SwitchGear and Protection
SummaryIn an electric power system, switchgear is the combination of electrical disconnect switches, fuses or circuit breakers used to control, protect and isolate electrical equipment. Switchgear is used both to de-energize equipment to allow work to be done and to clear faults downstream. This type of equipment is directly linked to the reliability of the electricity supply.
The very earliest central power stations used simple open knife switch, mounted on insulating panels of marble or asbestos. Power levels and voltages rapidly escalated, making opening manually operated switches too dangerous for anything other than isolation of a de-energized circuit. Oil-filled equipment allowed arc energy to be contained and safely controlled. By the early 20th century, a switchgear line-up would be a metal-enclosed structure with electrically operated switching elements, using oil circuit breakers. Today, oil-filled equipment has largely been replaced by air-blast, vacuum, or SF6 equipment, allowing large currents and power levels to be safely controlled by automatic equipment.
High-voltage switchgear was invented at the end of the 19th century for operating motors and other electric machines. The technology has been improved over time and can now be used with voltages up to 1,100 kV.
Typically, switch gears in substations are located on both the high- and low-voltage sides of large power transformers. The switchgear on the low-voltage side of the transformers may be located in a building, with medium-voltage circuit breakers for distribution circuits, along with metering, control, and protection equipment. For industrial applications, a transformer and switchgear line-up may be combined in one housing, called a unitized substation (USS).
Definitions
Air Circuit Breakers: These are used to interrupt circuits while current flows through them. Compressed air is used to quench the arc when the connection is broken.
Oil Circuit Breakers: Oil circuit breakers are used to switch circuits and equipment in and out of a system in a substation. They are oil filled to provide cooling and to prevent arcing when the switch is activated.
Breakdown Voltage: The voltage at which an insulator or dielectric ruptures, or at which ionization and conduction take place in a gas or vapor.
SF6 Circuit Breakers: These operate to switch electric circuits and equipment in and out of the system. These circuit breakers are filled with compressed sulfur-hexafluoride gas which acts to open and close the switch contacts.
Vacuum evaporation: The deposition of thin films of semiconductor material by the evaporation of elemental sources in a vacuum.
Some Inspirational Images of Power systems SWITCHGEARS
Note: I mentioned links through media-fire. maybe gives a problem in mobile downloads, use desktop or Laptop for better view & download.
OVERVIEW OF SWITCHGEAR & PROTECTION
Unit No
Unit 1-8
Topic
SWITCHES AND FUSES: Isolating switch, load breaking switch, Fuse law, cut -off characteristics: Time current characteristics, fuse material, HRC fuse, liquid fuse, Application of fuse
PRINCIPLES OF CIRCUIT BREAKERS: Principles of AC Circuit breaking, Principles of DC Circuit breaking, problems encountered in DC breaking, Initiation of arc, maintenance of arc, Arc interruption – high resistance and low resistance interruption, Arc interruption theories –
slepian’s theory and energy balance theory, Re striking voltage, recovery voltage, Rate of rise of Re striking voltage, current chopping, capacitance switching, resistance switching, Rating of Circuit breakers.
CIRCUITS BREAKERS: Air Circuit breakers – Air break and Airblast Circuit breakers, oil Circuit breakers - Single break, double break, minimum OCB SF6 breaker - Preparation of SF6 gas, Puffer and non-Puffer type of SF6 breakers.
VACUUM CIRCUIT BREAKERS - Construction, principle of operation, advantages, and disadvantages of different types of Circuit breakers, Testing of Circuit breakers, Unit testing, synthetic testing a short circuit test layout
PROTECTIVE RELAYING: Requirement of Protective Relaying, Zones of protection, primary and backup protection, Essential qualities of Protective Relaying, Classification of Protective Relays.
INDUCTION TYPE RELAY: Non-directional and directional overcurrent relays, IDMT and Directional characteristics. Differential relay – Principle of operation, percentage differential relay, bias characteristics, distance relay – Three stepped distance protection, Impedance relay, Reactance relay, Mho relay, Buchholz relay, Negative Sequence relay, Microprocessor based over current relay – block diagram approach.
PROTECTION SCHEMES: Generator Protection - Merz price protection, the prime mover faults, stator and rotor faults, protection against abnormal conditions – unbalanced loading, loss of excitation, over speeding. Transformer Protection - Differential protection, differential relay with
harmonic restraint, Inter turn faults Induction motor protection – protection against electrical faults such as phase fault, ground fault, and abnormal operating conditions such as single phasing, phase reversal, overload