Circuit breakers go high voltage

Over the last 50 years, high-voltage circuit breakers have become more reliable, more efficient, and more compact because the interrupting capability per break has been increased dramatically. These developments have not only produced major savings, but they have also had a massive impact on the layout of substations with respect to space requirements. New types of SF₆ interrupting chambers, which implement innovative interrupting principles, have been developed during the last three decades with the objective of reducing the operating energy of the circuit breaker. This has led to reduced stress and wear of the mechanical components and consequently to an increased reliability of circuit breakers. Service experience shows that the expectations of the designers, with respect to reliability and day-to-day operation, have been fulfilled.

A History of Circuit Breakers

Bulk oil circuit breakers dominated in the early 1900s and remained in use throughout the 1950s, for applications up to 362 kV for which they had eight breaks in series. They were replaced by minimum oil and air blast circuit breakers for high-voltage applications.