Thesis Capacitor Bank Switching

INVESTIGATION OF CIRCUIT BREAKER
SWITCHING TRANSIENTS FOR SHUNT

REACTORS AND SHUNT CAPACITORS
Mohd Shamir Ramli, B.Eng

Submi tted i n f ul f i l ment of the requi rements for the degree of
Master of Engi neeri ng
School of Engi neeri ng Systems
Facul ty of Bui l t Envi ronment and Engi neeri ng
Queensl and Uni versi ty of Technol ogy

2008

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I nvesti gati on of Ci rcui t Breaker Swi tchi ng Transi ents f or Shunt Reactors and Shunt Capaci tors
M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page i
Keywords
Antenna, arcing ti me, capaci tor bank, capaci ti ve coupli ng, ci rcui t breaker, condi ti on monitori ng,
control l ed swi tchi ng, current i nterruption, high f requency, hi gh vol tage, non-i ntrusi ve, on-l i ne
moni tori ng, overvol tages, prestri ke, restri ke, rei gni ti on, shunt reactor, swi tchi ng, ti mi ng,
transi ents, vol tage sensor.
M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page i i
Abstract
Switching of shunt reactors and capaci tor banks i s known to cause a very hi gh rate of
ri se of transi ent recovery vol tage across the ci rcui t breaker contacts. Wi th i mprovements i n
ci rcui t breaker technol ogy, modern SF6 puf f er ci rcui ts have been desi gned wi th l ess i nterrupter
per pol e than previ ous generati ons of SF6 ci rcui t breakers. This has caused modern ci rcui t
breakers to operate wi th hi gher vol tage stress i n the di electri c recovery regi on af ter current
i nterrupti on. Catastrophic f ai l ures of modern SF6 ci rcui t breakers have been reported duri ng
shunt reactor and capaci tor bank de-energi sation. I n those cases, evi dence of cumulati ve re-
stri kes has been f ound to be the main cause of i nterrupter f ai l ure.
Moni tori ng of vol tage wavef orms duri ng swi tchi ng woul d provi de i nf ormati on about the
magni tude and f requency of small re-igni tions and re-stri kes. However, measuri ng wavef orms at
a moderatel y hi gh f requency requi re pl ant outages to connect equi pment. I n recent years, there
have been i ncreasi ng i nterests i n usi ng RF measurements i n condi ti on moni tori ng of swi tchgear.
The RF measurement techni que used f or measuri ng ci rcui t breaker i nter-pol e swi tchi ng time
duri ng capaci tor bank cl osi ng i s of parti cul ar i nterest.
I n thi s thesi s, research has been carri ed out to i nvesti gate swi tchi ng transi ents produced
duri ng ci rcui t breaker swi tchi ng capaci tor banks and shunt reactors using a non-i ntrusi ve
measurement techni que. The proposed techni que measures the hi gh frequency and l ow
f requency vol tage wavef orms during switching operati ons wi thout the need of an outage. The
pri nci pl es of thi s measurement techni que are di scussed and f i el d measurements were carri ed out
at shunt rector and capaci tor bank i nstall ati on i n two 275 kV air i nsul ated substations. Resul ts of
the measurements are presented and di scussed i n thi s thesi s.
The proposed technique shows that i t i s rel ati vel y easy to moni tor ci rcui t breaker
swi tchi ng transi ents and usef ul i nf ormati on on swi tchi ng i nstances can be extracted f rom the
measured wavef orms. Further research works are di scussed to reali se the f ul l potenti al of the
measuri ng techni que.

M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page i i i
Table of Contents
Keywords.................................................................................................................................................i
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. i i
Tabl e of Contents.................................................................................................................................. i i i
Li st of Fi gures........................................................................................................................................vi
Li st of Tabl es .........................................................................................................................................i x
Li st of Abbrevi ati ons ..............................................................................................................................x
Statement of Ori gi nal Authorshi p ..........................................................................................................xi
Acknowl edgments................................................................................................................................ xi i
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background..................................................................................................................................1
1.2 Research conducted .....................................................................................................................2
1.3 Thesi s outl i ne...............................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................... 4
2.1 Revi ew of current i nterrupti on i n ci rcui t breakers.......................................................................4
2.2 Reacti ve equi pment swi tchi ng .....................................................................................................6
2.3 Revi ew on capaci tor bank swi tchi ng ...........................................................................................8
2.3.1 I nterrupti ng capaci tor bank...............................................................................................8
2.3.2 Energi si ng capaci tor bank ..............................................................................................13
2.4 Revi ew of reactor bank swi tchi ng .............................................................................................14
2.4.1 I nterrupti ng shunt reactor bank.......................................................................................15
2.4.2 Current choppi ng............................................................................................................16
2.4.3 Rei gni ti on .......................................................................................................................20
2.4.4 Osci l l ati on modes...........................................................................................................24
2.4.5 I nteracti on between phases.............................................................................................26
2.4.6 Energi si ng transi ents.......................................................................................................28
2.5 Li mi tati on of overvol tage transi ent duri ng reacti ve swi tchi ng ..................................................28
2.5.1 Over vol tage l i mi tati on..................................................................................................28
2.5.2 Control l ed swi tchi ng.......................................................................................................29
2.6 Fai l ure of ci rcui t breaker due to restri ki ng ................................................................................30
2.6.1 I mportance of detecti ng restri ke.....................................................................................36
2.7 Condi ti on moni tori ng f or ci rcui t breakers .................................................................................39
2.7.1 Detecti ng restri kes or i nterrupter experi enci ng prol ong restri kes ..................................40
2.7.2 Al ternati ve moni tori ng methods.....................................................................................40
CHAPTER 3: NEW METHODS FOR CONDITION MONITORING OF RESTRIKING EHV
CBS...................................................................................................................................................... 42
3.1 Non-i nvasi ve ci rcui t breaker moni tori ng usi ng radi ometri c measurement ................................42
3.2 Research methodol ogy...............................................................................................................43
3.3 Devel opi ng measuri ng equi pment .............................................................................................44
3.4 Acti ve broadband Antenna ........................................................................................................45
3.5 Capaci ti ve Coupl i ng antenna.....................................................................................................47
3.5.1 Constructi on of the Passi ve Antenna..............................................................................47
M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page i v
3.5.2 Revi ew on capaci ti ve coupl i ng.......................................................................................49
3.5.3 Si ngl e phase capaci ti ve coupl i ng model .........................................................................51
3.5.4 Three phase coupl i ng i nsi de substati on ..........................................................................55
3.6 Recordi ng i nstruments...............................................................................................................56
3.6.1 Di gi tal osci l l oscopes.......................................................................................................56
3.6.2 Coaxi al cabl e ..................................................................................................................58
3.6.3 Measurement requi rement i n substati on.........................................................................58
CHAPTER 4: EXPLORATORY MEASUREMENT ON SINGLE-PHASE REACTOR
SWITCHING AND CAPACITOR BANK SWITCHING ............................................................. 60
4.1 Fi el d measurement at Ergon Laboratory....................................................................................60
4.1.1 Purpose of measurement .................................................................................................60
4.1.2 Restri ki ng i n Vacuum Ci rcui t Breaker ...........................................................................60
4.1.3 Test and measurement set up..........................................................................................62
4.1.4 Reactor openi ng at 3kV wi th Passi ve Antenna l ocated cl ose to the suppl y transf ormer 64
4.1.5 Concl usi on......................................................................................................................67
4.2 Expl oratory three phase capaci tor bank swi tchi ng measurement at Bl ackwal l substati on ........68
4.2.1 Purpose of si te measurement ..........................................................................................68
4.2.2 Si te detai l s and arrangement ...........................................................................................68
4.2.3 Measurement set up ........................................................................................................70
4.2.4 Summary of tests/measurement carri ed out ....................................................................72
4.2.5 Openi ng operati on ..........................................................................................................73
4.2.6 Cl osi ng operati on............................................................................................................75
4.2.7 Di scussi on.......................................................................................................................77
4.2.8 I mprovement to be taken ................................................................................................77
CHAPTER 5: MEASUREMENT OF CAPACITOR BANK SWITCHING............................... 79
5.1 Si te detai l s and arrangement ......................................................................................................79
5.2 Test and measurement set up .....................................................................................................81
5.3 Summary of tests/measurement carri ed out ...............................................................................83
5.4 Background measurement..........................................................................................................84
5.5 Capaci tor bank cl osi ng...............................................................................................................87
5.6 I mperf ect capaci tor bank cl osi ng...............................................................................................90
5.7 Capaci tor bank openi ng .............................................................................................................94
5.8 Summary on capaci tor bank swi tchi ng tests..............................................................................99
5.8.1 Cl osi ng operati on............................................................................................................99
5.8.2 Openi ng operati on ........................................................................................................100
CHAPTER 6: MEASUREMENT OF SHUNT REACTOR BANK SWITCHING.................. 101
6.1 Si te arrangement ......................................................................................................................101
6.2 Test and measurement set up ...................................................................................................103
6.3 Summary of tests/measurement carri ed out .............................................................................105
6.4 Background measurement........................................................................................................106
6.5 Shunt reactor bank cl osi ng.......................................................................................................108
6.6 Shunt reactor bank openi ng .....................................................................................................114
6.7 Summary on shunt reactor bank swi tchi ng tests......................................................................119
6.7.1 Background measurement ............................................................................................119
6.7.2 Cl osi ng operati on..........................................................................................................119
6.7.3 Openi ng operati on ........................................................................................................119
CHAPTER 7: ANALYSIS OF RESULTS..................................................................................... 121
M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page v
7.1 Three phase capaci ti ve coupl i ng model ...................................................................................121
7.2 Observati ons of arci ng si gnal s i n shunt reactor openi ng .........................................................129
7.3 Anal ysi s i n f requency-ti me domai n .........................................................................................138
7.3.1 Anal ysi ng usi ng Fast Fouri er Transf orm (FFT) ...........................................................138
7.3.2 Anal ysi ng usi ng Short Ti me Fast Fouri er Transf orm (ST FFT) Anal ysi s....................139
CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION........................................................................................................ 144
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................. 144
APPENDICES.................................................................................................................................. 153
Appendi x A: Si te Measurement Procedure..............................................................................153
Appendi x B : Sampl e of f orms used f or si te measurement ......................................................156
Appendi x C : Matl ab Program f or Capaci ti ve Di vi der Model (I n Chapter 7) .........................158

M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page vi
List of Figures

Fi gure 2.1 Typi cal Ci rcui t I nterrupti on (f rom [ 7] ) ..................................................................................5
Fi gure 2.2 Si ngl e Phase Capaci tor Bank ci rcui t (f rom [ 10] )...................................................................8
Fi gure 2.3 Capaci tance Swi tchi ng (a) System vol tage and current. (b) Capaci tor vol tage (c) Vol tage
across CB contact. (f rom [ 9] ) .........................................................................................................9
Fi gure 2.4 Capaci tance swi tchi ng showi ng the ef f ect of source regul ati on (f rom [ 9] ) .........................10
Fi gure 2.5 Capaci tance swi tchi ng wi th a restri ke at peak vol tage. (f rom [ 9] ) ......................................12
Fi gure 2.6. Capaci tance swi tchi ng wi th mul ti pl e restri kes. (f rom [ 9] ) .................................................13
Fi gure 2.7. Si ngl e phase equi val ent ci rcui t [ 11] ...................................................................................16
Fi gure 2.8 Current choppi ng phenomena (f rom [ 3] ) .............................................................................17
Fi gure 2.9 Choppi ng Phenomena i n si ngl e phase (f rom [ 11] ) ..............................................................19
Fi gure 2.10 Rei gni ti on Wi ndows (f rom[ 3] ) ..........................................................................................21
Fi gure 2.11 Rei gni ti on at recovery vol tage peak f or a ci rcui t wi th l ow suppl y si de capaci tance (f rom
[ 3] )................................................................................................................................................23
Fi gure 2.12 Maxi mum re-i gni ti on overvol tages (f rom [ 3] ) ..................................................................24
Fi gure 2.13 Osci l l ati on Mode i n the reactor ci rcui t ..............................................................................25
Fi gure 2.14 Load si de osci l l ati on wi th ci rcui t breaker l ocated cl ose to shunt reactor (f rom[ 3] ) .........27
Fi gure 2.15 Load si de osci l l ati on wi th ci rcui t breaker l ocated remote f rom shunt reactor (f rom [ 3] ) .27
Fi gure 2.16 (a) Typi cal schemati c of SF6 CB showi ng mai n contacts (1), arci ng contacts (2) and
nozzl e (3). (b) Vol tage di stri buti on i n i nterrupter chamber. [ 21] .................................................33
Fi gure 2.17 Anal ysi s of vol tage breakdown f or mai n and arci ng contacts al ong the contact gap. (f rom
[ 21] ) ..............................................................................................................................................34
Fi gure 3.1 Photo of Broadband Acti ve Antenna...................................................................................46
Fi gure 3.2 Gai n vs Frequency f or RF ampl i f i er [ 62] ............................................................................46
Fi gure 3.3 Passi ve Antenna Drawi ng....................................................................................................47
Fi gure 3.4 Photo of Passi ve Antenna....................................................................................................48
Fi gure 3.5 El ectrostati c coupl i ng between a HV conductor and secondary ci rcui t...............................49
Fi gure 3.6 Capaci ti ve Di vi der ...............................................................................................................51
Fi gure 3.7 Passi ve Antenna Equi val ent Ci rcui t ....................................................................................52
Fi gure 3.8 Bode Di agram......................................................................................................................54
Fi gure 3.9 Capaci ti ve coupl i ng between three phase conductors and three passi ve antennas. .............55
Fi gure 3.10 Recordi ng i nstrument arrangement....................................................................................56
Fi gure 4.1 Restri ki ng Process Duri ng CB Openi ng (f rom [ 58] ) ...........................................................61
Fi gure 4.2 Measured Vol tage at reactor termi nal (f rom [ 58] )...............................................................61
Fi gure 4.3 Experi mental Ci rcui t arrangement .......................................................................................62
Fi gure 4.4 Photograph showi ng Laboratory arrangement.....................................................................63
Fi gure 4.5 Photograph showi ng Laboratory arrangement.....................................................................63
M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page vi i
Figure 4.6 (a) WaveIorms during opening oI vacuum circuit breaker at 3 kV (b) Area A Restrikes
on Reactor Voltage (c) Area A Restrikes detected by passi ve antenna.....................................65
Fi gure 4.7 HF restri ki ng pul ses detected on Acti ve Antenna ...............................................................66
Fi gure 4.8 Magni f i cati on on one HF pul se ...........................................................................................67
Fi gure 4.9. Bl ackwal l Substati on I nterconnecti on ................................................................................69
Fi gure 4.10 Bl ackwal l Capaci tor Bank Layout ....................................................................................70
Fi gure 4.11 Measuri ng equi pment l ayout .............................................................................................71
Fi gure 4.12 Antenna wavef orm on CB opened at poi nt A ....................................................................73
Fi gure 4.13 HF pul ses duri ng openi ng..................................................................................................74
Fi gure 4.14 Three typi cal HF Pul ses Duri ng Openi ng..........................................................................74
Fi gure 4.15 Passi ve Antenna wavef orm on cl osi ng ..............................................................................75
Fi gure 4.16 HF markers duri ng cl osi ng ................................................................................................75
Fi gure 4.17 (a) to (f ) typi cal HF Pul ses duri ng cl osi ng.........................................................................76
Fi gure 5.1 Three-phase vol tage wavef orms and control l ed cl osi ng poi nts f or a Capaci tor Bank.........80
Fi gure 5.2 Three-phase current wavef orms and control l ed openi ng poi nts f or a Capaci tor Bank.......80
Fi gure 5.3 Measuri ng equi pment l ayout f or tests at Bl ackwal l .............................................................81
Fi gure 5.4 Capaci tor Bank I nstal l ati on .................................................................................................82
Fi gure 5.5 Recordi ng I nstrumentati on ..................................................................................................82
Fi gure 5.6 Pl an vi ew of antenna posi ti ons at Capaci tor Bank i nstal l ati on duri ng background
measurement.................................................................................................................................85
Fi gure 5.7 Wavef orm f rom Background measurement .........................................................................86
Fi gure 5.8 Pl an vi ew of the antenna posi ti ons f or Test 5......................................................................87
Fi gure 5.9 Wavef orms captured duri ng CB cl ose operati on f or Test 5 ................................................88
Fi gure 5.10 Wavef orms captured on Powerl i nk`s portable recorder Ior Test 5....................................89
Fi gure 5.11 Pl an vi ew of the antenna posi ti ons f or Test 3....................................................................91
Fi gure 5.13 Wavef orms captured duri ng CB cl ose operati on f or Test 3 ..............................................93
Fi gure 5.14 Pl an vi ew of the antenna posi ti ons f or Test 8....................................................................94
Figure 5.15 WaveIorms captured on Powerlink`s portabl e recorder f or Test 8-Open..........................96
Fi gure 5.16 Wavef orms captured duri ng CB open operati on f or Test 8...............................................98
Fi gure 6.1 Three-phase vol tage wavef orms and control l ed cl osi ng poi nts f or a Shunt Reactor Bank102
Fi gure 6.2 Three-phase current wavef orms and control l ed openi ng poi nts f or Shunt Reactor Bank .102
Fi gure 6.3 Measuri ng equi pment l ayout at Braemar substati on..........................................................103
Fi gure 6.4 Shunt Reactor I nstal l ati on..................................................................................................104
Fi gure 6.5 PASS MO Ci rcui t Breaker.................................................................................................104
Fi gure 6.6 Passi ve and acti ve antennas l ocati on .................................................................................105
Fi gure 6.7 Pl an vi ew of the antenna posi ti ons at shunt reactor i nstal l ati on ........................................107
Fi gure 6.8 Wavef orm on Background measurement ..........................................................................108
Fi gure 6.10 Wavef orms captured by PA 1,2 and 3 duri ng CB cl osi ng operati on f or Test 4 ..............110
M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page vi i i
Fi gure 6.11 Wavef orms captured duri ng CB cl ose operati on i n Test 4 by each antenna ...................111
Fi gure 6.12 Compari son of vol tage magni tude of cl osi ng pul ses at each cl osi ng event .....................112
Fi gure 6.13 Wavef orms captured on Powerl i nk`s portable recorder Ior Test 7..................................114
Fi gure 6.14 Wavef orms captured duri ng CB open operati on i n Test 7 ..............................................115
Fi gure 6.15 Wavef orms captured duri ng CB open operati on by each antenna..................................117
Fi gure 7.1 Capaci tances between passi ve antennas and three phase conductors wi th symmetri cal
spaci ngs......................................................................................................................................122
Fi gure 7.2 Equi val ent ci rcui t f or passi ve antenna at l ocati on 1 measuri ng three phase vol tages. ......123
Fi gure 7.3 Output wavef orms f or Case 1............................................................................................125
Fi gure 7.4 Capaci tances between passi ve antennas and three phase conductors wi th unsymmetri cal
di stances.....................................................................................................................................127
Fi gure 7.7 Wavef orms recorded by Acti ve antenna on capaci tor bank openi ng ................................130
Fi gure 7.8 Wavef orms recorded by Acti ve antenna on shunt reactor openi ng duri ng Test 7.............131
Fi gure. 7.9 Test 7 - AA si gnal s wi thout noi se and l oad osci l l ati on ....................................................131
Fi gure. 7.10 Test 7 - Cumul ati ve energy agai nst ti me ........................................................................132
Fi gure 7.11 Test 7 - Densi ty of Pul ses wi th ti me................................................................................133
Fi gure 7.12 Test 7 - Cumul ati ve Pul ses agai nst ti me..........................................................................133
Fi gure 7.13 Test 5 - AA si gnal s wi thout noi se and l oad osci l l ati on .................................................134
Fi gure 7.14 Test5 - Cumul ati ve energy agai nst ti me ..........................................................................135
Fi gure 7.15 Test 5 - Densi ty of Pul ses wi th ti me................................................................................136
Fi gure 7.16 Test 5 - Cummul ati ve pul ses agai nst ti me.......................................................................136
Fi gure 7.17 RF Measurement showi ng arc si gnal U
D
, swi tch vol tage Us and current I s [ 50] . ...........137
Fi gure 7.18 Reactor Openi ng Test 7 (a)Ti me domai n pl ot of PA1 wavef orm f or openi ng f rom 20 ms
to 50 ms (b) Frequency content of wavef orm i n (a). .................................................................139
Fi gure 7.19 (a) Vol tage-Ti me domai n pl ot of wavef orms f rom PA2 (b) ST FFT contour pl ot of PA2
wavef orms f or openi ng- f rom 23 ms to 28 ms...........................................................................141
Fi gure 7.20 (a) Vol tage-Ti me domai n pl ot of AA (b) ST FFT contour pl ot of AA (f rom 0-2MHz) (c)
ST FFT contour pl ot of AA (f rom 0-10MHz) f or openi ng f rom 23 ms to 28 ms ......................142

M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page i x
List of Tables

Tabl e 2.1 Resul ts of the overhaul of the ci rcui t breakers (f rom [ 4] ). ....................................................31
Tabl e 2.2 Resul ts of tests made to exami ne ef f ects of parasi ti c arci ng.(f rom [ 25] ) ..............................36
Tabl e 2.3 Stati sti cs cause of f ai l ure of ci rcui t breaker (f rom [ 28] ) ......................................................38
Tabl e 3.1 Characteri sti cs of Agi l ent Di gi tal Osci l l oscope....................................................................56
Tabl e 3.2 Characteri sti cs of Yokogawa Di gi tal Osci l l oscope...............................................................57
Tabl e 4.1 Cal i brati on between test vol tage, suppl y vol tage and Passi ve antenna.................................64
Tabl e 4.2 Summary of tests conducted at Bl ackwal l on 21
st
May 2007 ...............................................72
Tabl e 5.1 Summary of tests conducted at Bl ackwal l on 7
th
August 2007.............................................83
Tabl e 5.2 Vol tage measured by each Passi ve antenna duri ng background measurement .....................86
Tabl e 5.3 Summary of CB ti mi ng and pol e sequence f or capaci tor bank cl osi ng Test 5......................90
Tabl e 5.4 Summary of CB ti mi ng and pol e sequence f or capaci tor bank cl osi ng Test 3......................94
Tabl e 5.5 Summary of CB ti mi ng and pol e sequence f or capaci tor bank Test 8 ..................................97
Tabl e 6.1 Summary of tests conducted at Braemar substati on on 21
st
August 2007 ..........................106
Tabl e 6.2 Vol tage measured by each Passi ve antenna duri ng background measurement ...................108
Tabl e 6.3 Summary of CB ti mi ng and pol e sequence f or shunt reactor bank cl osi ng Test 4 .............113
Tabl e 6.4 Summary of CB ti mi ng and pol e sequence f or shunt reactor bank openi ng Test 7 ............118
Tabl e 7.1 Cal cul ated resul ts and measured val ues f rom Braemar substati on .....................................126
Tabl e 7.2 Di f f erences between ori gi nal wavef orm and reconstructed wavef orms wi th 10% error on
capaci tances................................................................................................................................129
M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page x
List of Abbreviations
(Sort i n al phabeti cal order.)
AA - Broadband acti ve antenna
AI S - Ai r I nsul ated Swi tchgear
CI GRE - I nternati onal Conf erence on Hi gh Vol tage Systems, Pari s
CB - Ci rcui t Breaker
EHV - Extra Hi gh Vol tage
HF - Hi gh f requency
PA - Passi ve antenna (capaci ti ve coupl i ng antenna)
PASS - Pl ug And Swi tch System
SF
6
- Sul phur hexaf l uori de
VCB - Vacuum circui t breaker

M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page xi
Statement of Original Authorship
The work contai ned i n thi s thesi s has not been previousl y submi tted to meet
requi rements f or an award at thi s or any other hi gher education i nsti tution. To the best of my
knowl edge and bel i ef , the thesi s contai ns no material previ ousl y publi shed or wri tten by another
person except where due ref erence i s made.

Si gnature: _________________________

Date: _________________________
M.Shami r Raml i , M.Eng Thesi s, QUT, 2008 Page xi i
Acknowledgments
Fi rst and foremost, my most si ncere thanks must go to my supervi sors, Associ ate
Prof essor Davi d Bi rtwhi stl e and Dr. Tee Tang, f or thei r advi ce, gui dance and most of al l thei r
pati ence and understandi ng throughout thi s research.
Speci al acknowl edgement i s made towards Powerli nk Queensland f or the f i nancial
support gi ven to this research proj ect and also to Dr Jose Lopez Rol dan of Powerl i nk f or hi s
assi stance and contri buti on in thi s research. The assi stance of staf f of Powerl i nk Queensl and i n
carryi ng out f ield measurements i s greatl y acknowl edged.
I woul d al so li ke to thank the Head of the School of Engi neeri ng Systems, Queensl and
Uni versi ty of Technol ogy, for the use of the f aci l i ties. Speci al thanks go to the techni cal staf f at
Level 9, S Bl ock, f or thei r assi stance wi th l aboratory works, giving j okes that bri ghten up the
day and techni cal advi ces on equi pment. I al so thank my col l eagues f or thei r hel p throughout the
research work.
I gratef ul l y acknowl edge the management of Tenaga Nasi onal Berhad (TNB), Mal aysi a
f or awardi ng a schol arshi p to me to f urther my studi es and to embark on a very good research
that wi ll benef i t the organi sation di rectl y or i ndirectl y.
Fi nal l y, my l ove and thanks go to my wi f e who has been gi vi ng support to me whi l e
compl eti ng thi s research. Al so to my chi l dren f or cheeri ng me up at times when i t i s real l y
needed.
ALHAMDULLI LLAH.

Chapter 1: Introduction
M.Shamir Ramli, M.Eng Thesis, QUT, 2008 Page 1
1Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 BACKGROUND
Modern SF6 puffer circuit breakers have been designed with far fewer interrupters per
pole than previous generations of SF6 circuit breakers. This has meant that modern circuit
breakers have to contend with far higher voltage stress in the dielectric recovery region than
previous types. The increased stress has caused dielectric re-ignition of some types of circuit
breakers on capacitive switching duties [1]. In line with this, new standards [2] have been
developed that require a large number of tests and provide a classification of circuit breakers
based on their probability of restriking for capacitive switching.

Switching of shunt reactors is recognised as a duty that causes a very high rate of rise of
transient recovery voltage across the circuit breaker contacts [3]. Restrikes of modern SF6 circuit
breakers have been observed during disconnection of shunt reactors but the high-frequency re-
ignition current is interrupted at an early current zero and often there is no external evidence of
any adverse effects on the circuit breaker interrupters.

With the ongoing development in circuit breakers, re-strike free operation of circuit
breaker is not guaranteed for the stressful capacitive and inductive switching duty. [2] states that
a very low restrike probability as the best possible performance for circuit breakers on capacitor
bank switching duty. [1] and [3] give guidance on the application of AC high voltage circuit
breakers for capacitor bank and shunt reactor bank switching respectively. Precautions are also
taken during the design stage by selecting suitable breaker duty, carrying out system studies and
evaluating methods to reduce overvoltage transients. Controlled switching to reduce switching
transients seems to be the preferred method chosen by utilities.

Despite all these measures, failures of modern circuit breaker during capacitor bank and
shunt reactor bank switching have been observed. There has been increasing evidence that
recent failures of circuit breakers have been due to restriking during reactor switching [4] and
capacitor switching. Generally, restrikes do not cause immediate failures but they gradually
degrade the nozzle over time leading to catastrophic failure. Spencer [5] has suggested that the
high-frequency re-ignition currents during interruption cause 'parasitic arcing in the circuit
breaker nozzle and that this phenomena leads to gradual deterioration of the nozzle that may
eventually puncture the nozzle material and result in the failure of the interrupter. Failures due to
re-strike/re-ignition are becoming more of a concern as it is difficult to detect re-strike
occurrence. Failures can be catastrophic and they can affect the availability, reliability, safety
and cost of the system which can greatly affect the utilities.

Condition monitoring of circuit breakers is thus important in order to ensure the safe
operation and reliability of circuit breakers. To date, no specific technique has been developed to
detect re-strike. Currently, shut downs are required to physically connect monitoring equipment
to measure switching transients and re-strike. An on-line non-intrusive technique would be an
advantage in monitoring circuit breaker re-strike occurrence during switching of reactive
equipment.

Moore [6] has demonstrated the practicality of measuring time between pole-closing in
circuit breakers during capacitor switching duty from measurement of emitted radio waves. In
this thesis research is conducted to determine whether it is possible to extend Moore`s
methodology to investigate switching transients produced during capacitor bank and shunt
reactor bank switching. Techniques for monitoring the magnitude and number of re-strikes
occurring during reactor switching using this or similar methods have also been explored..

1.2 RESEARCH CONDUCTED
This research investigates switching transients produced during the switching of three
phase capacitor banks and shunt reactors. The research includes the development of a monitoring
system which possesses most of the features required for the non-invasive, on-line monitoring of
EHV circuit breakers in AIS substations. The monitoring system may be used to carry out on-
line measurements at substations and the measured data are stored and analysed to give valuable
information on the switching transients.

Measurements may be correlated with the actual switching event using recorded
waveforms. Important information such as evidence of restrikes would be looked into from the
data gathered.

1.3 THESIS OUTLINE
This thesis includes a description of the development of the measuring system, results of
measurements made in EHV substations, analysis of results, comparisons with other available
techniques and suggestions for further works to be pursued.

Chapter 2 includes a literature review on topics related to the research. It reviews the
principle of current interruption, capacitor bank and shunt reactor bank switching and failures of
circuit breakers switching shunt reactor and capacitor banks. The importance of preventing
failures is highlighted with the need to develop a suitable condition monitoring method to detect
potential failures.

Chapter 3 describes the proposed new technique for monitoring CB during switching. It
starts with a review of the radiometric method used previously and describes the methodology
used in carrying out the research and development of the new monitoring system. The
measurement principles are described followed by details of the design and construction of the
high voltage transducers. . Chapters 4, 5 and 6 cover HV laboratory measurements, capacitor
bank measurements and shunt reactor bank site measurements respectively. Switching transients
are recorded and discussed. Results are analysed in time domain and important findings are
highlighted.

Chapter 7 deals with analysis of the recorded waveforms. Analysis in frequency domain
is shown to give more information and to correlate with the results from time domain analysis.
Chapter 8 reviews work done in the research highlighting important information obtained from
the measurements, the advantages of the measuring system and further work that can be done to
develop the measuring system.

Chapter 2: Literature Review
2Chapter 2: Literature Review

This chapter contains a literature review of materials pertinent to this research. A basic
review of current interruption in circuit breakers is carried out followed by a review of reactive
switching, including capacitor bank and shunt reactor bank switching. The energisation and
deenergisation phenomenon for capacitor and shunt reactor bank is described. Failures of circuit
breakers due to restriking are considered and the case for detecting restrikes is established. This
is followed by a review of the current available condition monitoring methods and their
suitability for detecting restrikes. Finally, new monitoring methods are proposed.
2.1 REVIEW OF CURRENT INTERRUPTION IN CIRCUIT BREAKERS

The primary purpose of an interrupting device such as circuit breaker is to disconnect
the circuit at the point at which it is placed. When closed, the circuit breaker must carry
continuous rated current. The insulation to ground is stressed by the power frequency voltage
and any transient overvoltages. When open, the dielectric between the contacts is stressed by the
voltage developed across the open contacts.

During the transition period from closed to open and vice versa, a range of dynamic
condition arise. For instance, during a transition from closed to open, the current must be
interrupted to achieve electrical isolation. Interruption of current normally occurs at a current
zero of the sinusoidal waveform and a voltage known as the transient recovery voltage appears
across the open contacts of the circuit breaker. The ability of a circuit breaker to interrupt the
current depends on external circuit parameters, dielectric recovery, contact separation at the time
of current zero, interrupter design and the interrupting conditions e.g. normal load, reactive
switching or fault current. The rate of rise and the peak value of the transient recovery voltage
have a significant impact on circuit breaker performance. Waveforms of a typical circuit
interruption [7] sequence are given in Figure 2.1 for a fault on the load-side terminals of a circuit
breaker.


Figure 2.1 Typical Circuit Interruption (from [7])
The circuit breaker contacts separate at Point A causing an arc to be drawn between the
contacts. This arc has a resistance that creates a small voltage drop, Va. The arc continues until
the current, I, drops to a level too small to maintain it. This occurs as the current passes through
zero, at which point the arc extinguishes and the transient recovery voltage appears across the
circuit breaker contacts. Successful interruption is achieved if the dielectric strength between the
contacts as they separate increases at a greater rate than that of the transient recovery voltage. In
addition, the breakdown strength of the gap between the contacts must exceed the peak value of
the transient recovery voltage. If not, the arc will re-establish and current interruption may occur
at a subsequent zero.

When the current ceases, the voltage between the contacts changes from virtually zero
(the arc voltage) to the instantaneously value of the power frequency voltage. This change
cannot take place instantaneously and a resultant overshoot occurs. The voltage approaches its
steady state value by a transient oscillation with a frequency that is determined by the values of
the circuit inductances and capacitances. The amplitude of the transient recovery voltage may
reach two times the steady state voltage change for the first pole to clear. However, in practice,
its value is usually less due primarily to system damping.

In addition, the instantaneous value of the recovery voltage at the instant of current
interruption is dependent on the power factor of the circuit. The amplitude of the voltage change
that occurs will depend on whether load, charging current or fault current is being interrupted.
Under fault conditions, power systems are primarily inductive. Therefore the power factor of the
circuit as seen from the circuit breaker is effectively zero lagging and the power frequency
This figure is not available online.
Please consult the hardcopy thesis
available from the QUT Library
component of the transient recovery voltage has its maximum value at the instant of current
interruption as shown in Figure 2.1.

The capability of the circuit breaker [8] to successfully interrupt the current will depend
on the phenomenon of current extinction at current zero. After current interruption, the still-hot
gas between the breaker contacts is stressed by a steep rate of rise of the recovery voltage and in
the resulting electric field the present charged particles start to drift and cause a hardly
measurable so-called post arc current. The post arc-current, together with the transient recovery
voltage, results in energy input in the still-hot gas channel. When the energy input is such that
the individual gas molecules dissociate into free electrons and heavier positive ions, the plasma
state is created again and current interruption has failed. This is called a thermal breakdown.
Thermal breakdown normally occur within microsecond in a region known as thermal recovery
phase. When the current interruption is successful, the hot-gas channel cools down and the post
arc current disappears. However, if the dielectric strength of the gap between the breaker
contacts is not sufficient to withstand the transient recovery voltage, a dielectric failure can
occur. Dielectric failure normally occurs within milliseconds in a region known as dielectric
recovery phase.

2.2 REACTIVE EQUIPMENT SWITCHING
Switching of reactive equipment such as capacitor banks and shunt reactors is known to
produce overvoltage transients that may cause insulation breakdown and lead to power system
failure [8]. The reactive equipment is connected to the power system via circuit breakers, this
similar for equipment like overhead lines, transformers and generators. When circuit breakers
operate, parts of the power system are either separated from or connected to each other. This can
be either a closing or opening operation of the circuit breakers.

After a closing operation, transient currents will flow through the system. Closing of a
CB in a predominantly capacitive or inductive network may result in inrush currents. The high-
frequency inrush current can cause problems by: production of severe mechanical stresses on
equipment; production of over voltages due to the system response to the inrush current; and
induction of undesirable transients into neighbouring circuits with low power relay and control
circuits being particularly vulnerable. After an opening operation, when a power-frequency
current is interrupted, a transient recovery voltage or TRV will appear across the terminals of the
interrupting device. The configuration of the network as seen from the terminals the circuit
breaker determines amplitude, frequency, shape of the current and voltage oscillations.

When interrupting a mainly capacitive load (e.g. capacitor bank for voltage regulation)
under normal load conditions, the current and voltage are approximately 90 degrees out of phase
and the current is leading the voltage. When interrupting a mainly inductive load (e.g. large
transformer or shunt reactor) under normal load conditions, current and voltage are also
approximately 90 degrees out of phase with the current lagging the voltage.

In interrupting capacitive or inductive current, if the current is interrupted at current
zero, the interruption is normal and the transient recovery voltages are within the specified
values [8]. However when premature interruption occurs due to current chopping, interruption is
abnormal and this may cause high-frequency re-ignitions and over voltages. If the interrupter
chops high current in a reactor a high-magnitude oscillatory voltage surge may be produced.. If
this process is repeated several times due to high-frequency re-ignitions, voltage doubling may
ensue with rapid escalation of voltage. If these overvoltages exceed the specified dielectric
strength for the circuit breaker, the interrupter and other parts of the circuit breaker may be
damaged.

Re-ignition [8,9] is a phenomenon where a dielectric breakdown of the arc channel
occurs within 5ms after current interruption. It is considered not detrimental to circuit breaker
though no evidence has been found in the literature to substantiate this. Re-ignitions during
recovery voltage are expected to cause 50Hz current to be re-established with minimal
disturbance and the final interruption of current is delayed about 10ms until the next natural
current zero for some types of circuit breakers. Puffer circuit breakers in which opening times are
very critical may be more seriously affected, though there is no published research on this topic.

Re-striking [8,9] is dielectric breakdown of the arc channel after 5ms of interruption,
when the recovery voltage is close to peak. The circuit breaker gap flashes over as the recovery
voltage is greater than the dielectric strength of the gap. Re-strikes can cause high over voltages
and high magnitude HF re-ignition currents that impose sever stresses on the circuit breaker and
adjacent equipment. Numerous re-strikes and interruptions of re-ignition current may will lead to
voltage escalation.

Voltage escalation is a phenomenon where voltage across the circuit breaker is increased
by one or more interruptions of re-ignition current followed by further re-strikes. Generally
interruption at the first or third re-ignition current zero or any odd zero leads to voltage
escalation.


2.3 REVIEW ON CAPACITOR BANK SWITCHING
Shunt capacitor banks are extensively used to improve loading of the transmission lines
as well as to support system voltages. As these capacitor banks are frequently switched in and
out of duty, energisation and de-energisation transients are produced and raise important
concerns. The concerns on energisation are overvoltages and inrush current whilst for de-
energisation is restriking.

2.3.1 Interrupting capacitor bank
Capacitor switching presents circuit breakers with a difficult switching condition. While
interrupting capacitive current, the recovering circuit breaker can be severely stressed during the
time when it is prone to dielectric failure. The problem of dielectric failure arises because the
normal point of current interruption (current zero) occurs when the current leads the voltage by
around 90 degrees. At current zero, a maximum voltage occurs, resulting in a fully charged
capacitance upon disconnection from the source. The voltage due to this trapped charge creates
high stresses during the first half cycle after interruption.

To consider the phenomena associated with capacitor de-energisation, the basic single
phase circuit parameters are given in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2 Single Phase Capacitor Bank circuit (from [10])

A capacitor bank can be represented by a lumped capacitance, C, connected to busbar
via circuit breaker. A small capacitance, C
b
represents the capacitance of the substation busbar
and other equipment. The impedance of the source is represented in the circuit by R
1
and L
1
.

Figure 2.3 Capacitance Switching (a) System voltage and current. (b) Capacitor voltage (c) Voltage across
CB contact. (from [9])
Figure 2.3 shows events occurring before and after a capacitor bank disconnection,
which in this case was performed successfully. At point A, the most favourable condition for arc
interruption is present and arc extinction occurs at the first current zero after contact separation.
Because of the relative phase current and voltage (current leads the voltage by approximately 90
0
), the capacitor is fully charged to maximum voltage when the switch interrupts. The magnitude
of the trapped voltage is equal to the peak value of the supply voltage, V (as shown in b).

The voltage on the supply side of the circuit breaker continues to vary at the source
power frequency (as in (a)) so that the voltage across the circuit breaker builds up sinusoidally
immediately after current interruption (as in (c)). One half cycle after current interruption, the
voltage across the circuit breaker reaches a value equal to twice the source voltage, which is
potentially dangerous. Thus, for successful interruption to be maintained, the gap between the
contacts must withstand twice the peak value of the source voltage, approximately 10ms after arc
extinction [9].

Figure 2.3 tends to oversimplify conditions to some extent in that when a capacitor is
connected to a system, the leading current that it draws, flowing through the inductance of the
system, causes the capacitor voltage to be somewhat higher than the open-circuit system voltage,
a negative regulation sometimes referred to as the 'Ferranti Rise. When the capacitor is
disconnected, the potential of the source side of the circuit breaker will return to this lower value,
but will do so by way of an oscillation involving the source inductance and the stray capacitance
adjacent to the breaker on the source side. A more accurate representation of the disconnecting
event is shown in Fig 2.4.

Figure 2.4 Capacitance switching showing the effect of source regulation (from [9])
Here V is the aforementioned negative regulation. It is important to recognise this
phenomenon exists as it can be important when interrupting capacitive current on relatively
weak systems [9]. A relatively weak system condition can be described where a lower voltage
system is being supplied by a higher voltage system through a step down transformer with cable
on the higher voltage side and the lower voltage breaker is called upon to interrupt the charging
current of the cable.

Some circuit breakers, when called upon to interrupt a load of fault current, do not do so
at the first current zero, but instead wait until sufficient gap has been established between their
contacts for their various arc-extinguishing effects to have a better chance of operating
successfully. The current involved in capacitance switching is frequently small, so that in most
cases the circuit breaker is capable of interrupting it at the first current zero. If this should occur
soon after the contacts have parted, a voltage of twice the system voltage will appear across the
contacts while their separation, so there is an increased likelihood of the device reigniting [9]. If
a restrike takes place precisely when the voltage reaches its peak, which in equivalent to
reclosing a perfect switch at that instant. There is in this case a series LC circuit so closing
inrush current would be expected to respond to this sudden disturbance by being a sinusoidal
oscillation with a natural frequency, f
o
, which is given by:

2 / 1
) ( 2
1
2 LC
f
o
(2.1)

where L is the inductance of the supply and C the capacitance of the bank.. A reignition or
restrike can also be viewed as an inadvertent re-energisation with a trapped charge of 1 pu on the
capacitor. The restrike current will be the instantaneous voltage across the switch at restrike
divided by the circuit surge impedance, or

t
C
L
Vp i
r 0
2 / 1
sin 2 (2.2)

Neglecting damping, the voltage will swing as far above the instantaneous system
voltage as it started below [9]. This is indicated in Figure 2.5, which shows the initial 50 Hz
clearing, the trapping of charge on the capacitor, and the subsequent restrike. The transient
voltage excursion to 3V
p
is an abnormal overvoltage and is the consequence of the energy stored
in the capacitor bank at the time of the restrike.

It is entirely possible that the circuit breaker will interrupt the restrike current, perhaps at
point A in Figure 2.5. If this happens, the high voltage is left trapped on the capacitor. The
source voltage, on the other hand, would continue on its way, so that after another half cycle
there would be approximately 4V
p
across the interrupter. This can be shown by the sequence
drawn in Fig. 2.6 where the Rs represent sequential restrikes and the Cs subsequent clearings [9].
If a second breakdown occurs, a second oscillatory discharge would be initiated. However, since
there is now twice the voltage across the switch, the current would be twice as high, and the
voltage excursion would be from +3V
p
to -5V
p
(the voltage excursion, neglecting damping, is
always twice the voltage across the switch). It is technically possible for the voltage to escalate
still further by the same mechanism until an external flashover occurs or the capacitor fails [9].


Figure 2.5 Capacitance switching with a restrike at peak voltage. (from [9])

The sequence is idealized and to some extent oversimplified. Restrikes will not always
occur precisely at the voltage peak, so that the voltage, if it escalates, does so more slowly.
Again, the circuit is more complicated. Some capacitance will exist on the source side of the
breaker, which will introduce higher frequency disturbances, as was pointed out in Fig 2.5.

When the switch recovers after point A, the potential at the switch is quite high. But the
source would have it be at its potential. The source side of the switch, therefore, goes through a
high-frequency transient involving an oscillation of the aforementioned capacitance and the
inductance of the source. In fact, at this time, it is possible for a voltage of 4 pu to be developed
across the switch, a point which is often overlooked. A reignition may occur at this time rather
than half a cycle later, which will probably result in the switch conducting current for another
half cycle.


Figure 2.6. Capacitance switching with multiple restrikes. (from [9])

2.3.2 Energising capacitor bank
Energisation of capacitor banks are usually associated with transient voltages and
currents. Transients produced during energising capacitor bank are inrush currents causing a
voltage dip and overvoltages resulting from the system response to the voltage dip. It is common
nowadays to have more than one capacitor bank connected to the same bus. This has no
influence on the conditions at interruption. The inrush current during closing is affected to a high
degree [1]. Two different situations may occur:
The capacitor bank is energised from a bus that does not have other capacitor banks
energised. This situation is called isolated capacitor bank switching.
The capacitor bank is energised from a bus that has other capacitor banks
energised. This situation is called back-to-back capacitor bank switching. It is
worth noting that even energised capacitor banks in nearby substations may
contribute to the inrush current representing a back-to-back situation.

The back-to-back switching normally gives rise to an inrush current of very high
magnitude and frequency which is higher than isolated capacitor bank switching. This inrush
current needs to be limited in order not to be harmful to the circuit breaker, capacitor banks
and/or the network. The magnitude and frequency of the inrush current is a function of the
following [1]:
Applied voltage during closing i.e. point on the voltage wave at closing.
Capacitance of the circuit
Inductance in the circuit (amount and location)
Any charge on the capacitor bank at the instant of closing.
Any damping of the circuit due to closing resistors or other resistances in the
circuit.
It is assumed that the capacitor bank is discharged prior to energization. This assumption
is reasonable, as capacitor units are fitted with discharging resistors that will discharge the
capacitor bank. Typical discharge times are in the order of 5 min.

The transient inrush current to an isolated bank is less than the available short-circuit
current at the capacitor bank terminals. It rarely exceeds 20 times the rated current of the
capacitor bank at a frequency that approaches 1 kHz [1]. Because a circuit breaker must meet the
making current requirements of the system, transient inrush current is not a limiting factor in
isolated capacitor bank applications.

When capacitor banks are switched back-to-back (i.e., when one bank is switched while
another bank is connected to the same bus), transient currents of prospective high magnitude and
with a high natural frequency may flow between the banks on closing of the circuit breaker. The
effects are similar to that of a restrike on opening. This oscillatory current is limited only by the
impedance of the capacitor bank and the circuit between the energized bank or banks and the
switched bank. This transient current usually decays to zero in a fraction of a cycle of the system
frequency. In the case of back-to-back switching, the component supplied by the source is at a
lower frequency; therefore, small it may be neglected.

2.4 REVIEW OF REACTOR BANK SWITCHING
Shunt reactors are mainly used in transmission networks. Their function is to consume
the excess reactive power generated by overhead lines under low-load conditions, thus stabilize
the system voltage. They are switched in and out almost on a daily basis, following the load
situation in the system. Shunt reactors are normally connected to substation busbars, but also
quite often directly to overhead lines. They may also be connected to tertiary windings of power
transformers. The reactors may have grounded, ungrounded, or reactor grounded neutral.

2.4.1 Interrupting shunt reactor bank
Shunt reactor switching imposes a unique and severe duty on the connected system and
circuit breaker [3,11]. At high voltages, the current to be interrupted is generally less than 300A,
yet successful interruption is a complex interaction between the circuit breaker and the circuit.

Shunt reactor load currents are referred to generically as small inductive currents. The
capability of circuit breakers to interrupt small inductive currents is generally not a concern. The
circuit breaker will typically interrupt the current at the first current zero after contact parting, but
may not be immediately capable of withstanding the high magnitude recovery voltages that can
then appear across the contacts. This can result in a reignition followed by an additional loop of
rated frequency current and successful interruption.

The switching of directly grounded reactors can be analysed using the equivalent single
phase circuit shown in Figure 2.7. Basically, circuit breakers have no difficulty interrupting
shunt reactor current; in fact, the current is forced prematurely to zero, a phenomenon referred to
as current chopping. However, the chopping of the current and subsequent possible reignitions
can result in significant transient overvoltages.
The following two types of overvoltages are generated:
Chopping overvoltages with frequencies up to 5 kHz
Reignition overvoltages with frequencies up to several hundred kilohertz (kHz)
The switching process may be significantly influenced by two other circuit-breaker
characteristics:
Rise of the dielectric withstand of the contact gap after interruption which
influences the probability of re-ignitions occurring;
Capability to interrupt high-frequency currents after re-ignitions which influences
the risk of multiple re-ignitions and voltage escalation.


L
s
= supply side (short-circuit) inductance
C
s
= supply side capacitance
CB = circuit breaker
L
p
,C
p
= stray inductance and capacitance across circuit-breaker CB
Also known as first parallel circuit inductance and capacitance
L
b
= inductance of re-ignition circuit
Also known as connection series inductance
C
L
= capacitance parallel to the reactor (load side capacitance)
L = inductance of shunt reactor

Figure 2.7. Single phase equivalent circuit (from [11])

2.4.2 Current chopping
Current chopping is caused by arc instability, which exhibits itself in the form of a
negatively damped current oscillation superimposed on the load current [3,11]. The oscillation
amplitude increases rapidly, creating a current zero at which the circuit breaker usually interrupts
as shown in Figure 2.8. The frequency of the oscillation determined by Cs, CL and Lb (Figure
2.7) and is usually several hundred kHz and therefore current chopping can reasonably be
assumed to be instantaneous for purposes of calculating load transients.
The chopping level is determined by:
the characteristic 'chopping number oI one interrupting unit of the switching
device;
the effective parallel capacitance;
the number of breaks in series.

a) Current through circuit breaker b) Voltage across shunt reactor
Figure 2.8 Current chopping phenomena (from [3])

For a single interrupter circuit breaker, the chopping current level is given by the
equation
t ch
C i (2.3)
where
i
ch
= current level at the instant of chopping (A)
C
t
= total capacitance in parallel with the breaker (F)
chopping number for a single interrupter (AF
0.5
)

The chopping number, , is a characteristic of the circuit breaker and typically given by
the manufacturer of the circuit breaker. [3] gives a typical range of chopping number for SF6
circuit breaker of 4-17 x 10
4
.

Referring to Figure 2.7, Ct is given by the following equation
L s
L s
p t
C C
C C
C C (2.4)
Where
C
P
= circuit breaker parallel capacitance (F)
C
s
= source side capacitance to ground (F)
C
L
= effective load side capacitance to ground (F).
C
L
is summation of the load side equipment capacitances to ground and the phase-to-
phase capacitance of the shunt reactor and associated connections. For many applications, the
latter may not be significant compared to former and can be ignored.

The maximum value of C
t
and the worst-case condition for overvoltage generation
occurs when C
s
>> C
L
, in which case C
t
is given by
L p t
C C C (2.5)

Equation (2.3) applies as noted only to circuit breakers with a single interrupter. For
circuit breakers with 'N interrupting units per pole, the Iollowing equation applies:
t ch
NC I (2.6)

The level of current chopping may be dependent on arcing time. This tends to be the
case for SF6 puffer type circuit breakers. Current chopping phenomena are discussed in detail in
[12,13].

Current Chopping Overvoltages
Fig 2.9 shows chopping phenomena in a single-phase circuit. When a premature current
interruption occurs at 6, the interruption is abnormal and causes an overvoltage. The energy
trapped in the load inductance and capacitance at the instant of chopping will oscillate between
this inductance and capacitance. The frequency of the oscillation is of the order of 1 kHz to 5
kHz in the HV and EHV range. It is determined by the natural frequency of the reactor load
circuit, i.e. the reactor itself and all equipment connected between the circuit-breaker and the
reactor.

Figure 2.9 Chopping Phenomena in single phase (from [11])

The first peak of the oscillation has the same polarity as the system voltage at the time of
interruption. This overvoltage is referred to as the suppression peak overvoltage. The maximum
chopping overvoltage to earth is usually the suppression peak voltage for directly earthed
reactors. Due to energy transfer between phases, the load side oscillation may in some cases
exhibit slightly higher peak values after one or two cycles of the oscillation. The highest
overvoltage to earth appears at the recovery peak for the unearthed and neutral reactor earthed
cases [11].

The magnitude of the suppression peak overvoltage, ka is given by the expression :
L o
ch
a
C
L
u
i
k * 1 (2.7)
where
i
ch
= chopped current
u
o
= peak system voltage to earth
L = reactor inductance
C
L
= load side capacitance.

For a given application (fixed u
o
, L, and C
L
), when Cs>>C
L
and C
p
is negligible, the
overvoltage is dependent on i
ch
only. Equation 2.4.2.5 can then be rewritten as
Q
N
k
a
2
3
1
2
(2.8)
where
Q = three-phase reactor rating (V A)
= the chopping number (AF-0.5) for a single interrupter
= 2 f = angular rated power system frequency
N = number of interrupting units in series per pole

The chopping overvoltage is thus only dependent on the chopping number and the
reactive power of the reactor [3,11].

2.4.3 Reignition
The circuit-breaker, after current interruption, is stressed by the difference between the
supply side voltage and the slowly decaying load side oscillating voltage. Circuit breakers with
very high chopping levels may exhibit reignitions before or at the suppression peak. Reignitions
if they occur have mainly the effect of reducing the chopping overvoltages. Most circuit-
breakers, such as SF6 puffer type, which have low chopping levels and seldom reignite during
the suppression voltage loop.

At the recovery voltage peak the circuit-breaker is stressed by a voltage that may
approach the chopping overvoltage plus the peak of the supply side voltage. If the circuit-breaker
does not re-ignite before, or at this point, then the interruption is successful. If, however, the
instant of contact parting is such that the contact gap does not yet have sufficient dielectric
strength, then a re-ignition will occur as shown in Figure 2.10.

Figure 2.10 Reignition Windows (from[3])

Reference [3] states that all circuit-breakers will re-ignite when the interruption occurs
with a small contact gap. The re-ignition 'window may be narrow or wide depending on the
rate of rise of withstand capability of the increasing contact gap as illustrated in Figure 2.10. The
width depends on the design of the circuit-breaker i.e. interrupting medium, contact velocity,
electrode design, etc. Re-ignition-free interruption can practically be achieved by applying
auxiliary equipment to circuit breaker to limit overvoltages such as opening resistors, metal
oxide surge arresters and synchronous opening control devices (control switching). The latter
device opens the contacts at sufficient time before the chopping to ensure that the dielectric
strength of the gap is always greater than the chopping overvoltage.

Re-ignitions occur only for relatively short arcing times in circuit-breakers with fast
dielectric recovery, and occur therefore generally only on the first phase of attempted
interruption. A further loop of power frequency current usually follows the re-ignition as in
Figure 2.9.

Reignition Overvoltages
Figure 2.11 [3] illustrates a case where a reignition occurs, the load side voltage rapidly
tends toward the source side voltage, but overshoots producing a reignition overvoltage. The
voltage breakdown at a reignition creates a steep voltage transient that is imposed on the reactor.
The front time varies from less than one microsecond to several microseconds. Since the voltage
breakdown in the circuit breaker is practically instantaneous, the steepness is solely determined
by the frequency of the second parallel oscillation circuit, which in turn is dependent on the
system/station layout [3]. This steep transient may be unevenly distributed across the reactor
winding, stressing the entrance turns in particular with high interturn overvoltages.

Figure 2.11 Reignition at recovery voltage peak for a circuit with low supply side capacitance (from [3]).

Figure 2.12 shows the maximum attainable overvoltages without damping for a
reignition at the recovery voltage peak. It can be seen that interruption with high current
chopping produces higher overvoltages than interruption with negligible current chopping. The
high theoretical overshoot assumes that the supply side capacitance dominates over the load side
capacitance (Cs>>C
L
).


Figure 2.12 Maximum re-ignition overvoltages (from [3])

2.4.4 Oscillation modes
Four different oscillation modes occur during the interruption and reignition process for
a directly-ground reactor. Those oscillations are described below with reference made to Figure
2.13 which clearly shows the oscillations involved.
Load side oscillation
A successful interruption results in the slowly decaying load side oscillation with the
trapped energy oscillating between the inductance and capacitance of the load side circuit. The
frequency of the oscillation is given by
L
L
LC
f
2
1
(2.9)
and is in the range 1 to 5 kHz. This oscillation may be modulated due to phase
interaction as described later.


Figure 2.13 Oscillation Mode in the reactor circuit

Reignition oscillation
Reignition phenomena are described in detail in [13] but is described briefly to give
appreciation on oscillations involved during reignition. Three different oscillation circuits are
involved in reignitions. A 'Iirst parallel oscillation occurs when CP discharges through the
circuit breaker; the frequency of this oscillation is

P P
p
C L
f
2
1
1
(2.10)

and is in the order of 1 to 10 MHz. The circuit breaker will not interrupt the current
associated with the 'Iirst parallel oscillation. A 'second parallel oscillation (reignition
overvoltage oscillation) will follow, as a result of which, the voltages across Cs, and CL are
equalized, i.e., the voltage across the circuit breaker is reduced to zero for an instant. The
Irequency oI the 'second parallel oscillation is given by

s L b
s L
p
C C L
C C
f
2
1
2
(2.11)

and is in the range 50 to 1000 kHz. The circuit breaker may interrupt the current
associated with the 'second parallel oscillation. II it does not, then a 'main circuit oscillation
develops. This oscillation involves the total circuit and generally leads to a new loop of current.
Main Circuit Oscillation
Second Parallel Oscillation
Load Circuit Oscillation
First Parallel Oscillation
Neglecting Lb (since it is small compared to Ls and L), the Irequency oI the 'main circuit
oscillation is given by

) ( 2
1
L s s
s
m
C C L L
L L
f (2.12)

and is in the range 5 to 20 kHz. It should be noted that Equation 2.12 describes the main
circuit oscillation in its simplest possible form. In reality, the oscillation is a composite of a
number of oscillation modes dependent on the reactor installation and the local and remote
configuration of the system. Note that if Cs>>CL, no main circuit oscillation will occur.

Reignitions involve an energy exchange. Prior to the reignition, the load side energy
alternates between electromagnetic and electrostatic energy (load side oscillation). During the
'Iirst parallel oscillation, the electrostatic energy stored in Cp is dissipated with no exchange
between the source and load sides. During the 'second parallel, oscillation electrostatic energy
is exchanged between C
S
and C
L
. During the 'main circuit oscillation, all circuit elements are
involved and the energy exchange is both electromagnetic and electrostatic. This can be seen in
Figure 2.13.

2.4.5 Interaction between phases
The interaction between phases during the switching of shunt reactors is a complex
subject [3]. This is particularly the case for medium voltage transformer tertiary connected
reactors where the interaction can influence the interruption process. For the case of directly and
neutral reactor grounded reactors in the range 60 kV and above, the interaction influences only
the load side recovery voltage oscillation.

Due to mutual coupling between the individual phases, the interaction manifests itself in
the form of beating of the recovery voltage oscillation [3]. The degree of beating is dependent on
the length of the connection between the circuit breaker and the reactor and on the type of
reactor. When the circuit breaker is located close to the reactor, the interaction is minimal or
nonexistent and the recovery voltage oscillation is a clean exponentially decaying sinusoidal
function as shown in Figure 2.14. For longer connection lengths between the circuit breaker and
the reactor, beating of the recovery oscillation will occur as shown in Figure 2.15. The effect is
non-deterministic and varies even with fixed contact parting times. With regard to the reactors, if
the units are single-phase, no interaction occurs due to the reactors. If, however, the units are
three-phase (in one tank with a common core), the phase-to-phase coupling is significant and
results in beating such that the maximum recovery voltage peak can occur late in the oscillation.

[3] mentions that the interaction between phases is not a concern because the interaction
does not influence the recovery voltage in the region between current interruption and the
occurrence of the recovery voltage peak. If the circuit breaker successfully withstands the
recovery voltage peak, then no reignition will occur later even if subsequent peaks exceed the
chopping overvoltage peak value due to beating. The probability of high overvoltages occurring
due to superposition of transients from adjacent phases is considered to be remote.

Figure 2.14 Load side oscillation with circuit breaker located close to shunt reactor (from[3])

Figure 2.15 Load side oscillation with circuit breaker located remote from shunt reactor (from [3])

2.4.6 Energising transients
Energizing (switching-in) a shunt reactor is a situation similar to the occurrence of a
reignition. However, the breakdown voltage across the circuit breaker will not exceed 1 pu for
directly grounded reactors, and the peak value of the energizing transient will be 1.5 pu or less.
Reactor surge arrester operation may occur if the switching device has a slow closing
speed resulting in multiple restriking and possible voltage escalation.

2.5 LIMITATION OF OVERVOLTAGE TRANSIENT DURING
REACTIVE SWITCHING
Switching of capacitor bank and shunt reactor produces overvoltage that can be harmful
to the system. The transient overvoltages may cause any of the following:-
Insulation degradation and possible failure of substation equipment
Operation of surge arrestors
Interference in the control wiring of substations
Increase in step potentials
Undesired tripping or damage to sensitive electronic equipment.
2.5.1 Over voltage limitation
Reference [1,3,14] state that several means are available to reduce the overvoltages
generated by the switching of capacitor bank. and shunt reactor.
Current-limiting reactors are normally used to reduce the current transients
associated with back-to-back switching of capacitor banks. They do not limit the
remote overvoltages.
Pre-insertion resistors limit the inrush current and remote overvoltages. It is a
basic solution widely used on transmission circuit breakers. They are usually fitted
on circuit breakers and as such add to the complexity of the equipment. Depending
on the design, the added complexity may or may not result in a reduced availability
of the equipment.
Surge Arresters are the primary means of protection against fast transients and are
usually installed very close to the protected equipment in this case capacitor bank
and shunt reactor.
Controlled switching of circuit breaker meaning the opening and/or closing of
the circuit contacts at certain points on the waveform (such as at current or voltage
zeros, which is why it is often referred to as point-on-wave control) has long been
recognised as a way of reducing stress on circuit breaker contacts and system
components during switching. A great deal of engineering is required for good
precision of this kind of control. Controlled switching seems to be the chosen
method by utilities.

2.5.2 Controlled switching
Controlled switching is a method for eliminating harmful transients via time controlled
switching operations. Closing or opening commands to the circuit breaker are delayed in such a
way that making or contact separation will occur at the optimum time instant related to the
voltage, current and phase angle. By means of controllers, both energizing and de-energizing
operations can be controlled with regard to the point-on-wave position, and no harmful transients
will be generated.

Strategies are identified for energizing all types of shunt capacitor banks and harmonic
filter banks. The strategies involve energizing the load close to voltage zero across the circuit
breaker contacts thereby avoiding energizing transients. The strategy assumes that the banks are
discharged prior to energizing. For controlled opening, the strategy is to avoid short arcing times
resulting in the highest risk for reignitions or restrikes. The need for controlled opening will
depend on circuit breaker performance, load conditions and system frequency. All types of shunt
reactors, independent of magnetic and electric circuit, can be switched in a controlled manner.
The strategy for controlled opening is to select arcing times long enough to avoid re-ignitions at
de-energizing. The strategy may vary depending on the size of the shunt reactor. The strategy for
controlled closing is to energize at instants resulting in flux symmetry (current symmetry)
thereby minimizing the risk for nuisance tripping and rotor vibrations in nearby generators due to
zero sequence current.

Reference [15] suggested that controlled switching application requires CB with stable
operating times and have high and stable dynamic electric withstand capability between contacts,
both upon making and breaking conditions. In circuit breakers with independent mechanisms for
each pole the opening and closing operations can both be controlled. However if poles are
ganged and operated by a single mechanism, there are difficulties with control switching and
generally it is only possible to control either the opening or closing operation. It is mentioned in
[15] that it is difficult to quantify the effects of the control switching on reducing the probability
of restrikes because of the wide range of variability possible in the dielectric recovery
characteristics of circuit breakers.

2.6 FAILURE OF CIRCUIT BREAKER DUE TO RESTRIKING
Modern SF6 puffer circuit breakers have been designed with far fewer interrupters per
pole. This has meant that these circuit breakers have to contend with a far greater voltage stress
in the dielectric recovery region than have previous generations of circuit breakers. The
increased stress has caused dielectric reignition of some types of circuit breakers on capacitive
switching duties [1, 16]. Because of this new standards [2] have been developed that require a
large number of tests and provide a classification of circuit breakers based on their probability of
restriking for capacitive switching.

Older CBs were designed according to the old standard which is now recognized as
being inadequate for determining restriking tendecies of circuit breaker switching
capacitor/reactor banks. The old standards IEC56-1987 on which AS2006-1986 was based
made the assumption that circuit breakers passing capacitor switching tests specified by the
standards were 'restrike Iree. The idea oI 'restrike Iree circuit breakers has been abandoned in
the latest IEC62271-100. In the new standards, circuit breakers are defined as either C1 (low
probability of restrike during capacitive current breaking) or C2 (very low probability of restrike
during capacitive current breaking) types based on capacitive switching tests made on circuit
breaker.

Switching of shunt reactors is recognised as a duty that causes a very high rate rise of
transient recovery voltage across the circuit breaker contacts [3]. Restrikes have been observed to
occur during disconnection of shunt reactors but the high-frequency reignition current is
interrupted at an early current zero and often there is no external evidence of any adverse effects
on the circuit breaker interrupters. However, failures of modern circuit breakers during shunt
reactor switching have been observed [4]. There has been increasing evidence that recent
failures of circuit breaker have been due to restriking during reactor switching and capacitor
switching.

Blundell [17] has raised issues on possibility of there being some type of generic failure
mode of modern SF6 circuit breakers that leads to flashover of the circuit breaker interrupter.
This hypothesis is based on observations of failures of circuit breakers made by [17]. Explosive
failures of interrupters of circuit breakers were reported on opening of capacitor bank switching
duty and opening of circuit breakers following shunt reactor switching. It was also suggested by
[17] that similar failures of SF6 circuit breakers have been experienced by other utilities in
Australia and SE Asia.

Sawir et al [18] reported that Tenaga Nasional Berhad (Malaysia) experienced incorrect
remote feeder tripping due to inaccurate operation of point-on-wave (POW) switching during
energisation of capacitor bank. [18] stated that although point-on-wave switching of capacitor
banks is an effective method in controlling system voltages, inaccurate operation of the POW
during switching in of the capacitor banks resulted in high voltage transients and caused
nuisance trippings. [18] suggested that the point-on-wave switching operation to be monitored
periodically.

Catastrophic failures of modern SF6 circuit breakers have been reported [4] when
disconnecting 420 kV shunt reactors. Detailed investigations were carried out and field
experience with HV SF6 circuit breakers switching reactors have been documented. [4] have
made few observations on the circuit breaker interrupters used for shunt reactor during the
investigation. Table 2.2 shows observations made on circuit breakers` interrupter switching
shunt reactor during the investigation.

[4] described the external arcs as existences of signs of arcing between the main contacts
on the exterior of the nozzles, the perforations of the nozzles with a diameter of around 1mm in
the proximity of the moving contact with the farthest end of the moving contact and removal of
material on the internal face of the nozzle. It is further described the commutation arcs as
existences of signs of this arc between the main contacts and dirtiness and/or burr due to grease
and metal particles on the internal face of the breaker porcelain housing.

Table 2.1 Results of the overhaul of the circuit breakers (from [4]).

Peelo et al [19] reported that British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority experienced
a number of failures when switching out 500kV 3 x 45 MVAR shunt reactor banks. Series of
This table is not available online.
reactor switching tests were performed over a three year period, to determine the causes of the
failures and to acquire knowledge of the switching duty in order to ensure adequate specification
of breakers for applications. Results of those field tests have provided valuable and important
information on interruption of small inductive currents. [19] concluded that high voltage shunt
reactor switching is a severe and unique duty, surge arresters play a significant role in reactor
switching application and reignitions during reactor switching can result in significant transients
in control circuits.

Khodabakchian et al [20] studied 420 kV circuit breaker failures during the opening of a
100MVAR shunt reactor in a 400kV one-and-a-half breaker transmission substation in central
part of Iran. The study shows that opposite-polarity high frequency arc-instability-dependant
oscillations caused mainly by current transformers on each side of the circuit breaker were
responsible for its thermal failures and thus the non-interruption of the low 50Hz reactor current
by the 50 kA circuit breaker. [20] mentioned the advantage in using simulation capabilities of
EMTP-RV to simulate large transients incorporating circuit parameters frequency dependency
and dynamic arc modelling which could contribute to improved reactor installation.

Lopez-Roldan et al [21] reported that Powerlink Queensland in recent years has
experienced several failures of modern SF6 circuit breakers used in Shunt Reactor switching
operations in the 275 kV network. An example of a failure was the breakdown of the CB
switching a line reactor with a neutral earthing reactor (NER) at the 275 kV substation. The CB
had been in service for over four years and had been operated almost daily. During a routine
opening operation, the dead-tank circuit breaker failed to clear on phase A and subsequently
faulted internally to ground. During the fault investigation and breaker disassembly, clear marks
of severe arcing puncture in the nozzle of the interrupter were found. The nozzle damage has
occurred prior to failure most likely due to re-striking during opening operations. Evidence of
severe nozzle puncture was also found in phase C.

The hypothesis [21] of the interrupter failure is that during the final opening, a re-strike
punctured right through the nozzle between the moving main contact and the fixed arcing
contact of the interrupter. The current within the nozzle was extinguished but ionized gases
forced though the puncture by the action of the puffer allowed power frequency current to restart
between the main contacts outside the nozzle, out of the effective area of arc interruption.

Birtwhistle [22] hypothesised that restriking of circuit breakers to be responsible for
failures of interrupters of EHV and HV circuit breakers during the switching of capacitor banks.
[22] also mentioned that risk of failure due to restrike are likely to be higher for circuit breakers
not tested to revised switching standard which include significantly upgrade capacitive
switching test [2].

Causes of restrikes
Reference [21] looked into the cause of failure of shunt reactor and circuit breaker. It
started with a review of the TRV study experienced by the CB. The EMTP study showed the
connection of the neutral reactor to the ground increases the TRV across the CB and removing
the neutral reactor reduces the TRV. It was further reported that installing surge arresters would
also reduce the TRV across the CB.

[21] also reported that the dielectric design of the interrupter chamber plays a
fundamental role in the breaker performance as most of CB failures during reactor de-
energization are of a dielectric nature. [21] described after arc interruption, a reignition occurs
because the TRV exceeds the dielectric strength of the contact gap. It is a race between the rise
of the TRV and the Rate of Rise of Dielectric Strength (RRDS) of the interrupter. [21] stated that
it is important that, in the event of a reignition, the arc remains confined between the arcing
contacts inside the nozzle area as shown in Figure 2.16 . Then the reignition will be extinguished
even though it may contribute to damage to the nozzle. However, if the arc escapes outside the
nozzle containment, either by establishing itself between the main contacts or by puncturing the
wall of the nozzle, it is likely that the interrupter will not be able to clear the arc. Therefore, it is
necessary that the breakdown voltage of the main contacts exceeds the level between the arcing
contacts for all separations of the contact gap up to the maximum arcing gap.

Figure 2.16 (a) Typical schematic of SF6 CB showing main contacts (1), arcing contacts (2) and nozzle
(3). (b) Voltage distribution in interrupter chamber. [21]

Figure 2.17 shows an example of an analysis of a contact gap. In this figure, the
breakdown voltage between the arcing contacts exceeds that of the main contacts beyond a
certain point along the contact travel path. If the arcing gap exceeds this point, and the TRV
exceeds the breakdown voltage value, then a reignition outside of the nozzle will occur.

[21] also reported that the presence of surface charge on the nozzle is another important
factor to consider in the dielectric coordination analysis. Static charge on the nozzle will distort
the voltage distribution across the contacts as shown in Figure 2.16 (b) and enhance locally the
electric field. The nozzle is made of a PTFE insulating material. Due to the high volumetric and
surface resistance of the insulating material, any surface charge that occurs may remain in place
for a very long time. The charge can be as a result of corona discharges, contact or mechanical
friction [5].

Figure 2.17 Analysis of voltage breakdown for main and arcing contacts along the contact gap. (from [21])

In the interrupter diagram of Figure 2.16, the charge on the nozzle produced by the
friction with the fixed arcing contact may produce a critical local electric field enhancement
where the charge is of opposite polarity to the contact voltage. The field distortion also produces
a change in the discharge direction from the arc contacts across the nozzle. [21]

[21] highlighted the importance of the correct selection of the controlled switching
settings. Correct switching settings will ensure proper operation of the relay otherwise the
function of controlled switching could have negative effects. [21] reported that a controlled
switching function was employed for the reactor breaker which has failed. The initial settings
given by the circuit breaker manufacturer did not achieve the minimum arcing time required
during deenergisation. As a result, the relay was forcing the interrupter to clear the current at a
position with low dielectric strength for the contact path along the nozzle. Repetitive reignitions
in the same area caused compounding damage in the nozzle and the final puncturing which lead
to the catastrophic failure. After the fault investigation and discussion with the manufacturer
[21], a decision was taken to increase the arcing time by modifying the setting in the controlled
switching relay.

There have also been reports on failure due to degradation of the circuit breaker
dielectric performance which was caused by restriking with parasitic arcing during reactor
switching. In the past the main adverse effects of restriking of circuit breakers during switch off
of shunt reactors was seen as being to cause steep-fronted surges that led to deterioration of the
insulation of the reactors and of other adjacent plant such as transformers. However, work by Lui
et al [23,24] to identify causes of circuit breaker failures under reactor switching applications has
shown that modern single-interrupter SF6 circuit breakers may be affected by phenomenon
associated with arcing on reignition. The phenomena has been termed |23| 'parasitic arcing
which, it has been shown [5], results in arcing in the circuit breaker interrupter at frequencies of
up to several MHz both inside and outside the interrupter. The tendency of arcs to occur outside
the nozzle has been shown to be affected by the ability of the PTFE nozzle material to absorb
and store small quantities of negative charge [23]. The stored charge distorts the field around the
nozzle and causes re-ignition arcs to occur external to the nozzle. The stored charge was shown
[23] to have greater effects on parallel-sided nozzles than on nozzles with divergent geometries.

Spencer [5] suggested that charge trapped in PTFE nozzles could be stored for up to 2
years. He speculated that : 'The mobility oI charge in PTFE is so low that, in the presence of a
potential gradient, it may be expected to migrate only slowly. Thus with the electric field
distributions in an interrupter unit where the downstream contact is positive, negative charge
migration may occur slowly to the rim of the nozzle. This combined with charge accumulation
over successive 50Hz voltage half cycles provides a possible explanation for the late breakdowns
which have been reported in SF6 interrupter units at long times after current interruption and arc
extinction.

It was observed [5] that parasitic arcs take paths close to the surface of the nozzle and it
has been suggested that if power frequency current follows the same path as reignition currents
then damage will occur to the interrupter. A series of tests was undertaken [25] on a reduced-
scale interrupter to examine the effect of parasitic arcs on nozzle. Some results from these tests
are summarised in Table 2.3 below.


Table 2.2 Results of tests made to examine effects of parasitic arcing.(from [25])

On the basis of these tests, it was suggested [25] that molybdenum disulphide fill is
preferable as it may prevent non-uniform charge accumulation on the nozzle that is caused by
impurities in the PTFE. It was also shown that there appeared to be no correlation between
nozzle charge and the degree of parasitic arcing.

Judging from the failures described earlier it can be said that restrikes in circuit breaker
can occur due to circuit breaker tested to inadequate or old standard, inaccurate system study,
failure of voltage limiting equipment e.g. surge arrestor, resistor, incorrect operation of
controlled switching, circuit breaker wear and tear (due to daily operation) and high frequency
reignition. Generally, restrikes do not cause immediate failure but gradually degrade the nozzle
overtime increasing the probability of causing catastrophic failure.

2.6.1 Importance of detecting restrike
Bachiller et al [26] conducted a series of field tests to examine the performance of
modern SF6 circuit breakers on shunt reactor switching. From switching tests made on 110
MVAR, 420 kV shunt reactor the circuit breaker chopping number was evaluated as 15.104 to
16.104 and reignitions were observed in 25% of 68 three-phase switching operations.
Reignitions occurred for arcing times of up to almost 8 ms and the maximum switching
overvoltage with reignition was about 1.25 p.u. Tests on a 150MVAR, 420 kV shunt reactor
resulted in six reignitions for 26 switching operations. The interrupter used to switch the
110MVAR reactor was examined after the tests and found to be in good condition. Re-ignition
current magnitudes are calculated to be about 200A and were found to be considerably greater
than measured values, indicating a higher degree of damping in the system than assumed in the
model.

These tests confirmed the extent of re-ignition activity in a modern SF6 circuit breaker.
There is no indication of the type of filler used in the circuit breaker nozzles. It is not possible
therefore to draw wider conclusions from this work as to the degree of damage that might be
expected in other circuit breakers for similar duties. Failures due to restrike/reignition are
becoming more of a concern as it is difficult to detect restrike occurrence.

As mentioned earlier restrike could cause catastrophic damage to circuit breakers,
causing equipment downtime, damage to adjacent equipment and possible loss of supply. When
a circuit breaker is damaged, the equipment bay needs to be taken out of service. With the bay
being taken out, the power system is put at a higher risk as the power system could not be
operated as normal or intended. Normally when a flashover occurs it will cause catastrophic
damage to the circuit breaker, the damage is not limited to the circuit breaker only. Damage to
the adjacent equipment is possible due to the close vicinity of the circuit breaker with other
equipment. It was reported in [27] that a CB explosion shattered the CB porcelain insulator and
pieces of the porcelain insulator hit and damaged the adjacent equipment.

In a worst case scenario, the damage may cause the whole the substation to be shutdown
causing loss of supply to the customer. In addition the work and cost involved in repairing or
replacing the damaged circuit breaker can be very costly.
Restrike can cause interrupter failure which is an important failure mode compared to
the other type of CB failure. Reference [28] provides an excellent insight into the failure statistics
of the component of a high voltage circuit breaker. Table 2.3 shows statistics cause of failure of
circuit breaker.


Table 2.3 Statistics cause of failure of circuit breaker (from [28])

The table shows that most of the circuit breaker failures that have been observed in the
field can be attributed to mechanical problems and auxiliary control circuits. [28] indicates that
43-44% of the failures in circuit breakers are of a mechanical nature, 20-29% is related to
auxiliary and electrical control circuit, and 21-31% can be attributed to high-voltage components
involving the interrupters of circuit breakers. The statistics can be used as a guideline for the
selection of monitoring parameter and what components to be monitored.

The author agrees with statistic of failure shown in Table 2.4 through his experience as
HV equipment maintenance engineer. The high percentage of mechanical failure is expected as
the mechanical components are the moving parts. It is felt that mechanical failure on the circuit
breaker e.g. compressor faulty leaking energy storage could be detected during routine visual
inspection or even during scheduled maintenance. Hence it can be repaired before a catastrophic
failure occurs. This is also the case for failures caused by electrical control and auxiliary circuits.

However, in the case of interrupter failure, it is difficult to detect a problem before a
failure or explosion occurs. When this occurs, it is too late because the damage is severe and the
cost to repair the circuit breaker is high. Hence it would be a good strategy to monitor parameters
which can cause interrupter failure. Considering that switching reactive equipment consider to be
onerous duty for circuit breaker it is prudent to monitor restriking in circuit breakers switching
capacitor bank and shunt reactor bank.
2.7 CONDITION MONITORING FOR CIRCUIT BREAKERS
The importance of monitoring the condition of switchgear has been recognised for a
long time. The majority of the condition monitoring is done off line with the data obtained from
switchgear diagnostic being used to supplement maintenance reports and operational history. All
these information would then be used to understand and analyse the performance and condition
of the switchgear.

Nowadays utilities are looking more on on-line monitoring. There has been a trend away
from time-based maintenance strategies with their predefined maintenance intervals and toward
condition-based maintenance (CBM) strategies, which assess the technical condition of the
equipment. Many utilities are struggling to manage their assets and with the move toward
condition-based rather than time-based maintenance, the issue of CB residual life is actively
being pursued [29]

Prior to on-line monitoring, diagnostic of switchgear are done by measuring the timing
parameter, contact resistance between contacts, quality of insulation and visual inspections.
Throughout the years, many kinds of circuit breaker condition monitoring system have been
developed. Mechanical vibration signals have been used to detect mechanical fault [30,31,32].
Mechanical sensors such as pole position sensors with optical detectors have also been used to
detect the distance between contactor and the closing speed and opening speed [33]of the circuit
breaker contacts An electronic densimeter based on the state equation of SF6 gas has been
developed and proven as a reliable formula in its gaseous and liquid phase [34] Acoustic signals
have also been used to assess the conditrion of the circuit breakers [35,36]. The acoustic signal
generated during non-energised switching of circuit breaker was used for diagnostic [35]. The
acoustic signals recorded was analysed using digital signal processing.

Some manufacturers have produced condition monitoring equipment that monitors
several parameters which they deem to be important in evaluating the performance of
switchgear. In [37] the experience in using a condition monitoring unit (CMU) was presented.
The CMU monitors interrupter wear, integrity of the SF6 gas system, the circuit breaker
mechanical system, the electrical control system and auxiliaries. Field experiences showed that
there were some issues with the reliability of the CMU unit. Significant improvements have been
done based on the field experience resulting in better performance of the CMU [37].

Camps et al [38] reported that the design and application of on-line condition monitoring
systems for EHV SF6 circuit breakers must be considered carefully in order to minimise the
effect on the reliability of the circuit breaker. Apart from being economically viable, it is
essential that these systems measure the appropriate parameters and reliability of the condition
monitoring is of a high degree.

From literature review carried out there is no evident of currently-available monitoring
techniques in use to measure restriking produced during circuit breaker switching of capacitor
banks and shunt reactor banks.

2.7.1 Detecting restrikes or interrupter experiencing prolong restrikes

In order to measure restriking on-line, using currently-available methods monitoring
equipment must consist of high frequency voltage transformer (that need to be connected on
both sides of the circuit breaker under test) and a high-frequency current transformer or
Rogowski coil. The monitoring system should have adequate bandwidth and be capable of
resolving very fast reignition transients. Some CB installations have been installed with such
equipment i.e. for measurement of contact travel & timing, current and voltage [39]. However,
the measuring equipment doesn`t have enough bandwidth to measure HF transients.
Furthermore, if on-line set up is desired all equipment need to be installed at commissioning and
this is very costly to have. Alternatively, for plant not equipped with on-line monitoring
shutdowns are required to connect the measuring equipment. Measuring equipment which is
relatively large needs to be brought to the substation, shutdowns need to be arranged which
reduce the reliability of the transmission network and the amount of manpower involved in
carrying out the tests is huge. Hence, it can be a costly and major exercise.

2.7.2 Alternative monitoring methods
Non-intrusive methods and on-line technique would be an advantage in monitoring
restrike occurrences during CB switching of reactive equipment. The ideal monitoring system
would measure the early high-frequency restriking phenomena and trend the magnitude of
restrike current and frequency of restriking to facilitate early identification of degradation of the
condition of circuit breakers.

Substation switching operations, faults or lightning strikes inside the substation can
cause potentially damaging levels of high frequency electromagnetic interference (EMI). This
EMI can couple into low voltage control circuits and electronic equipment and affect their
operation unless it is suitably protected.

The radio-frequency electromagnetic emissions of high-power arcs historically been
regarded as interference and have received some measure of study in regards to substation EMC
[40,41]. Recently the use of RF has begun to draw serious attention from switchgear monitoring.
An investigation into the detection of contact separation events was reported in [42] and [43]
introduces technique that can be used to identify differences between substation switching
operations using their induced radiation signatures. [43] carried out analysis of observations of
captured signals from many switching arcs carried out with a view to developing on condition-
monitoring systems.

Chapman [50] has demonstrated a suitable technique for the measurement of electrical
discharge or switching arc during current interruption in switchgear. The method makes a direct
measurement of the arcing duration based on the coupling of the VHF electric fields generated
by the arc. He noticed that there are instabilities during arc initiation during contact parting and
at arc interruption at current zero. During a period when the arc is stable, the signal strength
reduces to near zero-level. He claimed that his technique is very successful for a single-phase
interruption. However, he mentioned that the technique is not so successful for 3 phase
measurement due to interphase interference from all arcs during 3 phase switching.

circuit breakers during capacitor switching duty in AIS substation from measurement of emitted
radio waves. It is suggested that it might be possible to extend this methodology to provide
evidence about the magnitude and number of restrikes occurring during reactor switching.

Chapter 3: New Methods For Condition Monitoring Of Restriking EHV CBs
3Chapter 3: New Methods For Condition
Monitoring Of Restriking EHV CBs
3.1 NON-INVASIVE CIRCUIT BREAKER MONITORING USING
RADIOMETRIC MEASUREMENT

As pointed out in the literature review in Chapter 2, switching of shunt capacitor and
shunt reactor is a great concern due to the transient produced. Re-strikes produced during
disconnection of capacitor banks and shunt reactors produces high frequency oscillations. The
high frequency oscillation cannot be measured by current transformers, voltage transformers or
monitoring systems which are known to have a rather low bandwidth and would not be capable
of resolving very fast reignition transients.

Monitoring of voltage waveforms during switching using established high voltage
measuring methods would possibly provide information about the magnitude and frequency of
small re-ignitions or re-strikes in circuit breakers that could be a precursor to interrupter failure.
However, waveform measurements at a moderately high frequency require plant outages to
connect the equipment such as voltage dividers, and this is diIIicult and costly in today`s
operating environment. It would be ideal to develop a non-invasive measuring system that would
detect and measure the early high-frequency restriking phenomena and trend the magnitude of
re-strike current and frequency of restriking to facilitate early identification of degradation of the
condition of circuit breakers.

circuit breakers during capacitor switching duty from measurement of emitted radio waves. It
appears possible to extend this methodology to provide evidence about the magnitude and
number of re-strikes occurring during reactive equipment switching.

Moore [6] used four broadband disckcone type antenna with a lower frequency cut-off
of 100 MHz and required a state-of-the-art measuring system to detect the impulses produced
during opening and closing. By triangulating the high frequency impulses, the source and time of
initiation could be identified. The technique is successful in determining CB interpole timing for
capacitor bank closing.

However, Moore [6] reported that his technique could not reliably determine the
opening time for capacitor bank opening due difficulty in recording the opening impulse
produced. Moore claimed that it is difficult to trigger the oscilloscope due to low level of
impulses produced during opening as compared to closing. He mentioned that setting the trigger
level very low caused repeated triggering from communication station broadcasts and rapidly
filled up the oscilloscope memory.

Moore`s |6| technique measures the high frequency phenomena with frequencies above
100 MHz and therefore obtained no data about the lower-frequency transient phenomena during
switching. In our opinion, the lower-frequency transients contain a great deal of information
about the sequence of events which could help us to localise the time of occurrence of restrikes
with respect to other important phenomena such as 50 Hz current interruptions and interpole
closing/opening time.

The work done by [6] is used as basis in carrying out the investigation on transients
produced by circuit breakers switching capacitor bank and shunt reactor bank. This research
investigation looks into extending Moore`s technique by combining the use of broadband active
antenna with a bandwidth of 1.5 MHz to 1.5 GHz with a set of three passive antennas with a
bandwidth of 30Hz to 30MHz.

3.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The complete methodology adopted in this thesis is shown below:-
Design and Development of a Measuring System
1) Design oscillatory radiating test circuits to provide e.m. disturbances of the type
expected in the field.
2) Develop measuring systems using antennas and recording instruments that can
be used in a substation environment.
3) Develop procedures for downloading and archiving test results.
4) Gain experience in practical aspects of measurement.
Laboratory Measurement at High Voltage Laboratory and Exploratory F ield
Measurement
1) Carry out laboratory measurement at High Voltage laboratory.
2) With industry partners identify suitable test site (close to Brisbane and with
frequent capacitor bank switching) for exploratory field measurement.
3) Identify opportunities for making coincident measurements of system voltage
and/or current from existing secondary systems.
4) Check triggering requirements and need for automated long-term measuring
system.
5) Make risk assessments and prepare necessary procedures and associated
documentation.
6) Make measurements of closing and opening operations.
7) Analyse test results.
8) Make modifications to measuring and recording systems.

Measurement on Capacitor Bank and Shunt Reactor Bank Switching Tests
1) Identify with industry partners important capacitor bank and shunt reactor
switching locations.
2) Make modifications to recording equipment.
3) Make necessary risk assessments and prepare necessary documentation.
4) Make measurements of closing and opening operations.
5) Analyse test results.
6) Review progress and make adjustments/modifications to measuring systems as
required.

F inal Analysis and Documentation
1) Extend analytical procedures.
2) Review all results and assess the effectiveness of the method.
3) Prepare MEng Thesis

3.3 DEVELOPING MEASURING EQUIPMENT
There are important factors to be considered when developing equipment for measuring
transients phenomena inside a substation. The factors are as follow:
It is important to measure the required transients within the right frequency range
and with adequate sampling rate. This is to ensure measurement is done with
sufficient details recorded for further analysis.
The measuring system should be relatively easy to set up without requiring a plant
shutdown to set up the measuring equipment. If a shutdown is required, the
scheduled down time of plant should be minimum as possible.
No modification is allowed to the existing installation. Modification to the
substation primary and secondary equipment is not allowed in order to ensure that
no risk is introduced to the existing equipment.
The overall site condition needs to be considered in terms of the plant layout,
distance of equipment, suitable placement of measuring equipment, safety
requirement.
The measuring equipment should be developed with the possibilities of having
remote measurement. This will enable long term measurement to be done
automatically with measurement data transferred remotely to remote operators.
Measuring transient in substation is difficult. Electromagnetic interferences due to
corona, earth potential rises and other causes may affect high voltage equipment
and care needs to be taken to ensure that effects of the electromagnetic
interferences is kept to minimum.

Two major types of equipment were developed in this research: sensors (which are
antennas) and the measuring/recording equipment. The development of the antennas and the
theory behind the measuring philosophy will be discussed first followed by the development of
the recording equipment.

3.4 ACTIVE BROADBAND ANTENNA
The active broadband antenna (active antenna) was developed by Dr Tee Tang. The
active antenna designed for this application consists of a passive dipole antenna and a broadband
RF amplifier. The passive dipole is 150mm long, with a diameter of 1.6mm. The RF amplifier
used is of a Low Distortion RF amplifier. It is designed to have a flat frequency response from
1.5MHz to 1.5GHz and a signal gain of 12dB. The active antenna is powered by 4.5VDC
batteries and it is controlled by a switch located on the casing. The antenna is housed in a PVC
casing. The size of the casing is 83mm x 54mm x 31mm. For site measurements the antenna is
mounted on a portable tripod. The antenna is small and portable and ideal to be use for field
measurement. Figure 3.1 shows a photo of the active antenna.

Figure 3.1 Photo of Broadband Active Antenna

In operation, the RF amplifier acts as an impedance transformer, converting the high
output impedance of the electrically short dipole at the low frequency range to a low impedance
output. At the high frequency end of the amplifier response, the RF amplifier merely amplifies
the received signal. Figure 3.2 shows Gain versus Frequency for the RF amplifier. In this
research, the antenna was used to record HF pulses and also acts as high frequency marker on the
lower frequency transient recorded.

Figure 3.2 Gain vs Frequency for RF amplifier [62]

3.5 CAPACITIVE COUPLING ANTENNA
In order to obtain information about lower-frequency transients, capacitive coupling
antennas were used. For relatively low frequency transient, the wavelength is very big for
example at 50 Hz, the wavelength is 6000 km whilst at 1 kHz the wavelength is 300 km. A big
radiation antenna is required to receive a transmitted 50 Hz or 1 kHz signal. Capacitive coupling
is a phenomenon where an electrical field e.g. between two parallel conductors apart interact.
Capacitively coupled signals can be measured to give information on the magnitude and
frequency of the signals. Hence, measuring using capacitive coupling antenna (passive antenna-
PA) is needed to facilitate low frequency measurements.

3.5.1 Construction of the Passive Antenna

Figure 3.3 Passive Antenna Drawing
The capacitive coupling antenna (passive antenna) is divided into 3 major components.
The major components are the antenna head, antenna stand and antenna base. Figure 3.3 shows
the drawing of the capacitive coupling antenna. It is purposely designed as such to facilitate ease
Dia190.0mm
Aluminium
Cylinder
/ Passive
Antenna
Weight / Sand Bag
Antenna Base
Assembly
Barrel Union
(Coupling)
50mm dia
PVC Tube
50mm Dia
Antenna Base/
Stand Assembly
Barrel Union
(Coupling)
50mm dia
of transportation for field measurement. The antenna head consists of a metallic cylinder
enclosed at both ends. The diameter of the metallic cylinder is 190mm and the length is 60mm.
The centre pin of an insulated BNC connector is connected to one end plate of the cylinder. The
overall length of the antenna head is 100mm.The antenna head is coupled with the antenna stand
using a PVC barrel union coupling.
The stand is made of PVC tube which is lightweight and non conductive. The stand is
attached to the antenna base which is made of cast iron with three legs which is heavy enough to
provide support for the whole antenna assembly. It is important that the antenna remain stable
when located on the gravel on the substation switchyard. The overall height of the antenna is less
than 1400mm which is well below the safe ground clearance inside a substation. Figure 3.4
shows photo of the complete assembly of the passive antenna.

Figure 3.4 Photo of Passive Antenna

In making measurements, the core of the input measuring cable is connected to the BNC
connector of the PA and at the other end the cable core is connected to the input of a fully-
floating oscilloscope. The cable sheath of the measuring is connected to one end which is the
earthed part of the input terminal of the oscilloscope. The terminal is connected to the substation
earth through the metal housing of the oscilloscope.

3.5.2 Review on capacitive coupling
High voltage conductors are surrounded by an electric field which can induce voltages
on nearby conductors. Such electrostatic coupling can occur between a high voltage conductor
and a secondary circuit. The principle of electrostatic coupling is illustrated in the Figure 3.5.
Figure 3.5 shows the capacitance between the conductors in the two circuits and between each of
the conductors and ground. It is assumed that the secondary circuit is floating. It is apparent that
this is a simple potential divider.

C
32
C
12
C
13
E
p E
c

Figure 3.5 Electrostatic coupling between a HV conductor and secondary circuit

The voltage will divide inversely as the capacitance, regardless of frequency, thus, if Ep
is the voltage on the power conductor,

p c
E
C C
C
E
32 13
13
(3.1)

Power frequencies signals and transient voltages can be coupled from one circuit to
another by this means. In practice, however, the secondary circuit will usually be terminated to
ground at both ends with impedances much lower than the impedance of C
32
. The shunting
current in these circumstances will be determined by C
13
and for a voltage Ep at frequency will
be

13
C E I
p
(3.2)

And the voltage of the control circuit conductor will be established by the product of this
current and the impedance to the ground. The example given implies that the capacitances are
known. This is usually not the case but there is standard method to calculate the capacitance
between parallel wires. A computer program can be used for complicated calculation such as
determining capacitance between three phase conductors to an object.

Estimating capacitance between a point above ground to an overhead conductor.
Determining the capacitance between a long conductor and a point above the ground
requires a complicated calculation. To roughly estimate the capacitance, the equation to calculate
capacitance between two conductors was used [53]. The capacitance equation between two
parallel conductors is given by
a
d
m F C
r o
2
cosh
) / (
1
(3.3)

Where
d = distance between the two wires in meter
a = radius of conductor in meter

0
= permittivity of free space (F/m)

r
= relative permittivity/dielectric constant for air (1atm) = 1

To estimate the capacitance, we use the distance, d= 5m and conductor radius,a = 0.015m, the
capacitance is calculated to be:

03 . 0
5
cosh
10 * 854 . 8 *
1
12
C
m pF C
C
/ 79 . 4
811 . 5
10 * 854 . 8 *
12

The calculated capacitance is when the conductor is 1m in length. At a conductor length
of 0.2m which is approximately the same length as the passive antenna diameter, the capacitance
is 0.958pF/m. The value calculated is not accurate as it only takes into account the field from the
parts of the HV line which are at right angles to the secondary conductor (antenna). The field
converges on the short secondary point from all along the HV line need to be included in the
calculation of the capacitance. The actual capacitance between the antenna above a ground to the
overhead wire should be higher than the calculated value using equation 3.3. To facilitate
estimation and calculation during the research a capacitance of 1pF is estimated as the value of
C
13
. In the following sections, C
13
will be known as C1.

3.5.3 Single phase capacitive coupling model
At the power line frequency, Vs, the passive antenna is effectively coupled to the power
lines capacitively, C1. As the coupling capacitance is small, which is estimated as 1 picofarad,
the voltage developed across the load, Vo is linearly proportional to the load impedance. This is
in effect a capacitive potential divider with a resistor connected across the low-voltage arm.
Figure 3.6 shows a diagram of single phase capacitive divider.

Figure 3.6 Capacitive Divider

The single phase capacitive coupling antenna could be represented by a simple
equivalent circuit. Figure 3.7 illustrates the equivalent circuit for the capacitive antenna for single
phase measurement.

Vo
Vs
C1
Measuring
Instrument
HV conductor
Antenna Head
Details of the network to the left of the arrows are included in Figure 3.7.

Figure 3.7 Passive Antenna Equivalent Circuit

Vs = Supply phase voltage
Vo = Output Voltage measured
C1 = Capacitance from conductor to Passive antenna
Cr = Capacitance of measuring cable
R = Load resistance

From the above equivalent circuit it can be seen that at very high frequency, X
Cr
<< R.
Hence, the output voltage is determined by the capacitance. While at low frequency, R << X
Cr
,
the output voltage is determined by the resistance. In order to analyse the frequency response of
the passive antenna, the transfer function of the passive antenna is determined.

Passive Antenna Transfer F unction
The transfer function for the equivalent circuit is given by:-
1 ) 1 (
) 1 (
1
1
Cr C R j
Cr C R j
Cr C
C
V
V
S
O
(3.4)

At very high frequency, the term ) 1 ( Cr C R j is dominant and cancels out each other.
Giving the equation below:-

Cr C
C
V
V
S
O
1
1
(3.5)

At low frequency, the term ) 1 ( Cr C R j is small giving the equation below:-
Vs
C1
Cr
R Vo
Measuring
Instrument
1
) 1 (
1
1 Cr C R j
Cr C
C
V
V
S
O

1 RC j (3.6)

By equating s=j , the above could be expressed as;-
1 ) 1 (
) 1 (
1
1
Cr C sR
Cr C sR
Cr C
C
V
V
S
O
(3.7)

The capacitance and resistance values with for field measurement are given below.
C1 = 1pF (estimated)
Cr = 20 meter * 100pF/m = 2000pF = 2nF
R = 0.5M

Replacing the above values in the Eq 3.7, the transfer function could be expressed as
1 ) 2000 1 ( 5 . 0
) 2000 1 ( 5 . 0
2000 1
1
pF pF M s
pF pF M s
pF pF
pF
V
V
S
O

1 001001 . 0
5
7
s
s e

A Bode diagram is plot from the transfer function to look at the corner frequency,
c
and the
relationship between the magnitude, phase angle and frequency. Figure 3.8 shows the Bode
diagram for the transfer function. From the Bode diagram:-
The corner frequency is 2000rad/s or 318.5Hz
Flat gain at -67dB.
At 50Hz or 314 rad/s, the gain is -82dB with a phase shift of about 80 degree.
At low frequency the phase shift is 90 degree and at very high frequency the phase
shift is almost zero.


Figure 3.8 Bode Diagram

The above bode diagram would be used as reference throughout the course of this research for
observations and discussion purposes. It is pointed out that the above bode diagram may not
represent the actual antenna transfer function as the above function is only an estimate for a
single phase measurement and not three phase measurement. The capacitive coupling model for
the three phase measurement would be discussed later. Furthermore the transfer function is
determined by value of C1 the capacitance between the phase conductors and the antenna. C1 is
determined by the distance between the phase conductors to the antenna and relative permittivity
of air during measurement.
Estimating the output voltage measured by the passive antenna
Considering Vs is the phase supply voltage and assuming C1 is 1pF, Vo could be estimated
using the bode diagram.in Figure 3.6 as follows:

Vs = (275kV/ 3)*1.414 = 222.3kV peak voltage (phase to ground)
At 50Hz or 314rad/s, gain is -82db.
Vo/Vs = -82dB. = 20log
10
(Vo/Vs)
= 7.94e-5.

Therefore,
Vo = 223.3kV * 7.94e-5 = 17.7V peak voltage.

This process could be reversed to determine the supply voltage, Vs.

3.5.4 Three phase coupling inside substation
The antenna works on coupling principle. It is important to note that for a 3 phase
measurement inside a substation, an antenna placed under each three different phase conductors
will have all three phase voltage coupled to the antenna via the capacitances. This gives resultant
coupling voltage from all three phases to appear on the antenna. Figure 3.9 illustrates the
capacitive coupling between phase conductors and each passive antenna.

The capacitance is assumed to be inversely proportional to the distance. Antenna nearest
to the phase conductor will experience the strongest capacitive coupling compared to the other
two phases. This results in higher magnitude of voltage coupled from the nearest phase
conductor on the antenna. Therefore, it can be said that strongest coupled voltage on an antenna
indicates the nearest phase conductor.

Capacitive
Coupling Antenna
A B C
PA
X Y Z
C
AX
C
BX
C
CX
C
AY
C
BY C
CY
C
CZ C
BZ
C
AZ

Figure 3.9 Capacitive coupling between three phase conductors and three passive antennas.

3.6 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Figure 3.10 shows the recording instrument arrangement. The recording instrument
consists of two digital oscilloscope, coaxial cable, portable power supply and earthing
accessories.

USB
HSD
3.5 FDD
RS-232
CRO 1 - 1.5GHz
CRO 2 - 100MHz
Power Supply
UPS + Surge
arrestor
12V Battery
@ 250AH
Faraday Cage
i.e. vehicle
Active
Antenna
Passive
Antenna

Figure 3.10 Recording instrument arrangement

3.6.1 Digital oscilloscopes
Two oscilloscopes were used for recording measurements. The characteristics of the two
digital oscilloscopes are shown in Table 3.1 and Table 3.2.

Table 3.1 Characteristics of Agilent Digital Oscilloscope
Make Agilent Vertical resolution 8 bits
Model 54624A Input resistance 1 M 1%
Available channel 4 Input capacitance 14pF
Bandwidth DC to 100 MHz Data Storage Floppy disk
Max Sample rate 200 MSa/s I/O RS-232 Serial Port
Record length 2 M/CH
Sample rate @ 10ms
time div.
20 MSa/s
Table 3.2 Characteristics of Yokogawa Digital Oscilloscope
Make Yokogawa Vertical resolution 8 bits
Model DL 9240 Input resistance 1 M 1%
Available channel 4 Input capacitance 20pF
Bandwidth DC to 1.5 GHz Data Storage Internal HDD
Max Sample rate 10 GSa/s I/O USB Interface
Record length 2.5 M/CH
Sample rate @ 10ms
time div.
25 MSa/s

It can be clearly seen that Yokogawa DL9240 is superior to Agilent 54624. Yokogawa
DL9240 has a segmented memory architecture that allows the main sampling memory of 2.5M
per channel to be segmented into separately triggered buffers according to memory length
selected. This option is known as the waveform history or History Function. History Function
allows successively triggered waveforms to be stored on the oscilloscope acquisition memory
and the waveforms could be displayed when the acquisition process stopped. This is a useful
function to record successful impulses during switching event. Similar function was used by
Moore [6] in his measurement. However, the time stamping used by Moore has a resolution of
precision 10
-9
s whereas Yokogawa DL9240 has only a resolution of precision 10
-3
s. Agilent
54624 does not have this function.

For Yokogawa DL9240, using 1CH with memory length of 2.5M, waveform saved in
.wdf format (proprietary binary format) uses 5MB of memory and this is equivalent to 25MB of
memory if saved in .csv format. With 4CH with memory length of 2.5M, a total of 20MB
memory will be used in .wdf format and time taken to save all the waveforms is around 4
minutes.

Agilent 54624 does not have the waveform save function built in but it is possible to
download the waveforms acquired on all 4 CH. The available setup allows all waveforms to be
downloaded but only one at a time. Using RS-232 connection at 57600 baud rate, with 2M
points on each waveform; downloading time for each waveform is around 12 minutes. Hence,
for 4 waveforms a total downloading time of 50 minutes is required. This is not desirable for
measurement at substations.

3.6.2 Coaxial cable
The coaxial cable used is of RG58 Cellfoil. It has low loss characteristics and is double
shielded. The cable capacitance per meter is 100 pF. To ensure similar cable capacitances from
each antenna to the oscilloscope, each cable length for the passive antenna is set to 20 meter.

3.6.3 Measurement requirement in substation
In carrying out transient measurement inside a substation, acquiring meaningful
measurement result is important. However more importantly, special attention needs to be given
to ensure safety of the operator and measuring equipment. In this case, Powerlink`s electrical
safety procedure needs to be adhered to.
Safety Requirement
Preliminary risk assessment was done and procedures were prepared for carrying out
measurement inside live substation. On the day of measurement, at the substation, final risk
assessment was carried out by Powerlink personnel. Personal protective equipment (PPE) i.e.
safety boots, safety helmet and long sleeve shirt were worn. Powerlink personnel gave a safety
induction before starting of work and non-Powerlink staffs need to be accompanied by
Powerlink personnel at all time while in the substation.
F araday cage
In order to prevent the influence of the electric field during measurement of switching
transients, recording devices need to be located inside a Faraday cage. To achieve this, all the
recording devices were located inside a vehicle which was earthed to the substation earthing.
Single earthing
Only a single point earthing is required to avoid multiple grounds which introduce
ground loops. Ground loops is a phenomenon in which electromagnetic fields can induce voltage
that is not only affect the original measurement signals but also may cause potential differences
between different ground terminals between equipment which can be hazardous. This was
achieved by connecting the equipment earth connection to the vehicle frame. The vehicle frame
is then connected to the substation earthing.
Portable Power Supplies
To avoid connection with the grounding of the substation supply which in turn prevent
ground loops, a portable power supply was used. The portable power supply consists of a UPS
and a large 12V DC battery.

Overvoltages Protection
To avoid potential electrical charges develop on the oscilloscope input terminals during
equipment set up or handling inside the substation, all the input CH were set to GND. As
additional precaution, all input CH were terminated with resistive load connected to ground.

Chapter 4: Exploratory Measurement on Single-Phase Reactor Switching and Capacitor Bank Switching
4Chapter 4: Exploratory Measurement on
Single-Phase Reactor Switching and
Capacitor Bank Switching
Exploratory measurements have been carried out on single-phase reactor switching at
Ergon Energy HV Laboratory, Virginia and 3-phase Capacitor Bank switching at Blackwall
Substation. The purpose, site details, test arrangements and results for both measurements are
described in this chapter.
4.1 FIELD MEASUREMENT AT ERGON LABORATORY
4.1.1 Purpose of measurement
Laboratory measurement were carried out at Ergon Laboratory, Virginia. The
objectives of the measurement were:-
To investigate the application of active antenna (AA) and passive antenna (PA) in
detecting re-ignition and restriking transients produced during single-phase
switching of reactor.
To measure transient and waveforms produced during single-phase switching of
shunt reactor.
To identify improvement required for antenna, measuring technique and recording
system.
Measurement was carried out using both the active antenna, passive antenna and
recording system developed.

4.1.2 Restriking in Vacuum Circuit Breaker
In order to investigate the application of both antennas in detecting re-strike in circuit
breaker, an experiment was set up on Single Phase Reactor Switching using vacuum circuit
breaker. Restriking is known to be produced during interruption of inductive/reactor current by
vacuum circuit breaker. Re-ignition/re-strikes in vacuum circuit breaker has been successfully
modelled and measured by Lopez-Roldan et al [58]. Expected typical result for re-striking in
vacuum circuit breaker for similar circuit arrangement has been obtained [58] and are shown in
Figure 4.1 and Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.1 and 4.2 show the measured voltage at the HV terminal of a test transformer
during the opening of the vacuum circuit breaker, approximately at the instant of maximum
current. The source voltage was 5kV rms and the maximum overvoltage measured at the
transformer terminal was 35 kV peak (pu). Numerous restrikes can be observed during a period
of 1.2ms. The frequency of the load voltage oscillation after the restrikes is a function of the L
and C at the load side of the breaker.

Figure 4.1 Restriking Process During CB Opening (from [58])

Figure 4.2 Measured Voltage at reactor terminal (from [58])

4.1.3 Test and measurement set up
Figure 4.3 outlines the circuit arrangement. The rated inductance, L
B
is 20H and the total
load side equipment capacitance C
L
is 5.0nF. The natural frequency of the LC oscillation on the
load side is given by:-
Hz
C L
f
L B
o
500
2
1

A step-up transformer is used to raise the test voltage to between 3kV and 5kV
simulating the network source voltage. A 12kV rated vacuum circuit breaker is chosen to switch
the reactor. The vacuum circuit breaker is manually operated without point-on-wave controlled
switching facility.

Capacitive voltage dividers were located to measure the voltage at the step-up
transformer (supply side) and at the reactor (load side). The recording equipment consisted of an
active antenna, a passive antenna and two digital oscilloscopes. The oscilloscopes were used to
record the antenna signals and voltage divider waveforms. An Agilent 54624 100MHz
oscilloscope was used to record the passive antenna signal and the voltage divider signals on a
lower-speed timescale. A Yokogawa DL9240 1.5GHz oscilloscope was used to record the active
antenna signal on a higher-speed timescale. The recorded high-speed transient was then stored in
the oscilloscope memory using the History Function. Both oscilloscopes were powered by an
isolation transformer located inside the laboratory control room.

Figure 4.3 Experimental circuit arrangement

Figure 4.4 and figure 4.5 show photographs of the laboratory arrangement. Figure 4.4
shows the vacuum circuit breaker, capacitive voltage divider measuring the load side voltage,
step-up transformer and the 1nF capacitor.

Figure 4.5 shows a single core XLPE cable connected from the vacuum circuit breaker
(which is not visible in the photograph) to the 20H reactor. The passive antenna can be seen to
be located next to the reactor. The active antenna and oscilloscopes are located inside the
laboratory control room. A series of tests were carried out at varying test voltages and varying
antennas location for both passive antenna and active antenna. Selected results are displayed and
discussed

Figure 4.4 Photograph showing Laboratory arrangement

Figure 4.5 Photograph showing Laboratory arrangement

Vacuum
Circuit Breaker
Capacitor
1nF
Step Up
Transformer
Reactor
Passive Antenna
1C XLPE Cable
Potential
Divider

4.1.4 Reactor opening at 3kV with Passive Antenna located close to the supply
transformer
In this test, the passive antenna was located close to the supply transformer and the
active antenna was located in the control room. Prior to the opening test being carried out,
measurement was carried out to calibrate the passive antenna using the supply voltage. The
calibration was carried out with the vacuum circuit breaker in closed position. Table 4.1 shows
the calibration result between the test voltage, supply voltage and passive antenna waveform.

Table 4.1 Calibration between test voltage, supply voltage and Passive antenna
TEST VOLTAGE,
V (RMS)
PASSIVE ANTENNA
VCH1
V (P-P)
SUPPLY VOLTAGE
VCH2
V (P-P)
500 0.84 0.77
1000 1.66 1.47
1500 2.47 2.17
2000 3.22 2.88
2500 3.97 3.59
3000 4.75 4.34

Figure 4.6 (a) shows the signal measured by passive antenna, supply voltage, reactor
voltage. It was observed that the signal picked up by the passive antenna leads the supply voltage
and reactor voltage due to the capacitive coupling nature of the passive antenna by almost 90
0
.

On opening of the vacuum circuit breaker, the supply voltage indicated HF restriking
followed by voltage distortion and settled to 50Hz. The reactor voltage showed HF restriking
followed by decaying transient oscillation at 500Hz. The 500Hz oscillation is a function of the L
and C on the load side of the circuit breaker and corresponds with the calculated values earlier.
The passive antenna picked up the high frequency restriking and the 500Hz transient LC
oscillation superimposed on the 50Hz component. Restriking on the VCB occurred at the early
stage of opening/interrupting as shown in circled area A. Area A is magnified to further look at
the restriking event.

Figure 4.6 (a) WaveIorms during opening oI vacuum circuit breaker at 3 kV (b) Area A Restrikes on
Reactor Voltage (c) Area A Restrikes detected by passive antenna.

Figure 4.6 (b) and (c) show restrikes measured on the reactor voltage and passive
antenna waveform. It can be seen that numerous re-strikes occurred for a period of 1ms. Re-
strikes detected by passive antenna and measured by the voltage divider at the reactor side are
similar in frequency and pattern but vary in terms of magnitude.
A
Passive antenna
Supply voltage
Reactor Voltage
( a)
( b)
Reactor Voltage
Passive antenna
( c)
5V
200s

In Figure 4.6(b), the pattern and the magnitude of the restrike voltages measured at the
reactor voltage terminal are different from the expected result of Figure 4.2. The huge difference
in the expected result may be due to the high frequency earth loop current passing through the
isolation transformer (which was plugged into the same supply as the main supply transformer)
supplying the oscilloscope.

In Figure 4.6 (c), the passive antenna detected the HF restriking current and small
magnitude of restriking voltage. The time difference between restriking pulses ranges from 20 s
initially to 200 s.

Figure 4.7 HF restriking pulses detected on Active Antenna

Figure 4.7 shows the HF restriking pulses detected by the active antenna recorded on the
high speed oscilloscope. The active antenna blocks out the 50Hz component and the 500Hz
transient load oscillation. The recorded HF pulses occurred for 1 ms and consistent with the
restriking pulses recorded by the passive antenna. The constant amplitude on the HF pulses was
due to active antenna amplifier going into saturation during restriking.

1V/div

Figure 4.8 Magnification on one HF pulse

Further observation found that every pulse has similar waveform pattern and 1 HF
restriking pulse was further analysed. In Figure 4.8, the 2
nd
part of the figure show that the
analysed HF pulse contains 2 distinct frequency oscillations. Applying Fast Fourier Transform
(FFT) on the HF pulse indicated that each HF pulse contained frequency component of 10MHz
and 2.6MHz. This HF pulse may be related to the 'Iirst parallel oscillations that occurs during
re-ignitions.

4.1.5 Conclusion
The circuit arrangement for the experiment successfully produced restrike during single
phase reactor switching. From series of tests carried out, the passive antenna managed to detect
50Hz signal, re-strikes during switching of shunt reactor and transient oscillation after
interrupting the shunt reactor. Location of the passive antenna determines the coupling voltage.
The active antenna also detected the HF re-strikes during shunt reactor switching. The only
drawback was the earth loop effect which affected the result slightly.

The experiment has showed that the use of both low frequency capacitive coupling
antenna and high-frequency active broadband antenna are an interesting, non-invasive technique
for measuring transients and detecting re-strikes during single phase shunt reactor switching. It is
thought that this technique could be extended to measurement of three phase shunt reactor or
capacitor bank switching.

1V/div
4.2 EXPLORATORY THREE PHASE CAPACITOR BANK SWITCHING
MEASUREMENT AT BLACKWALL SUBSTATION
4.2.1 Purpose of site measurement
Site measurements were carried out at Blackwall substation on 21
st
May 2007. The
objectives of the measurement were:-
To investigate the application of active antenna and capacitive coupling antenna in
detecting re-ignition and restriking transient produced during three phase capacitor
bank switching.
To carry out measurement on transient and waveforms produced during three phase
capacitor bank switching.
To identify improvements required in terms of antenna requirement, measuring
technique and recording system.
To determine the background noise inside a substation.

4.2.2 Site details and arrangement
Blackwall substation is a 275 kV substation interconnected with other important
substations in Powerlink Queensland`s 275 kV network. The substation is interconnected with 6
other 275kV substations via 275kV overhead lines. Blackwall substation also has Static VAR
Compensator (SVC) installation and two Capacitor Bank bays with 60MVAR rating each. The
two capacitor bank bays are identified as Capacitor Bank No. 5 and Capacitor Bank No. 6
respectively. Figure 4.9 shows Blackwall substation interconnection. Measurements were carried
out on Capacitor Bank No.5. Figure 4.10 shows the capacitor banks layout.

The monitored circuit breaker type is an ABB 275kV Hybrid PASS MO. It is a dead
tank circuit breaker, using SF6 as the interrupting medium, single pole operation with hydraulic
drive mechanism. Controlled switching is employed for both opening and closing operation.
Computerised sequence of event (SOE) information is normally available from this type of
circuit breaker but secondary voltage and current waveforms were not available for this
exploratory measurement.


Figure 4.9. Blackwall Substation Interconnection

The capacitor bank rated capacitance, F C
B
94 . 4 and the series inrush inductance,
mH L
B
86 . 2 .These values were supplied by Powerlink.

The inrush current frequency for capacitor bank could be calculated as follows [1]:
I solated Capacitor Bank
1
2
1
C L L
f
B S
i

where
i
f is the inrush frequency (Hz)
s
L is the estimated source inductance,
at fault current of 40kA,
s
L is kA kV 40 / 3 275 =12.63mH
L
B
is equal to 2.86 mH
1
C is equal to F C
B
94 . 4
Hence, Hz f
i
3 . 575

Back-to-back Capacitor Bank
For a back-to-back capacitor bank with similar rating
SOUTHPINE
ROCKLEA
SWANBANK
BELMONT
CAPACITOR BANK
MT ENGLAND
TARONG
BLACKWALL
SVC
eq eq
i
C L
f
2
1

where
i
f is the inrush frequency (Hz)
eq
L is series inductance of bank 1 and bank 2, 5.72mH.
eq
C is the series capacitance of bank 1 and bank 2 , F 47 . 2

Hence, kHz f
i
34 . 1

These two frequencies are important as they would indicate the inrush frequency during
transient measurement for the capacitor bank closing.

Figure 4.10 Blackwall Capacitor Bank Layout
4.2.3 Measurement set up
Figure 4.11 shows the measuring equipment layout. The passive antenna is connected to
CH1 on Agilent CRO whilst the active antenna is connected to CH1 on Yokogawa CRO. The
active antenna was also connected to CH2 of Agilent 54624 to act as a High frequency marker.
Agilent 54624 oscilloscope was used to record low-speed transients detected by the passive
antenna using 20ms/div with a sampling rate of 20MSa/s. Yokogawa DL9240 was used to
Control Building
Capacitor Bank 6 Capacitor Bank 5
Capacitor Bank
Series Reactor
Switchgear
A B C
*Not to scale
record high speed transients detected by active antenna by using 1 s/div with a sampling rate of
10GSa/s. The high speed transient is then stored in the oscilloscope memory using the History
Function which allows successively triggered waveforms to be stored on the oscilloscope
acquisition memory and can be displayed when waveform acquisition stopped.

A few triggering methods were applied. The best technique was when the active antenna
triggered the Yokogawa oscilloscope using conventional amplitude triggering and the
Yokogawa oscilloscope in turn triggered the Agilent oscilloscope which was set for single shot
operation.

During the measurement the passive antenna and active antenna were located on the
busbar side of the circuit breaker.

Figure 4.11 Measuring equipment layout

USB
HSD
3.5 FDD
Yokogawa DL9240
Agilent 54624
Active
Antenna
Passive
Antenna
Power Supply
UPS + Surge
arrestor
Faraday Cage e.g. vehicle
B/B
CB
SERIES
REACTOR
CAPACITOR
BANK
CT
12V Battery
@ 250AH
Trigger
275 kV busbar
4.2.4 Summary of tests/measurement carried out
Table 4.2 shows a summarised record of the tests carried out at Blackwall.
Table 4.2 Summary of tests conducted at Blackwall on 21
st
May 2007
EVENT AGILENT 54624 YOKOGAWA DL9240
Background
Measurement
Three phase waveform measured.
Triggering by Ext trig from
Yokogawa.

Triggering by Active antenna
on CH1 with level set at
50mV.
CB6 Closing Not properly triggered Not properly triggered
Test 1
CB5 1
st
Opening
Not properly triggered Inaccurate waveform recorded
Test 2
CB5 1
st
Closing
Trig: CH1 Level : 7.5V
Closing transient recorded by
Passive Antenna and HF markers
recorded by active antenna. Both
signals were recorded in 40ms
window.
Trig: CH1 Level : 200mV
6 individual HF waveforms
recorded within 60ms.
Test 3
CB5 2
nd
Opening
Trig: CH1 Level : 7.5V
Not triggered
Trig: CH1 Level : 200mV
3 similar HF waveforms
triggered in approximately
10ms.
Test 4
CB5 2
nd
Closing
Trig: CH4 (Ext-Yokogawa)
Closing transient recorded by
Passive Antenna and HF markers
signals were recorded in 40ms.
Trig: CH1 Level: 200mV
recorded within 60ms. Similar
as 1
st
closing.
Test 5
CB5 3
rd
Opening
Trig: CH4 (Ext-Yokogawa)
Opening transient recorded by
passive antenna and HF markers
signals were recorded in 20ms.
Trig: CH1 Level :200mV
were recorded within 20ms.
Similar as 2
nd
closing.

Samples of opening and closing waveforms recorded on low speed oscillograph and
high speed oscillograph are presented and discussed in the following sections.

4.2.5 Opening operation
Low Speed Oscillograph

Figure 4.12 Antenna waveform on CB opened at point A

Figure 4.12 shows the waveform received by the passive antenna when it was positioned
under the conductor on the busbar side (supply side) of the circuit breaker. The passive antenna
picked up the summation of the three phase 50Hz voltages. It can be observed that at about 17
ms (point A) there was sudden reduction of voltage after CB opening i.e. disconnection of
capacitor bank. There are also appear to be indications of other events at about 23 ms and 27-28
ms. The event at 17 ms may be due to an oscillation similar to that shown in Figure 2.4. The
lumpy staircase-like voltages observed in Figure 4.12 were due to the limited resolution of the
oscilloscope.

Figure 4.13 shows that the active antenna picked up a series of HF pulses during CB
opening. It can also be observed that the voltage distortion on the passive antenna 50 Hz
waveform corresponds to the HF markers measured by the active antenna. The HF markers
occurred for a duration of approximately 10ms.

CH1-PA
CH2-AA
V before V after
A

Figure 4.13 HF pulses during opening
High Speed Oscillograph

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 4.14 Three typical HF Pulses During Opening
Figure 4.14 shows three typical high frequency pulses recorded by the active antenna on
the high speed oscillograph during Test 5. It is interesting to note that the active antenna
triggered 3 HF events. This may correspond to the three pole separation events. However, HF
Timescale:
1s/div

Volt scale:
200mV/div
10 ms /div
2 ms /div Zoomed view of time window above
1V /div
markers on Figure 4.13 recorded four HF pulses during opening. Comparing this with the HF
pulses recorded by the high speed oscilloscope, the HF pulses probably do not indicate just pole
separation. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine the time difference between each of the
HF pulses as the time stamping facility on the Yokogawa oscilloscope has a resolution of 10ms.
4.2.6 Closing operation
Low Speed Oscillograph
Figure 4.15 shows the passive antenna picked up the summation of the three phase 50Hz
component and transient oscillations during CB closing. It can be observed that there was an
increase of 50 Hz voltage after the CB closing as would be expected from a connection of
capacitor bank. The transient oscillations picked up by the passive antenna at point A shows the
effect of inrush current during CB closing. The transient oscillation frequency recorded is
approximately 400Hz. This value is less than 573.5 Hz that calculated earlier in section 4.2.2.
This is probably due to the actual circuit condition with overhead line connection and SVC
which were not taken into consideration in the earlier calculation.

Figure 4.15 Passive Antenna waveform on closing

Figure 4.16 HF markers during closing
CH1-PA CH2-AA
V before V after
A
CH2-AA
Figure 4.16 shows the active antenna picked up series of HF pulses during CB closing.
The HF pulses also correspond to the voltage distortion/transient recorded on the passive antenna
as shown in Figure 4.15. The duration of the HF pulses and transient is approximately 40ms.

High Speed Oscillograph

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)
Figure 4.17 (a) to (f) typical HF Pulses during closing
Figure 4.17 shows HF pulses picked up by the active antenna and recorded on
Yokogawa using the history function. The pulses are arranged according to their sequence
occurrence. Pulse (a) was the 1
st
pulse and pulse (f) was the last pulse. Figure 4.17 (a) and (b)
show that the 1 s/div scale used is not adequate to show the HF pulse waveform. By analysing
other HF waveforms, it was found that some of the HF pulses lasted for almost 20 s. It can also
be seen that the picked up signal by the active antenna overloaded the oscilloscope. Figure 4.17
(e) and (f) show that positive only HF transient were recorded on Yokogawa scope. However,
Time scale:
1s/div

Volt scale:
200mV/div
from figure 4.16, it can be seen that positive only and negative only transients were recorded on
slower scale during closing operation.

Similar HF transient were recorded during other closing operation on the Yokogawa
oscilloscope at 1 s/div scale using the history function. However, the sequence of the HF pulses
between closing operations is different.

4.2.7 Discussion
The exploratory measurement at Blackwall gave a good insight into the technique of
measuring transients in substation using the broadband active antenna and the capacitive
coupling passive antenna. Opening and closing of capacitor bank transients were detected by
both antennas and recorded by the recording instrument. This would be used as reference for
future measurement.

At this stage it was difficult to completely explain the waveforms recorded by both
antennas and to determine the timing, pole sequence and whether re-strikes occurred. However,
it was thought to be possible to improve the measuring system to give more information that
would facilitate understanding of the waveforms. The exploratory measurement gave positive
results in measuring transient using antennas and illustrated the importance of earthing which
could be improved by using single point earthing methods. The measuring system managed to
measure the transients produced during capacitor bank switching.

4.2.8 Improvement to be taken
After the exploratory measurement carried out, improvements were identified on the
measuring system, recording technique and other information required from Powerlink.

In order to relate measurements to the travel of the circuit breaker and to assist in
analyse of the acquired waveforms, additional information will be needed from
Powerlink. These include secondary current and voltage waveforms and sequence
of event (SOE).

As for the measuring system, it was proposed to use three Passive antennas, one for
each phase to give better information about transient waveforms recorded. Further
to this, varying the location of the passive antenna need to be investigated to give
greater understanding of the sensitivity of this type of antenna to distance from HV
sources.

As for the recording technique, improvements could be made in terms of triggering
settings, oscilloscope memory length, volts/div, suitable time scale for opening and
closing and data storage medium.

It is also worth noting that the field measurement involves actual equipment connected
to the transmission network and requires authorised staff to operate the system. Hence, the
number of tests are limited and time is always a constraint. Measurements need to be planned
and executed efficiently.
Chapter 5: Measurement of Capacitor Bank Switching
5Chapter 5: Measurement of Capacitor
Bank Switching
Field measurements were carried out on three phase Capacitor Bank switching at
Powerlink Queensland`s Blackwall Substation on 7
th
August 2007. The purpose of the test, site
details, test arrangements and results from the field measurement are described in this chapter.
Purpose of the site measurement
. The objectives of the field measurement carried out at Blackwall substation are:-
To investigate the application of active antenna and three passive antenna in
detecting re-ignition and restriking transient that may be produced during 3 phase
capacitor bank. switching
To measure transient waveforms produced during 3 phase capacitor bank
switching.
To identify effectiveness on improvements made in antennas, measuring techniques
and recording systems.

5.1 SITE DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENT
Measurements were carried out at the 275kV, Blackwall Substation. As mentioned in
Chapter 4 the substation is interconnected to five other 275kV substations via 275kV overhead
lines. Blackwall substation also has Static VAR Compensator (SVC) installation and 2 Capacitor
Bank bays with 60MVar rating each. The 2 capacitor bank bays are again identified as Capacitor
Bank No. 5 and Capacitor Bank No. 6 respectively.

The monitored CB is a ABB 275kV Hybrid PASS MO circuit breaker used for reactive
switching of Capacitor Bank No.5. The PASS MO is a dead tank circuit breaker, using SF6 as
the interrupting medium, with single-pole operation with an hydraulic drive mechanism. As
expected for a reactive switching the circuit breaker, the circuit breaker operates everyday.

The capacitor bank is rated at 60MVar. The rated capacitance, F C
B
94 . 4 and the
series inrush inductance L
B
= 2.86 mH. The inrush current frequency as was calculated and
described in Chapter 4 (Section 4.2.2).

To reduce harmful transient overvoltages produced during capacitor bank switching
operations, controlled switching is employed on the PASS MO circuit breaker for both opening
and closing operations. In energising the capacitor bank, circuit breaker closing is synchronised
to occur at a zero voltage crossing. While in de-energising, circuit breaker opening is done with
adequate arcing time before the first current zero to avoid reignitions or restrikes. As described in
Chapter 2 (Section 2.3.1) short arcing time gives higher risk of reignition or restrike.

Figure 5.1 Three-phase voltage waveforms and controlled closing points for a Capacitor Bank

Figure 5.2 Three-phase current waveforms and controlled opening points for a Capacitor Bank
Current I nterruption at zero with 3.3ms
between phases
I
t

Zero Voltage crossing with 6.6ms
Between phases
V
t

Figure 5.1 shows control closing time used by Powerlink for a grounded-neutral
capacitor bank at Blackwall substation. The circuit breaker is closed at zero voltage crossing
with 6.6ms interval between poles. Figure 5.2 shows control opening time. The current
interruption occurs at first current zeros with 3.3ms interval between poles. A portable recorder
owned by Powerlink was used to provide secondary voltage and secondary current waveforms
available from the monitoring system built into the PASS MO circuit breaker during switching .

5.2 TEST AND MEASUREMENT SET UP

Figure 5.3 Measuring equipment layout for tests at Blackwall

Figure 5.3 shows the measuring equipment layout. The measuring equipment consists of
3 passive antenna, 1 active antenna, 2 digital oscilloscopes and a portable power supply. The 3
USB
HSD
3.5 FDD
RS-232
YOKOGAWA DL9240
AGILENT 54624
Active
Antenna
3X Passive
Antenna
Power Supply
UPS + Surge
arrestor
12V Battery
@ 250AH
Faraday Cage
i.e. vehicle
B/B
SERIES
REACTOR
CAPACITOR
BANK
CT
PASS
CB
275 kV busbar
passive antennas were connected to Agilent 54624 oscilloscope. The Agilent 54624 was used to
record the lower speed transients using 20ms/div with sampling rate of 10MSa/s. The active
antenna was connected to the 4
th
channel of Agilent 54624 for triggering and to act as a High
frequency marker. Conventional amplitude triggering of the scope was used.

The active antenna was also connected to Yokogawa DL9240 oscilloscope. The
Yokogawa DL9240 was used to record high speed transients using 1 s/div with sampling rate of
10GSa/s. The high speed transient is then stored in the oscilloscope memory using the History
Function.

Figure 5.4 Capacitor Bank Installation

Figure 5.5 Recording Instrumentation
Figure 5.4 shows photograph of the circuit breaker and capacitor bank installation. To
the right of the photo is the capacitor bank. Next to the capacitor bank is the reactor used to limit
Passive Antenna
Agilent 54624
Yokogawa DL9240
Single point earthing
connection to
substation earth
Circuit Breaker
the inrush current effect. The MO Pass Circuit breakers are after the reactors. It is a dead tank
circuit breaker where the current interruption is done inside an earthed interrupting chamber. To
the left of the circuit breaker is the conductor leading to the 275kV busbar. The passive antennas
were located closed to the circuit breaker as shown in the circle. At the far end is the Capacitor
bank no.6. The 3 passive antennas are circled. They are located on the ground on the substation
gravel below the overhead conductors connecting the 3 circuit breaker terminals to the 275kV
substation busbar.

Figure 5.5 shows photograph of the recording instrumentation located inside the
measuring vehicle. The oscilloscopes were positioned next to each other. The portable power
supply is located behind the 2 oscilloscopes. All the equipments were connected to a single point
earth on the vehicle. The single point earth is then connected from the measuring vehicle to the
substation earth grid.

5.3 SUMMARY OF TESTS/MEASUREMENT CARRIED OUT
Series of circuit breaker closing and opening tests were made on capacitor bank 5.
Positions of the 3 passive antennas and active antenna were varied during the e tests. Table 5.1
shows a summary of tests carried out. Only selected results are displayed and discussed. After
evaluating the results, it was concluded that the HF pulse measured by the active antenna and
recorded on the high-speed oscilloscope was very difficult to correlate with the low speed
transient recorded. This is due to the sampling rate and the random nature of the arc produce
during opening which will be mentioned later. However, the low speed transient measurements
seemed to contain considerable information.

Table 5.1 Summary of tests conducted at Blackwall on 7
th
August 2007
EVENT DESCRIPTION
Background
Measurement
Background measurement by the 3 Passive antenna and Active
antenna.
Test 1 Closing All passive antennas located on the source/busbar side oI the circuit
breaker. Active antenna was located just outside the measuring
vehicle.
3 HF events were recorded on the lower speed scope.
Test 2 Opening All passive antennas located on the source/busbar side of the circuit
breaker. Active antenna was located just outside the measuring
vehicle.
No significant transient or voltage changes recorded.
Test 3 Closing 2 Passive antenna located on load/capacitor bank side under phase
A and B and 1 Passive antenna at the source/busbar side under
phase A.
Test 4 Opening All passive antennas located on the load/capacitor bank side of the
circuit breaker. Active antenna was located just outside the
measuring vehicle.
Significant voltage changes recorded.
Test 5 Closing All passive antennas located on the load/capacitor bank side of the
circuit breaker.
Active antenna was located under phase conductor B at 3.5m from
B phase CB.
3HF events were recorded on the lower speed scope.
Test 6 Opening All antennas with same location as in Test 5.
Test 7 Closing All passive antennas located on the load/capacitor bank side of the
circuit breaker.
Active antenna was located at B phase CB inspection window
Test 8 Opening All antennas with same location as in Test 7.

Only selected results are discussed in this thesis. Background measurements are
discussed first followed by results of closing tests, i.e. Test 5 and Test 3, and opening test of
capacitor bank circuit breaker i.e Test 8.

5.4 BACKGROUND MEASUREMENT
Figure 5.6 shows position of the 3 passive antennas and active antenna when
background measurements were carried out.

Figure 5.7 shows the 50 Hz waveforms measured during background measurement
before switching on of the capacitor bank . Passive antennas 1, 2 and 3 were connected to CH1,
CH2 and CH3 respectively of the oscilloscope. It can be seen that the 3 waveforms have same
50Hz frequency, but they have different magnitudes and the phase angle difference between
them is not 120
0
. The magnitude of each waveform is determined by the position of the antenna
hence the capacitive coupling effect.

Figure 5.6 Plan view of antenna positions at Capacitor Bank installation during background measurement

PASS
Switchgear
Control Building
1 2 3
Capacitor Bank 6 Capacitor Bank 5
Capacitor Bank
Series Reactor
A B C
Capacitive
Coupling Antenna
Active Antenna
13m
4.0m
2.5m

Figure 5.7 Waveform from Background measurement

CH1 has the biggest magnitude as antenna 1 is experiencing strong capacitive coupling
effect from phase A hence indicating phase A. CH2 for antenna 2 being in the centre position,
phase B, has the lowest magnitude as antenna 2 is experiencing coupling effect from all 3
phases. Hence, indicating phase B. CH3 has higher magnitude than CH2 but lower than CH1 as
antenna 3 is experiencing strong coupling effect from phase C but also coupling from difference
phases from adjacent bay i.e. Cap Bank 6. Hence, indicating phase C.

Table 5.2 Voltage measured by each Passive antenna during background measurement
Antenna Measured V
peak

(Load, R = 500 k )
PA1 10V
PA2 7V
PA3 7.5V

A
B
C
5.5 CAPACITOR BANK CLOSING

Figure 5.8 Plan view of the antenna positions for Test 5
Result for closing capacitor bank for Test 5 is discussed. Figure 5.8 shows the position
of the 3 passive antennas and active antenna for Test 5 Closing. All the passive antennas were
located at the capacitor side. Passive antenna 1 (PA1) was located under phase A, PA2 under
phase C and PA3 under phase B. The active antenna was located on the busbar side under phase
B.
Figure 5.9 shows the waveform recorded during closing of capacitor bank 5 circuit
breaker. From the three passive antennas, the inrush current effect during closing can be clearly
seen on the voltage waveform. The voltage waveform increased indicating CB closing and point
of current flowing with transient oscillation followed by steady state waveform.

A B C
1
2
3
Capacitor Bank 5
Capacitor
Series
Reactor
PASS CB
Capacitive
Coupling Antenna
Active Antenna

Figure 5.9 Waveforms captured during CB close operation for Test 5
The instant of individual phase closing could be determined by the comparing the
magnitude of voltage detected by the passive antennas. Passive antenna that detected the largest
voltage magnitude represents the closing phase. In this test, during the first pole closing, antenna
1 under phase A detected the highest voltage compared to antenna 3 and 2 located under phase B
and C respectively. For the second pole closing, antenna 3 under phase B has the highest
magnitude compared to the other 2 antennas thus indicating phase B closing. This was followed
by phase C closing, where antenna 3 under phase C has the highest voltage magnitude.
Therefore, by comparing the passive antennas signal the sequence of CB pole closing could be
determined. The closing sequence for this test is A-B-C.

1V
10 ms
X2
X1
PA1 under Phase A
PA3 under Phase B
PA2 under Phase C
Pulses from
Active antenna
@ 50mV/ div
The active antenna picked up the HF pulses or HF markers. The HF markers are in line
with the starting of voltage transient on the passive antennas. The time difference between the 3
HF markers is indicated by X1 and X2. Both X1 and X2 were measured to be approximately
6.6ms. X1 and X2 indicate the timing between pole closing.
Test 5 - Close
6.6 ms
6.6 ms
1
APhase
APhase
B Phase
B Phase
C Phase
C Phase
Time

Figure 5.10 WaveIorms captured on Powerlink`s portable recorder Ior Test 5
Figure 5.10 shows the voltage and current waveIorm Irom the Powerlink`s portable
recorder. The voltage waveforms are indicative of the busbar voltage whilst the current
waveforms represent the capacitor bank current. It can be seen that CB was closed at zero
voltage crossing causing minimal inrush current to flow into the capacitor bank. The timing
between each pole closing is 6.6ms and the pole sequence is A-B-C.

The waveforms from all the antennas gave same timing difference and pole sequence as
with waveIorm Irom Powerlink`s portable recorder. They are summarised in Table 5.3.

Table 5.3 Summary of CB timing and pole sequence for capacitor bank closing Test 5
X1
ms
X2
ms
Sequence
Measured from antennas
waveform
6.6 6.6 A-B-C
Powerlink waveform 6.6 6.6 A-B-C

From Figures 5.9 and 5.10 it can be seen that the voltages recorded on the PA are a
composite of the three-phase voltages with the magnitude of the component of each phase
depending on the distance of the PA from the phase busbar. For example in Figure 5.9 in the
region X1 the phase A voltage is very similar to the start of the phase A voltage in Figure 5.10.
The phase B voltage in the region X1 is lower than that in phase A and the phase C voltage is
less than that in phase B: this is to be expected because the distances from phase A to the A
phase PA, the B phase PA and the C phase PA are each greater than the preceding value. It can
be seen that the shape of the voltage waveforms in Figure 5.9 are very similar to the current
waveforms in Figure 5.10. This was due to the shunt resistance connected across the output of
the passive antenna introducing a phase shift of almost 90 degrees in the output voltage signal.

The pulses of the AA are superimposed on each phase voltage in Figure 5.9 and provide
accurate identification of each pole closure. Timing of the closing operation may be obtained
directly from Figure 5.9 and values X1 and X2 are comparable with similar measurements from
Figure 5.10.

5.6 IMPERFECT CAPACITOR BANK CLOSING
Result for closing onto the capacitor bank for Test 3 is discussed in this Section. Figure
5.11 shows the position of the 3 passive antennas and active antenna Ior Test 3 Closing.
Passive antenna 1 and 3 were located at the capacitor side while passive antenna 2 was located at
the busbar side. Passive antenna 1 (PA1) was located under phase A, PA2 under phase A and
PA3 under phase B. The active antenna was located on the busbar side close to measuring
vehicle.



Figure 5.12 shows the voltage and current waveIorm Irom the Powerlink`s portable
recorder. From the voltage waveform for phase B , it can be seen that CB was closed prior to
zero voltage crossing. This caused big inrush current to flow into the capacitor bank as indicated
by the current waveform on phase B. The inrush current also caused a voltage dip on the B phase
busbar voltage. Similar occurrence can be seen on phase C and phase A. The timing between
each pole closing is 6.6ms and the pole sequence is B-C-A.

Capacitive
Coupling Antenna
Active Antenna
A B C
1
2
3
Capacitor Bank 5
Capacitor
Series
Reactor
PASS CB


Figure 5.13 shows the waveform recorded by the passive antennas and active antenna
during closing of capacitor bank. Only waveforms for passive antenna 1, passive antenna 3 and
active antenna were shown. Waveform for passive antenna 2 was not shown because passive
antenna 2 was located on the busbar side as in figure 5.12 hence the waveform detected by
passive antenna 2 could not be compared reliably with waveforms from passive antenna 1 and
passive antenna 3.

On waveforms recorded on passive antennas 1and 3, the inrush current effect during
closing can be clearly seen on the voltage waveform. The sudden voltage increase or voltage
spike on antenna indicated the CB pole closing and point of current flowing with transient
oscillation followed by steady state waveform. The transient oscillation in this test is more severe
when compared to transient oscillation detected in test 5. This is due to the incorrect zero voltage
crossing closing which was shown in Figure 5.12. The magnitude of the 50 Hz components in
Figure 5.13 looks smaller than in Figure 5.9 because waveforms in Figure 5.13 were measured
using 5V/div while waveforms in Figure 5.9 were measured using 1V/div.
C Phase
C Phase
B Phase
A Phase
B Phase
A Phase
Test 3 - Close Current
Voltage
6.6 ms 6.6 ms

Figure 5.13 Waveforms captured during CB close operation for Test 3
Top trace 50mV/div: Second trace 5V/div: Third trace 50 mV/div: Bottom trace 5V/div,

In this test, by comparing the voltage magnitude at point of closing the pole closing
sequence could be determined. Antenna 3 under phase B was the 1
st
to close as it has higher
transient voltage compared to Antenna 1. Antenna 1 under phase A was the last to close as it has
the higher voltage magnitude than antenna 3. The closing sequence for this test is B-C-A.

The active antenna picked up the HF pulses or HF markers. The HF markers are in line
with the starting of voltage transients from the passive antennas. The time difference between the
3 HF markers is indicated by X1 and X2. Both X1 and X2 were measured to be approximately
6.6ms. X1 and X2 indicate the timing between pole closing.

The waveforms from all the antennas gave the same timing difference and pole sequence
as with waveIorm Irom Powerlink`s portable recorder. They are summarised in Table 5.4. From
results in Table 5.3 and 5.4, in both tests the circuit breaker was controlled close at 6.6ms
interval with similar pole sequence. The 6.6ms interval may suggest correct zero voltage
PA1 under Phase A
PA3 under Phase B
X1
X2
Pulses from
Active
antenna @
50mV/ div
5V/ div
10ms/ div
crossing closing between phases. However for test 3, by looking at the transient waveforms
detected by the passive antenna it can be said that the closing was not done exactly at zero
voltage crossing.

Table 5.4 Summary of CB timing and pole sequence for capacitor bank closing Test 3
X1
ms
X2
ms
Sequence
waveform
6.6 6.6 B-C-A
Powerlink waveform 6.6 6.6 B-C-A

5.7 CAPACITOR BANK OPENING
Result for capacitor bank opening for Test 8 is discussed in this section. Figure 5.14
shows the position of the 3 passive antennas and active antenna Ior Test 8 Opening. Passive
antenna 1 and 3 were located at the capacitor side while passive antenna 2 was located at the
busbar side. Passive antenna 1 (PA1) was located under phase A, PA2 under phase A and PA3
under phase B. The active antenna was located on the busbar side close to measuring vehicle.

A B C
1
2
3
Capacitor Bank 5
Capacitor
Series
Reactor
PASS CB Capacitive
Coupling Antenna
Active Antenna

Figure 5.15 shows the voltage and current waveIorm Irom Powerlink`s portable
recorder. From the current waveform for phase A , it can be seen that phase A was the first to
open and current was interrupted at first current zero. At current zero, the busbar voltage for
phase B is at maximum. Similar occurrence can be seen on phase C and phase B. The timing
between each current interruption is 3.3ms and the pole sequence is A-C-B.

Figure 5.16 shows the waveform recorded during opening of capacitor bank. In this the
passive antennas showed in each phase the recorded voltage had initially an approximately 50
Hz waveform but after a time there appears to be a sudden reduction in this 50 Hz value due to
current interruption. We term the apparent instant of the change in the waveform magnitude as
the inflection points. The instant of pole opening can be approximately determined by
determining the inflection points on the waveforms. This is rather difficult but the approximate
inflection point for each voltage waveform is indicated by the arrow in Figure 5.16. It is clear
that more accurate determinations of the inflection points could be made using advanced signal
processing techniques on digitised waveforms. Unfortunately only the analogue signals were
recorded due to limitations of equipment available at the time that tests were done. It was not
possible to save these signals.

In this test, during the first pole opening, antenna 1 under phase A detected the largest
voltage drop compared to antenna 3 and 2 located under phase B and C respectively. For the
second pole opening, antenna 2 under phase C has the largest voltage drop compared to the other
2 antennas thus indicating phase C opening. This was followed by phase B opening, where
antenna 3 under phase B has the largest voltage drop. Therefore, by comparing the passive
antennas signal the sequence of CB pole closing could be determined. The closing sequence for
this test is A-C-B.


Figure 5.15 WaveIorms captured on Powerlink`s portable recorder Ior Test 8-Open.

As mentioned before, the instant of current interruption between poles could be
determined by looking at the inflection point on the waveforms. The inflection point for each
voltage waveform is indicated by the arrows in Figure 5.16. The time difference between the
inflection points are indicated by X1 and X2 which is also the time between zero current
interruption. X1 was measured to be approximately at 3.4ms and X2 was measured to be
approximately 3.6ms. The inflection points identified are thought to have errors between 0.5ms
from the actual current interruption point. The error is to represent inaccuracies when identifying
the inflection point using only the diagram. A more precise technique would be to digitise the
record and carry out analysis using digital signal processing.

Ic
Ib
Ia
Vc
Vb
Va
Test 8 - Opening
Current
Supply Voltage
The waveforms from all the antennas gave similar timing difference and pole opening
sequence as those determined from waveform measured by Powerlink`s portable recorder.
They are compared in Table 5.5.

Table 5.5 Summary of CB timing and pole sequence for capacitor bank Test 8
X1
ms
X2
ms
Sequence
waveform
3.4 3.6 A-C-B
Powerlink waveform 3.3 3.3 A-C-B

The active antenna picked up the HF pulses as shown in Figure 5.16. The HF pulses on
opening seemed to be occurring in more random manner as compared to HF pulses detected
during closing. It is also noticed that the HF pulses are concentrated in three groups . These
groups occur just before phase A current interruption (A Open), just before phase C current
interruption (C Open) and just before phase B current interruption (B Open). It is interesting to
note that HF signals were also detected by all passive antennas before individual phase current
interruption. This shows that the HF signals are also coupled to the passive antennas. In the area
before phase A current interruption, the highest magnitude of HF pulses detected by the active
antenna correspond to the highest magnitude HF signals detected by passive antenna 1 located at
phase A. Similar observation can be made for area phase C and phase B. . At this stage it is
difficult to correlate the HF pulses detected by the active antenna and the low frequency signals
detected by the passive antennas. The HF signals detected during pole opening may be related to
the arcing aftercontact parting, arc generation in the interrupter chamber and final current
interruption at current zero. In a 3 phase switching, these HF events may overlap with one
another making it difficult to differentiate the HF events occurring in each pole opening.


Figure 5.16 Waveforms captured during CB open operation for Test 8
Inflection points (current interruption) shown by arrows.

X1
X2
2 ms
1V
Phase A
Phase B
Phase C
A Open
B Open C Open
200mV
From all the four Capacitor Bank opening tests carried out, none produced any re-
strikes. It is thought, on the basis of measurements made at the Ergon laboratory in Chapter 4 of
this thesis that when a restrike does occur, the magnitude of current and transient voltage would
be sufficiently large to give very distinct indication of the existence of the restrike on the low
frequency transient passive antenna signals and corresponding HF pulses from the active
antenna.

In general, opening of capacitor bank circuit breakers generally does not lead to any
significant switching transients. The major reason is that circuit breakers are designed to have
very low risk of restrikes upon interruption of capacitive current. Application of controlled
switching should further reduce the small statistical risk that a re-strike may still occur. This is
achieved by the circuit breaker being controlled in such a manner that short arcing times are
avoided.

5.8 SUMMARY ON CAPACITOR BANK SWITCHING TESTS
Closing operations were successfully detected using the active antenna and passive
antennas. Pulses from the active antenna act as HF markers and give clear closing times. The
passive antennas give clear indication of the instant of pole closing, timing differences and the
pole sequence. The timing information by the antennas could be used to further determine the
circuit breaker pre-arcing time. This can be achieved by synchronising the coil energisation time
with the recording instrument. The closing time could be determined from the circuit breaker
timing test result, alternatively more accurate timing could be obtained via precision CB
auxiliary contacts. The make time is the time from coil energising until the current making which
is indicated clearly by the antenna signal. The pre-arcing time is simply the difference between
the closing time and the make time.

Results from capacitor bank closing on Test 3 and Test 5 indicate that this technique
could also be used to check the control switching relay effectiveness during zero voltage closing.
In Test 5, the transient oscillation detected upon CB closing is smooth as compared to transient
oscillation in Test 3. The transient oscillation detected by the passive antennas in test 3 indicated
that closing was not properly done at zero voltage crossing.

Opening operations were not as successfully measured as in closing operations. The HF
pulses detected by the active antenna do not provide clear current interruption instants. The HF
markers show consistent indication of arc disturbance before current interruption in each phase.
The HF signals detected may be related to the arcing contact parting, arc generation in the
interrupter chamber and final current interruption at current zero.

The passive antennas give indications of the instant of current interruption, the timing
difference between poles and the pole sequence. The current interruption could be determined
from the inflection point on the waveform recorded by the passive antenna. More precision on
the interruption timing could be achieved by applying digital signal processing (DSP) e.g.
Wavelet Transforms. At this stage it is difficult to correlate the HF pulses s detected by the active
antenna and the low-frequency transients detected by the passive antennas.

The opening operations carried out did not produce any re-strikes. It is thought that
when a restrike occurs, the magnitude of current and voltage transients involved would be
sufficiently large to give similar results to those recorded in this thesis during closing operations.

Chapter 6: Measurement of Shunt Reactor Bank Switching
6Chapter 6: Measurement of Shunt Reactor
Bank Switching
Field measurements were carried out on three phase Shunt Reactor Bank switching at
Powerlink Queensland`s Braemar Substation on 21
st
August 2007. The purpose of the test, site
details, test arrangements and results for the field measurement are described in this chapter.
Purpose of the site measurement
The objectives of the field measurement carried out at Braemar substation are:-
To investigate the application of broadband active antenna and three capacitive
coupling antenna (Passive antenna-PA) in detecting re-ignition and restriking
transient that may be produced during 3 phase shunt reactor bank. switching
To measure transient and waveforms produced during 3 phase shunt reactor bank
switching.
To identify effectiveness on improvements made in antennas, measuring technique
and recording systems.

6.1 SITE ARRANGEMENT
Measurement was carried out at 275kV, Braemar Substation. The substation is
interconnected with other 275kV substations via 275kV overhead lines. Braemar substation has
Static VAR Compensator (SVC) installation. There are two 275 kV Shunt Reactor with a rating
of 35MVAR each. The shunt reactors are connected to the 275kV overhead lines leading to
Tarong substation. Only one shunt reactor bank is currently in service and this shunt reactor was
used for the switching test.

The monitored CB is similar to the type used for capacitor bank switching in Chapter 5.
The circuit breaker is used for reactive switching of directly grounded shunt reactor bank and the
circuit breaker is operated daily.
The shunt reactor bank is rated at 35MVar. The rated capacitance was given to be,
nF C
B
863 . 2 and the rated reactance, H L
B
85 . 8 . It is a three phase unit in a single tank..

The load oscillation frequency is given by equation 2.4.4.1 in Chapter 2 and can be
calculated as follows:
B B
L
C L
f
2
1

Hence, Hz f
L
1000
Controlled switching is employed on the circuit breaker for both opening and closing
operation of the shunt rector to reduce switching transients. In energising the shunt reactor bank,
in order to give the smallest inrush current the circuit breaker closing is done at maximum power
frequency voltage. While in de-energising, circuit breaker opening is done with an adequate
arcing time before the first current zero to avoid reignitions or restrikes. As described in Chapter
2 (Section 2.4.1) short arcing time gives high risk of reignition or restrike.

Figure 6.1 Three-phase voltage waveforms and controlled closing points for a Shunt Reactor Bank

Figure 6.2 Three-phase current waveforms and controlled opening points for Shunt Reactor Bank

Maximum Voltage with 3.3ms
Between phases
V
t

Current I nterruption at zero with 3.3ms
between phases
V
t
Figure 6.1 shows the controlled closing time strategy used by Powerlink for the directly
grounded shunt reactor bank at Braemar substation. The circuit breaker is closed at maximum
voltage with 3.3ms interval between poles. Figure 6.2 shows the controlled opening time. The
current interruption occurs at first current zero with 3.3ms interval between poles. A portable
recorder owned by Powerlink was used to record secondary voltage and secondary current
waveforms during switching.

6.2 TEST AND MEASUREMENT SET UP

Figure 6.3 Measuring equipment layout at Braemar substation
Figure 6.3 shows the measuring equipment layout. The measuring equipment consists
of 3 passive antenna, 1 active antenna, 1 digital oscilloscopes and a portable power supply. The
three passive antennas and active antenna were connected to the Yokogawa DL9240
oscilloscope which was used to record the low speed transients using 10ms/div with sampling
rate of 25MSa/s. The active antenna was used to trigger the Yokogawa oscilloscope.
Conventional amplitude triggering of the scope was used.
USB
HSD YOKOGAWA DL9240
Power Supply
UPS + Surge
arrestor
12V Battery
@ 250AH
Faraday Cage
i.e. vehicle
O/H
3X Passive
Antenna
Active
Antenna
SHUNT
REACTOR
SA
CB
The oscilloscope stored 2.5Mpts per triggered event. The file is saved in .wdf binary
format for fast analysis in Yokogawa oscilloscope. It can also be exported to PC in .csv format
for further analysis. The oscilloscope was powered by a portable power supply. All the
measuring equipment were located inside a vehicle and all the equipment were earthed through a
common point from the vehicle to the substation earth grid.

Figure 6.4 Shunt Reactor Installation

Figure 6.5 PASS MO Circuit Breaker

Shunt reactor
A
B
C
Surge arresters
Circuit breaker Vehicle for measuring
equipment
Post Insulators

Figure 6.6 Passive and active antennas location

Figure 6.4 shows photograph of the circuit breaker and shunt reactor bank installation.
To the left of the picture is the 30MVar Shunt Reactor. It is a 3 phase oil immersed reactor. To
the right of the reactor are the surge arrestors to protect the reactor from overvoltage. On the
right side of the photograph is the Pass MO Circuit breaker. The conductor phases are shown
next to the CB bushing. Figure 6.5 shows side view of the PASS MO circuit breaker. It is a dead
tank circuit breaker where the current interruption is done inside an earthed interrupting
chamber. The hydraulic mechanism housing is located on the left side of the circuit breaker. The
right side of the circuit breaker bushing is connected to the 275kV overhead/busbar while the left
side bushing is connected to the post insulator, surge arresters and shunt reactor. Connections are
made using aluminium conductors. Figure 6.6 shows the location of the 3 passive antennas.
They were located under the circuit breaker conductor as shown in the circle. The nearest passive
antenna in the photo is located at phase C while the furthest passive antenna is located at phase
A. The active antenna is located close to phase C.

6.3 SUMMARY OF TESTS/MEASUREMENT CARRIED OUT
A series of closing and opening of the circuit breakers for shunt reactor bank were
carried out. The positions of the three passive antennas and active antenna were fixed throughout
the tests. Table 6.1 shows a summary of tests carried out. Background measurement would be
discussed first followed by results on closing tests i.e. Test 4 and opening test of shunt reactor
bank circuit breaker i.e. Test 7.

Passive antenna
Active antenna

Table 6.1 Summary of tests conducted at Braemar substation on 21
st
August 2007
EVENT DESCRIPTION
Background
Measurement
Background measurement by the 3 Passive antenna and Active
antenna. Circuit breaker in closed position and reactor energised.
Test 1 Opening LC transient oscillations detected however the magnitude exceeded
the oscilloscope scale. Each CH1, CH2 and CH3 was paralleled
with 1M Ohm resistor.
Test 2 Closing 3 distinct HF event transient recorded.
Test 3 Opening Additional voltage reduction was added and it was observed that
the magnitude of the transient oscillation was still big.
CH1 and CH3 further paralleled with 100K ohm resistor and CH2
with 10K resistor.
Test 4 Closing 3 distinct HF event with transient recorded.
Test 5 Opening Additional voltage reduction was further added and it was observed
that the magnitude of the transient oscillation recorded was suitable
for analysis.
CH1 and CH2 paralleled with 10K, CH3 with 100K.
Test 6 Closing Not triggered as the portable power supply was running low on
power.
Test 7 Opening LC transient oscillations recorded.

On circuit breaker opening, tt was found that the transient load oscillation produced
considerably large magnitude. In order to be able to measure the signal produced, the signal was
scaled down. This was achieved by connecting resistor in parallel with each channel. For Test 7,
CH1 and CH2 were paralleled with a 10K resistor. CH3 was paralleled with a 100K resistor.
The signals were recorded digitally for further analysis.

6.4 BACKGROUND MEASUREMENT
Figure 6.7 shows the positions of the 3 passive antennas and the active antenna This
arrangement was used for the all closing and opening tests.


Figure 6.7 Plan view of the antenna positions at shunt reactor installation
Passive antenna 1 was located under phase A, passive antenna 2 under phase B, passive
antenna 3 under phase C and active antenna located close to phase C. Passive antennas 1,2 and 3
were connected to CH1, CH2, and CH3 of the oscilloscope respectively. The active antenna was
connected to the CH4.

Figure 6.8 shows the waveforms measured with the 3 passive antennas during
background measurement. It can be seen that the three waveforms have same 50Hz frequency,
different magnitudes and the phase differences between them are not exactly 120
0
. The
magnitude of each waveform and the phase angle is determined by the position of the antenna
which determines the capacitive coupling effect to the conductors.

PA3 has the biggest magnitude it is experiencing strong capacitive coupling effect from
phase C. PA2 being in the centre position has the lowest magnitude as it is experiencing net
coupling effect from all 3 phases. PA1 has higher magnitude than PA2 and almost the same as
PA3 as PA1 is experiencing strong coupling effect from phase A.

C B A
3
1
2
Reactor Bank
Shunt
Reactor
PASS CB
Capacitive
Coupling Antenna
Active Antenna

Figure 6.8 Waveform on Background measurement

Table 6.2 Voltage measured by each Passive antenna during background measurement
Antenna Measured V
peak

(Load, R = 500 k )
PA1 19.04V
PA2 8.32V
PA3 20.85V

6.5 SHUNT REACTOR BANK CLOSING
Results for Test 4 (closing shunt reactor bank) is discussed. Figure 6.9 shows the voltage
and current waveIorms Irom the Powerlink`s portable recorder. The voltage waveforms
represent the busbar voltages whilst the current waveforms represent the shunt reactor bank
currents. It can be seen that CB was closed at maximum voltage causing minimal inrush current
to flow into the capacitor bank. The timing between each pole closing is 3.3ms and the pole
closing sequence is B-A-C.
1
3
2
Figure 6.10 shows the waveform recorded during closing of the shunt reactor bank. The
first pole closing occurred at 30ms. This was followed by closing of another 2 poles. The closing
operation caused some transient oscillation followed by the steady state 50 Hz oscillation which
is similar to the background measurement.


Va
Ib
Vc
Ia
Vb
Ic
A Close
B Close
C Close
Test 4 - Close

Figure 6.10 Waveforms captured by PA 1,2 and 3 during CB closing operation for Test 4

Figure 6.11 shows the closing signals detected by each antenna. All passive antennas
showed similar starting point and time difference between pulses. The active antenna picked up
the HF pulses (HF markers). The HF markers are in line with the starting of voltage transient on
the passive antennas.

The time difference between the 3 HF markers is indicated by X1 and X2. Both X1 and
X2 were measured to be approximately 3.3ms. X1 and X2 indicate the timing between pole
closing. At this stage, it is not possible to determine the sequence of closing. In order to
determine the sequence of closing, it is best to analyse the closing pulse at each closing.

Steady state at 50 Hz

Figure 6.11 Waveforms captured during CB close operation in Test 4 by each antenna

X1 X2
PA1 under phase A
PA2 under phase B
PA3 under phase C
AA under phase C

Figure 6.12 Comparison of voltage magnitude of closing pulses at each closing event

Figure 6.12 shows the zoom-in-view of the closing pulses detected by each passive
antenna at each closing instant. At first closing, by comparing the magnitude of waveforms on
each passive antenna phase B has the highest magnitude. At second closing, phase A has the
highest magnitude and at the third closing, phase C has the highest magnitude. By comparing the
magnitude of waveforms on each antenna at the individual closing pulse, the pole sequence
could be determined. The highest magnitude at each closing instant indicate the closing phase.
Hence, the closing sequence was B-A-C.
1
st
closing
2
nd
closing
B phase
(PA2)
A phase
(PA1)
3
rd
closing
C phase
(PA3)
The waveforms from all the antennas gave slight difference in closing but similar pole
sequence as with waveIorm Irom Powerlink`s portable recorder. They are summarised in table
6.3.
Table 6.3 Summary of CB timing and pole sequence for shunt reactor bank closing Test 4
X1
ms
X2
ms
Sequence
waveform
3.7 3.0 B-A-C
Powerlink waveform 3.3 3.3 B-A-C


6.6 SHUNT REACTOR BANK OPENING
Results for Test 7 (reactor bank opening) is discussed here. Location of the antennas is
as per Figure 6.7. Figure 6.13 shows the voltage and current waveIorms Irom the Powerlink`s
portable recorder. From the current waveform for phase B, it can be seen that CB phase B was
the first to open and current was interrupted at first current zero. At current zero, the busbar
voltage for phase B is at maximum. Similar occurrence can be seen on phase A and phase C. The
timing between each current interruption is 3.3ms and the pole sequence is B-A-C.


Ia
Va
Vb
Ib
Vc
Ic
Current Interruption
at A
at B
at C
Test 7 - Open

Figure 6.14 Waveforms captured during CB open operation in Test 7

Figure 6.14 shows the waveforms recorded by the passive antennas during opening of
shunt reactor bank. CH1, CH2 and CH3 represent passive antennas 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
Passive antennas 1,2 and 3 were located under phase A, B and C, respectively. Referring to the
opening waveforms recorded on CH2, the opening process could be clearly divided into 3 stages.
The 1
st
stage is before pole opening or pre-current interruption which is before 20ms, where no
Oscillation at 1kHz
Beating on voltage oscillation
PA1 under phase A
PA2 under phase B
PA3 under phase C
Pre Current
Interruption
transient was observed at this stage. The 2
nd
stage is the current interruption which occurred from
20ms to 33ms. In this stage, the 3 phase CB poles started to open, causing arc to be drawn
followed by current interruption at or near current zero. This process occurred on all 3 phases
and explained the disturbances observed on the waveforms. The 3
rd
stage is the transient voltage
oscillation of the reactor. The oscillation detected by the passive antennas started from 33ms and
last until more than 100ms. The frequency of the oscillation was 1.03 kHz. This oscillation is
also known as load side oscillation as described in Chapter 2 (Section 2.4.4). The oscillation
waveform in Figure 6.14 does not look sinusoidal due to resolution of the graph produced.

On the waveform recorded on CH3, beating on the voltage oscillation could be clearly
seen. Beating is due to coupling between individual phases. For a three phase unit reactor (in one
tank), beating is considerable as the phase to phase coupling is significant. The oscillation
frequency of each phase may differ slightly from each other.

Figure 6.15 shows a close up view of the opening waveforms from 18ms to 38ms. It
shows more detailed information on the current interruption region. The transient recovery
oscillation generated after the 1
st
current interruption could be clearly seen at 26ms on all three
graphs. This was followed by another oscillation superimposed on the earlier transient oscillation
at around 29.3ms, followed by another oscillation superimposed at around 32.7ms. Each starting
instant of the oscillations can represent current interruption at zero or current chopping of phase.

The current interruption instant of each CB pole could be determined by comparing the
magnitude of voltage on each CH at the starting of oscillation. The CH with the largest
magnitude of voltage represents the current interruption phase. In this test, during the first
current interruption, CH2 detected the highest voltage compared to CH1 and CH3, indicating it
was phase B. For the 2
nd
current interruption, CH 1 detected the highest voltage compared to
CH2 and CH3 hence indicating phase A. This was followed by interruption on phase C, where
CH3 has the highest voltage. The opening sequence for this test is thus B-A-C.


Figure 6.15 Waveforms captured during CB open operation by each antenna
As mentioned before, the instant of current interruption could be determined by
comparing the voltage magnitude at the start of each oscillation. The time difference between the
current interruption points can be easily determined and they are indicated by X1 and X2 (e.g. on
CH3 waveform, Figure 6.15). X1 was measured to be approximately at 3.3ms and X2 was
measured to be approximately 3.4ms.
1
st
open 2
nd
open 3
rd
open
X1 X2
PA1 under phase A
PA2 under phase B
PA3 under phase C
AA under phase C
The waveforms from the passive antennas gave similar timing differences and pole
sequence as with the waveIorm Irom Powerlink`s portable recorder. They are summarised in
Table 6.4.

Table 6.4 Summary of CB timing and pole sequence for shunt reactor bank opening Test 7
X1
ms
X2
ms
Sequence
waveform
3.3 3.4 B-C-A
Powerlink waveform 3.3 3.3 B-C-A

The active antenna (CH4) picked up the HF pulses (HF markers) as shown in Figure
6.15. The HF markers on opening seemed to be occurring in more random manner as compared
to the HF markers detected during closing. It is also noticed that the HF markers are concentrated
within 3 areas. The areas are (1) area before phase B current interruption (B Open), (2) area
before phase A current interruption (A Open) and (3) area before phase C current interruption (C
Open). It is interesting to note that the HF signals were also detected by all passive antennas
before individual phase current interruption. This shows that the HF signals are also coupled to
the passive antennas. At this stage it is difficult to correlate the HF markers detected by the active
antenna and the low frequency signals detected by the passive antennas. The HF signals detected
during pole opening may be related to the arcing contact parting, arc generation in the interrupter
chamber and final current interruption at current zero. During a 3 phase switching, these HF
events may overlap with one another making it difficult to differentiate the HF markers
associated with each pole opening. It is also interesting to note that active antenna picked up
more HF pulses prior to reactor current interruption compared to capacitor bank current
interruption.

From Test 5 and Test 7 of the shunt reactor opening tests, none of them produced any
re-strike. Re-strikes with parasitic arcing if occurred would produce high frequency, low-
magnitude restriking current. This would be shown by discontinuities in the oscillatory
transients. These discontinuities should occur early in the oscillatory transients. It is thought that
when a restrike occurs, the magnitude of current and transient voltage would be considerably big
to give distinct changes on the low-frequency transient on the passive antennas signals as well as
the HF markers on the active antenna.


6.7 SUMMARY ON SHUNT REACTOR BANK SWITCHING TESTS
6.7.1 Background measurement
During the background measurement, the 3 Passive antennas capacitively coupled with
the three phase 50Hz voltages. The magnitude of each received waveform is different. The phase
angle difference between them is not 120
0
. The magnitude of each waveform and the phase
angle between them is determined by the position of the antenna because of the capacitive
coupling effect.

Closing operations were successfully detected using the active antenna and passive
antennas. During closing, the passive antennas and active antenna easily detected the inrush
current effect on each pole closing. The timing of the inrush current could be easily measured to
give the time difference between closing of the 3 phases. The sequence of the pole closing was
determined by identifying the highest voltage detected by the passive antennas at each closing
instant.

Opening operations were successfully measured by combining the waveforms from the
passive and active antennas. Opening sequence could be easily determined by comparing the
magnitude of oscillations produced after each current interruption. The passive antennas gave
indication on the instant of current interruption, the time difference between current interruption
and the pole opening sequence. The HF markers detected by the active antenna did not provide
clear current interruption instant but showed consistent indication of arc disturbance before
current interruption in each phase. The HF signals detected may be related to the arcing contact
parting, arc generation in the interrupter chamber and final current interruption at current zero.

The opening operations carried out did not produce any re-strike. It is thought that if a
restrike occurs, the magnitude of current and transient voltage involved would be considerably
big to give similar results as in closing operation.

During opening, the passive antennas detected large transient oscillations. The large
magnitude is due to the magnifying effect (high-pass characteristics) of the measurement system
A sample characteristics for the measuring system is shown in Figure 3.8 in Chapter 3 (Section
3.5.3) The high voltage amplitude of transient oscillation detected by the passive antennas
requires the signal to be reduced for measuring and recording purposes. In this test, the reduction
was achieved by putting a resistor in parallel with the oscilloscope input.
Chapter 7: Analysis of Results
7Chapter 7: Analysis of Results
This chapter presents the three-phase capacitive coupling model and analyses the results
of field measurements. For the three-phase capacitive coupling model, the effect of distance and
coupling capacitance is discussed. For the field measurement results, analysis is carried out to
determine the arcing characteristics during shunt reactor opening. A time-frequency domain
analysis of the shunt reactor opening is also presented.
7.1 THREE-PHASE CAPACITIVE COUPLING MODEL
In Chapters 5 and 6, the background measurements for the capacitor bank at Blackwall
substation and shunt reactor bank at Braemar substation were discussed. It was observed in both
cases, the location and distance of the passive antennas from the phase conductors had great
effect in the waveforms received. The background waveforms measured indicated the magnitude
and phase angle of the waveforms were affected by the distance of the passive antenna from the
high voltage conductors: hence the capacitances from the HV conductors to the passive antennas
are an important parameter.

The distances between the passive antennas at Blackwall and Braemar substations were
not symmetrical as each substation has a different physical layout. Hence, the coupling
capacitances would have different values. This explains the difference in magnitude and phase
angle of the waveforms recorded at Blackwall and Braemar substations. In Chapter 3, it was
shown that the passive antenna`s transIer Iunction for a single phase capacitive coupling at low
frequency is determined by C
1
, (the capacitance between the phase conductors and passive
antenna) and R, (the resistance in parallel with the input of the measurement oscilloscopes) .
Resistance,R could be pre-determined prior to measurements whereas capacitance C
1
needs to
be measured or derived to enable a full model to be constructed for the measurement system..

A three-phase capacitive coupling model is used to show the importance of coupling
capacitance when measuring three-phase voltages at low frequency. Figure 7.1 shows all
relevant capacitive coupling between phase conductors and passive antennas.

A simple model assumes that the distances between the antennas and phase conductors
are symmetrically disposed about the centre conductor, as shown in Figure 7.1. Consider the
passive antenna, PA1. C
1A
is the capacitance between it and phase A directly above the antenna.
C
1B
is the capacitance between it and phase B and C
1C
is for phase C furthest phase from PA1.
C
1A
has the strongest capacitance followed by C
1B
and C
1C
. Here, the capacitances are assumed
to be inversely proportional to distances. Capacitances for the remaining antennas are as shown
in Figure 7.1.

Capacitive
Coupling Antenna
A B C
PA2
L L
C
1A
C
1B
C
1C
C
2B
C
3C
C
2A
C
2C
C
3B
C
3A
V
1
V
2
V
3
PA1 PA3
H

Figure 7.1 Capacitances between passive antennas and three phase conductors with symmetrical spacings

In this simplified model, C
1A
has the same value as C
2B
and C
3C
The capacitances C
1B
,C
2A
,C
2C
and C
3B
are the same. Finally, C
1C
=C
3A.

The capacitive coupling of three-phase to any antenna can be represented by an
equivalent circuit as shown in Figure 7.2. At low frequency e.g. 50Hz, the transfer function for
single phase capacitive coupling is given by Eq. 3.6. Capacitance Cr has no effect on the output.

V
A
V
B
V
C
C
1A
C
1B
C
1C
V
1
R
C
R

Figure 7.2 Equivalent circuit for passive antenna at location 1 measuring three phase voltages.

Provided that V
1
is extremely small compared to the phase voltages in Figure 7.2 the
currents flowing into R are a function of only the phase voltages and the coupling capacitances.
The voltage V1 can however vary as the total current through R changes. Under these conditions
it can be shown that, for PA1, the voltage contribution from each phase is coupled through
capacitance C
1A
, C
1B
and C
1C
giving a resultant voltage

) (
1 1 1 1 C C B B A A
V C V C V C R j V (7.1)

Similar equations are applied to the remaining two passive antennas with their respective
capacitances, giving
) (
2 2 2 2 C C B B A A
V C V C V C R j V (7.2)

)
3 3 3 3 C C B B A A
V C V C V C R j V (7.3)

The above equations give the output voltage of each passive antenna.

Using the measured voltage from each passive antenna and by reversing the technique in
determining the output voltage, the supply voltage could be determined. The supply voltage
could be reconstructed using the equation below:-

R j
C
V
C
V
C
V
V
A A A
A
3
3
2
2
1
1
(7.4)

Similar equation is used to reconstruct the supply voltage of the remaining two phases.

R j
C
V
C
V
C
V
V
B B B
B
3
3
2
2
1
1
(7.5)

R j
C
V
C
V
C
V
V
C C C
C
3
3
2
2
1
1
(7.6)

A Matlab program was written to simulate the capacitive coupling model incorporating
Equation 7.1 to 7.6. The program assumes (a) the highest capacitance, C
P
is associated with the
antenna located directly beneath the phase conductor, and (b) the capacitance is inversely
proportional to the distance from another phase conductor to the passive antenna. For simplicity,
C
P
is chosen to be 1 pF. Temperature and atmospheric pressure effects are neglected. The model
calculates the voltages picked up by the passive antennas and reconstructs the phase voltages by
reversing the calculation.

The parameters used for the simulation are:
Highest capacitance, Cp = 1 pF
Measurement resistance, R = 0.5 M
System frequency, f = 50 Hz
Phase to ground voltage (peak) = 275kV/ 3*1.4142 Vpeak = 224.5 kV
Horizontal distance, L = 4 m
Vertical distance, H = 3 m

Case 1 Simulation with symmetrical distances between passive antennas and
reconstruction of phase voltages with no error introduced to the capacitance values

Figure 7.3 Output waveforms for Case 1

Figure 7.3 shows output waveforms from simulation for case 1. The first plot (a) shows
the original waveforms of phase A, B and C representing the three-phase voltage supply. The
peak voltage is 224.5 kV and the phase difference between all adjacent waveforms is 6.6 ms
(120
0
).

The second plot (b) shows waveforms calculated at the passive antennas 1,2 and 3. PA1
and PA3 have a peak voltage of 20 volts whilst PA2 has the lowest peak voltage of 14 volts. The
PAs waveforms are shifted; the phase difference between PA1 and PA2 is approximately 5.5 ms
(99
0
), PA2 to PA3 is approximately 5.4 ms (97.2
0
) and PA3 to PA1 is approximately 9.1 ms
(163
0
). The waveforms generated are similar to the result of the background measurement at
Braemar substation (in Chapter 6). Table 7.1 shows the calculated results and measured results
from Braemar substation and the differences in percentage.

A B
C
PA3
PA2
PA1
(a)
(b)
(c)
Table 7.1 Calculated results and measured values from Braemar substation
Calculated
waveform
Measured values from
Braemar
Difference
s
PA1 20.0 19.04 4.8%
PA2 14.1 8.32 40.1%
PA3 20.0 20.85 4.25%
Phase Difference PA1-
PA2
5.5ms 5.8ms 5.45%
PA3
5.4ms 5.2ms 3.8%
PA1
9.1ms 9.0ms 1%

The third plot (c) shows the reconstruction of the phase voltage. Using the passive
antennas voltages and assuming similar capacitances values as before, the phase voltage is
reconstructed. The reconstructed voltage is exactly the same as the original waveforms of plot
(a).

Case 2 Simulation with unsymmetrical distances between passive antennas

Capacitive
Coupling Antenna
A B C
PA2
L L
C
1A
C
1B
C
1C
C
2B
C
3C
C
2A
C
2C
C
3B
C
3A
V
1
V
2
V
3
S
PA1
PA3
H

Figure 7.4 Capacitances between passive antennas and three phase conductors with unsymmetrical
distances

This case looks into the effect of varying the passive antenna location on the waveforms
recorded by the passive antennas. Referring to Figure 7.4, PA1 was shifted 2 meter away from
its previous position. Figure 7.5 shows the simulation output waveforms.

Comparing with plot (b) of Figure 7.3, it can be seen that the peak voltage picked up by
PA1 has decreased from 20 to 17.1 volts. PA2 and PA3, as expected do not show any change to
the peak voltage picked up. The reduction in voltage picked up by PA1 indicates that the
increased distance reduces the coupling capacitances, hence reducing the coupling voltages. It is
also worth noting that the phase differences are also affected. The phase difference between PA1
and PA2 is altered to approximately 5.8 ms (104.4
0
) and PA3 to PA1 to approximately 9.1 ms
(163
0
). No changes on the phase difference between PA2 to PA3 (which is still approximately
5.4 ms (97.2
0
)).


PA1
PA2
PA3
(a)
(b)

Case 3 Simulation on reconstructing phase voltages with 10% error introduced to
the capacitance values

This case looks into the accuracy in reconstructing the phase voltages using the passive
antenna voltages. A -10% error was introduced on capacitance C
1A
, C
1B
, C
1C
. Figure 7.6 shows
output waveforms from simulation for case 3. Table 7.2 shows summarised differences between
the original waveforms and the reconstructed waveforms. From the results, phase A has the
largest reconstructed voltage error at 9.2% and phase difference error of 2-2.5%. This is expected
as C
1A
has the strongest capacitive coupling to phase A compared with C
1B
to phase B and C
1C
to
phase C.


A simple model for three phase capacitive divider using passive antenna has been
developed. It gives reasonably good indication of voltages coupled to the passive antennas.
However, the model relies on the value of capacitances between phase conductors and passive
A
C
B
(a)
(b)
antennas. The capacitance values used in this model are only estimations with the assumption
that capacitance is inversely proportional to distance without considering any other factors.

Table 7.2 Differences between original waveform and reconstructed waveforms with 10% error on
capacitances

Original waveform Reconstructed waveform Error
Phase A 224.5 kV 245.1 kV 9.2%
Phase B 224.5 kV 226.7 kV 1%
Phase C 224.5 kV 224.3 kV 0.09%
Phase Difference A-B 120
0
122.4
0
2%
Phase Difference B-C 120
0
120.6
0
0.5%
Phase Difference C-A 120
0
117
0
2.5%

In order to achieve better accuracy, capacitances between the passive antennas and the
phase conductors need to be determined as accurate as possible. This would require access to
3D em field calculation software which was not available to the author during the period of the
research project.

7.2 OBSERVATIONS OF ARCING SIGNALS IN SHUNT REACTOR
OPENING

Arcing signals can be indicated by the HF pulses detected by the active antenna (AA).
During capacitor bank opening, the amount of arcing signals detected by the AA is low
compared to arcing signals detected during shunt reactor opening. Figure 7.7 shows the pulses
detected by the AA during capacitor bank opening as described in Section 4.8. The arrows
indicate the current interruptions which are in line with the inflection points mentioned in
Chapter 5 (Section 5.7)


Figure 7.7 Waveforms recorded by Active antenna on capacitor bank opening
Shunt reactor opening produces more arcing signals from the AA than capacitor bank
opening. Figure 7.8 shows the arcing signals detected by the AA during controlled shunt reactor
opening as described in Chapter 6. It is hypothesised that the increase of arcing signals detected
indicates the presence of instability oscillations in switching arcs prior to current interruption
during shunt reactor opening. The regions of instability are indicated by the three dotted ellipses
in Figure 7.8. The arcing signals from the AA consist of three clearly-discernible groups of
pulses with different magnitudes in each group. The density of pulses in the groups appears to
increase towards the point of final current interruption in each phase. The points of interruption
determined from PA waveforms are indicated by arrows in Figure 7.8.

2 ms/div
200mV/div
B phase
current
interruption
C phase
current
interruption
A phase
current
interruption
B phase
current
interruption
A phase
current
interruption
C phase
current
interruption
Figure 7.8 Waveforms recorded by Active antenna on shunt reactor opening during Test 7
The waveforms above were recorded in digital form and stored as time and voltage
arrays. This data was then analysed in MATLAB. The low level signals (noise) and the low-
frequency load oscillations (to the right in Figure 7.8) were first removed from the waveform. By
graphical inspection, the noise level was estimated to be between -0.03 V and 0.03 V. The final
current interruption occurs at 32.62 ms. Figure 7.9 shows the AA waveform with the noise and
load oscillations removed.

Figure. 7.9 Test 7 - AA signals without noise and load oscillation

The cumulative energy of the pulses within a sliding window is plotted against time. The
cumulative energy of the signal is defined by
2
V . A sliding window with a width of 0.5 ms,
stepped at 0.1 ms interval, was used. Figure 7.10 shows a plot of cumulative energy against time
for the waveforms in Figure 7.9. It is, however, difficult to interpret the plot. Hence another
method was used to analyse the HF pulses.


Figure. 7.10 Test 7 - Cumulative energy against time

The second approach was to look at the number of pulses with respect to time. This
approach gives the pulse density. It is done by converting the signals into pulses with equal
magnitude. The pulses are then plotted against time as shown in Figure 7.11. From Figure 7.11,
it can be seen qualitatively that the pulse density is high at each current interruption (Refer
Figure 7.8).

Cumulative pulse counts within a sliding window are then plotted with respect to time.
The cumulative pulses is given by pulses . A sliding window with a time width of 0.5 ms
stepped at 0.1 ms interval was used to show the cumulative pulses with time. Figure 7.12 shows
plot of cumulative pulses against time. The plot indicates the high pulses concentration area has a
similar shape to the results shown in Figure 7.9. These areas appear to correspond to the three
current interruption events.


Figure 7.11 Test 7 - Density of Pulses with respect to time

Figure 7.12 Test 7 - Cumulative pulses against time
B phase
arcing area
B phase
current
interruption
A phase
current
interruption
C phase
current
interruption
A phase
arcing area
C phase
arcing area
B phase
current
interruption
A phase
current
interruption
C phase
current
interruption
Figure 7.12 shows the current interruption of pole C has the highest pulse density.
Pulses before current interruptions could be due to arc instability oscillations prior to chopping
and the smaller blocks of pulses appearing after each opening could be due to transient
oscillations in the network produced by the current interruptions.

Shunt Reactor Opening Test 5
In order to verify the technique used earlier, similar analysis was done on results from
Test 5 shunt reactor opening. The opening sequence is B-C-A and the instants at which current
interruption occur in Figure 7.13 are 25 ms, 28.2 ms and 31.7 ms respectively.

Figure 7.13 Test 5 - AA signals without noise and load oscillation
Figure 7.13 shows the HF pulses recorded by the AA. The waveform is similar to that in
Figure 7.8. The regions of instability are indicated by the three areas. The arcing signals consist
of random pulses with different magnitudes and the density of pulses is high in the three areas.

Noise and load oscillations were then filtered out from the waveform as described in
Test 7 earlier. The cumulative pulses with respect to time is then plotted in Figure 7.14. The plot
indicates the areas of energy concentration are in line with those in Figure 7.13.

B phase
current
interruption
A phase
current
interruption
C phase
current
interruption

Figure 7.14 Test5 - Cumulative energy against time

The signals were then converted into pulses with equal magnitude. The pulses were
plotted against time as shown in Figure 7.15. From Figure 7.15, it can be seen that the density of
pulses is high at each current interruption. Windowed cumulative pulse counts was plotted next
using the technique described earlier. Figure 7.16 shows plot of cumulative pulses against time.
The plot indicates the pulses concentration which visually agrees with Figure 7.13. Figure 7.16
also shows three areas with high pulse density and these areas correspond with the three current
interruption events.

Comparing Figure 7.12 and Figure 7.16, it can be seen that both figures have similar
features e.g. three arcing areas. The pattern in each corresponding arcing area is similar although
the magnitudes are different. The steep negative slope after each peak indicates the end of arcing
and probably the point of current interruption as the slope ends at a time which is very close to
the given opening time. The width of the arcing time for each phase is comparable. In Figure
7.16, the widths of B, A, C and overall arcing duration are approximately 3.2 ms, 3.2 ms, 3.5 ms
and 11.9 ms respectively. In Figure 7.12, the widths of B, A, C and overall arcing duration are
approximately 3.8 ms, 3.5 ms, 3.4 ms and 13.1 ms respectively.

Figure 7.15 Test 5 - Density of Pulses with time

Figure 7.16 Test 5 - Cummulative pulses against time
A phase
current
interruption
C phase
current
interruption
B phase
current
interruption
B phase
arcing area
A phase
arcing area
C phase
arcing area

Figure 7.17 RF Measurement showing arc signal U
D
, switch voltage Us and current Is (from[50])
Chapman [50] reported measurement of arcing time using RF frequency. Figure 7.17
shows the result on arcing measurement carried out by Chapman. The rising edge of the sensor
voltage indicates a sudden increase of RF energy due to ignition at contact separation. The signal
level increase again before current zero probably due to the cooling of the arc by the auto
puffer[50]. The moment of current zero can be identified by an increase of signal level followed
by abrupt disappearance of the RF signal [50].

The pattern oI Chapman`s waveIorm shown in Figure 7.17 is similar to the pattern of
our measured windowed cumulative pulse counts in Figure 7.12 and Figure 7.16. The arcing
area in Figure 7.12 and Figure 7.16 may indicate contact separation, auto puffer cooling action of
the arc and current zero interruption.

Chapman in his paper said that his method does not easily identify two simultaneous
switching-arc durations if the sensor is coupled to the signal of both arcs. He also said that his
method is not suited to distinguish between the simultaneous arcing signals of a three pole circuit
breaker without shielding of the radio-frequency electric field.

From the measured active antenna waveform, it is relatively easy to identify three areas
of arcing corresponding to the three poles. However, it is difficult to identify the point at which
the circuit breaker contact separates. This is due to the fact that the active antenna picked up all
HF pulses generated by all 3 phases during the contacts parting, arcing and current interruption.
Pulses from contact separation of the subsequent two poles are masked by the arcing pulses.


7.3 ANALYSIS IN TIME-FREQUENCY DOMAIN

In Chapters 4,5 and 6, observations and discussions were made on waveforms measured
in voltage-time domain. Information about inter-pole closing times, opening times and
closing/opening pole sequence can be obtained by analysing the voltage-time waveforms.

To obtain further information from the recorded results, the recorded waveforms were
analysed in the time-frequency domain. Data recorded during Test 7 for shunt reactor opening at
Braemar substation was used as an example for analysis in time-frequency domain.

The analysis was carried out to examine into the frequency content at opening event. In
Chapter 2 it was mentioned that a reignition during opening of a shunt reactor bank will cause an
oscillation with higher frequencies than the load oscillation. This frequency changes could be
more easily seen in the time-frequency domain. During shunt reactor opening, there were a lot of
HF spikes prior to current interruption as shown in Figure 7.8. These HF spikes may indicate
contact parting, HF arcing and/or reignition.

7.3.1 Analysing using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)
FFT is commonly used to find the frequency components of a signal buried in a noisy
time domain signal. Waveform recorded during shunt reactor opening for PA1 was analysed by
applying FFT to give the frequency spectrum. Figure 7.18 shows (a) the opening waveform from
20ms to 50ms and (b) the frequency spectrum. The frequency spectrum in Figure 7.18 (b)
indicates that the opening waveform recorded is swamped by the 1 kHz signal which is the load
oscillation after the opening of the circuit breaker.


(a)

(b)
Figure 7.18 Reactor Opening Test 7 (a)Time domain plot of PA1 waveform for opening from 20 ms to 50
ms (b) Frequency content of waveform in (a).

7.3.2 Analysing using Short Time Fast Fourier Transform (ST FFT) Analysis
It was observed that there were a lot of HF activities at each current interruption
recorded. In order to analyse these HF activities, a ST FFT with sliding window was used. This
technique takes successive windowed of fast Fourier transforms to represent the time-changing
frequency characteristics of the waveforms. A Matlab program was developed to analyse the
opening waveforms using ST FFT. It gives a basic time-frequency domain representation.
Below are the parameters used in implementing ST FFT :
Duration of event to be analysed : 5 ms
Data sampling rate : 40 ns
Sliding window width : 0.1 ms
Interval time between windows : 0.05ms
No. of time bin : 100

1.03 kHz
The analysis was carried out at each individual opening. Each opening waveform
recorded by the passive antennas and active antenna was analysed. The duration of each opening
event analysed was 5ms. The first 3 ms looks into activities prior to interruption while the
remaining 2 ms looks into activities after interruption. The time-frequency relationship is then
shown on a contour plot. The contour plot for the PA used 200 frequency points while the
contour plot for the AA used 200 and 1000 frequency points. As the sliding window width was
0.1 ms, the frequency observed for this ST FFT analysis was 10 kHz and above. Limits were
introduced inside the Matlab programme to suppress the very low signals from being shown on
the ST FFT contour plot.

The analysis was focused on the passive antenna waveforms and active antenna
waveform during the phase opening. For example for the 1
st
opening, phase B was the opening
phase and occurred at 26 ms after the waveform was recorded (see Figure 6.15 in Chapter 6).
Hence, the ST FFT analysis focused on waveforms of PA2 and active antenna for times
between 23 ms and 28 ms. The analysis for ST FFT was carried out for the 1
st
opening.

Figure 7.19 (a) shows the opening waveform and (b) the ST FFT contour plot for
waveforms from PA2 during the 1
st
opening. At current interruption there was a significant
change on the frequency content. The oscillation after the current interruption is represented by a
high concentration of lower-frequency components.

Figure 7.20 (a) shows opening an waveform and (b) and (c) the corresponding ST FFT
contour plot for AA for 1
st
opening of Test 7. The HF spikes occurring in (a) can be observed in
(b) and (c). Both (b) and (c) indicate that the HF spikes in Figure 7.20 (a) have significant high
frequency components. In (c), some of the HF spikes contain strong 2 MHz and 8 MHz
component. This is probably due to some local parallel capacitance at the circuit breaker
discharging during the arcing process. At the instant of opening, no significant changes in the
frequency content was observed. In (b), the active antenna picked up a faint continuous 850 kHz
signal which probably comes from a local AM radio station.

Test 7 - 1
st
Opening PA2

(a)

(b)
Figure 7.19 (a) Voltage-Time domain plot of waveforms from PA2 (b) ST FFT contour plot of PA2
waveforms for opening- from 23 ms to 28 ms

An analysis of 2
nd
opening and 3
rd
opening also gave similar findings as in the 1
st

opening. The instant of opening could be easily determined by the sudden changes in the low
frequency content of the time-frequency plot for the passive antenna. This is similar to
determining the instant of opening from the sudden changes in the voltage magnitude of the time
domain plot.

In all opening events, it was observed from the ST FFT contour plots that the AA
detected HF spikes with frequency contents ranging from 2 MHz to 8 MHz. It also detected the
850 kHz signal in all the opening events. The PAs detected the low frequency component (1
kHz) strongly compared to the HF spikes.
current interruption
High
concentration of
lower frequency
Test 7 - 1
st
opening AA

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 7.20 (a) Voltage-Time domain plot of AA (b) ST FFT contour plot of AA (from 0-2MHz) (c) ST
FFT contour plot of AA (from 0-10MHz) for opening from 23 ms to 28 ms

HF spikes
containing 8MHz
and 2MHz.
Clipped spikes
The AA picked up
800kHz

The technique used in carrying out the time-frequency domain analysis using ST FFT is
a simple technique. A fixed width sliding window was used to perform the ST FFT which
restricts flexibility when analysing high frequency and low frequency interchangeably. For
example, a 0.1 ms sliding window will look at frequencies higher than 10 kHz while a 1 ms
sliding window will give inaccuracy in giving the time-changing characteristics of the
waveform. The analysis of experimental results did not detect any reignition event as there were
no indications of corresponding frequency changes through out the opening sequence.

Using a more advanced technique, it may be able to differentiate the phase producing
the HF spikes. This could be achieved by comparing the magnitude of HF spike on each PA. The
highest magnitude of HF spike present on the PA should indicate the phase. Then, the HF signal
containing the HF spike for each phase could be reconstructed. However, problems would arise
when two spikes from different phases occur at the same time causing the PAs to pick up the
resultant signals in which case may be misleading.

For future works, more sophisticated digital signal processing techniques could be
applied to extract further information from the acquired waveforms and to provide automatic
recognition and quantification of features indicative of impeding circuit breaker failures. Wavelet
Transform has been used widely in the power community in recent years. Fernandez et al [59]
mentioned that wavelet transform is better suited for the analysis of certain types of transient
waveforms in power systems applications. It is also better than windowed ST FFT because it
does not have fixed width window function which is a limitation of ST FFT. Wavelet Transform
has been reported to have been used in assessing the condition of power transformer OLTC [60]
and in the diagnostics of circuit breaker condition [61]. In both reports Wavelet Transform was
used to analyse the vibration signals which have characteristics similar to CB switching
transients.

Chapter 8: Conclusion
8Chapter 8: Conclusion
Non-contact measurement techniques have been developed using capacitive coupling
antennas and active broadband antenna to monitor the electrical transients produced during
capacitor bank and shunt reactor bank switching. A capacitive coupling model was developed
for both for single and three phase measurements. The model indicated that the passive antenna
characteristics rely on the capacitances between phase conductors and the passive antenna, and
the resistance of the measuring devices. The capacitances between the passive antennas and earth
are also an important factor for high frequency signals.

Field measurements were carried out for capacitor bank switching at Blackwall
substation and shunt reactor bank switching at Braemar substation. Both substations are air
insulated substations. Switching transients were measured and recorded for analysis. High
frequency signals from the active antenna act as timing markers for the slow frequency transient
oscillations recorded by the passive antennas. The combined signals detected by both types of
antenna give a more complete picture of the switching events.

Results of field measurements showed that it is relatively easy to measure oscillatory
switching transients. The monitoring system can provide:
inter-pole closing times and the pole sequence for circuit breakers switching
capacitor banks and shunt reactor banks,
inter-pole current interruption times during shunt reactor switchings,
information on the accuracy of point-on-wave control switching equipment, and
information on pre-strike during CB closing.

The technique developed in this project is thought to be superior to Moore`s method |6|.
Moore`s method relies on detecting HF impulses which can be aIIected by the presence oI
multiple HF pulses during opening of three-phase CB and potential interference from other
sources. By contrast, the technique used in this research uses the HF impulses as HF markers and
any information on a switching event is obtained from the low-frequecny transient recorded by
the passive antennas.

The significant advantages of the proposed measurement technique are that
measurements can be taken while the CB is energised. No physical connection to the high-
voltage system is required during site installation. The equipment is portable and can be easily
moved between different AIS circuit breakers. It is easy to set up and is not restricted to any
particular manufacturer of AIS circuit breakers.

Analysis on the arcing signals detected by the active antenna during shunt reactor
opening was carried out. The proposed 'sliding-window pulse density method demonstrated
that the cumulative pulse count with time could be used to indicate the arcing area during current
interruption. The duration of each arcing area may indicate the arcing duration of each phase and
the negative slope at the end of each arcing area indicates the point of current interruption. The
pattern of the arcing area is comparable to works done by other researchers.

The results from field measurements have demonstrated the usefulness of the technique
where CB switching transients can be measured and valuable information can be extracted from
the measurement.

F urther Work
Further work is planned to improve the measuring equipment. Improvements for the
measuring system are given below:
Depending on measurement objective, the passive antenna transfer function should
be adjusted to give a suitable voltage gain and frequency response when measuring
the desired event. This is to ensure that signals level is measured within limits. This
is achieved by adjusting the resistance value of the measuring equipment and/or the
value of the capacitance parallel to the resistance.

Currently only one active antenna (AA) is used for the measuring system. Results
from measurement carried out suggest that having an AA located for each phase
would give more information on HF signals produced by circuit breakers during
switching.

The recording equipment could be improved by using a 4 channel digitiser or PC-
based data acquisition system. These equipments are smaller in size compared to
the oscilloscopes used. Provision should also be made for remote monitoring
function.

In this research, the effect of capacitive coupling between the PAs was not
observed in great detail. Capacitive coupling between the PAs also affects the
accuracy of the measurement. Better accuracy could be achieved by reducing
capacitive coupling between PA to conductors of other phases and between PA to
PA. An improved shape of capacitive coupling antenna possibly with shielding
could be developed to reduce capacitive coupling between other phases and PA.

Further investigations are also planned to increase the utility of this measurement
method and explore the potential of its technique. The following investigations will be looked
into:-

1) Measurement of circuit breaker inter-pole current interruption time during
capacitor bank opening: Currently, the interruption instant is determined
graphically by the voltage inflection on the passive antenna waveform. An
improved identification technique using DSP e.g. wavelet analysis on digitised
waveforms would be able to identify the inflection point accurately indicating the
point of current interruption.

2) Improvement in modelling the three phase capacitive divider model: complex
calculations are required to accurately model the three phase capacitive divider
model. The effects of capacitances on voltage magnitude, phase shift and phase
difference between phases need to be established. An accurate model could be used
to estimate transient voltage produced during switching or even replacing the
conventional voltage transformers. Further studies are planned in this area.

3) Monitoring of circuit breaker switching over period of time: the field measurement
carried out in this research was conducted as a series of tests with limited time
duration. This does not reflect the actual situation where the circuit breaker is
operated once or twice daily. Automatically monitoring circuit breakers switching
over a period of time would give better information on the circuit breaker
operations and could be readily realised using existing computer and
communications technology.

4) Measurement of overall CB operating time: the overall CB operating time can be
measured by taking reference signals from the circuit breaker. This can be done by
either measuring the circuit breaker coil current or using precision CB auxiliary
contacts. This method will require connection to the CB wiring.

5) Measurement of restrike or reignition: The field measurement did not detect any
restrike. A restrike or reignition if occur would produce sufficiently large transient
voltage change and reignition oscillation which can be detected by the passive
antenna. The reignition oscillation frequency could be easily extracted from the
passive antenna waveforms using DSP. The active antenna would detect the high
frequency pulses of the restriking current similar to during circuit breaker closing
indicating the instant of restriking. Further measurement is anticipated to be carried
out by Powerlink on circuit breakers identified to have problems with restriking.

6) Monitoring the accuracy of the point-on-wave control switching relay: it is known
that controlled switching application require accurate control of switching times
and need CB with stable operating times. The CB must also have high and stable
dynamic withstand capability between contacts. One inaccurate zero voltage
closing was observed during capacitor bank closing measurement. Further
measurements are required to establish the effectiveness of this technique in
monitoring the accuracy of the point-on-wave control switching. Measurements
could also be extended to circuit breakers with single control operation on closing
or opening i.e. circuit breakers with three pole operation.

7) Measurement of arc duration time: analysis of the arcing signature and arcing time
during shunt reactor opening was carried out in Chapter 7. It indicates similarities
with international research. The analysis could be improved by having three active
antennas to monitor each phase of circuit breaker. Further work is needed to
confirm the suggested improvement.

Page 148
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Page 153
Appendices
Appendix A: Site Measurement Procedure

Site Measurement Step by Step Procedure
Purpose:
This document is to describe the procedure in carrying out measurement on background
signals and transient signals in Blackwall Substation. Allowable number of close and
opening operation to be finalised with Powerlink.

Reference:
Powerlink Safety Rules
Oscilloscope Operation Manual

Related Document:
Antenna Details
Measuring Equipment Layout
Measurement settings

Responsibility:
QUT operator

General Requirement:
1. All measurement works are to be carried out with the presence of safety personnel from
Powerlink.
2. All measuring equipment will be transported in the vehicle.
3. Vehicle is to be parked as close as possible to the equipment to be measured.
4. No equipment to be carry at a height more than 1.5 meter from the ground.
5. Operator to wear suitable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) e.g. safety helmet and
safety shoes.
6. Insulated rubber glove to be used during setting up.
7. To ensure equipment are earthed (temporarily/permanently) during measurement set up.

Page 154

Procedures:
Setting up measuring equipment
1.0 Connect the earthing connections.
1.1 From Substation grid to the car
1.2 From Car to UPS equipment.
1.3 From UPS equipment to Measuring equipment via power cord.
1.4 Connect the measuring co-ax cables to measuring equipment.
2.0 Setting up Active Antenna
2.1 Place the tripod at the measuring point.
2.2 Mount the active antenna on the tripod
2.3 Adjust the height of the tripod to give 40cm from the ground.
2.4 No grounding connection.
3.0 Setting up Passive Antenna
3.1 Carefully lift the antenna base and place it at the measuring point.
3.2 Connect the earth connection from the substation grid to the base plate.
3.3 Carefully assemble the Passive antenna assembly to the base plate.
4.0 Setting up and connecting to Measuring equipment in vehicle.
4.1 The portable power supply unit is powered through 24V DC Battery.
4.2 Connect the power supply cord of each oscilloscope to the Portable
power supply unit.
4.3 Run the antenna cable from Oscilloscope and connect to the Active
Antenna.
4.4 Switch on the Active Antenna.
4.5 Repeat steps 4.3-4.4 for Passive antenna.
5.0 Visual and physical inspection on connection.

Performing site measurement
1.0 Measuring background signal in substation
1.1 Switch on the Active antenna and oscilloscopes before carrying out any
measurement.
1.2 Measurements to be carried out in the switchyard with the HV
equipment live.
1.3 The operator will make the measurement from inside the vehicle.
1.4 Record the background waveform.
2.0 Measuring transient signal on 1
st
- closing operation of circuit breaker
2.1 Switch on the Active antenna, oscilloscopes before carrying out any
measurement.
2.2 The operator shall go into the control room.
2.3 Upon confirmation from safety personnel, Circuit Breaker shall be
CLOSED.
2.4 After the closing operation and confirmation from safety personnel, the
operator shall go to the measuring vehicle and check the recorded
waveform data.
2.5 The operator download the data, make adjustment and then prepare for
the next measurement.
3.0 Measuring transient signal on 1
st
opening operation oI circuit breaker.
3.1 Repeat steps 2.1 to 2.5 for Opening operation.
Page 155

Records
Installation details substation single line diagram, physical dimension and
layout.
Waveforms data.
List of waveforms
Tests forms oscilloscope settings, triggering settings.
Photos

Page 156

Appendix B : Sample of forms used for site measurement
FORM 1 :

Page 157
FORM 2:

Page 158
Appendix C : Matlab Program for Capacitive Divider Model (In Chapter 7)

%*******************************%
% 3-phase Voltage Monitor %
% %
%
% File: VoltageMonitor02.m %
% %
% By: S.Ramli %
% with assistance by T.Tang %
% 26 May 2007 %
%*******************************%
% This program calculates the signals picked up by 3 capacitive
% sensors located at the base of each powerline phase
%
% The program then reconstruct the phase waveforms from the
% received signals.
% A user can change the following parameters:
% coupling capacitances: C1, C2 and C3 ASSUME CP = 1PF AND
CAPACITANCE
% INVERSELY PROP TO DISTANCE. I.E LARGER DISTANCE, SMALLER
CAPACITANCE
% distance PA1 : s
% sensor loading resistance: R1
% frequency of operation: f
% system voltage: Vrms
%
%
%**** BEGINNING OF PROGRAM ***
clear;
clc; % clear Command window
format compact;
%%
% Define coupling capacitances & termination resistance
Cp = 1.000e-12 % capacitance for phase directly above sensor
R1 = 0.5e6; % 0.5 M-ohms
% Dimension for antenna location
l =4;
h =3;
s =2; % moving PA1, s=0 for symmetrical
% Define phase voltages
f = 50; % frequency is 50Hz
w = 2*pi*f; % pre-calculated constant
wR1 = w*R1; % pre-calculated constant
Vrms = 275e3/sqrt(3) % phase voltage (Vrms)
VA = 1.4142*Vrms; % phase A voltage (volts)
VB = 1.4142*Vrms; % phase B voltage (volts)
VC = 1.4142*Vrms; % phase C voltage (volts)
phiA = 0; % phase angle of Phase A
phiB = phiA-2*pi/3; % phase angle of Phase B
phiC = phiA+2*pi/3; % phase angle of Phase C
Page 159
%% Antenna at Location 1
% For Middle Phase B
B1= sqrt(h^2+(l+s)^2); % overall distance
C1b = Cp*(h/B1);
% For Left Phase A
A1 = sqrt(h^2+s^2); % overall distance
C1a = Cp*(h/A1); % capacitance
% For Right Phase C
C1 = sqrt(h^2 + (2*l+s)^2); % overall distance
C1c = Cp*(h/C1); % capacitance
B2=sqrt(h^2); % overall distance
C2b=Cp*(h/B2);
% For Left Phase A
A2 = sqrt(h^2+l^2); % overall distance
C2a= Cp*(h/A2); % capacitance
% For Right Phase C
C2 = sqrt(h^2+l^2); % overall distance
C2c=Cp*(h/C2); % capacitance
B3=sqrt(h^2+l^2); % overall distance
C3b=Cp*(h/B3);
% For Left Phase A
A3 = sqrt(h^2+(2*l)^2); % overall distance
C3a= Cp*(h/A3); % capacitance
% For Right Phase C
C3 = sqrt(h^2); % overall distance
C3c=Cp*(h/C3); % capacitance
%% Generate original waveforms
tstep = 0.10e-3; % step in time scale (s)
tstop = 30e-3-tstep; % last point
N = tstop/tstep+1 % number of points (start with 0)
t = (0:tstep:tstop); % simulation time range
vA = VA*exp(complex(0,w*t+phiA)); % vA(t)
vB = VB*exp(complex(0,w*t+phiB)); % vB(t)
vC = VC*exp(complex(0,w*t+phiC)); % vC(t)
%% Calculate sensor voltages v1, v2 and v3, due to C1, C2 and C3
v1 = complex(0,wR1)*(C1a*vA+C1b*vB+C1c*vC);
Page 160
%% Reconstruct phases A,B,C waveforms
%***introducing errors to selected capacitance e.g. C1a, C1b, C1c
C1a =C1a*0.9;
C1b =C1b*0.9;
C1c =C1c*0.9;
C = [C1a C1b C1c; C2a C2b C2c; C3a C3b C3c] % Set up [C] matrix
%Ce = C*0.95 % introducing errors to all
Ci = inv(C)
vAA = (Ci(1,1)*v1+Ci(1,2)*v2+Ci(1,3)*v3)/complex(0,wR1);
vBB = (Ci(2,1)*v1+Ci(2,2)*v2+Ci(2,3)*v3)/complex(0,wR1);
vCC = (Ci(3,1)*v1+Ci(3,2)*v2+Ci(3,3)*v3)/complex(0,wR1);
%% Plotting waveforms
% PLOT OVERALL USING SUBPLOT
%*** Plot original waveforms of phases A,B,C
subplot(3,1,1);
plot(t,real(vA),'ro',t,real(vB),'bx',t,real(vC),'k*')
grid
%xlabel ('time(s)')
ylabel ('volts')
title ('Original Waveforms of Phases A,B,C')
%*** plot waveforms of sensors 1,2,3 (v1, v2 and v3)
subplot(3,1,2);
plot(t,real(v1),'ro',t,real(v2),'bx',t,real(v3),'k*')
grid
%xlabel ('time(s)')
ylabel ('volts')
title ('Waveforms of Passive Antenna 1,2,3')
%*** plot reconstructed waveforms of Phase A,B,C
subplot(3,1,3);
plot(t,real(vAA),'ro',t,real(vBB),'bx',t,real(vCC),'k*')
grid
xlabel ('time(s)')
ylabel ('volts')
title ('Reconstructed Waveforms of Phases A,B,C')
%% ANALYSING EFFECT OF DISTANCE FOR CAPACITANCE
figure
subplot(2,1,1);
grid
%xlabel ('time(s)')
ylabel ('volts')
%*** plot waveforms of sensors 1,2,3 (v1, v2 and v3)
subplot(2,1,2);
plot(t,real(v1),'ro',t,real(v2),'bx',t,real(v3),'k*')
grid
xlabel ('time(s)')
ylabel ('volts')
title ('Waveforms of Passive Antenna 1,2,3 with S=2m')
%% ANALYSING RECONSTRUCTION OF PHASE VOLTAGE
figure
subplot(2,1,1);
Page 161
grid
%xlabel ('time(s)')
ylabel ('volts')
%*** plot reconstructed waveforms of Phase A,B,C with 10% error on
selected
%capacitance
subplot(2,1,2);
plot(t,real(vAA),'ro',t,real(vBB),'bx',t,real(vCC),'k*')
grid
xlabel ('time(s)')
ylabel ('volts')
title ('Reconstructed Waveforms of Phases A,B,C with 5% error in
capacitance')
%%
%*** locate zero-crossings for reconstructed voltage
for i=2:N
if real(vAA(i-1))<0
if real(vAA(i))>=0
ZeroA=i, real(vAA(i-1)), real(vAA(i))
end
end
if real(vBB(i-1))<0
if real(vBB(i))>=0
ZeroB=i, real(vBB(i-1)), real(vBB(i))
end
end
if real(vCC(i-1))<0
if real(vCC(i))>=0
ZeroC=i, real(vCC(i-1)), real(vCC(i))
end
end
end
%%
%*** locate zero-crossings for sensor voltage
for i=2:N
if real(v1(i-1))<0
if real(v1(i))>=0
Zero1P=i, real(v1(i-1)), real(v1(i))
end
end
if real(v1(i-1))>0
if real(v1(i))<=0
Zero1N=i, real(v1(i-1)), real(v1(i))
end
end
if real(v2(i-1))<0
if real(v2(i))>=0
end
end
if real(v2(i-1))>0
if real(v2(i))<=0
end
end
if real(v3(i-1))<0
if real(v3(i))>=0
Page 162
end
end
if real(v3(i-1))>0
if real(v3(i))<=0
end
end
end


Thesis Capacitor Bank Switching

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INVESTIGATION OF CIRCUIT BREAKER

SWITCHING TRANSIENTS FOR SHUNT

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