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S23
I. INTRODUCTION
Shifting from periodic to condition-based maintenance of switching equipment can only lead to benefits if the applied diagnostic techmques are efficient in assessing the condition of the equipment. That is, the methods must be able to detect the failure and degradation modes that are considered most important, and do so with a reasonably accuracy. Diagnostic techniques that only cover defects that are extremely rare, that are only relevant for certain types of switching equipment or that for other reasons are considered less important, are of limited value. The reliability and failure modes of high-voltage circuit;breakers have been the subject for two large CIGRE surveys [l], [2]. Although such investigations always come out with too low failure rates since an unknown number of failures not are reported, and the second enquiry is limited to single pressure SF6 circuit-breakers, the surveys provide valuable information for establishing requirements for diagnostic test methods. Again, systems for diagnostic testing should be able to detect the failure modes that are found to be the most important ones. The general interest in diagnostic techniques for switching equipment has grown in recent years. Conventional methods such as measurements of contact heating, operating times, contact travel etc. have been improved by use of new technology as for example fibre optics. In addition, new methods based on acquisition of other types of data or parameters have been proposed and developed, among these are vibration analysis [3]-[5]. The present paper focuses on vibration analysis for periodic diagnostic testing of circuit-breakers. Initially, the basic ideas and the applied procedures are briefly outlined. Then the features of this method are evaluated with basis in the prevailing failure modes according to the CIGRE surveys. Commercial test equipment has been available for a few years, and in the main section results obtained by applying this method on high-voltage SF6 circuitbreakers are presented. Some measurements illustrating the use of vibration analysis together with conventional methods such as recordings of contact travel, coil current and operating times are also included.
accelerometers are mounted externally; typically one on each arcing chamber (provided that the breaker is disconnected and grounded) and one in the operating mechanism. They are attached by using a nut fastened with epoxy mastic as shown in Fig. 1 or by screwing it into an existing hole in the breaker assembly. The accelerometers are removed after the recordings have been completed.
Fig. I. Accelerometer screwed into a nut that in turn is permanently fixed to the breaker by means of a hardening epoxy mastic.
The vibration patterns or signatures consist of a sequence of transients, where each transient is generated by a mechanical event occurring during the breaker operation. Thus, the signatures obviously contain information about the mechanical condition of the various parts involved, as well as about the overall course of operation of the breaker assembly. The basic idea behind vibration analysis is that changes in the mechanical condition will lead to changes in the signatures b,eing generated, and that this can be detected by doing comparisons. Preferably, vibration patterns should be compared with earlier measurements on the same breaker unit, i.e. as a trend analysis. However, experience has shown that breakers of the same type generate very similar signatures, making it possible to perform a diagnostic test also by comparing measurements from different breaker units of the same type, e.g. by comparing the single phases in a three phase unit [3]. It is necessary to get a quantitative measure of similarity between two vibration signatures, and a number of approaches have been pursued by different investigators [4]-[6]. The present work employs Fourier analysis and dynamic time warping. The algorithm produces two types of outputs when two vibration patterns are compared: i) deviation in frequency content and amplitude, and ii) deviation in timing; both as a function of time. Further details on both hardware and software of the applied system can be found in previous publications [3], [6].
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1.99.S23
111. PREVAILING FAILURE MODES AND PARAMETERS TO MONITOR
The second CIGRk enquiry [2] distinguishes between major and minor failures and has also classified the failures after in which subassembly of the circuit-breaker they origin, see Table I.
Table I. Origin of failures in the second CIGRE survey [7]. Major Minor failures failures Mechanical in oper. mechanism 44 % 39 % Mechanical in other parts 10% 10% Electrical (main circuit) 14% 1% Electrical (control and aux.) 25% 10% Tightness of SFa gas system 7% 40%
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Concerning diagnostic testing and monitoring it is with basis in these findings concluded [7] that the most important parameters to consider are: i) density of the SF6 gas, and, ii) parameters of the operating mechanism. Most circuit-breakers are presently equipped with systems that continuously monitor SF6pressure or density, and give alarm andor block for operation in case of a gas leak. Assessing the condition of the operating mechanism is far more difficult, since no measurable parameter(s) can disclose all the failure and degradation modes that may appear. However, bearing in mind that the majority of the problems affecting the operating mechanism are of a mechanical origin, the inherent features of vibration analysis makes this an interesting option for diagnostics. In the next sections a number of examples that illustrate how typical defects affect the vibration signatures are presented.
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Time [ms] Fig. 2 Vibration patterns from an opening operation, showing deviations in timing between the three phases. Timing deviation [ms]
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1.I 00.S23
Case 11: Bacteria growth in hydraulic oil
Fig. 4 shows vibration signatures acquired on the hydraulic control block of the operating mechanisms of each phase of a 300 kV circuit-breaker. Only the fisst 30 ms of a closing sequence lasting for approximately 150 ms are displayed.
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Fig. 6.Vibration signatures recorded under the same conditions as those shown in Fig. 4, but on a circuit-breaker without any signs of abnormal behaviour.
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Fig. 4. Vibration signatures obtained on the hydraulic control block in the beginning of a closing operation. The large deviations between the patterns are attributed to large quantities of micro organisms present in the hydraulic fluid.
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The vibration signatures appear to differ significantly. This is confirmed by the output from the analysis. Fig. 5 shows the deviations in frequency content and amplitude when comparing these patterns.
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Fig. 7. Deviation in frequency content and amplitude between the signatures shown in Fig. 6.
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Fig. 5 Deviationin frequency content and amplitude between the vibration patterns in Fig. 4.
It was later discovered that the hydraulic fluid in these circuit-breakers contained large amounts of micro organisms or bacteria. This was seen as gelllke pollutions, and they are probably responsible for the observed deviations in the vibration patterns from valves and other part of the hydraulic block. These circuit-breakers later ran into major problems suffering long delays in their closing and opening times. For the sake of comparison, normal vibration patterns and the output from the same type of analysis are also presented, see Figs. 6 and 7.
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1.101.S23
Phase R
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Fig. 8. Vibration patterns obtained before and after an electric endurance test, showing the effect o arcing contact f wear (see text). Electric measurements (thinlthick lines) show when the contacts mate.
ing that the arcing rod has become substantially shorter during the tests. Subsequent dismantling of the circuit-breaker showed that these assumptions were correct. Heavy arc erosion had reduced the length of the arcing rod by 5 mm, and the diameter with 0.5 - 2 mm. Thus, this example demonstrates that a skilled user can extract rather detailed information about contact wear by careful examination of vibration patterns. Case IV: Diagnostic testing using several methods simultaneously Recently, commercial instrumentation that can combine vibration analysis with conventional diagnostic methods has become available. Fig. 9 shows application of such a system on a 145 kV spring operated single pressure SF6breaker. No signs of defects or malfunctions appear from these measurements, but a few interesting observations concerning the capabilities and properties of the different diagnostic methods can be made First, the operating times of the three phases can be obtained from the vibration patterns acquired on the breaker heads; the electrical measurements of closing times are in a sense superfluous or redundant as they provide no additional information. Second, the only measurement that can give detailed insight into how the various latches, bearings and other mechanical parts of the operating mechanism are working in the crucial first 60 - 70 m is the s vibration signature. Third, the contact travel curve is here as in most cases not acquired directly on the contacts, but at some accessible location closer to the common operating mechanism. Thus, defects (misadjustments, incorrect assembly etc.) in the mechanical links between this point and one of the contact sets will not necessarily be observable from this contact travel curve. Parallel recordings directly on the arcing chamber of synchronous and
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Fig. 9. Simultaneous recordings o closing time for each f phase, vibration patterns on the three breaker heads and in the common operating mechanism, as well as coil current and contact travel curve.
similar vibration patterns give significantly more confidence in that everything is normal. V. CONCLUSION Comprehensive CIGRk surveys have shown that failures of mechanical origin in the operating mechanism are among the most important problems with circuit-breakers. Thus, CIGRE concludes that diagnostic techniques that consider parameters of the operating mechanism require more attention and improvements. The present authors feel that vibration analysis is a promising diagnostic technique that to a large extent meets these demands.
REFERENCES
G. Mazza and R. Michaca, The first international enquiry on circuit-breaker failures and defects in service, Elektra, no. 79, 1981, pp. 21 - 91. Final Report o the Second International Enquiry on High f Voltag? Circuit-Breaker Failures and Defects in Service, CIGRE report no. 83, 1994. M. Runde et al., Vibration analysis for diagnostic testing of circuit-breakers, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 1 1, 1 9 9 6 , ~1816-1823. ~. M. Lai et al., Mechanical failure detection of circuitbreakers, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 3, 1988, pp. 1724-173 1 . P.R. Vomard, A simple approach to condition monitoring of circuit breakers, CIGRB 1994, paper no. 13-203. M. Runde et al., Acoustic diagnosis of high-voltage circuitbreakers, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 7, 1992, pp. 1306-13 15. A.L.J. Janssen et al., Diagnostic techniques for high voltage circuit-breakers and their appljcation, Diagnostic . and Maintenance Techniques, CIGRE Symp., 1993, paper no. 120-07.
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