EEE 462

Switch Gear and Protection

Lecture 4
Correction in Mark Distribution

Attendance – 5%, Quiz – 20%, Midterm – 20%, Presentation – 15%,

Final – 40%

Presentation:
• at last week of the semester there will be a Group presentation (2/3 member)
• It will be a paper presentation (at least One)
• Articles must be related to Modern Switchgear and Protection System
• Period 2010 till now
Current chopping
• It is the phenomenon of current interruption before the natural current
zero is reached.
• Current chopping mainly occurs in air-blast circuit breakers because
they try extinguishing high power irrespective of the magnitude of the
current to be interrupted.
• When breaking low currents (e.g., transformer magnetising current)
with such breakers, the powerful de-ionizing effect of air-blast causes
the current to fall abruptly to zero well before the natural current zero
is reached.
Current chopping
Circuit Breaker Ratings
• Under fault conditions, a circuit breaker is required to perform the
following three duties :I
a. It must be capable of opening the faulty circuit.
b. It must be capable of breaking the fault current.
c. It must be capable of carrying fault current for a short time while another circuit
breaker (in series) is clearing the fault.
• Corresponding to the above mentioned duties, the circuit
breakers have three ratings viz.
(i) breaking capacity (ii) making capacity and (iii) short-time capacity
(i) Breaking capacity. It is current (r.m.s.) that a circuit breaker is capable of
breaking at given recovery voltage and under specified conditions (e.g., power
factor, rate of rise of restriking voltage).
(ii) Making capacity: There is always a possibility of closing or making the circuit
under short circuit conditions. The capacity of a breaker to “make” current
depends upon its ability to withstand and close successfully against the effects of
electromagnetic forces. These forces are proportional to the square of maximum
instantaneous current on closing.

Therefore, making capacity is stated in terms of a peak value of current instead of

r.m.s. value. The peak value of current (including d.c. component) during the first
cycle of current wave after the closure of circuit breaker is known as making
capacity
Making capacity =2·55 × Symmetrical breaking capacity
Example 19.1. A circuit breaker is rated as 1500 A, 1000 MVA, 33 kV, 3-
second, 3-phase oil circuit breaker. Find (i) rated normal current (ii)
breaking capacity (iii) rated symmetrical breaking current (iv) rated
making current (v) short-time rating (vi) rated service voltage.
Solution.
(i) Rated normal current = 1500 A
(ii) Breaking capacity = 1000 MVA
(iii)Rated symmetrical breaking current = = 17496 A (r.m.s.)

(iv) Rated making current = 2·55 × 17496 = 44614 A (peak)

(v) Short-time rating = 17496A for 3 seconds
(vi) Rated service voltage = 33 kV (r.m.s.)
Example 19.2. A 50 Hz, 11 kV, 3-phase alternator with earthed neutral has a
reactance of 5 ohms per phase and is connected to a bus-bar through a
circuit breaker. The distributed capacitance upto circuit breaker between
phase and neutral in 0·01 µF. Determine
(i) peak re-striking voltage across the contacts of the breaker
(ii) frequency of oscillations
(iii) the average rate of rise of re-striking voltage upto the first peak
Example 19.4. An air-blast circuit breaker is designed to interrupt a
transformer magnetizing current of 11 A (r.m.s.) chops the current at an
instantaneous value of 7 A. If the values of L and C in the circuit are 35·2 H
and 0·0023 µF, find the value of voltage that appears across the contacts of
the breaker. Assume that all the inductive energy is transferred to the
capacitance.