Protection Elements
• Differential Protection
• Distance Protection Function
• Types of Circuit Breakers

2
Introduction

3
 Introduction

• Protection - Why Is It Needed?

• All Power Systems may experience faults at some time.
FAULT
• Short circuit produced by failure of insulation.

PROTECTION IS INSTALLED TO :
• Detect fault occurrence and isolate the faulted equipment.

SO THAT :
• Damage to the faulted equipment is limited;
• Disruption of supplies to adjacent equipment is minimized.
• Danger to staff or the public is avoided

4
 Introduction
Faults Are Mainly Caused By Insulation Failure
Underground Cables

Diggers
Overloading
Oil Leakage
Ageing

5
 Introduction
Faults Are Mainly Caused By Insulation Failure
Overhead Lines

Lightning
Kites
Trees
Moisture
Salt
Birds
Failure of discs
Broken Conductors

6
 Introduction
Faults Are Mainly Caused By Insulation Failure
Machines

Mechanical Damage
Unbalanced Load

7
 Introduction: Types of Fault
a
Single Phase to Ground b
c

a
b
2 phase to ground
c
e

Phase to phase a
b
c

a a
3 Phase b b
c 3 Phase to c
ground
e
8
Introduction

9
Introduction

10
 EQUIPTMENT /
CT FEEDER
BREAKER

PT

RELAY

BATTERY INSTRUMENT
TRANSFORMERS
11
Zones of Protection

12
Protection Settings: Introduction
Below Fig. 1 is an typical example of power system sections with their
protection systems. Where:
G1 is a generator. T1 is a transformer. B1,...,B5 are bus bars. L45 is
a transmission line (TL).
RG is a generator protective relay. RT is a transformer protective
relay. RB is a bus protective relay. RL-4,...,RL-9 are TL protective
relays. C1,..., C9 are CBs.

13
Fig. Protection of power system sections
14
There are three types of back-up protection
Remote backup
Relay backup
Breaker backup

15
 Protection Settings: Introduction
• Maximum fault clearance times are usually
specified by the regulating bodies and network
service providers.
• The clearing times are given for local and
remote CBs and depend on the voltage level and
are determined primarily to meet stability
requirements and minimize plant damage.
• The maximum clearance times of the backup
protection are also specified.
• e.g. the clearing times for faults on the lines
specified by one network service provider in
Australia are presented in Table I (next slide).
16
 Table I: Fault clearance times
Voltage CB operate correctly CB fail [ms]
level [kV] [ms]
Local Remote Local Remote
500 80 100 175 175
330 100 120 250 250
275 100 120 250 250
220 120 140 430 430
132 120 160 430 430
110 120 160 430 430
66 120 160 430 430
≤ 33 1160 - 1500 -

17
Functions of Equipment Protection
Protection schemes are generally divided into equipment
protection and system protection.
The main function of equipment protection is to selectively and
rapidly detect and disconnect a fault on the protected circuit to:
– ensure optimal power quality to customers;
– minimize damage to the primary plant;
– prevent damage to healthy equipment that conducts fault
current during faults;
– restore supply over the remaining healthy network;
– sustain stability and integrity of the power system;
– limit safety hazard to the power utility personnel and the
public.

18
 Functions of Protective Relays
• The protection functions are considered adequate when the
protection relays perform correctly in terms of:

• Dependability: The probability of not having a failure to operate

under given conditions for a given time interval.

• Security: The probability of not having an unwanted operation

under given conditions for a given time interval.

• Speed of Operation: The clearance of faults in the shortest time is

a fundamental requirement (transmission system), but this must
be seen in conjunction with the associated cost implications and
the performance requirements for a specific application.

19
…Functions of Protective Relays
• Selectivity (Discrimination):
The ability to detect a fault within a specified zone of a network
and to trip the appropriate CB(s) to clear this fault with a
minimum disturbance to the rest of that network.

• Single failure criterion:

A protection design criterion whereby a protection system must
not fail to operate even after one component fails to operate.
With respect to the protection relay, the single failure criterion
caters primarily for a failed or defective relay, and not a failure to
operate as a result of a performance deficiency inherent within
the design of the relay.

20
 …Functions of Protective Relays
• The setting of protection relays is not a definite
science.
• Depending on local conditions and
requirements, setting of each protective
function has to be optimized to achieve the
best balance between reliability, security and
speed of operation.
• Protection settings should therefore be
calculated by protection engineers with vast
experience in protective relaying, power
system operation and performance and quality
of supply.
21
 Required information for Protective
Setting
Line Parameters:
• For a new line: final total line length as well as the lengths,
conductor sizes and tower types of each section where different
tower types or conductors have been used.
• This information is used to calculate the parameters (positive and
zero sequence resistance, reactance and susceptance) for each
section.
• Maximum load current or apparent power (MVA) corresponding to
the emergency line which can be obtained from the table of
standard conductor rating (available in each utility).
• The number of conductors in a bundle has to be taken into
consideration.

22
 …required information for Protective
Setting
• Transformer Parameters:
– The manufacturer's positive and zero sequence
impedance test values have to be obtained.
– The transformer nameplate normally provides the
manufacturer's positive sequence impedance values
only.
• Terminal Equipment Rating:
– The rating of terminal equipment (CB, CT, line trap,
links) of the circuit may limit its transfer capability
therefore the rating of each device has to be known.
– Data can be obtained from the single line diagrams.

23
 …required information for
Protective Setting
Fault Studies
– Results of fault studies must be provided.
– The developed settings should be checked on future cases
modelled with the system changes that will take place in the
future (e.g. within 5 years).
– Use a maximum fault current case.
CT & VT Ratios:
– Obtain the CT ratios as indicated on the protection diagrams.
– For existing circuits, it is possible to verify the ratios indicated on
the diagrams by measuring the load currents on site and
comparing with a known ratio.

24
 …Required information for
Protective Setting
• Checking For CT Saturation:
– Protection systems are adversely affected by CT saturation. It is the
responsibility of protection engineers to establish for which forms of
protection and under what conditions the CT should not saturate.
• CTs for Transformer Differential Protection:
– MV, HV and LV CTs must be matched as far as possible taking into
consideration the transformer vector group, tap changer influence and
the connection of CTs.
• CTs for Transformer Restricted Earth Fault
(REF) Protection:
– All CT ratios must be the same (as with the bus zone
protection), except if the relay can internally correct
unmatched ratios.
25
 Sequence of protection operation initiated by a fault is
shown in Fig.

Pickup of Operation of
Fault protection element protection element

Assertion of relay Action of relay

trip logic signal trip contact

Circuit breaker
Fault cleared
opening

Fig. Sequence of operation.

26
 OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTECTIVE
RELAYS
• Protective relays respond and operate according to defined
operating characteristic and applied settings.
• Each type of protective relay has distinctive operating characteristic
to achieve implementation objective: sensitivity, selectivity,
reliability and adequate speed of operation.
• Basic operating characteristics of protective elements is as follows:
• Overcurrent protection function: the overcurrent element operates
or picks up when its input current exceeds a predetermined value.
• Directional function: an element picks up for faults in one direction,
and remains stable for faults in the other direction.

27
 …OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS OF
PROTECTIVE RELAYS
• Distance protection function: an element
used for protection of transmission lines
whose response is a function of the
measured electrical distance between the
relay location and the fault point.
• Differential protection function: it senses a
difference between incoming and outgoing
currents flowing through the protected
apparatus.
28
 1. Overcurrent Protection
IF
I F'

DC SHUNT
BATTERY TRIP COIL

Relay acts when current through the relay exceeds set value
Requires secure DC auxiliary
 No trip if DC fails
29
 Overcurrent Protection
O/C and E/F relay connections

O/C O/C O/C O/C O/C

E/F E/F

O/C – overcurrent relay

E/F – Earth fault relay
E/F relays are Combined with O/C relays.
For economy 2 Mechanical or static over current relays combined with E/F
protection are/were used in old panels
Now numerical relays have separate elements for R,Y and B (A,B and C) phases
30
OVERCURRENT AND DIRECTIONAL PROTECTION
ELEMENTS
• An overcurrent condition occurs when the maximum continuous
load current permissible for a particular piece of equipment is
exceeded.
• A phase overcurrent protection element continuously monitors
the phase current being conducted in the system and issue a trip
command to a CB when the measured current exceeds a
predefined setting.
• The biggest area of concern for over-current protection is how to
achieve selectivity.
• Some possible solutions have been developed, including
monitoring current levels (current grading), introducing time
delays (time grading) or combining the two as well as including a
directional element to detect the direction of current flow.

31
 Current grading
• Current grading will achieve selectivity by determine
the location of a fault using purely magnitude of
current.
• It is difficult to implement this in practice unless
feeder sections have sufficient differences in
impedance to cause noticeable variations in fault
current.
• In a network where there are several sections of line
connected in series, without significant impedances at
their junctions there will be little difference in
currents, so discrimination or selectivity cannot be
achieved using current grading.
32
 time delays
• An alternate means of grading is introducing time delays between
subsequent relays.
• Time delays are set so that the appropriate relay has sufficient time to
open its breaker and clear the fault on its section of line before the relay
associated with the adjacent section acts.
• Hence, the relay at the remote end is set up to have the shortest time
delay and each successive relay back toward the source has an
increasingly longer time delay.
• This eliminates some of the problems with current grading and achieves
a system where the minimum amount of equipment is isolated during a
fault.
• However, there is one main problem which arises due to the fact that
timing is based solely on position, not fault current level.
• So, faults nearer to the source, which carry the highest current, will take
longer to clear, which is very contradictory and can prove to be quite
costly.

33
34
 Directional Elements

• Selectivity can be achieved by using directional elements in conjunction

with instantaneous or definite-time overcurrent elements.
• Directional overcurrent protection schemes respond to faults in only one
direction which allows the relay to be set in coordination with other
relays downstream from the relay location.

35
Over current protection Parallel Feeders
Consider fault on one feeder :-
I1 + I2
I1

51 A I2 C 51 LOAD

51 B D 51

Relays ‘C’ and ‘D’ see the same fault current (I2). As ‘C’ and
‘D’ have similar settings both feeders will be tripped.

36
 Parallel Feeders
Solution:- Directional Control at ‘C’ and ‘D’

I1 + I2
I1

C
51 A I2 67 LOAD

51 B D 67

Relay ‘D’ does not operate due to current flow in the

reverse direction.

37
 Direction of Current Flow
• In AC systems, it is difficult to determine the direction of current flow
and the only way to achieve this is to perform measurements with
reference to another alternating quantity, namely voltage. The main
principle of how directional elements operate is based on the following
equations for torque:

TA  VBC  I A  cos(VBC  I A )

TB  VCA  I B  cos(VCA  I B )

TC  VAB  I C  cos(VAB  I C )

• If current is in the forward direction, then the sign of the torque

equation will be positive and as soon as the direction of current flow
reverses, the sign of the torque equation becomes negative. These
calculations are constantly being performed internally inside directional
element.

38
 Differential Principle
It works on the principle of comparing the current
entering and leaving a protected object. If there is a
difference, It is assumed that there is some internal fault
and relay operates according to the setting

Protected object

Relay
39
 Differential Protection Principle
P P2 Protected P2 P1
1 Circuit
S S1
S S
1 2 2

I2

IR = I1 + I2
I1

For an internal fault, the current in HV CT (I1) and LV side CT( I2) are in
opposite direction. They add up and the sum of currents ( I1 + I2) current
flows thro’ the relay.
So Relay operates.
40
Applications of Differential Relays

Differential Relays are widely used for

Transformer protection
Generator protection
Motor protection

41
 DISTANCE PROTECTION FUNCTION

• A distance protection element measures the

quotient V/I (impedance), considering the phase
angle between the voltage V and the current I.
• In the event of a fault, sudden changes occur in
measured voltage and current, causing a variation
in the measured impedance.
• The measured impedance is then compared
against the set value.
• Distance element will trip the relay (a trip
command will be issued to the CB associated with
the relay) if the measured value of the impedance
is less then the value set.
42
 …DISTANCE PROTECTION FUNCTION

Distance protection principle of operation.

• In Fig. the impedance measured at the relay point A is Zin   R  j L x
where x is the distance to the fault (short circuit), and R and L are
transmission line parameters in per unit length. The line length is l in
the fig..

43
 …DISTANCE PROTECTION FUNCTION

• We can see that the impedance value of a fault

loop increases from zero for a short circuit at the
source end A, up to some finite value at the
remote end B. We can use this principle to set up
zones of distance protection as well as to provide
feedback about where a fault occurred (distance
to fault).
• Operating characteristics of distance protection
elements are usually represented using R-X
diagrams.
44
 …DISTANCE PROTECTION FUNCTION

Region of
Line Q non-operation
120%
B outside the circle

80%
Zone 2
Line P
Z RS

Load
Region of region
operation
Zone 1

A R

Fig. Mho positive-sequence R-X operating

characteristic of a distance element.

45
 …DISTANCE PROTECTION FUNCTION

• The need for zones shown in Fig. arises from the

need of selective protection; i.e. the distance
element should only trip faulty section.
• We can set the distance element to only trigger a
trip signal for faults within a certain distance from
the relay, which is called the distance element reach.
• The setting impedance is represented by Z RS  hs Z L
where ZL is the line impedance. The distance
element will only trip when the measured
impedance ZR is less than or equal to the setting
impedance hsZL.

46
 …DISTANCE PROTECTION FUNCTION

• Typically hs is set to protect 80% of the line between two buses and
this forms protection Zone 1.
• Errors in the VTs and CTs, modeled transmission line data, and fault
study data do not permit setting Zone 1 for 100% of the transmission
line.
• If we set Zone 1 for 100% of the transmission line, unwanted tripping
could occur for faults just beyond the remote end of the line.

47
 …DISTANCE PROTECTION FUNCTION

• Zone 2 is set to protect 120% of the line, hence

making it over-reaching, because it extends into
the section of line protected by the relay at point
B. To avoid nuisance tripping, any fault occurring
in Zone 1 is cleared instantaneously, while faults
which occur in Zone 2 are cleared after a time
delay in order to allow relay B to clear that fault
first.
• This provides redundancy in the protection
system (backup), whilst maintaining selectivity.

48
 CIRCUIT
BREAKERS

49
Contents
 Introduction
 Operating mechanism
 Types of circuit breakers
 Air Blast circuit breaker
 Vacuum circuit breaker
 Oil circuit breaker
 SF6 circuit breaker
 Conclusion
50
 Introduction
 A circuit breaker is a mechanical switching
device, capable of making, carrying and
breaking currents under normal circuit
conditions. It is also capable of making and
carrying currents for a specified time and
breaking currents under specified abnormal
circuit conditions, such as those of a short
circuit.

51
52
 Circuit Breakers
A circuit breaker is a piece of equipment which can

• (i) make or break a circuit either manually or by

remote control under normal conditions

• (ii) break a circuit automatically under fault

conditions

• (iii) make a circuit either manually or by remote

control under fault conditions

53
 Circuit Breakers

• IEEE definition:
• “A device designed to open and close a circuit
by nonautomatic means, and to open the
circuit automatically on a predetermined
overcurrent without damage to itself when
properly applied within its rating.”

54
 Operating Principle
Circuit Breaker consists of two contacts:
Fixed contact.
Moving contact.
Under normal operating conditions, these contacts remain
closed and will not open automatically until and unless
the system becomes faulty.
 When a fault occurs on any part of the system, the trip
coils of the circuit breaker get energized and the moving
contacts are pulled apart by some mechanism, thus
opening the circuit.

55
 Operating Principle
• When the contacts of a circuit breaker are separated
under fault conditions, an arc is struck between them.
• The production of arc not only delays the current
interruption process but it also generates enormous
heat which may cause damage to the system or to the
circuit breaker itself.
• Therefore, the main problem in a circuit breaker is to
extinguish the arc within the shortest possible time .

56
Fixed
Fixed
contact contact
ARC ARC IS
ARC
QUENCHED BY
MEDIUM
Moving Moving
contact contact

OPERATING
PRINCIPLE
OF BREAKER IN A CIRCUIT BREAKER
57
 Arc Phenomenon
During the separation of contacts, due to large
fault current and high current density at the
contact region the surrounding medium ionizes
and thus a conducting medium is formed. This is
called the ARC.
• During the arcing period, the current flowing
between the contacts depends upon the arc
resistance.
• The greater the arc resistance, the smaller the
current that flows between the contacts.

59
 Arc Phenomenon
The arc resistance depends upon the following
factors :
Degree of ionization
Length of the arc
Cross-section of arc
Factors responsible for the maintenance of arc
between the contacts. These are :
• p.d. between the contacts
• ionized particles between contacts

60
 Methods of Arc Extinction
• There are two methods of extinguishing the arc in circuit
breakers viz.
 High resistance method.
 Low resistance or current zero method
• High resistance method. In this method, arc resistance is made
to increase with time so that current is reduced to a value
insufficient to maintain the arc.
The resistance of the arc may be increased by :
(i) Lengthening the arc.
(ii) Cooling the arc.
(iii) Reducing X-section of the arc.
(iv) Splitting the arc. 61
 Methods of Arc Extinction
• Low resistance or Current zero method. This method is
employed for arc extinction in a.c. circuits only.
• In this method, arc resistance is kept low until current is
zero where the arc extinguishes naturally and is
prevented from restriking inspite of the rising voltage
across the contacts.
• All modern high power a.c. circuit breakers employ this
method for arc extinction.

62
 Methods of Arc Extinction
• In an a.c. system, current drops to zero after every half-cycle.
• At every current zero, the arc extinguishes for a brief moment.
• Now the medium between the contacts contains ions and
electrons so that it has small dielectric strength and can be easily
broken down by the rising contact voltage known as restriking
voltage.
• If such a breakdown does occur, the arc will persist for another
half-cycle.
• If immediately after current zero, the dielectric strength of the
medium between contacts is built up more rapidly than the
voltage across the contacts, the arc fails to restrike and the current
will be interrupted.
63
 Methods of Arc Extinction
• The rapid increase of dielectric strength of the medium
near current zero can be achieved by :
• (a) causing the ionized particles in the space between
contacts to recombine into neutral molecules.
• (b) sweeping the ionized particles away and replacing
them by unionized particles.
The de-ionization of the medium can be achieved by:
• (i) lengthening of the gap.
• (ii) high pressure.
• (iii)cooling.
• (iv)blast effect. 64
 Restriking voltage
• Restriking voltage. It is the transient voltage that appears
across the contacts at or near current zero during arcing
period.
• At current zero, a high-frequency transient voltage appears
across the contacts and is caused by the rapid distribution of
energy between the magnetic and electric fields associated
with the plant and transmission lines of the system.
This transient voltage is known as restriking voltage .
• The current interruption in the circuit depends upon this
voltage. If the restriking voltage rises more rapidly than the
dielectric strength of the medium between the contacts, the
arc will persist for another half-cycle. On the other hand, if the
dielectric strength of the medium builds up more rapidly than
the restriking voltage, the arc fails to restrike and the current
will be interrupted

65
Restriking voltage

66
 Recovery voltage
• Recovery voltage.
– It is the normal frequency (50 Hz) r.m.s. voltage that
appears across the contacts of the circuit breaker
after final arc extinction. It is approximately equal to
the system voltage.
– When contacts of circuit breaker are opened, current
drops to zero after every half cycle.
– At some current zero, the contacts are separated
sufficiently apart and dielectric strength of the
medium between the contacts attains a high value
due to the removal of ionized particles.
– At such an instant, the medium between the contacts
is strong enough to prevent the breakdown by the
restriking voltage. 67
 Recovery voltage
• Recovery voltage.
– Consequently, the final arc extinction takes place and
circuit current is interrupted.
– Immediately after final current interruption, the
voltage that appears across the contacts has a
transient part (See Fig. 19.1).
– However, these transient oscillations subside rapidly
due to the damping effect of system resistance and
normal circuit voltage appears across the contacts.
The voltage across the contacts is of normal
frequency and is known as recovery voltage.

68
 Arc Extinction in Oil
• Arc extinction in OIL
• Arc decomposes dielectric oil
• Gasses produced increase chamber pressure
• Flow of gasses channelized through vents
• Arc gets extended into vents cooled by flowing gases
• Gas contains 70% hydrogen -good dielectric strength
• Contact area filled with fresh dielectric for arc extinction
• Chamber may be pressurized with inert gas

69
 Arc Extinction in Vacuum
• Arc extinction in VACUUM
• Current leaves contact from small intensely hot spots
• Metal vaporizes from spots
• Vapor constitutes the plasma in vacuum arc
• Rate of vapor emission -current in arc
• At current zero plasma may vanish
• Vacuum has very high dielectric strength-though arc
may not restrike

70
 Arc Extinction in Air Blast
• Arc extinction in AIR-BLAST
• Air flows from high pressure reservoir during arc
extinction process
• Flow rate governed by throttle diameter of
nozzle, pressure difference, nozzle profile
• Almost supersonic speed of air flow-rapid
reduction of arc diameter
• Arc does not reappear after final current zero

71
 Arc Extinction in SF6 Gas
• Arc extinction in SF6 gas
• SF6 atoms and molecules attracts electrons, forms
‘–ve’ ions
• ‘–ve’ ions heavier than electrons-resistance of
plasma increases rapidly
• Gas flows through nozzle over arc - takes the heat
away
• Medium regain dielectric strength rapidly

72
Classification of Circuit Breaker

73
According to the voltage level of
installation types of circuit breaker are
referred as

1) Ultra High Voltage( Above 765 KV)

2) Extra High Voltage (300KV to 765 KV)
3) High Voltage Circuit Breaker(66KV to 220 KV)
4) Medium Voltage Circuit Breaker (1KV to 52 KV)
5) Low Voltage Circuit Breaker(Less than 1KV)

74
Based on Medium used for ARC
Quenching

 Oil Circuit Breakers

 Vacuum Circuit Breakers

 Air Blast Circuit Breakers

 SF6 Circuit Breakers

75
 OIL CIRCUIT BREAKER
It is designed for 11kv-765kv.
These are of two types
• BOCB (Bulk oil Circuit Breaker)
• MOCB (Minimum oil Circuit Breaker)

The contacts are immersed in

oil bath.
Oil provides cooling by
hydrogen created by arc.
It acts as a good dielectric
medium and quenches the arc.
76
Advantages:
Oil has good dielectric strength.
 Low cost.
Oil is easily available.
It has wide range of breaking capability.
Disadvantages:
Slower operation , takes about 20 cycles for arc
quenching.
It is highly inflammable , so high risk of fire.
High maintenance cost.

77
VACCUM CIRCUIT BREAKER
It is designed for medium voltage
range (3.3-33kv).
This consists of vacuum of pressure
(1*10-6) inside arc extinction chamber.
The arc burns in metal vapor when the
contacts are disconnected.
At high voltage, it’s rate of dielectric
strength recovery is very high.
Due to vacuum arc extinction is very
fast.
The contacts loose metals gradually
due to formation of metal vapors. 78
Advantages:
Free from arc and fire hazards.
Low cost for maintenance & simpler mechanism.
Low arcing time & high contact life.
Silent and less vibrational operation.
Due to vacuum contacts remain free from corrosion.
No byproducts formed.
Disadvantages:
High initial cost due to creation of vacuum.
Surface of contacts are depleted due to metal vapours.
High cost & size required for high voltage breakers. 79
 AIR BLAST CIRCUIT BREAKERS
 This operates using high velocity blast of air which
quenches the arc.
 It consists of blast valve , blast tube & contacts.
 Blast valve contains air at high pressure.
 Blast tube carries the air at high pressure & opens the
moving contact attached to spring.
 There is no carbonization of surface as in VCB.
 Air should be kept clean & dry to operate it properly.

80
81
Advantages:
High speed operation as compared to OCB.
Ability to withstand frequent switching.
Facility for high speed reclosure.
Less maintenance as compared to OCB.

Disadvantages:
Little moisture content prolongs arcing time.
Pressure should be checked frequently for frequent
operation.
Risk of fire hazards due to over voltages.
It can’t be used for high voltage operation due to
prolonged arc quenching. 82
 SF6 CIRCUIT BREAKERS
 It contains an arc interruption chamber containing SF6 gas.
 In closed position the contacts remain surrounded
by SF6 gas at a pressure of 2.8 kg/cm2 .
 During opening high pressure SF6 gas at 14 kg/cm2 from its
reservoir flows towards the chamber by valve mechanism.
 SF6 rapidly absorbs the free electrons in the arc path to
form immobile negative ions to build up high dielectric
strength.
 It also cools the arc and extinguishes it.
 After operation the valve is closed by the action of a set of
springs.
 Absorbent materials are used to absorb the byproducts and
moisture.
83
84
Advantages:
 Very short arcing period due to superior arc quenching
property of SF6 .
 Can interrupt much larger currents as compared to other
breakers.
 No risk of fire.
 Low maintenance, light foundation.
 No over voltage problem.
 There are no carbon deposits.
Disadvantages:
 SF6 breakers are costly due to high cost of SF6.
 SF6 gas has to be reconditioned after every operation of the
breaker, additional equipment is required for this purpose.
85
 CONCLUSION:
Therefore, we conclude that circuit breaker is
the most essential part of the electrical
networks as it protects every device from
damage. It helps us to detect the fault and area
affected by it. Nowadays vacuum and SF6
circuit breakers are widely used due to their
reliable and fast operations.

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