Medium voltage circuit breaker condition assessment

Circuit breakers are indispensable in any electrical 2 Testing of medium voltage circuit breakers
power system. They are the only piece of equipment
that can switch not only under normal load, but also The following is a brief overview of the most important
under fault conditions and must be able to reliably medium voltage circuit breaker measurement methods.
disconnect a faulty section from the grid as quickly as
possible. Circuit breakers must be able to meet this 2.1 Off-service measurement methods
requirement even after they have been in-service for a
long time. Their reliability is essential for the prevention • Timing: Timing measurements according to [1] are used to
of consequential power system failures and the safety determine operation time and belong to the most common
of the electrical power supply. Typical tests include tests. The timing test uses a resistance or voltage threshold
measurements of operating times and the static contact to determine the state of the main contacts
resistance. A more extensive condition assessment is
• Static contact resistance: Verifies whether the resistance of
possible when further measurements are performed,
the main contacts allows the current to flow with low losses.
such as motion/contact travel measurements, or the
measurement of the motor current signature. For circuit
• Dynamic contact resistance: Records the contact
breakers that are equipped with an Under-voltage
resistance during the operation of the breaker and delivers
release or an Overcurrent release, testing these features
information about wear-related problems with main and
further increases the available information that can
arcing contacts, while also determining timing results.
be used during the condition assessment of the circuit
breaker. • Motion/Contact travel: Verifies operating mechanism and
mechanical linkage and indicates potential mechanical wear.
1 Medium voltage circuit breakers
• Coil current: The current signature curve of the command
While old medium voltage circuit breakers often used oil
coils during breaker operation is recorded during a timing
as interrupting medium, in modern times vacuum is the
test. Deviations show possible electrical or mechanical
preferred medium and is thus almost exclusively used.
defects of the trip or close control components. According
Essential elements of a breaker include the interrupter unit,
to the IEC, the trip coil shall work between 70 % and 110 %
the mechanical linkage, and the operating mechanism with an
of nominal voltage and the close coil shall work between
energy storage system. The energy that is needed to operate a
85 % and 110 % of nominal voltage.
circuit breaker is high, and it must be made available within a
few milliseconds, i.e. almost instantaneously. Springs are used • Motor current: The motor current analysis records the
in most cases, because they are simple in comparison and inrush and steady-state currents as well as the spring
very reliable at the same time. Two separate springs allow the charging time. According to the IEC, the motor shall work
energy for the opening and the closing operation to be stored. between 85 % and 110 % of nominal voltage.
In order to release the energy that is stored in the springs, two
coils are needed to control the springs remotely. The opening • Minimum pick-up: Determines the minimum voltage
spring is charged during the closing operation of the breaker, necessary to trip and close the breaker and verifies whether
and the closing spring is charged by a motor. it can reliably operate in the event of a low DC supply.

© OMICRON electronics GmbH

• Under-voltage release test: Determines the trip voltage of Figure 1
the under-voltage coil.
Main
Contacts
• Overcurrent release test: Used to determine the current
which trips the breaker. Overcurrent releases are commonly Voltage

used together with self-powered overcurrent protection Nominal

relays. Trip voltage

2.2 In-service measurement methods

• First-trip test: The First trip test is carried out while the
breaker is still in-service and has been in-service for a long Breaker closed Breaker Time
trips
time. Connections are made at the trip coil and at the
Supply Start End
CT’s secondary side. The opening times are measured by Under-voltage Ramping Ramping
coil
monitoring the CTs’ secondary current.
Under-voltage release test signal
• Voltage-based timing measurement (VTM): VTM is the
only measurement method available to measure the timing 4 Overcurrent release
of a medium-voltage GIS, since the main contacts are sealed 4.1 Purpose of overcurrent releases
and cannot be accessed. It can be applied to all circuit
breakers with a voltage detection system (VDS) that makes Current transformer releases are used on circuit breakers
the main voltages accessible. in substations where no grid independent supply voltage
is available. These are low cost stations with basic
3. Under-voltage release functionality. Quite often they do not have any remote-
3.1 Purpose of under-voltage release control feature and the breakers do not have a close
coil. Such substations are common in distribution grids
Circuit Breakers are equipped with an Under-voltage release where the downstream infrastructure is not critical, like in
if the related protection system has no supply voltage residential areas.
backup. For instance, a protection relay is powered by a
battery, but the battery voltage is not monitored. If the Overcurrent releases are activated by a current. The current
battery voltage falls below 70 % of its nominal voltage comes from the tripping transformer which usually has a
(for details see [2]), so that it is not able to operate the nominal value of 0.5, 1.0 or 5 A AC. An overcurrent relay
protection relay anymore, any failure (e.g. an overcurrent) feeds the current flow from the tripping transformer to the
would no longer be discovered. The Under-voltage release circuit breaker. The tripping transformer and the overcurrent
is often found in industry grids, as it is a relatively cheap relay (self-powered overcurrent relay) are usually powered
solution to make sure the breaker is opened when a battery by the secondary side of the CTs. In the event of an
failure occurs. overcurrent, the relay switches the current of the tripping
transformer to the circuit breaker and thus causes it to open
An Under-voltage release may operate when supply voltage the main contacts and isolate the faulty grid part.
is between 35 % and 70 % of the nominal voltage and
must operate when the supply voltage drops below 35%. 4.2 Overcurrent release test
In addition, the Under-voltage release prevents closing
when the release has operated i.e. after opening the circuit With the breaker in closed position, a current is ramped up
breaker. in steps until the breaker trips. This is the trip current. Then
the ramp ends.
3.2 Under-voltage release test
Figure 2

The under-voltage coil is supplied, after which the breaker

Main
is closed. Then the voltage is ramped in steps from the Contacts
nominal voltage down, until the voltage level is reached
Current
when the under-voltage release trips. This is the trip
voltage. Then the voltage ramp ends.
Trip current

Start Breaker Time

Ramping trips

End ramping

Overcurrent release test signal

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4.3 Other designations 6 More information

• IEC 62271-100: Indirect current release More detailed information about testing medium voltage
circuit breakers can be found in the video series:
• ABB: Transformer-operated release
(available only in english)
• Siemens: Current transformer operated release
Testing MV Breakers with a WEGA interface for In-Service
• Also in use: Indirect over-current release Timing Measurements

5 Closing time calculation for circuit breakers without a Testing MV Breakers with an Overcurrent Release
close coil
Testing MV Breakers with a SF6 control, Under-voltage
All breakers should have at least a trip coil so that faults can Release and Blocking Mechanism
be isolated. Some old breakers or breakers with overcurrent
release does not have any close coil. These breakers are
closed manually.

According to [1], the closing time is the time from the

moment the close coil is energized until the contacts touch
in all poles.

Figure 3

Main
Contacts

End Pos.

Main
Contact
Motion

Start Pos.

Coil
Current
Closing Time
Time

Coil energized Main contacts

close

Closing time calculation according [1]; Off-Service

For circuit breakers without a close coil the closing time

calculation according to IEC standard cannot be applied.
Therefore, an alternative approach has to be used. The
closing time can be the time when the circuit breaker main
contacts begins to move until the contacts touch in all
poles.

Figure 4

Main Main
Contacts Contacts

End Pos. End Pos.

Main Main
Contact Contact
Motion Motion

Start Pos. Start Pos.

Coil Coil
Current Current
Closing Time
Time

Motion Start Main

contacts
close

Closing time with the motion/contact travel as start reference

© OMICRON electronics GmbH

References
1. IEC 62271-100

2. IEC 62271-1:2017

The authors
Siegfried Bernhauser studied TV and film production at
the Danube University Krems, Austria. He has been working
for OMICRON electronics in Klaus, Austria, for more than
25 years. Starting as a technical writer, he continued as
a marketing communications engineer with a focus on
business-to-business communication for power system
testing products such as the CMC 356, the CPC 100, the CT
Analyzer, the TESTRANO 600, the MPD 800 and the CIBANO
500. Most recently, he focused on producing switchgear
testing videos.

[email protected]

Ari Tirroniemi studied applied physics and electrical

engineering at the Linköping University of Technology,
Sweden. He has been working for OMICRON electronics in
Klaus, Austria for more than 15 years, working as a firmware
developer and later also as project manager for products
such as DIRANA and CIBANO 500. He is currently working as
an application engineer focusing on circuit breaker testing.

[email protected]

© OMICRON electronics GmbH

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