Development and Type Test of a Single-Break 126-kV/40-kA-2500-A Vacuum Circuit Breaker

The objective of this paper is to present a 126-kV/40-kA-2500-A single-break vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) and its type test results based on the IEC 62271-100: 2006 and GB1984-2003 standards. A single-break 126-kV vacuum interrupter (VI), with a pair of 2/3 coil-type contacts, is used in the 126-kV VCB. The external insulation of the VI is provided by SF₆ at 0.1 MPa. A spring-type operating mechanism is used to provide a closing velocity of 1.15 m/s, which is an average velocity for 4 mm before the moving contact mates with the stationary contact. The opening velocity within 20 mm, which is 1/3 of a full contact stroke of 60 mm, is 3.5 m/s. Two kinds of test circuits are used in the type tests to verify the making and breaking capabilities of this 126-kV VCB prototype. One is a direct test circuit for test duty cycles, such as out-of-phase making and breaking test duties, that is, OP1 and OP2; capacitive current switching test of class C1, that is, CC1/LC1 and CC2/LC2. The other is a synthetic circuit, used for tests, such as the terminal fault test, the short-line fault test, the double earth fault test, and the electrical endurance test of class E2. The dielectric tests of a 230-kV/1 min power frequency voltage withstand test and a 550-kV lightning impulse voltage withstand test were used to verify the dielectric withstand performance of the VCB. Experiment results presented in this paper showed that the 126-kV/40 kA-2500 A single-break VCB passed the type tests according to IEC 62271-100 and GB1984-2003.