Vacuum circuit breaker modelling for the assessment of transient recovery voltages: application to various network configurations

Claus Leth Bak, Alberto Borghetti, Jakob Bærholm Glasdam, Jesper Hjerrild, Fabio Napolitano, Carlo Alberto Nucci, M. Paolone

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs) are widely used for medium voltage applications when low maintenance, long operating life, and large number of allowable switching cycles are required. The accurate estimation of the transient recovery voltages (TRVs) associated with their manoeuvres is indispensable for both VCB sizing and insulation coordination studies of the components nearby the switching device. In this respect, their accurate modelling, which is the object of the paper, becomes crucial. In particular, the paper presents (the concept of) a VCB model and two relevant applications showing the model capabilities of simulating TRVs due to opening/closing manoeuvres, namely the switching of large electrical motors and the switching of cables collecting offshore wind farms (OWFs). Data from digital fault recorder (DFR) in a water-pumping plant and from a measurement campaign in an OWF using a high-bandwidth GPS-synchronised measurement system, respectively, are used for model validation. It is shown that the inclusion of detailed VCB models significantly improves the agreement between the measurements related to both pre- and restrikes and the corresponding simulation results obtained by using two well-known electromagnetic transient simulation environments, namely, EMTP-RV and PSCAD/EMTDC. The procedure adopted for the identification of the VCB model parameters is described.
Original languageEnglish
JournalElectric Power Systems Research
Volume156
Pages (from-to)35-43
Number of pages9
ISSN0378-7796
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2018

Keywords

  • Vacuum circuit breakers
  • Transient recovery voltages
  • Motor inrush currents
  • Cable inrush currents
  • Wind farms
  • EMTP simulations

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