Unit -1

Introduction to Power System Protection

An electrical fault is the deviation of voltages and currents from nominal values or states. Under normal
operating conditions, power system equipment or lines carry normal voltages and currents which results
in safer operation of the system. But when a fault occurs, it causes excessively high currents to flow
which causes damage to equipment and devices. Fault detection and analysis are necessary to select or
design suitable switchgear equipment, electromechanical relays, circuit breakers, and other protection
devices.
Faults are of two type
 Short circuit fault- current
 Open circuit fault- voltage

In terms of seriousness of consequences of a fault, short circuits are of far greater concern than open
circuits, although some open circuits present some potential hazards to personnel.
Classification of short circuited Faults
 Three phase faults (with or without earth connection)
 Two phase faults (with or without earth connection)
 Single phase to earth faults
Classification of Open Circuit Faults
 Single Phase open Circuit
 Two phase open circuit
 Three phase open circuit
Consequences
 Damage to the equipment due to abnormally large and unbalanced currents and low voltages
produced by the short circuits.
 Explosions may occur in the equipment’s which have insulating oil, particularly during short
circuits. This may result in fire and hazardous conditions to personnel and equipment’s.
 Individual generators with reduced voltage in a power station or a group of generators operating
at low voltage may lead to loss of synchronism, subsequently resulting in islanding.

Essential Qualities of Protective Relaying

A protective relaying scheme should have certain important qualities.
Such an essential qualities of protective relaying are, Reliability, Selectivity and Discrimination, Speed
and Time, Sensitivity, Stability, Adequateness, Simplicity and Economy.
1. Selectivity and Discrimination :
The selectivity is the ability of the protective system to identify the faulty part correctly and disconnect
that part without affecting the rest of the healthy part of system. The discrimination means to
distinguish between. The discrimination quality of the protective system is the ability to distinguish
between normal condition and abnormal condition and also between abnormal condition within
protective zone and elsewhere. The protective system should operate only at the time of abnormal
condition and not at the time of normal condition.
Hence it must clearly discriminate between normal and abnormal condition. Thus the protective
system should select the fault part and disconnect only the faulty part without disturbing the healthy
part of the system. The protective system should not operate for the faults beyond its protective zone.
2. Speed and Time
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A protective system must disconnect the faulty system as fast as possible. If the faulty system is not
disconnect for a long time then,
1. The devices carrying fault currents may get damaged.
2. The failure leads to the reduction in system voltage. Such low voltage may affect the motors and
generators running on the consumer side.
3. If fault persists for long time, then subsequently other faults may get generated.
The high speed protective system avoids the possibility of such undesirable effects.
The total time required between the instant of fault and the instant of final arc interruption in the circuit
breaker is called fault clearing time. It is the sum of relay time and circuit breaker time. The relay time
is the time between the instant of fault occurrence and the instant of closure of relay contacts. The
circuit breaker time is the time taken by the circuit breaker to operate to open the contacts and to
extinguish the arc completely. The fault clearing time should be as small as possible to have high speed
operation of the protective system.
Though the small fault clearing time is preferred, in practice certain time lag is provided. This is
because,
1. To have clear discrimination between primary and backup protection
2. To prevent unnecessary operation of relay under the conditions such as transient, starting inrush of
current etc.
Thus fast protective system is an important quality which minimizes the damage and it improves
the overall stability of the power system.
3. Sensitivity
The protective system should be sufficiently sensitive so that it can operate reliably when required. The
sensitivity of the system is the ability of the relay system to operate with low value of actuating
quantity. It indicates the smallest value of the actuating quantity at which the protection starts operating
in relation with the minimum value of the fault current in the protected zone. The relay sensitivity is the
function of the volt-amperes input to the relay coil necessary to cause its operation. Smaller the value of
volt-ampere input, more sensitive is the relay. Thus 1 VA input relay is more sensitive than the 5VA
input relay.
4. Reliability
A protective relaying should be reliable is its basic quality. It indicates the ability of the relay system to
operate under the predetermined conditions. There are various components which go into the operation
before a relay operates. Therefore every component and circuit which is involved in the operation of a
relay plays an important role. The reliability of a protection system depends on the reliability of
various components like circuit breakers, relays, current transformers (C.T.s), potential transformers
(P.T.s), cables, trip circuits etc. The proper maintenance also plays an important role in improving the
reliable operation of the system.
5. Simplicity and Economy
In addition to all the important qualities, it is necessary that the cost of the system should be well within
limits. In practice sometimes it is not necessary to use ideal protection scheme which is economically
unjustified. In such cases compromise is done. As a rule, the protection cost should not be more than
5% of the total cost. But if the equipment’s to be protected are very important, the economic constrains
can be relaxed. The protective system should be as simple as possible so that it can be easily
maintained. The complex systems are difficult from the maintenance point of view. The simplicity and
reliability are closely related to each other. The simpler system are always more reliable.

Protective Relay

A protection relay is a device that senses any change in the signal which it is receiving, usually from a
current and/or voltage source. If the magnitude of the incoming signal is outside a preset range, the
relay will operate, generally to close or open electrical contacts to initiate some further operation, for

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example the tripping of a circuit breaker.

A circuit breaker is an equipment which can open or close a circuit under all conditions viz, no load, full
load and fault conditions. It is so designed that it can be operated manually (or by remote control) under
normal conditions and automatically under fault conditions. For the latter operation, a relay circuit is used
with a circuit breaker. Fig. shows the circuit breaker control by a relay circuit. The circuit breaker
essentially consists of moving and fixed contacts. Under normal operating conditions, the contacts remain
closed and the circuit breaker carries the full-Ioad current continuously. In this condition, the e.m.f. in the
secondary winding of current transformer (C.T.) is insufficient to operate the trip coil of the breaker but
the contacts can be opened (and hence the circuit can be opened) by manual or remote control. When a
fault occurs, the resulting overcurrent in the C.T. primary winding increases the secondary e.m.f. This
energises the trip coil of the breaker and moving contacts are pulled down, thus opening the contacts and
hence the circuit. The arc produced during the opening operation is quenched by the medium. It is
interesting to note that relay performs the function of detecting a fault whereas the circuit breaker does the
actual circuit interruption.
All the relays consists of one or more elements which get energized and actuated by the electrical
quantities of the circuit. Most of the relays used now a days are electro-mechanical type which work
on the principles of electromagnetic attraction and electromagnetic induction.

Fuse

 A Fuse is a protective device used to protect the electrical equipment against overloads and/or
short circuits.
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  Made of materials having low melting point, high conductivity, least oxidation like silver
copper etc.
 Inserted in series with circuit
 Under normal condition fuse element is at temperature below melting point.
 In case of short circuit or overload condition fuse melts and blows away, thereby disconnecting
circuit protected by it.
 Fuses are used in low voltage and medium voltage circuits.
Advantages :
 It is the cheapest form of protection available.
 It requires no maintenance.
 Its operation is inherently completely automatic unlike a circuit breaker which requires
elaborate equipment for automatic action.
 It can break heavy short-circuit currents without noise or smoke.
 The smaller sizes of fuse element impose a current limiting effect under short-circuit conditions.
 The inverse time-current characteristic of a fuse makes it suitable for overcurrent protection.
 The minimum time of operation can be made much shorter than with the circuit breakers.
Disadvantages :
 Considerable time is lost in rewiring or replacing a fuse after operation.
 On heavy short-circuits, discrimination between fuses in series cannot be obtained unless there
is sufficient difference in the sizes of the fuses concerned.
 The current-time characteristic of a fuse cannot always be co-related with that of the protected
apparatus.
Definitions of important terms related to Fuse

1. Fuse element or Fuse wire : It is the part of the fuse which carries the normal current without
excessive heating. But when more than normal current pass through fuse wire, it rapidly heats up
and melts. The materials used for fuse wires are mainly tin, lead, zinc, silver, copper, aluminium
etc.
Desirable characteristics of fuse element:
 Low melting point e.g., tin, lead.
 High conductivity e.g., silver, copper.
 Free from deterioration due to oxidation e.g., silver.
 Low cost e.g., lead, tin, copper.
2. Rated current : It is maximum value of current due to which fuse does not get melt.
3. Minimum fusing current or Current carrying capacity of a fuse wire : It is minimum value of
current due to which fuse melts. Current carrying capacity of a fuse wire depends upon various
factors like, material used for it, dimension of it, i.e. diameter and length, size and shape of
terminals used to connect it, and the surrounding.
4. Fusing Factor : It is defined as the ratio of minimum fusing current and current rating of fuse.
i.e fusing factor =

5. Prospective Current in fuse: The prospective current is defined as the value of current which would
flow through the fuse immediately after a short circuit occurs in the network. (i.e without fuse).
6. cut-off current : It is the current at which the fuse element melts.

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 7. Melting time or pre arcing time of fuse : It is the time taken by a fuse wire to be broken by
melting. It is counted from the instant, the over current starts to flow through fuse, to the instant
when fuse wire is just broken by melting.
8. Arcing time of fuse: After breaking of fuse wire there will be an arcing between both melted tips
of the wire which will be extinguished at the current zero. The time accounted from the instant of
arc initiated to the instant of arc being extinguished is known as arcing time of fuse.
9. Total Operating time of fuse:
When ever over rated current starts to flow through a fuse wire, it takes a time to be melted and
disconnected, and just after that the arcing stars between the melted tips of the fuse wire, which is
finally extinguished. The operating time of fuse is the time gap between the instant when the over
rated current just starts to flow through the fuse and the instant when the arc in fuse finally
extinguished.
i.e operating time of fuse = pre-arcing time(melting time) + arcing time of fuse.
10. Rupturing capacity or Breaking Capacity :
It is the MVA rating of the fuse corresponding to the largest prospective current which the fuse is
capable of breaking(rupturing) at the system voltage.

Characteristics of Fuse

 A Fuse being a thermal device, has inverse time – current characteristic. i.e. the operating
time decreases as the fault current increases.
 As the prospective current increases, the pre arcing time decreases.
 The characteristic is asymptotic and there is a minimum current below which the fuse does
not operate ( minimum fusing current ).

High Rupturing Capacity (HRC) Fuse

In this type of fuse, the fuse wire or element can carry short circuit heavy current for a known time
period. During this time if the fault is removed, then it does not blow off otherwise it blows off or
melts. The enclosure of HRC fuse is either of glass or some other chemical compound. This enclosure
is fully air tight to avoid the effect of atmosphere on the fuse materials. The ceramic enclosure having
metal end cap at both heads, to which fusible silver wire is welded. The space within the enclosure,
surrounding the fuse wire or fuse element is completely packed with a filling powder.
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 This type of fuse is reliable and has inverse time characteristic, that means if the fault current is
high then rupture time is less and if fault current is not so high then rupture time is long.

Operation of HRC fuse :

When the over rated current flows through the fuse element of High Rupturing Capacity Fuse the
element is melted and vapourized. The filling powder is of such a quantity that the chemical reaction
between the silver vapour and the filling powder forms a high resistance substance which very much
help in quenching the arc.

Advantages of HRC Fuse :

 Capability of clearing high values of fault currents
 Fast operation
 Non- deterioration for long periods.
 No maintenance required.
 Reliable discrimination.
 Consistent in performance.
 Current limiting by cut off action.
 Inverse time characteristic.
Disadvantages of HRC Fuse :
 It requires replacement after each operation.
 It produces over heating of adjacent contacts.
Applications of HRC Fuse :
1. Protection of low voltage distribution systems against over loads.
2. Protection of cables.
3. Protection of Bus bars.
4. Protection of motors.
5. Protection of semiconductor devices.
6. Backup protection to circuit breakers.

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
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(iii) Make a circuit either manually or by remote control under fault conditions
Thus a circuit breaker incorporates manual (or remote control) as well as automatic control for switching
functions. The latter control employs relays and operates only under fault conditions.
Operating principle: A circuit breaker essentially consists of fixed and moving contacts, called electrodes.
Under normal operating conditions, these contacts remain closed and will not open automatically until and
unless the system becomes faulty. Of course, the contacts can be opened manually or by remote control
whenever desired. When a fault occurs on any part of the system, the trip coils of the circuit breaker get
energised and the moving contacts are pulled apart by some mechanism, thus opening the circuit (Figure 1)
When the contacts of a circuit breaker are separated under fault conditions, an arc is struck between them.
The current is thus able to continue until the discharge ceases. 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 so that heat generated by it may not reach a dangerous value.

Arc Phenomenon
When a short-circuit occurs, a heavy current flows through the contacts of the circuit breaker before they are
opened by the protective system. At the instant when the contacts begin to separate, the contact area
decreases rapidly and large fault current causes increased current density and hence rise in temperature. The
heat produced in the medium between contacts (usually the medium is oil or air) is sufficient to ionise the air
or vaporise and ionise the oil. The ionised air or vapour acts as conductor and an arc is struck between the
contacts. The p.d. between the contacts is quite small and is just sufficient to maintain the arc. The arc
provides a low resistance path and consequently the current in die circuit remains uninterrupted so long as
the arc persists.
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. The arc resistance depends
upon the following factors:
(i) Degree of ionization: —the arc resistance increases with the decrease in the number of ionised particles
between the contacts.
(ii) Length of the arc: — the arc resistance increases with the length of the arc i.e., separation of contacts.
(iii) Cross section of arc: — the arc resistance increases with the decrease in area of X-section of the arc.

Principles of Arc Extinction

Before discussing the methods of arc extinction, it is necessary to examine the factors responsible for the
maintenance of arc between the contacts. These are:
(i) p.d. between the contacts (ii) ionised particles between contacts Taking these in turn,
(i) When the contacts have a small separation, the p.d. between them is sufficient to maintain the arc. One
way to extinguish the arc is to separate the contacts to such a distance that p.d. becomes inadequate to
maintain the arc. However, this method is impracticable in high voltage system where a separation of many
metres may be required.
(ii) The ionised particles between the contacts tend to maintain the arc. If the arc path is deionised, the arc
extinction will be facilitated. This may be achieved by cooling the arc or by bodily removing the ionised
particles from the space between the contacts.

Methods of Arc Extinction

There are two methods of extinguishing the arc in circuit breakers viz.
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1. High resistance method. 2. Low resistance or current zero method
1. 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. Consequently, the current is interrupted or the arc is
extinguished. The principal disadvantage of this method is that enormous energy is dissipated in the arc.
Therefore, it is employed only in d.c. circuit breakers and low-capacity a.c. circuit breakers.

The resistance of the arc may be increased by:

(i) Lengthening the arc: The resistance of the arc is directly proportional to its length. The length of the arc
can be increased by increasing the gap between contacts.
(ii) Cooling the arc: Cooling helps in the deionisation of the medium between the contacts. This increases
the arc resistance. Efficient cooling may be obtained by a gas blast directed along the arc.
(iii) Reducing X-section of the arc: If the area of X-section of the arc is reduced, the voltage necessary to
maintain the arc is increased. In other words, the resistance of the arc path is increased. The cross-section of
the arc can be reduced by letting the arc pass through a narrow opening or by having smaller area of
contacts.
(iv) Splitting the arc: The resistance of the arc can be increased by splitting the arc into a number of smaller
arcs in series. Each one of these arcs experiences the effect of lengthening and cooling. The arc may be split
by introducing some conducting plates between the contacts.

2. 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 modem high power a.c.
circuit breakers employ this method for 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. The rapid increase of
dielectric strength of the medium near current zero can be achieved by:

(a) Causing the ionised particles in the space between contacts to recombine into neutral molecules.
(b) Sweeping the ionised particles away and replacing them by un-ionised particles Therefore, the real
problem in a.c. arc interruption is to rapidly deionise the medium between contacts as soon as the current
becomes zero so that the rising contact voltage or restriking voltage cannot breakdown the space between
contacts. The de-ionisation of the medium can be achieved by:
i) Lengthening of the gap: The dielectric strength of the medium is proportional to the length of the gap
between contacts. Therefore, by opening the contacts rapidly, higher dielectric strength of the medium can
be achieved.
(ii) high pressure: If the pressure in the vicinity of the arc is increased, the density of the particles
constituting the discharge also increases. The increased density of particles causes higher rate of de-
ionisation and consequently the dielectric strength of the medium between contacts is increased.
(iii) cooling: Natural combination of ionised particles takes place more rapidly if they are allowed to cool.
Therefore, dielectric strength of the medium between the contacts can be increased by cooling the arc.
(iv) blast effect: If the ionised particles between the contacts are swept away and replaced by unionised
particles, the dielectric strength of the medium can be increased considerably. This may be achieved by a

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gas blast directed along the discharge or by forcing oil into the contact space.

The following are the important terms much used in the circuit breaker analysis

(i) Arc voltage. It is the voltage that appears across the contacts of the circuit breaker during
the arcing period.
As soon as the contacts of the circuit breaker separate, an arc is formed. The voltage that appears across the
contacts during arcing period is called the arc voltage. Its value is low except for the period the fault current
is at or near zero current point. At current zero, the arc voltage rises rapidly to peak value and this peak
voltage tends to maintain the current flow in the form of arc.

Figure 2

(ii) 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 (Figure.2 ). 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.

(iii) 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 ionised particles. At such an instant, the medium between the
contacts is strong enough to prevent the breakdown by the restriking 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 Figure 2). 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.
Classification of Circuit Breakers
There are several ways of classifying the circuit breakers. However, the most general way of classification is
on the basis of medium used for arc extinction. The medium used for arc extinction is usually oil, air,
sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) or vacuum. Accordingly, circuit breakers may be classified into:

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(i) Oil circuit breaker which employs some insulating oil (e.g., transformer oil) for arc extinction.
(ii) Air-blast circuit breakers in which high pressure air-blast is used for extinguishing the arc.

(iii Sulphur hexa-fluoride circuit breaker in which sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) gas is used for arc extinction.
(iv) Vacuum circuit breaker in which vacuum is used for arc extinction.

Oil Circuit Breaker

Oil circuit breaker is such type of circuit breaker which used oil as a dielectric or insulating medium for arc
extinction. In oil circuit breaker the contacts of the breaker are made to separate within an insulating oil.
When the fault occurs in the system the contacts of the circuit breaker are open under the insulating oil, and
an arc is developed between them and the heat of the arc is evaporated in the surrounding oil. The oil circuit
breaker is divided into two categories

 Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker

 Low Oil Circuit Breaker
Construction of Oil Circuit Breaker

Oil circuit breaker is very easy in construction. It consists of current carrying contacts enclosed in a strong,
weather-tight earth metal tank and the tank is filled with transformer oil. The oil is both acts as an arc
extinguishing medium and as an insulator between the live part and earth.

At the top of the oil, air is filled in the tank which acts as a cushion to control the displaced oil on the
formation of gas around the arc and also to absorb the mechanical shock of the upward movement of oil.
The breaker tank is securely bolted for carrying out the vibration caused on interrupting very high current.
Oil circuit breaker consists gas outlet which is fitted in the tank cover for the removal of the gases.

Working Principle of Oil Circuit Breaker

During the normal operating conditions, the contact of the oil circuit breaker is closed and carry the current.
When the fault occurs in the system, the contacts of the breaker are moving apart, and an arc is struck
between the contacts.

Due to this arc, a large amount of heat is liberated, and a very high temperature is reached which vaporises
the surrounding oil into gas. The gas, thus liberated surrounds the arc and its explosive growth around it
displace the oil violently. The arc is extinguished when the distance between the fixed and moving contact
reaches a certain critical value, depends on the arc current and recovery voltage.

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The oil circuit breaker is very reliable in operation, and it is very cheap. The most important feature of oil
circuit breaker is that no special devices are used for controlling the arc caused by moving contact. The oil
as an arc quenching medium has certain advantages and disadvantages

Advantages of Oil as an Arc Quenching

1. The oil has a high dielectric strength and provides insulation between the contact after the arc has
been extinguished.
2. The oil used in circuit breaker provides a small clearance between the conductors and the earth
components.
3. The hydrogen gas is formed in the tank which has a high diffusion rate and good cooling properties.

Disadvantages of Oil as an Arc Quenching

1. The oil used in oil circuit breaker is inflammable and hence, cause a fire hazard.
2. There is a risk of formation of explosive mixture with air.
3. Due to decomposition of oil in the arc, the carbon particles is generated which polluted the oil and
hence the dielectric strength of the oil decreases.

Maintenance of oil circuit breaker

After a circuit breaker has interrupted by short-circuit current, sometimes their contacts may get burnt due to
arcing. Also, the dielectric oil gets carbonized in the area of the contacts, thereby losing its dielectric
strength. This results in the reduced breaking capacity of the breaker. Therefore, the maintenance of oil
circuit breaker is essential for checking and replacement of oil and contacts.

Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker

In this type of circuit breaker minimum oil is used as an arc quenching medium and it is mounted on a
porcelain insulator to insulate it from the earth. The arc chamber of such type of circuit breaker is enclosed
in a bakelised paper. The lower portion of this breaker is supported by the porcelain and the upper porcelain
enclosed the contacts.

This circuit breaker is of the single breaker type in which a moving contact tube moves in a vertical line to
make or break contact with the upper fixed contacts mounted within the arc control devices.

A lower ring of fixed contacts is in permanent contact with the moving arm to provide the other terminal of
the phase unit. Within the moving contact, the tube is a fixed piston. When the moving contact moves
downwards, it forces the insulating oil to enter into the arc control devices . Thus, the arc gets extinguished.

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Minimum oil circuit breaker requires less space as compared to bulk oil circuit breaker which is an
important feature in large installations. But it is less suitable in places where the frequent operation is
required because the degree of carbonisation produced in the small volume of oil is far more dangerous than
in the conventional bulk oil circuit breakers and this also decreases the dielectric strength of the material.
The low oil circuit breakers have the advantages of a requirement of the lesser quantity of oil, smaller space
requirement, smaller tank size, smaller weight, low cost, reduced risk of fire and reduced maintenance
problems. Minimum oil circuit breaker suffers from the following drawbacks when compared with the bulk
oil circuit breakers

 Increased degree of carbonisation due to a smaller quantity of oil.

 The dielectric strength of oil decreases due to a high degree of carbonisation.
 Difficulty in removal of gases from the contact space-time

Air Blast Circuit Breaker

Air blast circuit breaker used compressed air or gas as the arc interrupting medium. In the air blast, circuit
breaker compressed air is stored in a tank and released through a nozzle to produce a high-velocity jet; this
is used to extinguish the arc. Air blast circuit breakers are used for indoor services in the medium high
voltage field and medium rupturing capacity. Generally up to voltages of 15 KV and rupturing capacities of
2500 MVA. The air blast circuit breaker is now employed in high voltage circuits in the outdoors switch
yard for 220 KV lines.

Though gasses such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, Freon or hydrogen are used as the arc interrupting
medium, compressed air is the accepted circuit breaking medium for gas blast circuit breakers. The reasons
are given below.

High-Speed Operation – It is very necessary on large interconnected networks so that the system stability
can be maintained. This is achieved in circuit breaker because the time interval between the discharge of
triggering impulse and contacts separation are very short.

Suitability for frequent operation – Repeated switching by an air blast circuit is possible simply because
of the absence of oil, which rapidly carbonizes with the frequent operation and because there is an
insignificant amount of wear and tear at the current-carrying contact surfaces. But it must be remembered
that if frequent switching is anticipated, then the maintenance of a sufficient air supply is essential.

Negligible Maintenance – The ability of the air blast circuit breaker to deal with repeated switching also

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mean that negligible maintenance is required.

Elimination of Fire Hazard – Because of the absence of oil the risk of fire is eliminated.

Reduced Size – The growth of dielectric strength is so rapid in air blast circuit breakers that final gap
required for arc extinction is very small. This reduces the sizes of the devices.

Principle of Arc Extinction in Circuit Breaker

The air blast needs an additional compressed air system which supplies air to the air receiver. When opening
air is required, compressed air is admitted to the arc extinction chamber. It pushes away the moving
contacts. In doing so, the contacts are pulled apart, and the air blast moves away the ionized gas along with
it and assists arc extinction.

Air blast extinguishes the arc within one or more cycles, and the arc chamber is filled with high-pressure air,
which prevents restrikes. The air blast circuit breakers fall under the category of external extinguishing
energy type. The energy supplied for arc quenching is achieved from the high-pressure air, and it is free
from the current to be interrupted.

Types of Air Blast Circuit Breaker

All air blast circuit breakers follow the principle of separating their contacts in a flow of arc established by the
opening of a blast valve. The arc which is drawn is usually rapidly positioned centrally through a nozzle
where it is kept to a fixed length and is subjected to the maximum range by the air flow. The air blast circuit
breakers according to the type of flow of blast of compressed around the contacts are of three types namely
axial, radial and cross blast.

Axial blast Air Circuit Breaker – In the air blast circuit breaker, the flow of air is longitudinal along the
arc. Air blast circuit breaker may be a single blast or double blast. Breaking employing double blast
arrangement is sometimes called radial blast circuit breakers as the air blast flows radially into the nozzle or
space between the contacts.

The essential feature of air blast circuit breaker is shown above. The fixed and moving contacts are kept in a
closed position by spring pressure under normal operating conditions. The air reservoir tank is connected to
the arc chamber through an air valve, which is opened by a triple impulse.

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When the fault occurs, the tripling impulse causes opening of the air valve connecting the reservoir to the
arcing chamber. The air entering the arc chamber exerts pressure on the moving contacts which moves when
the air pressure exceeds the spring force.
The contacts are separated, and an arc is developed between them. The air flowing at a great speed axially
along the arc cause removal of heat from the edge of the arc and the diameter of the arc reduced to a very

small value at current zero. Thus, the arc is interrupted, and the space between the contact is flushed with
fresh air flowing through the nozzle. The flow of fresh air removes the hot gasses between the contact space
and rapidly build up the dielectric strength between them.

Cross Blast Air Circuit Breaker

In this type of circuit breaker, an air-blast is directed at right angles to the arc. The cross-blast lengthens and
forces the arc into a suitable chute for arc extinction. Fig. shows the essential parts of a typical cross-blast air
circuit breaker. When the moving contact is withdrawn, an arc is struck between the fixed and moving
contacts, The high pressure cross- blast forces the arc into a chute consisting of arc splitters and baffles. The
splitters serve to increase the length of the arc and baffles give improved cooling. The result is that arc is
extinguished and flow of current is interrupted. Since blast pressure is same for all currents, the in efficiency
at low currents is eliminated. The final gap for interruption is great enough to give normal insulation
clearance so that a series isolating switch is not necessary.

Drawback of Air Blast Circuit Breaker

In the air blast circuit breaker, it is necessary that the compressed air at the correct pressure must be
available all the times, involving in the largest installation of a plant with two or more compressors. The
maintenance of this plant and the problem of air leakages at the pipe fittings are some factors which operate
against air blast circuit breaker and it costly for low voltage as compared to oil or air break circuit breaker.

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 Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) Circuit Breaker
A circuit breaker in which SF6 under pressure gas is used to extinguish the arc is called SF6 circuit breaker.
SF6 (sulphur hexafluoride) gas has excellent dielectric, arc quenching, chemical and other physical
properties which have proved its superiority over other arc quenching mediums such as oil or air. The SF6
circuit breaker is mainly divided into three types

 Non-puffer piston circuit breaker

 Single- puffer piston circuit breaker.
 Double-puffer piston circuit breaker.

The circuit breaker which used air and oil as an insulating medium, their arc extinguishing force builds up
was relatively slow after the movement of contact separation. In the case of high voltage circuit breakers
quick arc extinction properties are used which require less time for quick recovery, voltage builds up.
SF6 circuit breakers have good properties in this regards compared to oil or air circuit breakers. So in
high voltage up to 760 kV, SF6 circuit breaker is used.

Properties of Sulphur hexafluoride Circuit Breaker

Sulphur hexafluoride possesses very good insulating and arc quenching properties. These properties are

 It is colourless, odourless, non-toxic, and non-inflammable gas.

 SF6 gas is extremely stable and inert, and its density is five times that of air.
 It has high thermal conductivity better than that of air and assists in better cooling current carrying
parts.
 SF6 gas is strongly electronegative, which means the free electrons are easily removed from
discharge by the formation of negative ions.
 It has a unique property of fast recombination after the source energising spark is removed. It is 100
times more effective as compared to arc quenching medium.
 Its dielectric strength is 2.5 times than that of air and 30% less than that of the dielectric oil. At high
pressure the dielectric strength of the gas increases.
 Moisture is very harmful to SF6 circuit breaker. Due to a combination of humidity and SF6 gas,
hydrogen fluoride is formed (when the arc is interrupted) which can attack the parts of the circuit
breakers.

Construction of SF6 Circuit Breakers

SF6 circuit breakers mainly consist of two parts, namely (a) the interrupter unit and (b) the gas system.

Interrupter Unit – This unit consists of moving and fixed contacts comprising a set of current-carrying
parts and an arcing probe. It is connected to the SF6 gas reservoir. This unit consists slide vents in the
moving contacts which permit the high-pressure gas into the main tank.

Gas System – The closed circuit gas system is employed in SF6 circuit breakers. The SF6 gas is costly, so it
is reclaimed after each operation. This unit consists low and high-pressure chambers with a low-pressure
alarm along with warning switches. When the pressure of the gas is very low due to which the dielectric
strength of gases decrease and an arc quenching ability of the breakers is endangered, then this system gives
the warning alarm

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Working Principle of SF6 Circuit Breaker

In the normal operating conditions, the contacts of the breaker are closed. When the fault occurs in the
system, the contacts are pulled apart, and an arc is struck between them. The displacement of the moving
contacts is synchronised with the valve which enters the high-pressure SF6 gas in the arc interrupting
chamber at a pressure of about 16kg/cm^2.

The SF6 gas absorbs the free electrons in the arc path and forms ions which do not act as a charge carrier.
These ions increase the dielectric strength of the gas and hence the arc is extinguished. This process reduces
the pressure of the SF6 gas up to 3kg/cm^2 thus; it is stored in the low-pressure reservoir. This low-pressure
gas is pulled back to the high-pressure reservoir for re-use. Now a day puffer piston pressure is used for
generating arc quenching pressure during an opening operation by mean of a piston attached to the moving
contacts.

Advantage of SF6 circuit breaker

SF6 circuit breakers have the following advantages over conventional breaker

1. SF6 gas has excellent insulating, arc extinguishing and many other properties which are the greatest
advantages of SF6 circuit breakers.
2. The gas is non-inflammable and chemically stable. Their decomposition products are non-explosive
and hence there is no risk of fire or explosion.
3. Electric clearance is very much reduced because of the high dielectric strength of SF6.
4. Its performance is not affected due to variations in atmospheric condition.
5. It gives noiseless operation, and there is no over voltage problem because the arc is extinguished at
natural current zero.
6. There is no reduction in dielectric strength because no carbon particles are formed during arcing.
7. It requires less maintenance and no costly compressed air system is required.
8. SF6 performs various duties like clearing short-line faults, switching, opening unloaded transmission
lines, and transformer reactor, etc. without any problem.

Disadvantages of SF6 circuit breakers

1. SF6 gas is suffocating to some extent. In the case of leakage in the breaker tank, the SF6 gas being
heavier than air and hence SF6 are settled in the surroundings and lead to the suffocation of the

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 operating personnel.
2. The entrance of moisture in the SF6 breaker tank is very harmful to the breaker, and it causes several
failures.
3. The internal parts need cleaning during periodic maintenance under clean and dry environment.
4. The special facility requires for transportation and maintenance of quality of gas.

Vacuum Circuit Breaker

A breaker which used vacuum as an arc extinction medium is called a vacuum circuit breaker. In this circuit
breaker, the fixed and moving contact is enclosed in a permanently sealed vacuum interrupter. The arc is
extinct as the contacts are separated in high vacuum. It is mainly used for medium voltage ranging from 11
KV to 33 KV.

Vacuum circuit breaker has a high insulating medium for arc extinction as compared to the other circuit
breaker. The pressure inside the vacuum interrupter is approximately 10-4 torrent and at this pressure, very
few molecules are present in the interrupter. The vacuum circuit breaker has mainly two phenomenal
properties.

1. High insulating strength: In comparison to various other insulating media used in circuit breaker
vacuum is a superior dielectric medium. It is better than all other media except air and SF6, which are
employed at high pressure.
2. When an arc is opened by moving apart the contacts in a vacuum, an interruption occurs at the first
current zero. With the arc interruption, their dielectric strength increases up to a rate of thousands
time as compared to other breakers.

The above two properties make the breakers more efficient, less bulky and cheaper in cost. Their service life
is also much greater than any other circuit breaker, and almost no maintenance are required.

Construction of Vacuum Circuit Breaker

It is very simple in construction as compared to any other circuit breaker. Their construction is mainly
divided into three parts, i.e., fixed contacts, moving contact and arc shield which is placed inside the arc
interrupting chamber.

The outer envelope of vacuum circuit breaker is made up of glass because the glass envelope help in the
examination of the breaker from outside after the operation. If the glass becomes milky from its original

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finish of silvery mirror, then it indicates that the breaker is losing vacuum.

The fixed and moving contacts of the breaker are placed inside the arc shield. The pressure in a vacuum
interrupter at the time of sealing off is kept at about 10-6 torr. The moving contacts of the circuit breaker are
move through a distance of 5 to 10 mm depending upon the operating voltage.

The metallic bellows made of stainless steel is used to move the moving contacts. The design of the metallic
bellows is very important because the life of the vacuum circuit breaker depends on the ability of the
component to perform repeated operations satisfactorily.

Working Vacuum Circuit Breaker

When the fault occurs in the system, the contacts of the breaker are moved apart and hence the arc is
developed between them. When the current carrying contacts are pulled apart, the temperature of their
connecting parts is very high due to which ionization occurs. Due to the ionization, the contact space is filled
with vapour of positive ions which is discharged from the contact material. The density of vapour depends
on the current in the arcing. Due to the decreasing mode of current wave their rate of release of vapour fall
and after the current zero, the medium regains its dielectric strength provided vapour density around the
contacts reduced. Hence, the arc does not restrike again because the metal vapour is quickly removed from
the contact zone.

Current Chopping in Vacuum Circuit Breaker

Current chopping in vacuum circuit breaker depends on the vapour pressure and the electron emission
properties of the contact material. The chopping level is also influenced by the thermal conductivity–lower
the thermal conductivity, lower is the chopping level.

It is possible to reduce the current level at which chopping occurs by selecting a contact material which
gives out sufficient metal vapour to allow the current to come to a very low value or zero value, but this is
rarely done as it affects the dielectric strength adversely.

Vacuum Arc recovery of Vacuum Circuit Breaker

High vacuum possesses extremely high dielectric strength. At zero current the arc is extinguished very
quickly, and the dielectric strength is established very quickly. This return of dielectric strength is because of
the vaporized metal which is localized between the contacts diffuses rapidly due to the absence of gas
molecules. After arc interruption, the recovery strength during the first few microseconds is 1 kV/µs second
for an arc current of 100A.

Because of the above-mentioned attribute of vacuum circuit breaker, it is capable of handling the severe
recovery transients associated with short-line faults without any difficulty.

Property of contact material

The contact material of the vacuum circuit breaker should have the following property.

 The material should have high electrical conductivity so as to pass normal load currents without
overheating.
 The contact material should have low resistance and high density.
 The material should possess high thermal conductivity so as to dissipate rapidly the large heat
generated during arcing.
 The material should have a high arc withstand ability and low current chopping level.

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Advantages of Vacuum Circuit Breaker

 Vacuum circuit breaker does not require any additional filling of oil or gas. They do not need
periodic refilling.
 Rapid recovery of high dielectric strength on current interruptions that only a half cycle or less arcing
occurs after proper contact separation.
 Breaker unit is compact and self-contained. It can be installed in any required orientation.
 Because of the above reasons together with the economic advantage offered, vacuum circuit breaker
has high acceptance.

Disadvantage of Vacuum Circuit Breaker

 Requirements of high technology for production of vacuum interrupters.
 It needs additional surge suppressors for the interruption of low magnetizing currents in a certain
range.
 Loss of vacuum due to transit damage or failure makes the entire interrupter useless, and it cannot be
repaired on site.

Applications of Vacuum Circuit Breaker

 Because of the short gap and excellent recovery of vacuum circuit breaker, they are very useful as
very high speed making switches in many industrial applications.
 When the voltage is high and current to be interrupted is low these breakers have definite superiority
over the other breakers.
 For low fault interrupting capacities the cost is low in comparison to other interrupting devices.
 Because of the least requirements of maintenance, these breakers are very suitable for the system
which requires voltage from 11 to 33 kV.

Restriking Transient Voltage

When the current across the contact of the circuit breaker is zero, a high-frequency transient voltage
develops across the breaker contact and is produced by the sudden distribution of energy between the
electric and magnetic field. This transient voltage is called restriking voltage.

The voltage appears across the breaker contacts at the moment of final current has a serious influence on
the arc extinction process. Under the influence of this voltage, the arc tries to restrike and hence it is
named as the restriking voltage.

After the zero current, the arc gets extinguished, if the rate of rise of restriking voltage between the
contact is less than the rate at which the dielectric strength of the medium between the contact gains.
Immediately after the final current interruption, the voltage that appears across the breaker contacts
(transient voltage) superimposed on the power frequency system voltage (recovery voltage).

Considered a simple circuit, having a circuit breaker CB, as shown in the figure below. Let L be the
inductance per phase of the system up to the fault point; R be the resistance per phase of the system up to
the fault point, and C be the capacitance of the circuit.
When the fault occurs in the system under fault condition the contacts of the breaker are open, and the

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capacitance C is short-circuited by the fault, and the short circuit current is limited by the resistance and
the inductance.

When the breaker contacts are opened, and the arc certainly quenches at some current zero, a voltage v is
suddenly applied across the capacitor and therefore across the circuit breaker contacts. The current i
which would flow to the fault is not injected in the capacitor and inductor. Thus

Assuming Zero time at zero currents when t = 0 and the value of current and voltage before opening of
circuit breaker is expressed as

On substituting the above values in equation (1), we get

The solution of the standard equation is

from the equation,

The above expression is for restriking voltage where Vmax is the peak value of recovery voltage (phase
-to-neutral) t is time is seconds. L is inductance in henrys, C is the capacitance in farads and v is the
restriking voltage in volts. The maximum value of restriking voltage is 2Vmax and occurs at

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Characteristic of Restriking Voltage

The important characteristic of restriking voltage which affects the performance of the circuit breaker is
as follows –
Amplitude Factor – It is defined as the ratio of the peak of transient voltage to the peak system
frequency voltage.

The rate of Rise of Restriking Voltage – It is defined as the slope of the steepness tangent of the
restriking voltage curve. It is expressed in Kv/µs. RRRV is directly proportional to the natural
frequency. The expression for the restriking voltage is expressed as

Further the peak of restriking voltage occurs when v is maximum i.e., when

The transient voltage vanishes rapidly due to the damping effect of system resistance, and the normal
frequency system voltage is established. This voltage across the breakers contact is called recovery
voltage.

The waveforms of recovery and the restricting voltage are shown in the figure above. After the current
zero, the voltage appearing across the breaker contacts is composed of transient restriking voltage and
power frequency recovery voltage.

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 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 retain the same extinguishing
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-ionising effect of air-blast causes
the current to fall abruptly to zero well before the natural current zero is reached. This phenomenon is
known as current chopping and results in the production of high voltage transient across the contacts of
the circuit breaker as discussed below:

Suppose the arc current is i when it is chopped down to zero value as shown by point a in Figure above.
As the chop occurs at current i, therefore, the energy stored in inductance is Li 2/2. This energy will be
transferred to the capacitance C, charging the latter to a prospective voltage e given by:

The prospective voltage e is very high as compared to the dielectric strength gained by the so that the
breaker restrikes. As the de-ionising force is still in action, therefore, chop occurs again but the arc
current this time is smaller than the previous case. This induces a lower prospective voltage to re-ignite
the arc. In fact, several chops may occur until a low enough current is interrupted which produces
insufficient induced voltage to re-striking across the breaker gap. Consequently, the final interruption of
current takes place.

Resistance Switching
A fixed connection of resistance in parallel with the contact space or arc is called the resistance switching.
Resistance switching is employed in circuit breakers having a high post zero resistance of contact space.

Severe voltage occurs in the system because of two reasons, firstly because of the breaking of low voltage
current, and secondly because of the breaking of capacitive current. This may endanger the operation of the

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system. This can be avoided by using resistance switching (by connecting the resistor across the contacts of
the circuit breaker).
When the fault occurs, the contacts of the circuit breaker are open, and an arc is struck between the contacts.
With the arc shunted by the resistance R, a part of arc current is diverted through the resistance. This results
in the decreases of arc current and an increase in the rate of deionization of the arc path.

Thus, the arc resistance is increased, leading to the further increase in current through the shunt resistance R.
This builds up process continue until the current becomes so small that it fails to maintain the arc shown in
the figure below. Now the arc is extinguished, and the circuit breaker gets interrupted.

Alternatively, the resistance may be automatically switched in by transference of the arc from the main
contacts to the probe contact as in the case of an axial blast circuit breaker, the time required for this action
is very small. Having the arc path substituted by a metallic path, the current flowing through the resistance is
limited and then easily broken.

The shunt resistor also helps in limiting the oscillatory growth of restriking voltage transients. It can be
proved mathematically that the natural frequency (fn) of oscillations of the circuit shown is given as

To sum up, resistor across the circuit breaker contacts may be used to perform any one or more of the
following functions.

 It reduces the RRRV (Rate of Rise of Restriking Voltage) burden on the circuit breaker.
 It reduces the high frequency restriking voltage transients during switching out inductive or
capacitive loads.

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In a multi-break circuit breaker it helps in distributing the transient recovery voltage more uniformly
across the contact gaps.
Circuit Breaker Ratings
A circuit breaker may be called upon to operate under all conditions. However, major duties are imposed
on the circuit breaker when there is a fault on the system in which it is connected. Under fault
conditions, a circuit breaker is required to perform the following three duties:

(i) It must be capable of opening the faulty circuit and breaking the fault current.

(ii) It must be capable of being closed on to a fault.

(iii) 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)

The breaking capacity is always stated at the r.m.s. value of fault current at the instant of contact
separation. When a fault occurs, there is considerable asymmetry in the fault current due to the presence
of a d.c. component. The d.c. component dies away rapidly, a typical decrement factor being 0.8 per
cycle. When the contacts arc separated at DD’. At this instant, the fault current has

Thus, if us the rated breaking current in amperes and V is the rated service line voltage in volts, then for
a 3-phase circuit,

Breaking capacity = √3 x V x I x 10-6 MVA

(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.

It may be noted that the definition is concerned with the first cycle of current wave on closing the circuit

Page 24
breaker. This is because the maximum value of fault current possibly occurs in the first cycle only when
maximum asymmetry occurs in any phase of the breaker. In other words, the making current is equal
tothe maximum value of asymmetrical current, To find this value, we must multiply symmetrical
breaking current by √2 to convert this from r.m.s. to peak, and then by 1.8 to include the ―doubling
effect‖ of maximum asymmetry. The total multiplication factor becomes √2 x1.8=2.55.

Making capacity= 2.55 x Symmetrical breaking capacity

(iii) Short-time rating. It is the period for which the circuit breaker is able to carry fault current
while remaining closed.

Sometimes a fault on the system is of very temporary nature and persists for 1 or 2 seconds after which
the fault is automatically cleared. In the interest of continuity of supply, the breaker should not trip in
such situations. This means that circuit breakers should be able to carry high current safely for me
specified period while remaining closed i.e., they should have proven short-time rating. However, if the
fault persists for a duration longer than the specified time limit, the circuit breaker will trip,
disconnecting the faulty section.

The short-time rating of a circuit breaker depends upon its ability to withstand (a) the electromagnetic
force effects and (b) the temperature rise. The oil circuit breakers have a specified limit of 3 seconds
when the ratio of symmetrical breaking current to the rated normal current does not exceed 40. However,
if this ratio is more than 40, then the specified limit is 1 second.

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