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Shielding Of Power Cables

Shielding Of Power Cables

Shielding of an electric power cable is accomplished by surrounding the assembly or insulation with a grounded, conducting medium.

This confines the dielectric field to the inside of this shield.

Two distinct types of shields are used:

- Metallic

- Nonmetallic

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The purposes of the insulation shield are to:

  • Obtain symmetrical radial stress distribution withh the insulation.
  • Eliminate tangential and longitudinal stresses on the surface of the insulation.
  • Exclude from the dielectric field those materials such as braids, tapes, and fillers that are not intended as insulation.
  • Protect the cables from induced or direct aver-voltages. Shields do this by making the surge impedance uniform along the length of the cable and by helping to attenuate surge potentials.

Conductor Shielding

In cables rated over 2,000 volts, a conductor shield is required by indusby standards. The purpose of the semiconducting, also called screening, material over the conductor is to provide a smooth cylinder rather than the relatively rough surface of a stranded conductor in order to reduce the stress concentration at the interface with the insulation. Conductor shielding has been used for cables with both laminar and extruded insulations. The materials used are either semiconducting materials or ones that have a high dielectric constant and are known as stress control materials. Both serve the same function of stress reduction.

Conductor shields for paper insulated cables are either carbon black tapes or metallized paper tapes. The conductor shieldmg materials were originally made of semiconducting tapes that were helically wrapped over the conductor. Present standards still permit such a tape over the conductor. This is done, especially on large conductors, in order to hold the strands together firmly during the application of the extruded semiconducting material that is now required for medium voltage cables. Experience with cables that only had a semiconductingtape was not satisfactory, so the industry changed their requirements to call for an extruded layer over the conductor.

In extruded cables, this layer is now extruded directly over the conductor and is bonded to the insulation layer that is applied over this stress relief layer. It is extremely important that there be no voids or extraneous material between those two layers.

Presentday extruded layers are not only clean (free from undesirable impurities) but are very smooth and round. This has greatly reduced the formation of water tress that could originate from irregular surfaces. By extruding the two layers at the same time, the conductor shield and the insulation are cured at the same time. This provides the inseparable bond that minimizes the chances of the formation of a void at the critical interface. For compatibility reasons, the extruded shielding layer is usually made from the same or a similar polymer as the insulation. Special carbon black is used to make the layer over the conductor semiconducting to provide the necessary conductivity. Industry standards require that the conductor semiconducting material have a maximum resistivity of 1,000 meter-ohms. Those standards also require that this material pass a long-time stability test for resistivity at the emergency operating temperature level to insure that the layer remains conductive and hence provides a long cable life.

A water-impervious material can be incorporated as part of the conductor shield to prevent radial moisture transmission. This layer consists of a thin layer of aluminum or lead sandwiched between semiconducting material. A similar laminate may be used for an insulation shield for the same reason.

There is no definitive standard that describes the class of extrudable shielding materials known as “super smooth, super clean”. It is not usually practical to use a manufacturer’strade name or product number to describeany material. The term “super smooth, super clean” is the only way at this writing to describe a class of material that provides a higher quality cable thanan earlier version. This is only an academic issue since the older type of materials are no longer used for medium voltage cable construction by known suppliers. The point is that these newer materials have tremendously improved cable performance in laboratory evaluations.

Insulation Shielding For Medium-Voltage Cables

The insulation shield for a medium voltage cable is made up of two components:

  • Semiconducting or stress relief layer
  • Metallic layer of tape or tap , drain wires, concentric neutral wires, or a metal tube.

They must function as a unit for a cable to achieve a long service life

Stress Relief Layer

The polymer layer used with exbuded cables has replaced the tapes shields that were used many years ago. This extruded layer is called the extruded insulation shield or screen. Its properties and compatibility requirements are similar to the conductor shield previously described except that standards require that the volume resistivity of thisexternal layer be limited to 500 meter-ohms.

The nonmetallic layer is directly Over the insulation and the voltage stress at that interface is lower than at the conductor shield interface.. This outer layer is not required to be bonded for cables rated up to 35 kV. At voltages above that, it is strongly recommendedt that this layer be bonded to the insulation .
Since most users want this layer to be easily removable, the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies (AEIC) has established strip tension limits. Presently these limits are that a 1/2 inch wide strip cut parallel to the conductor peel offwith a minimum of 6 pounds and a minimum of 24 pounds of force that is at a 90º angle to the insulation surface.

Metallic Shield

The metallic portion of the insulation shield or screen is necessary to provide a low resistance path for charging current to flow to ground. It is important to realize that the extruded shield materials will not survive a sustained current flow of more than a few milliamperes. These materials are capable of handing the small amounts of charging current, but cannot tolerate unbalanced or fault currents.

The metallic component of the insulation shield system must be able to accommodate these higher currents. On the other hand, an excessive amount of metal in the shield of a single-conductor cable is costly in two ways. First, additional metal over the amount that is actually required increases the initial cost of the cable. Secondly, the greater the metal component of the insulation shield, the higher the shield losses that result h m the flow of current in the central conductor.

A sufficient amount of metal must be provided in the cable design to ensure that the cable will activate the back-up protection in the event of any cable fault over the life of that cable. There is also the concern for shield losses.

It therefore becomes essential that:

  • The type of circuitinterruptingequipmentto be analyzed.What is the design and operational setting of the hse, recloser, or circuit breaker?
  • What fault current will the cable encounter over its life?
  • What shield losses can be tolerated? How many times is the shield to be grounded? Will there be shield breaks to prevent circulating currents?
Concentric Neutral Cables

When concentric neutral cables are specified, the concentric neutrals must be manufactured in accordance with ICEA standards. These wires must meet ASTM B3 for uncoated wires or B33 for coated wires. These wires are applied directly over the nonmetallic insulation shield with a lay of not less than six or more than ten times the diameter over the concentric wires.

Shielding Of Low Voltage Cables

Shielding of low voltage cables is generally required where inductive interference can be a problem. In numerous communication, instrumentation, and control cable applications, small electrical signals may be transmitted on the cable conductor and amplified at the receiving end. Unwanted signals (noise) due to inductive interference can beaslargeasthedesiredsignal. This can result in false signals or audible noise that can effect voice communications.

Across the entire frequency spectrum, it is necessary to separate disturbances into electric field ef€ects and magnetic field effects.

Electric Fields

Electric field effects are those which are a function of the capacitive coupling or mutual capacitance between the circuits. Shielding can be effected by a continuous metal shield to isolate the disturbed circuit fiom the disturbing circuit. Even semiconducting extrusions or tapes supplemented by a grounded dmin wirecan serve some shielding function for electric field effects.

Magnetic Fields

Magnetic field effects are the result of a magnetic field coupling between circuits. This is a bit more complex thanfor electrical effects.

At relatively low frequencies, the energy emitted from the source is treated as radiation. This increases with the square of the frequency. This electromagnetic radiation can cause dislxrbancesat considerable distance and will penetrate any “openings” in the shielding. This can occur with braid shields or tapes that are not overlapped. The type of metal used in the shield also can effect the amount of disturbance. Any metallic shield material, as opposed to magnetic metals, will provide some shield due to the eddy currents that are set up in the metallic shield by the impinging field. These eddy currents tend to neutralize the disturbing field. Non-metallic, semiconducting shielding is not effective for magnetic effects. In general, the most effective shielding is a complete steel conduit, but thisis not always practical.

The effectiveness of a shield is called the “shielding factor” and is given as:

SF = Induced voltage in shield circuit / Inducted voltage in unshielded circuit

Test circuits to measwe the effectiveness of various shielding designs against electrical field effects and magnetic field effects have been reported by Gooding and Slade.

AUTHORS: Lawrence J. Kelly and Carl C. Landinger

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Storage Systems

Storage Systems | ABB Battery

Energy storage technologies are of great interest to electric utilities, energy service companies, and automobile manufacturers (for electric vehicle application). The ability to store large amounts of energy would allow electric utilities to have greater flexibility in their operation because with this option the supply and demand do not have to be matched instantaneously. The availability of the proper battery at the right price will make the electric vehicle a reality, a goal that has eluded the automotive industry thus far. Four types of storage technologies (listed below) are discussed in this section, but most emphasis is placed on storage batteries because it is now closest to being commercially viable. The other storage technology widely used by the electric power industry, pumped-storage power plants, is not discussed as this has been in commercial operation for more than 60 years in various countries around the world.

  • Flywheel storage
  • Compressed air energy storage
  • Superconducting magnetic energy storage
  • Battery storage

Flywheel Storage

Flywheels store their energy in their rotating mass, which rotates at very high speeds (approaching 75,000 rotations per minute), and are made of composite materials instead of steel because of the composite’s ability to withstand the rotating forces exerted on the flywheel. In order to store enegy the flywheel is placed in a sealed container which is then placed in a vacuum to reduce air resistance. Magnets embedded in the flywheel pass near pickup coils. The magnet induces a current in the coil changing the rotational energy into electrical energy.

Flywheels are still in research and development, and commercial products are several years away.

Compressed Air Energy Storage

As the name implies, the compressed air energy storage (CAES) plant uses electricity to compress air which is stored in underground reservoirs. When electricity is needed, this compressed air is withdrawn, heated with gas or oil, and run through an expansion turbine to drive a generator. The compressed air can be stored in several types of underground structures, including caverns in salt or rock formations, aquifers, and depleted natural gas fields. Typically the compressed air in a CAES plant uses about one third of the premium fuel needed to produce the same amount of electricity as in a conventional plant. A 290-MW CAES plant has been in operation in Germany since the early 1980s with 90% availability and 99% starting reliability. In the U.S., the Alabama Electric Cooperative runs a CAES plant that stores compressed air in a 19-million cubic foot cavern mined from a salt dome. This 110-MW plant has a storage capacity of 26 h. The fixed-price turnkey cost for this first-of-a-kind plant is about $400/kW in constant 1988 dollars.

The turbomachinery of the CAES plant is like a combustion turbine, but the compressor and the expander operate independently. In a combustion turbine, the air that is used to drive the turbine is compressed just prior to combustion and expansion and, as a result, the compressor and the expander must operate at the same time and must have the same air mass flow rate. In the case of a CAES plant, the compressor and the expander can be sized independently to provide the utility-selected “optimal” MW charge and discharge rate which determines the ratio of hours of compression required for each hour of turbine-generator operation. The MW ratings and time ratio are influenced by the utility’s load curve, and the price of off-peak power.

For example, the CAES plant in Germany requires 4 h of compression per hour of generation. On the other hand, the Alabama plant requires 1.7 h of compression for each hour of generation. At 110-MW net output, the power ratio is 0.818 kW output for each kilowatt input. The heat rate (LHV) is 4122 BTU/kWh with natural gas fuel and 4089 BTU/kWh with fuel oil. Due to the storage option, a partial-load operation of the CAES plant is also very flexible. For example, the heat rate of the expander increases only by 5%, and the airflow decreases nearly linearly when the plant output is turned down to 45% of full load. However, CAES plants have not reached commercial viability beyond some prototypes.

Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage

A third type of advanced energy storage technology is superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), which may someday allow electric utilities to store electricity with unparalled efficiency (90% or more). A simple description of SMES operation follows.
The electricity storage medium is a doughnut-shaped electromagnetic coil of superconducting wire. This coil could be about 1000 m in diameter, installed in a trench, and kept at superconducting temper- ature by a refrigeration system. Off-peak electricity, converted to direct current (DC), would be fed into this coil and stored for retrieval at any moment. The coil would be kept at a low-temperature supercon- ducting state using liquid helium.

The time between charging and discharging could be as little as 20 ms with a round-trip AC–AC efficiency of over 90%.

Developing a commercial-scale SMES plant presents both economic and technical challenges. Due to the high cost of liquiud helium, only plants with 1000-MW, 5-h capacity are economically attractive. Even then the plant capital cost can exceed several thousand dollars per kilowatt. As ceramic superconductors, which become superconducting at higher temperatures (maintained by less expensive liquid nitrogen), become more widely available, it may be possible to develop smaller scale SMES plants at a lower price.

Battery Storage

Even though battery storage is the oldest and most familiar energy storage device, significant advances have been made in this technology in recent years to deserve more attention. There has been renewed interest in this technology due to its potential application in non-polluting electric vehicles. Battery systems are quiet and non-polluting, and can be installed near load centers and existing suburban substations. These have round-trip AC–AC efficiencies in the range of 85%, and can respond to load changes within 20 ms. Several U.S., European, and Japanese utilities have demonstrated the application of lead–acid batteries for load-following applications. Some of them have been as large as 10 MW with 4 h of storage.

The other player in battery development is the automotive industry for electric vehicle application. In 1991, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), several utilities, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) formed the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) to develop better batteries for electric vehicle (EV) applications. A brief introduction to some of the available battery technologies as well some that are under study is presented in the following (Source:http://www.eren. doe.gov/consumerinfo/refbriefs/fa1/html).

Battery Types

Chemical batteries are individual cells filled with a conducting medium-electrolyte that, when connected together, form a battery. Multiple batteries connected together form a battery bank. At present, there are two main types of batteries: primary batteries (non-rechargeable) and secondary batteries (rechargeable). Secondary batteries are further divided into two categories based on the operating temperature of the electrolyte. Ambient operating temperature batteries have either aqueous (flooded) or nonaqueous elec- trolytes. High operating temperature batteries (molten electrodes) have either solid or molten electrolytes. Batteries in EVs are the secondary-rechargeable-type and are in either of the two sub-categories. A battery for an EV must meet certain performance goals.

These goals include quick discharge and recharge capability, long cycle life (the number of discharges before becoming unserviceable), low cost, recycla- bility, high specific energy (amount of usable energy, measured in watt-hours per pound [lb] or kilogram [kg]), high energy density (amount of energy stored per unit volume), specific power (determines the potential for acceleration), and the ability to work in extreme heat or cold. No battery currently available meets all these criteria.

Lead–Acid Batteries

Lead–acid starting batteries (shallow-cycle lead–acid secondary batteries) are the most common battery used in vehicles today. This battery is an ambient temperature, aqueous electrolyte battery. A cousin to this battery is the deep-cycle lead–acid battery, now widely used in golf carts and forklifts. The first electric cars built also used this technology. Although the lead–acid battery is relatively inexpensive, it is very heavy, with a limited usable energy by weight (specific energy). The battery’s low specific energy and poor energy density make for a very large and heavy battery pack, which cannot power a vehicle as far as an equivalent gas-powered vehicle. Lead–acid batteries should not be discharged by more than 80% of their rated capacity or depth of discharge (DOD). Exceeding the 80% DOD shortens the life of the battery. Lead–acid batteries are inexpensive, readily available, and are highly recyclable, using the elaborate recycling system already in place. Research continues to try to improve these batteries.

A lead–acid nonaqueous (gelled lead acid) battery uses an electrolyte paste instead of a liquid. These batteries do not have to be mounted in an upright position. There is no electrolyte to spill in an accident. Nonaqueous lead–acid batteries typically do not have as high a life cycle and are more expensive than flooded deep-cycle lead–acid batteries.

Nickel Iron and Nickel Cadmium Batteries

Nickel iron (Edison cells) and nickel cadmium (nicad) pocket and sintered plate batteries have been in use for many years. Both of these batteries have a specific energy of around 25 Wh/lb (55 Wh/kg), which is higher than advanced lead–acid batteries. These batteries also have a long cycle life. Both of these batteries are recyclable. Nickel iron batteries are non-toxic, while nicads are toxic. They can also be discharged to 100% DOD without damage. The biggest drawback to these batteries is their cost. Depend- ing on the size of battery bank in the vehicle, it may cost between $20,000 and $60,000 for the batteries. The batteries should last at least 100,000 mi (160,900 km) in normal service.

Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries

Nickel metal hydride batteries are offered as the best of the next generation of batteries. They have a high specific energy: around 40.8 Wh/lb (90 Wh/kg). According to a U.S. DOE report, the batteries are benign to the environment and are recyclable. They also are reported to have a very long cycle life. Nickel metal hydride batteries have a high self-discharge rate: they lose their charge when stored for long periods of time. They are already commercially available as “AA” and “C” cell batteries, for small consumer appliances and toys. Manufacturing of larger batteries for EV applications is only available to EV manufacturers. Honda is using these batteries in the EV Plus, which is available for lease in California.

Sodium Sulfur Batteries

This battery is a high-temperature battery, with the electrolyte operating at temperatures of 572°F (300°C). The sodium component of this battery explodes on contact with water, which raises certain safety concerns. The materials of the battery must be capable of withstanding the high internal temper- atures they create, as well as freezing and thawing cycles. This battery has a very high specific energy: 50 Wh/lb (110 Wh/kg). The Ford Motor Company uses sodium sulfur batteries in their Ecostar, a converted delivery minivan that is currently sold in Europe. Sodium sulfur batteries are only available to EV manufacturers.

Lithium Iron and Lithium Polymer Batteries

The USABC considers lithium iron batteries to be the long-term battery solution for EVs. The batteries have a very high specific energy: 68 Wh/lb (150 Wh/kg). They have a molten-salt electrolyte and share many features of a sealed bipolar battery. Lithium iron batteries are also reported to have a very long cycle life. These are widely used in laptop computers. These batteries will allow a vehicle to travel distances and accelerate at a rate comparable to conventional gasoline-powered vehicles. Lithium polymer batteries eliminate liquid electrolytes. They are thin and flexible, and can be molded into a variety of shapes and sizes.

Neither type will be ready for EV commercial applications until early in the 21st century.

Zinc and Aluminum Air Batteries

Zinc air batteries are currently being tested in postal trucks in Germany. These batteries use either aluminum or zinc as a sacrificial anode. As the battery produces electricity, the anode dissolves into the electrolyte. When the anode is completely dissolved, a new anode is placed in the vehicle. The aluminum or zinc and the electrolyte are removed and sent to a recycling facility. These batteries have a specific energy of over 97 Wh/lb (200 Wh/kg). The German postal vans currently carry 80 kWh of energy in their battery, giving them about the same range as 13 gallons (49.2 liters) of gasoline. In their tests, the vans have achieved a range of 615 mi (990 km) at 25 miles per hour (40 km/h).
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SOURCE: Rahman, Saifur “Electric Power Generation: Non-Conventional Methods”
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Wind power storage development is essential for renewable energy technologies to become economically feasible. There are many different ways in which one can store electrical energy, the following outlines the various media used to store grid-ready energy produced by wind turbines. For more on applications of these wind storage technologies, read Solving the use-it-or-lose-it wind energy problem

Electrochemical Batteries

Familiar electrochemical batteries include nickel-cadmium (NiCad), lithium-ion (Li-ion, and others. Electrochemical batteries consist of two or more electrochemical cells. The cells use chemical reaction(s) to create a flow of electrons – electric current. Primary elements of a cell include the container, two electrodes (anode and cathode), and electrolyte material. The electrolyte is in contact with the electrodes. Current is created by the oxidation-reduction process involving chemical reactions between the cell’s electrolyte and electrodes.

Familiar electrochemical batteries include nickel-cadmium (NiCad), lithium-ion (Li-ion, and others

Familiar electrochemical batteries include nickel-cadmium (NiCad), lithium-ion (Li-ion, and others

When a battery discharges through a connected load, electrically charged ions in the electrolyte that are near one of the cell’s electrodes supply electrons (oxidation) while ions near the cell’s other electrode accept electrons (reduction), to complete the process. The process is reversed to charge the battery, which involves ionizing of the electrolyte. An increasing number of chemistries are used for this process.

Flow Batteries

Some electrochemical batteries (e.g., automobile batteries) contain electrolyte in the same container as the cells (where the electrochemical reactions occur). Other battery types – called flow batteries – use electrolyte that is stored in a separate container (e.g., a tank) outside of the battery cell container. Flow battery cells are said to be configured as a ‘stack’. When flow batteries are charging or discharging, the electrolyte is transported (i.e., pumped) between the electrolyte container and the cell stack. Vanadium redox and Zn/Br are two of the more familiar types of flow batteries. A key advantage to flow batteries is that the storage system’s discharge duration can be increased by adding more electrolyte (and, if needed to hold the added electrolyte, additional electrolyte containers). It is also relatively easy to replace a flow battery’s electrolyte when it degrades.

Capacitors

Capacitors store electric energy as an electrostatic charge. An increasing array of larger capacity capacitors have characteristics that make them well-suited for use as energy storage. They store significantly more electric energy than conventional capacitors. They are especially well-suited to being discharged quite rapidly, to deliver a significant amount of energy over a short period of time (i.e., they are attractive for high-power applications that require short or very short discharge durations).

Compressed Air Energy Storage

Compressed Air Energy Storage

Compressed Air Energy Storage

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) involves compressing air using inexpensive energy so that the compressed air may be used to generate electricity when the energy is worth more.

To convert the stored energy into electric energy, the compressed air is released into a combustion turbine generator system. Typically, as the air is released, it is heated and then sent through the system’s turbine. As the turbine spins, it turns the generator to generate electricity. For larger CAES plants, compressed air is stored in underground geologic formations, such as salt formations, aquifers, and depleted natural gas fields. For smaller CAES plants, compressed air is stored in tanks or large on-site pipes such as those designed for high-pressure natural gas transmission (in most cases, tanks or pipes are above ground).

Flywheel Energy Storage

Flywheel electric energy storage systems (flywheel storage or flywheels) include a cylinder with a shaft that can spin rapidly within a robust enclosure. A magnet levitates the cylinder, thus limiting friction-related losses and wear. The shaft is connected to a motor/generator. Electric energy is converted by the motor/generator to kinetic energy. That kinetic energy is stored by
increasing the flywheel’s rotational speed. The stored (kinetic) energy is converted back to electric energy via the motor/generator, slowing the flywheel’s rotational speed.

Pumped Hydroelectric

Key elements of a pumped hydroelectric (pumped hydro) system include turbine/generator equipment, a waterway, an upper reservoir, and a lower reservoir. The turbine/generator is
similar to equipment used for normal hydroelectric power plants that do not incorporate storage. Pumped hydro systems store energy by operating the turbine/generator in reserve to pump water uphill or into an elevated vessel when inexpensive energy is available. The water is later released when energy is more valuable. When the water is released, it goes through the turbine which turns the generator to produce electric power.

Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage

The storage medium in a superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) system consists of a coil made of superconducting material. Additional SMES system components include power
conditioning equipment and a cryogenically cooled refrigeration system. The coil is cooled to a temperature below the temperature needed for superconductivity (the material’s ‘critical’ temperature). Energy is stored in the magnetic field created by the flow of direct current in the coil. Once energy is stored, the current will not degrade, so energy can be stored indefinitely (as long as the refrigeration is operational).

Thermal Energy Storage

There are various ways to store thermal energy. One somewhat common way that thermal energy storage is used involves making ice when energy prices are low so the cold that is stored can be used to reduce cooling needs – especially compressor-based cooling – when energy is expensive.

SOURCE: Overview of wind power storage media

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Siemens technical publication | Loss Of Vacuum

Siemens technical publication | Loss Of Vacuum

If a vacuum interrupter should lose vacuum, several operating situations should be considered:

1. With contacts open
2. When closing
3. When closed and operating normally
4. When opening and interrupting normal current
5. When opening and interrupting a fault.

Cases 1, 2 and 3 are relatively straightforward. Generally, the system sees no impact from loss of vacuum in such a situation. Cases 4 and 5, however, require further discussion. Suppose there is a feeder circuit breaker with a vacuum interrupter on phase 3 that has lost vacuum. If the load being served by the failed interrupter is a deltaconnected (ungrounded) load, a switching operation would not result in a failure. Essentially, nothing would happen. The two good phases (phase 1 and phase 2, in this example) would be able to clear the circuit, and current in the failed interrupter (phase 3) would cease.

The alternative case of a grounded load is a different situation. In this case, interruption in the two good phases (phase 1 and phase 2) would not cause current to stop flowing in phase 3, and the arc would continue to exist in phase 3. With nothing to stop it, this current would continue until some backup protection operated. The result, of course, would be destruction of the interrupter.

Since the predominant usage of circuit breakers in the 5-15 kV range is on grounded circuits, we investigated the impact of a failed interrupter some years ago in the test lab. We intentionally caused an interrupter to lose vacuum by opening the tube to the atmosphere. We then subjected the circuit breaker to a full short circuit interruption. As predicted,
the “flat” interrupter did not successfully clear the affected phase, and the “flat” interrupter was destroyed. The laboratory backup breaker cleared the fault. Following the test, the circuit breaker was removed from the switchgear cell. It was very sooty, but mechanically intact. The soot was cleaned from the circuit breaker and the switchgear cell, the faulty interrupter was replaced, and the circuit breaker was re-inserted in the cell. Further short circuit interruption tests were conducted the same day on the circuit breaker.

Field experience in the years since that test was conducted supports the information gained in the laboratory experiment. One of our customers, a large chemical operation, encountered separate failures (one with an air magnetic circuit breaker and one with a vacuum circuit breaker) on a particular circuit configuration. Two different installations, in different countries, were involved. They shared a common circuit configuration and failure mode. The circuit configuration, a tie circuit in which the sources on each side of the circuit
breaker were not in synchronism, imposed approximately double rated voltage across the contact gap, which caused the circuit breaker to fail. Since these failures resulted from application in violation of the guidelines of the ANSI standards, and greatly in excess of the design ratings of the circuit breakers, they are not indicative of a design
problem with the equipment.

However, the damage that resulted from the failures is of interest. In the case of the air magnetic circuit breaker, the unit housing the failed circuit breaker was destroyed, and the adjacent switchgear units on either side were damaged extensively, requiring significant rebuilding. The air magnetic circuit breaker was a total loss. In the case of the vacuum circuit breaker, the failure was considerably less violent. The vacuum interrupters were replaced, and the arc by-products (soot) cleaned from both the circuit breaker and the compartment. The unit was put back into service. Our test experience in the laboratory, where we routinely explore the limits of interrupter performance, also supports these results.

More recently, several tests were performed in our high-power test laboratory to compare the results of attempted interruptions with “leaky” vacuum interrupters. A small hole (approximately 1/8” diameter) was drilled in the interrupter housing, to simulate a vacuum interrupter that had lost vacuum.

The results of these tests were very interesting:

  1. One pole of a vacuum circuit breaker was subjected to an attempted interruption of 1310 A (rated continuous current = 1250 A). The current was allowed to flow in the “failed” interrupter for 2.06 seconds, at which point the laboratory breaker interrupted. No parts of the “failed” circuit breaker or the interrupter flew off, nor did the circuit breaker explode. The paint on the exterior of the interrupter arcing chamber peeled off. The remainder of the circuit breaker was undamaged.
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  2. A second pole of the same vacuum circuit breaker was subjected to an attempted interruption of 25 kA (rated interrupting current = 25 kA), for an arc-duration of 0.60 seconds, with the laboratory breaker interrupting the current at that time. The arc burned a hole in the side of the arc chamber. The circuit breaker did not explode, nor did parts of the circuit breaker fly off. Glowing particles were ejected from the hole in the arcing chamber. None of the mechanical components or other interrupters were damaged. Essentially, all damage was confined to the failed interrupter.

Our experience suggests rather strongly that the effects of a vacuum interrupter failure on the equipment are very minor, compared to the impact of failures with alternative interruption technologies. But the real question is not what the results of a failure might be, but rather, what is the likelihood of a failure? The failure rate of Siemens vacuum interrupters is so low that loss of vacuum is no longer a significant concern. In the early 1960s with early vacuum interrupters, it was a big problem. A vacuum interrupter is constructed with all connections between dissimilar materials made by brazing or welding. No organic materials are used. In the early years, many hand-production techniques were used, especially when borosilicate glass was used for the insulating envelope, as it could not tolerate high temperatures. Today, machine welding and batch induction furnace brazing are employed with extremely tight process control. The only moving part inside the interrupter is the copper contact, which is connected to the interrupter end plate with a welded stainless steel bellows. Since the bellows is welded to both the contact and the interrupter end plate, the failure rate of this moving connection is extremely low. This accounts for the
extremely high reliability of Siemens vacuum interrupters today.

In fact, the MTTF (mean time to failure) of Siemens power vacuum interrupters has now reached 24,000 years (as of October 1991). Questions raised by customers regarding loss of vacuum were legitimate concerns in the 1960s, when the use of vacuum interrupters for power applications was in its infancy. At that time, vacuum interrupters suffered from frequent leaks, and surges were a problem. There was only one firm that offered vacuum circuit breakers then, and reports suggest that they had many problems. We entered the vacuum circuit breaker market in 1974, using Allis-Chalmers’ technology and copper-bismuth contact materials. In the early 1980′s, after becoming part of the worldwide Siemens organization, we were able to convert our vacuum designs to use Siemens vacuum interrupters, which had been introduced in Europe in the mid-1970s. Thus, when we adopted the Siemens vacuum interrupters in the U.S., they already had a very well established field performance record.

The principle conceptual differences in the modern Siemens vacuum interrupters from the early 1960s designs lies in contact material and process control. Surge phenomena are more difficult to deal with when copper-bismuth contacts are used than with today’s chromecopper contacts. Similarly, leaks were harder to control with vacuum interrupters built largely by hand than with today’s units. Today, great attention is paid to process control and elimination of the human factor (variability) in manufacture. The result is that the Siemens vacuum interrupters today can be expected to have a long service life and to impose dielectric stress on load equipment that is not significantly different from the stresses associated with traditional air magnetic or oil circuit breakers.

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Published by: SIEMENS AG

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Energetski transformator

Energetski transformator

Energetski transformatori, kako suvi tako i uljni,  se nalaze u skoro svakoj trafo stanici u objektima industrijske namene, ili “building” sektora. Životni vek prosečnog transformatora je oko 30-ak godina uz redovno održavanje i servisiranje. Problemi i posledice koji mogu da nastanu usled uštede na održavanju transformatora (kao i ostale opreme u trafo stanici) mogu biti fatalne za proizvodnju, kao i poslovanje kompanije. U dole prikazanom stručnom tekstu (Andres Tabernero Garcia) je opisan ceo protokol ispitivanja transformatora na licu mesta, prikazani su uređaji sa kojima je vršeno ispitivanje, kao i izveštaji koji su generisani sa njih.

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