STUDY ON PERIODICAL TESTING CARRIED OUT VARIOUS EQUIPMENTS IN

EHT SUBSTATION.

1) Testing and commissioning of substation equipment (testing CIRCUIT BREAKER)

1. Test the HV/EHV class Circuit Breakers of various makes like ABB, BHEL, CGL, ALSTOM,
SIEMENS, NGEF Etc. for following tests:

 Circuit Breaker Operation times, like C, O, C-O, O-C-O…

 Travel Characteristics of breaker contact / mechanism
 Trip & Close Coil Current characteristics
 Static Contact Resistance
 Dynamic Contact Resistance (DCRM)
 Tan Delta of Grading Capacitors and Dew Point Measurement of SF6

2) testing TRANSFORMER, CT, PT, CVT etc.

1. Test the HV/EHV class of Transformers of various makes like ABB, BHEL, CGL, ALSTOM
etc. for their

 IR value with Polarization Index (PI) & Absorption Index (AI),

 Capacitance & Tan Delta of windings as well as bushings
 Winding Resistance Measurement
 Magnetic balance test
 Magnetizing Current test
 Vector group confirmation test
 Frequency Response Analysis (FRA)

2. Test the HV/EHV class of Current Transformers (CT) of various makes for their

 IR value with PI & AI

 C & Tan Delta
 DC Resistance measurement
 Primary Injection Test
 Polarity test & Meg Curve test

testing TRANSFORMER, CT, PT, CVT etc.

3. Test the HV/EHV class of Potential Transformers (PT) & CVT of various makes for their

 IR value with Polarization Index (PI) & Absorption Index (AI),

 C & Tan Delta
 DC Resistance measurement & Primary Injection Test.
4. Test the HV/EHV class of Surge Arrestors of various makes for their :

 IR value with Polarization Index (PI) & Absorption Index (AI)

 C & Tan Delta
 Leakage Current monitoring

CIRCUIT BREAKER TESTINGS

1) TIMING TESTING

Introduction to breaker timing test

Circuit breakers are one of the important and critical part of electric power system. Circuit
breakers are the backbone of electrical protection system. Because of their key importance, they
must be checked periodically. Circuit breaker timing test is among different maintenance tests
which should be performed regularly. It measures the mechanical operating time of the circuit
breaker. This test is always important because delay in operation of circuit breaker can have
disastrous effects on the equipment when fault occurs.

 Operation time: Operation time of the circuit breaker is the closing and opening times of
contacts. Definition of these operation times is presented by IEC 56.3.105 as follows.

 Closing time: The time interval between energizing the coils of the breaker (when CB
contacts are in open position) and the instant when the contacts touch each other.
 Opening time: It is opposite to that of closing time. It is the time interval between
energizing the trip coil (CB contacts are in open position) and the instant when contacts
separate from each other.

Importance of timing test of circuit breaker

As it has already been discussed earlier that circuit has a key role to play in the protection
system. The correct operation time of circuit breaker is important due to the following reasons;

 Minimum damage during fault. When fault occurs, relay senses the abnormal condition
and gives a trip command to the circuit breaker. The circuit breaker after receiving trip
signal, energizes the trip coil and open its contacts thus detaches the faulty part of system
from rest of system. The circuit breaker takes some time to do the process. The
equipment’s installed in the power system are designed such that they withstand high
current (other abnormal condition) for very limited time. If the circuit breaker failed to
operate in that limited time, the equipment may be damaged or destroyed. Therefore it is
very important that circuit breaker must operate in specific minimuk time (operation
time) in order to minimize damage. This feature makes it very important to check the
operation time of circuit breaker periodically.
 Relay coordination. Circuit breakers are installed at different positions to provide
protection to power system. It is recommended that only faulty part of power system
should be detached while the other should remain intact. It is only possible that breaker
near to the fault should be tripped while breaker away from load and near to source
should remain intact. This is called relay coordination. The timing of the relay are set in
such a way that breaker near the fault should trip first. However if the breaker fails to
operate in its specific time, the breaker away from fault (near to source) will trip hence
healthy part of system will also be detached. So correct operation time is necessary for
the relay coordination.

Equipment for CB timing test

 Different measuring devices can used to perform timing test of circuit breaker. First-
generation devices were based on oscillographic mode of record curves and currently are
not used. Second generation testing methods based on digital timers with time-pulse
conversion e.g. Circuit-breaker timer.
 The equipment which is widely used nowadays for performing timing test of circuit
breaker is the Circuit breaker (CB) analyzer. The major probes and connection points are
shown in the following figure.
Circuit breaker timing test procedure and Connections
To perform breaker timing test, following connections are required.
 Connection to the input & output of each phase of circuit breaker from circuit breaker
analyzer.
 DC supply to the tripping coil of the circuit breaker from external source.
 Connection to the tripping circuit of breaker from CBA.
Following figure shows the typical connection diagram.
As it can be seen from the figure that connection to incoming of each phase of breaker is
provided from CBA via red, yellow and blue wires while outgoing is connected with black wire.
Positive (+) and Negative (-) sign shows the connection of external battery to the triggering
circuit.

When the connections are done, note the state of the circuit breaker from breaker state indicator
(on or off). Press the ready button, the circuit breaker will be operated and the time will be
displayed on the screen. Results of the timing test of circuit breaker can be printed using thermal
printer, downloaded directly to USB via USB port and displayed on PC via USB interface.
Repeat the process for closing and opening of circuit breaker.

Accepted Results

The exact correct operation time of circuit breaker is provided by the manufacturer. It can be
mentioned on the nameplate of circuit breaker. Click here to learn how to interpret name plate of
circuit breaker.
However as a rule of thumb, operating time of circuit breaker should fall in the following ranges

HT breakers (above 11kV) Opening time = 1-2 cycles (20 – 40 ms)

Closing time = 2-5 cycle ( 40 to 100ms)
LT breakers (11kV or below) opening time = 2-3 cycles (40 to 60ms)

Closing time = 3-6 cycles (60 to 120ms)

These are just estimated values which can be regarded as acceptable operation time