Interaction of a Vacuum Arc With an SF6 Arc in a Hybrid Circuit Breaker During High-Current Interruption

A hybrid circuit breaker consists of a series-connected vacuum- and SF6 interrupter. The vacuum interrupter has the function to withstand very steep-rising transient recovery voltages, whereas the SF6 interrupter is stressed with the peak of it. Full scale tests are described of a 145-kV prototype, which is subjected to short-line faults based on 63 kA. During these tests, current through the breaker and voltages across both interrupters were monitored with a high-resolution measurement system. It is shown that the principal idea works correctly. From measured results, it is demonstrated that the interaction between the two arcs of completely different physical nature has a positive effect on the interruption: Immediately before current zero, the SF6 arc assists the vacuum arc to interrupt, whereas after current zero, the vacuum arc assists the SF6 arc in the recovery against the recovery voltage. From the analysis of the measurements, it becomes clear that high values of post arc current (up to 30 A) have (at least initially) a positive effect on the breaker performance. Detailed modeling of the interaction of arc-arc and arc-circuit is described, showing a good agreement with the measured results. The model is used to predict the voltage distribution across both interrupters when other (capacitive) voltage grading is applied in the design than present during the tests.

I. Introduction

The Vacuum interrupter is the major workhorse for current interruption in distribution systems, whereas the SF6 interrupter plays this role in transmission systems. From a physical point of view, the interruption of (fault) current in vacuum and SF6 is based on very different principles. By utilizing certain strong points of both technologies, a special type of circuit breaker is conceived: the hybrid circuit breaker, in which a vacuum interrupter is placed in series with an SF6 interrupter.