S.Q.J.

DECEMBER 1964

69

/Auto-RecEosing Switchyear for

11-kV Networks*
P. J. MACKERTICH (GRADUATE)

THE economic importance of continuity of supply

to consumers in rural and urban areas is well
known to engineers operating distribution networks as prolonged interruptions not only draw
complaints from the consumers affected, but also
cause a serious loss of revenue. The use of overhead
distribution networks inevitably introduces
hazards to the continuity of supply to rural areas
and it is a fact based on operating experience that
most of these supply interruptions occur on
11-kV lines and are of a transient nature, caused,
in the main, by lightning incidents.
It is intended in this paper, therefore, to illustrate the application and design of high-speed
auto-reclosing circuit breakers as a means ofisolating the faulty circuit and automatically
restoring the supply with the minimum of delay.
The remarks which follow are particularly applicable to 11-kV distribution networks where both
ground-mounted and pole-mounted oil circuit
breakers may be used.

earthed at regular intervals or lines with unearthed

cross arms.

11-kV Overhead Line Design

At this point it may be interesting to introduce a

little historical background concerning 11-kV
overhead line design. In the 1920s, most 11-kV
lines were erected with 01 in.2 copper conductors
which were economically suitable at that time since
their primary purpose was to connect small townships and the larger villages. As the networks
increased, spur lines came into being chiefly to
supply small villages and farms. A number of light
rural lines were erected for experimental investigation by the Electrical Research Association, and in
1938 they submitted proposals, at the request of
the British Standards Institution, covering the
specification for these light lines. These proposals
and subsequent work on overhead lines culminated
in British Standard No. 1320:1946.
The purpose of B.S. 1320 was to standardize
both 3-phase and single-phase light high-voltage
Types of Faults and Overhead Lines
overhead lines up to and including 11 kV, with
Before describing the various types of auto- 0025 in.2 (3/0104 in. diameter) and 005 in.2
recloser circuit breakers that are in current use, it (3/0-147 in. diameter) copper conductors being the
is perhaps worthwhile to define some of the terms recommended sizes. Suggested materials for the
used in this paper. Faults can be divided in four poles were imported and home grown redfir,and
groups. Circuit Interruption is the isolation of any larch.
section of line by the operation of fuses or automatic circuit breakers. Lightning incident com- Protective Devices for Rural Systems
prises any number of circuit interruptions conSome of the protective devices that are in use
nected with one lightning stroke. A sustained or today for clearing faults which occur on overhead
permanent fault is associated with a supply that lines will now be examined. These devices may be
cannot be restored until a damaged piece of grouped under three headings, namely:
equipment has been replaced or repaired. A
(1) Fusegear, which includes h.v. fuses and the
transient fault is one where a piece of equipment
repeater fuse.
has sustained slight damage but which does not
(2) Outdoor pole-mounted reclosers which
prevent the supply from being restored.
embrace (a) the weight-operated self-reclosOverhead lines may be classified as lines with:
ing oil circuit breaker, (b) reclosers of the
(a) Over-running earth wires.
(b) Under-running earth wires.
(c) Individually earthed poles (including. lines
with earthing o n a relatively small number Mr. Mackertich, 28, was educated at La Martinlere School,
Calcutta, and completed his technical studies at Leeds College
of intermediate poles).
(d) Unearthed pole-top construction (B.S. 1320: of Technology after eight years of part-time day release. Since
leaving school he has been with Yorkshire Switchgear & En'
1946).
gineering Co. Ltd., and is now in the Technical Design and
The rate of lightning incidents varies with the Development department. Two years as Hon. Secretary and
type of line construction and, with reference to one year as Chairman has taken Its toll, but an understanding
wife and the prospect of "the first'* In May 1965 augurs well
11-kV systems, statistics show that in one area for
the future. He manages to play cricket and hockey, do
lightning incidents on lines with an over-running some part-time teaching, gardening and car maintaining.
earth wire were relatively higher than on lines Also I.E.E. activities!
with an under-running earth wire. These two types
Abstract of the Chairman's Address to the North Midof lines, however, gave a slightly better per- land Section, which received a Graduate and Student
formance than lines on which the cross arms were Premium, and was read at Leeds, 8th October, 1963.

70

lock-open type and (c) reclosers of the holdclosed type.

(3) Ground-mounted automatic-reclosing oil
circuit breakers which may be installed either
indoors or out of doors.

S.Q.J. DECEMBER 1964

expulsion type. Repeater units having up to three

replacement fuses are also obtainable. The operation of the repeater fuse is somewhat unreliable
under icing conditions.
Other h.v. fuses for use on overhead lines include
the liquid filled high rupturing capacity rewirable
and the powder filled types. The liquid fuse employs a spring to separate the fuse element in
blowing and to inject insulating liquid (of the
carbon tetrachloride type) into the arc path. The
powder filled fuse is used where fault levels of the
order of 250 MVA are encountered and it has an
inherent high speed operating characteristic.
In practice, the h.v. fuse is usually positioned at
the point where a spur is taken from the main line
and may protect a group of transformers.

Pole Mounted Reclosers

The conventional weight-operated type of
recloser is essentially an oil-immersed circuit
breaker with solenoid tripping, the reclosing being
effected by means of a falling weight. The weight
drives the mechanism via a chain and pulley and is
flexibly mounted on the chain by a compression
spring which absorbs the shock of operation. A
hook stick is used to reset the weight. The number
of possible reclosures depends on the mounting
height of the oil circuit breaker and in the'type
illustrated' (Fig. 2) the maximum number of
reclosures is six, each reclosure requiring a drop of
18 in.
Reclosures of this type are available for fault
levels up to 150 MVA at 11 kV, 3-phase, and are
of the double-break type with arc control devices
and copper-tungsten tipped contacts. The maximum continuous current is of the order of 200 A at
11 kV. Tripping of the oil circuit breaker is pro-

Fig. 1. Single-shot repeater with first fuse in blown

position

Fusegear
One of the early devices used for the restoration
of supplies was the repeater fuse. These were
simple, reliable and inexpensive and the single
shot repeater, illustrated in Fig. 1 is capable of
interrupting fault currents up to 150 MVA at
11 kV 3-phase. The reclosure is effected by a shunt
contact which is spring operated, and normally
open so that only the first fuse is in circuit. When
this fuse operates, it swings down and trips the
shunt contact which restores the supply through
the second fuse. The time taken for the supply to
be restored is approximately 0-5 seconds but time
delay devices can be fitted to give a timing range of
1-60 seconds. Fuses of 1-100 A normal current
rating may be fitted to these units and the fuses
themselves may be fast or slow melting drop out

Fig. 2. Weight-operated recloser

71

S.Q.J. DECEMBER 1964

vided by means of trip coils connected in series

with the line, the minimum tripping current being
of the order of 200% of the nominal trip coil
rating. The coil characteristics may be instantaneous, inverse time-lag or adjustable time-lag and
provision can also be made for the oil circuit
breaker to have an instantaneous first trip followed
by time-delay trips after the first reclosure. This

of the lock-open and hold-closed type of reclosers

dealt with below. These reclosers, which are high
speed units, originated in America and were developed in this country for voltages up to and
including 11,000 volts, and are also capable of
withstanding impulse voltages of 95 kV. They consist of a normally-closed oil circuit breaker
arranged for outdoor pole-mounting use. The
INCOMING

BUSHINGS
Y
O

SERIES
OVERCURRENT
T R I P COILS

Fig. 3. Diagram of lock-open recloser

\?r

CIRCUIT
BREAKER

*A-AUXILIARY
SWITCHES

6
feature permits the recloser to discriminate between
transient and permanent faults. It should be appreciated that the tripping feature described above
only affords phase fault protection to the line and
where earth-leakage protection is required current
transformers are fitted to the breakers and these
are mounted inside the circuit breaker chamber.
Under fault conditions the current transformers
. operate an instantaneous trip coil acting directly
on the trip bar.
The time for which the circuit breaker remains
open after tripping and before reclosing (i.e. from
arc extinction to contact make) is termed the
"dead-time" and is of the order of 30 seconds to
permit apparatus such as motors to be automatically discontinued before the supply is restored.
Control of the "dead-time" is effected by a mechanical escapement and it is also possible on some
types of units to vary this time on site.
It would be true to say that whilst the weightoperated recloser does its designed job admirably,
it is not the complete answer to ensuring continuity of supply because the stored energy is
available only for a limited number of operations,
usually six. This limitation led to the development

OUTGOING

6 BUSHINGS

breaker is held closed under the action of a spring

and is opened by the passage of a fault current
(normally not less than twice full-load current)
through a series solenoid connected as shown in
Fig. 3. Movement of the solenoid plunger causes
the recloser to open and interrupt the fault current.
The plunger then returns to its original position
under the action of a resetting spring and the
reclosing is automatic. A mechanism is provided to
enable the recloser to lock-open at the end of its
operating sequence. This operating cycle consists
of two high-speed trip operations followed by two
time-delay trip operations, the basic time/travel
curve being as shown in Fig. 4 (a). A feature of the
mechanism enables the recloser to be returned to
its normal position, independent of the point in
the operating cycle which had been reached when
the operation of the recloser was stopped. For
single-phase lines the units are mounted in pairs
and for 3-phase lines in groups of three. In the
event of any transient fault, the units operate
singly but if one locks out (in either the singlephase or 3-phase arrangement) the remainder also
lock out by means of a mechanical coupling rod.
In certain designs of recloser the "dead-time" or

72

S.Q.J. DECEMBER 1964

the open circuit time can be selected between the

limits 0-25 and 10 seconds. The high-speed trip
operations are made as fast as possible, with the
actual operating time independent of the magnitude of the fault current and varying from 3} to 1-fc
cycles. The second high-speed trip operation is
provided to permit clearance of faults caused by
repetitive lightning strokes, as a further passage of
fault current gives a second chance for foreign
bodies to burn or fall clear. Statistics indicate that
75 % of all faults are cleared by the first operation
and a further 5 % by the second.
The first time-delay trip is intended to be of
sufficient duration to enable the fuse or fuses on the
faulted section of line to operate and the second
time-delay operation is provided as an extra safeguard since in many cases accurate discrimination
INSTANT
OF FAULT

Whereas co-ordination of protective equipment

is required between the lock-open recloser and the
subsidiary circuit fuses, it is not necessary to
co-ordinate between the hold-closed recloser and
fuses. The only co-ordination required therefore is
between the fuses on the spur and those on the
main feeder.

System Application
Perhaps the best way to illustrate the application
of the automatic reclosers described above is to
consider the typical 11-kV rural network shown
(Fig. 5).
The o.c.b. is situated at a point where the fault
level does not exceed its rating. Spurs are taken from
the main line and these spur lines are protected
by slow blowing fuses mounted at the tee-off
1st

TIME-DELAY
TRIP

2nd
TIME-DELAY
TRIP

CLOSED

OPEN

ILOCKED
OPEN

CLOSED

OPEN

STANDARD OPEN-CIRCUIT
T I M E X EQUALS 1 SECOND

DURATION OF FAULT
CURRENT UNTILCLEAR.ED
BY OPERATION OF
ASSOCIATED FUSES

(b)

Fig. 4. Operating cycles of (a) lock-open recloser, and (6) hold-closed recloser
with fuses cannot be obtained on the first time
delay trip. The protecting fuse thus sees the fault
twice and in melting it would clear the associated
faulty circuit, thus permitting the main line to
remain in service. For correct application, coordination between the recloser and fuse is necessary and careful consideration must be given to
each combination as will be shown later.
Reclosers of the hold-closed type are generally
similar in mechanical design to the lock-open type
of recloser, the main difference being in the
operating cycle which, in this case, comprises two
instantaneous trips followed by the recloser closing
and remaining closed. Fig. 4 (b) shows the operating cycle and as before the "dead-time" can be
sslected between the limits 0-25 and 1-0 seccnds.
Back-up fuses are connected on the supply side of
the recloser. This back-up protection is necessary
when one considers that, due to a persistent fault,
the recloser has run through its cycle and remains
closed until the fault is cleared elsewhere before
resstting.

point. The auto-recloser protects the main and

spur lines and in the event of a transient fault
anywhere in the protected zone, the recloser opens
before the fuse has time to melt, and then recloses.
If there is a sustained fault on a spur line, the timedelay trip of the o.c.b. allows the slow-melting fuse
to operate. The faulty spur is thus isolated, leaving
the healthy part of the circuit to remain in service.
The siting of the recloser is important, not only
from the point of view of fault level, but also its
accessibility for maintenance purposes. A further
consideration regarding the application of the
auto-recloser is the rating of the series coil which
must be selected to meet the estimated load
current. This rating then establishes the minimum
fault current which the recloser can detect (100%,
200% or 300% of the coil rating, depending on the
current setting selected) and hence the zone of
protection. Where the fault current falls below the
minimum detectable value, it then becomes necessary to install a recloser with a lower rating further
down the line. Spurs radiating from the main line

S.Q.J. DECEMBER 1964

v
POLE MOUNTED
jfAUTO-RECLOSER

\-00

v-OD

/-GO

AUTO-RECLOS1NG
GROUND MOUNTED OCB
II KV..

Fig. 5. Typical 11-kV rural network

33 KV. I
)(
PRIMARY
SUBSTATION

74

S.Q.J. DECEMBER 1964

controlled by the recloser will be correctly protected

only if the fault currents which may occur are
within the "range of co-ordination" of the recloser
and the fuse installed. The subject of co-ordination
of protective equipment is dealt with in the
following section.

For each rating of recloser there is a definite

range of current within which it will co-ordinate
correctly with any given fuse. To obtain this
"co-ordination range" it is necessary to compare
the total heat input (72/) to the fuse during the
relevant portion of the recloser operating sequence

FUSE TOTAL CLEARANCE TIME

2 INST + 2 DELAYED TRIPS

2 1NST + I DELAYED

UJ

v-

I INST
TRIP

CO-ORDINATION

CURRENT
Fig. 6. Characteristics and co-ordination range between high-voltage fuses and recloser

Co-ordination of Protective Equipment

To permit the clearance of transient faults
without an unnecessary lengthy interruption of
supply, the recloser must discriminate with the
back-up and individual circuit protection used on
the network concerned. If one considers the network beyond the recloser, the fuses associated
with it should remain intact during instantaneous
trip operations and should suffer no deterioration
due to partial melting. During the delayed tripping
operations, however, the fuse should melt to clear
persistent faults before the recloser completes its
operating cycle.

with the melting time characteristic of the fuse. This

comparison is made by plotting the cumulative
time/current characteristic of each tripping operation of the recloser and superimposing on it the
melting and total clearing time curves for the fuse
in question. Fig. 6 shows the time/current curves for
reclosers and slow melting fuses.
The upper limit of the range of co-ordination is
given by the intersection of the second instantaneous trip curve and the 75% melting time
curve of the fuse (point A on Fig. 6). A 75 % value
of the theoretical fuse melting curve is used in
order to make allowances for variables such as

S.Q.J. DECEMBER 1964

ambient temperature, degree of pre-loading and

progressive deterioration due to carrying successive transient fault currents. The lower limit is
obtained from the intersection of the total clearing
time curve of the fuse and the final delayed trip
curve of the recloser (point C on Fig. 6). "AC" is
therefore termed the co-ordination range.
Using the method described above, it is possible
to obtain co-ordination ranges for various recloser
ratings and fuses, but manufacturers usually
provide tables setting out the ranges thus saving
the tedium of plotting a series of curves.

Ground-Mounted Auto-Reclosing Oil

Circuit Breakers
In certain instances the fault level at or near
the h.v. source of supply, i.e. main substation, can
be greatly in excess of the maximum breaking
capacity of the pole operated reclosers described
before. The maximum breaking capacities of the
weight-operated recloser and the lock-open types
available today are 150 MVA at 11 kV and 75
MVA at 11 kV respectively and because of this
factor the units are positioned a distance from the
main substation. Consequently, a section of the
main line operates without the benefit of autoreclosing protection, but the difficulty has been
overcome and the maximum security of supply
obtained, by the design and development of
ground-mounted metalclad o.c.b.s capable of
breaking fault currents up to 13,100 A, i.e.
equivalent to 250 MVA at 11 kV, 3 phase.
For the successful application of groundmounted circuit breakers, certain essential requirements must be met, these being:
(a) Short circuit tests to verify the breaking
capacity at 11 kV, 250 MVA. It should be
mentioned here that there is no British
Standard Specification covering the requirements for auto-reclosing switchgear and it is
evident that the recommended test duty of
B-t-MB* (where "t" is less than 0-5 seconds)
is far more onerous when compared with the
B.S. 116 test duty of B-3'MB-3'MB
which proves the maximum symmetrical
breaking capacity of an o.c.b.
(6) A minimum "dead time" (i.e. from arc
extinction to contact make) of 17 cycles,
(c) The fault current should be cleared and the
supply restored healthy in about 0-5 seconds.
The condition (b) is necessary to permit deionization of the air at the point of fault and to
allow the o.c.b. mechanism to regain stability
before a further reclosure.
The high-speed reclosing requirement (c) allows
induction motors connected to the system to
"coast through" and is at the same time of such
duration that large synchronous machines can be
disconnected by their own control equipment. In
modern circuit breakers, times of less than 0-5
seconds are obtained.
* B = breakf MB = make and break, 3'3 minute pause
between tests.

75
To prove the circuit breaker's rating a shortcircuit test is carried out in accordance with the
recommendations of A.S.T.A. (Association of
Short-Circuit Testing Authorities) No. 5, Section 7,
i.e. a break-time intervalmake/break duty cycle
at 10%, 30%, 60% and 100% of the rating. The
circuit breaker performance is readily obtained
from the oscillogram taken during the tests.
There are a number of patented ways whereby
the process of arc control and arc extinction is
carried out, but in each case the arc-control device
functions in a robust metal tank containing insulating switch oil complying with B.S. 148. It is not
possible to cover the various arc-control devices
used in modern circuit breakers and it is proposed,
therefore, to briefly explain the technique of circuit breaking applicable to one type of metalclad
switchgear.
The o.c.b. bushings carry the main fixed contacts and fixed arcing electrodes, there being two
electrodes and hence two breaks per phase. The
arc-control device which forms part of the moving
contact system of the circuit breaker comprises a
special oil reservoir containing two sets of interconnected arcing contacts which co-operate with
electrodes on the fixed contact assembly.

Operating Mechanisms for Auto-Reclosing

Oil Circuit Breakers
The choice of operating mechanism depends
upon the duty required and it is evident that the
three types mentioned below would meet the
majority of requirements for auto-reclosing oil
circuit breakers.
For single shot reclosing schemes manuallycharged spring-closing mechanisms are used. The
springs are charged by hand and arranged to be
discharged by means of an electrical spring release
coil. The main drive levers are actuated by discharging precompressed springs and the movement
of these levers is transmitted via a link and lever
arrangement to produce a pull on the lift rods
which are coupled to the moving contact system.
Once closed, the circuit breaker can be automatically opened by energizing a trip coil positioned beneath the trip bar.
The motor-wound spring type of mechanism is
extensively used for multi-shot reclosing schemes.
The spring-rewinding motor which is of the order
of h.p. may be either an a.c. motor, or d.c.
motor operated from the tripping battery. 30-V d.c.
motors are usually used for spring rewinding
operation on auto-reclosing o.c.b.s and it is
interesting to note that the standard tripping
batteries used are capable of permitting a large
number of rewind operations before they need
recharging. The standard a.c. supply for the motor
is 110 volts and this may be obtained from a
potential transformer connected to the incoming
or live side of the circuit breaker.
D.C. solenoid operated mechanisms are also
employed for multi-shot reclosing schemes; the
standard coil voltages are 110 V d.c. and 220 V d.c.
In such a mechanism the moving core of the

76

S.Q.J. DECEMBER 1964

BUSBARS
IDMT

OVERCURRENT

EARTH FAULT RELAY

INSTANTANEOUS

AND
WITH

ELEMENTS

OIL CIRCUIT
BREAKER

Fig. 7. Alternating-current protection circuit

electromagnet is mechanically linked to the
moving contact system of the breaker.
Rectifier operated solenoids are also available,
but it is possible to lose the a.c. supply to the rectifier and hence the d.c. to the closing coil before
the circuit breaker has fully closed home. This
disadvantage only arises when the supply to the
rectifier is affected by the proximity of the fault.
If a price comparison is made, on a unit basis,
between a solenoid-operated and a motor-wound
spring-operated auto-reclosing o.c.b. the latter will
be found to be the cheaper proposition unless

three or more circuit breakers on the same switchboard require solenoid closing features.

Auto-Recloslng Schemes
Hitherto, the mechanical operation of a groundmounted circuit breaker has been described and
consideration will now be given to typical singleshot and multi-shot schemes currently in use.
In a single-shot scheme there is only one reclosure of the circuit breaker after it has tripped
due to a fault. Subsequent to this reclosure, and on
the occurrence of another fault, the circuit breaker

3 P OPENS WHEN SPRINGS

DISCHARGED
|%ST-2

INST-I

TRIP<-=-4
-O'

DC SUPPLY
OCB AUXILIARY
SWITCH

| " -CLOSE
OCB
CONTROLl
SWITCH
SPRING
RELEASE]
COIL

TIMING
RELAY I or

TR' -

1
o

TR-1 ITR-2
INST DELAY

Fig. 8. Single-shot auto-reclose scheme; o.c.b. closed, springs charged

|OCB AUX1O SWITCH

77

S.Q.J. DECEMBER 1964

trips and locks out. Before further reclosures can

take place, it may be necessary to maintain the
circuit breaker if the recommended maximum
number of reclosures have taken place at the rated
breaking capacity. In a multi-shot scheme a maximum number of ten reclosures can be effected
before the circuit breaker locks out, but it should
be mentioned that this number is only a function
of the reclosing relay and maintenance of the
circuit breaker is required if the recommended
maximum number of reclosures have taken place.
Table I gives a guide for maintenance purposes.

I DMT
OVERCURRENT
RELAY.

the reclosing sequence. If the fault is a sustained

one, the i.d.m.t. relay contacts eventually close to
trip and lock out the circuit breaker.
To understand the electrical operation of a
single-shot scheme let us examine in detail a
typical single-shot auto-reclosing feature employing a hand-charged spring-closed o.c.b. Fig. 8
shows that prior to a transient fault appearing on
the line, the o.c.b. is closed and the springs fully
charged. When a transient fault occurs, the instantaneous contacts (/ & 2) of the relay close,
causing, initially, the tripping of the o.c.b. via the

TS Tumbler switch.
Auxiliary Switches
A closes when o.c.b. makes.
B closes when o.c.b. opens.
C closes when spring is charged.
Note: When reclosure occurs.
auxiliary switch C must open before
A closes.
Relay Contacts
R makes instantaneously.
Q makes after 120 seconds.
P breaks after Q closes.

Fig. 9. One-shot auto-reclose feature on hand-charged spring-closed o.c.b.

Common to both schemes, there is the a.c. protection and associated relays which initiate the
operation of the auto-reclosing relay. Reference to
Fig. 7 will show that the a.c. protection circuit
includes two types of relay, namely, a relay whose
operating time is inversely proportional to the
fault current (referred to as an i.d.m.t. or inverse
with definite minimum time relay) and an instantaneous-operating relay. These relays may be
connected for either phase fault and earth fault
protection as shown in the figure or alternatively
for phase fault protection only. A fault on the line
causes both relay coils to be energized since they
are connected in series, but the instantaneous relay
operates first to trip the circuit breaker and initiate
TABLE I
Prospective fault
Percentage Recommended
fault
rating
maximum
at 11 kV
250 MVA
No. of fault
MVA
KA
base
interruptions
150-250 7-9-13-1
60-100
3
75-150 4 0 - 7-9
30- 60
6
25- 75 1-3- 4 0
10- 30
12
less than less than less than 10
24
25
1-3

trip coil and subsequently the timing relay TR coil

to be energized. This relay then closes its contacts,
77?-/ instantaneously, which maintains a supply to
the coil and TR-2 after a pre-selected time delay
usually variable between 2-10 seconds. When
contact TR-2 closes the spring-release coil circuit
is completed, causing the springs to discharge and
in so doing closes the o.c.b. The conditions existing
after the first reclosure are:
O.C.B. auxiliary switch 1closed.
O.C.B. auxiliary switch 2open.
Spring-mechanism auxiliary switch 3open.
Timing-relay and instantaneous-relay contacts
open.
If another fault appeared on the line, instantaneous tripping of the o.c.b. would not occur
since auxiliary switch 3 was open, but the i.d.m.t.
relay contact closes to complete the trip circuit.
The o.c.b. opens and locks out and, before further
reclosures can take place, the substation would
have to be visited to close the breaker and recharge
the springs.
A trip/close control switch is also provided in
the scheme and connected so that operation of
that switch does not initiate a reclosing sequence
on local tripping.

78

Variations of the above single-shot scheme are in

use and, for purposes of comparison, Fig. 9 shows
an auto-reclose feature with only i.d.m.t. relay
protection.
Iris not proposed to discuss in detail the operation of a multi-shot scheme, as this in itself would
constitute a short paper. Suffice it to say that the
auto-reclose relay (of which there are a number of
types designed for specific applications) permits
instantaneous tripping on the occurrence of a
fault followed by reclosure after a suitable "dead
time", usually adjustable between 5 and 55 seconds.
If the fault is a transient one, the circuit breaker
will remain closed and after a time interval referred to as the "reclaim time" (i.e. time for which
the relay remains set after reclosure) the autoreclose relay will deal with further faults up to a
maximum of ten reclosures. The "reclaim time" is
adjustable up to 55 seconds and must be long
enough to allow the protective relays to operate
when the circuit breaker is reclosed on to a
permanent fault.
If the fault is a permanent one, it is cleared by
the i.d.m.t. protection at the primary substation,
and the auto-reclose relay prevents the o.c.b.
from further reclosures, i.e. the o.c.b. "locks-out".
The auto-reclose relay provides indication of the
number of reclosures "in hand" and the number
"taken". Alarm contacts are also available which
give at some remote point a "one reclosure left"
alarm and an "auto-reclose locked out" alarm.

Conclusions
The paper has dealt with the use of pole- and
ground-mounted circuit breakers and slowblowing fuses, as a means of keeping supply
interruptions to a minimum. It would be incomplete, however, if mention were not made of the
use of arc-suppression coils to eliminate transient
earth faults.
The arc suppression coil is essentially an inductance between the system neutral and earth, in
which by adjustment of the reactance, the reactive
fault current, which tends to flow when an earth
fault occurs, is balanced out by the capacitive
current of the system.
The size of the coil is dependent, therefore, upon

S.Q.J. DECEMBER 1964

the capacitance to earth of the whole system to be

protected. This is determined from statistical data
on the route length of the network, the characteristics of the cables used and the height, spacing,
sags, etc., of the overhead lines.
These coils have been used in parts of the country since the early 'thirties and have played an
important part in reducing the total number of
interruptions on overhead lines.
There is no doubt that greater emphasis is being
placed today to ensure improved standards of
continuity of supply to all sections of the community. The case for more use of automaticreclosing equipment on distribution networks is
therefore a justifiable one, in so far as assisting the
supply engineer to achieve his aims are concerned.
Perhaps the main problem confronting the distribution engineer is to maintain the correct balance
between complete continuity of supply and high
capital cost.

A cknoniedgem en ts
The author thanks Mr. G. Auton and Mr. A. R.
Rumfitt for their guidance in the preparation of
this paper. His thanks are also due to Yorkshire
Switchgear & Engineering Co. Ltd. for permission
to publish information relating to ground-mounted
auto-reclosing circuit breakers, and to various
members of the Company for their assistance.
In addition, sincere thanks are extended to The
English Electric Co. Ltd. for descriptive leaflets
concerning auto-reclose relays, and to Switchgear
& Equipment Ltd., A.E.I. Ltd., and Reyrolle
Ltd. for illustrations and literature relating to
pole-mounted reclosers.

References
1. PIERSON, G. F., POLLARD, A. H., and CASE, N.: "Automatic

Circuit Reclosers", Proc. I.E.E., 102, A., 6, December 1955.

2. PIERSON, G. F.: "The Development of Rural Electrification", Proc. I.E.E., 108, April 1961.
3. "Lightning Fault Statistics 1950-60", Electrical Research
Association Report, Ref. S/T1I9.
4. "Report on Arc Suppression Coils and Auto-Reclosing
Switchgear for 6.6 kV and 11 kV Systems", The Distribution
Research Panel of the Electricity Council.
5. MONEY, S. H.: "High-speed Reclosing on 11 kV Rural
Networks", Electrical Times, 18th June, 1959.
6. BUCKINGHAM, G. S.: "The Application of Auto-Rcclosers",
Journal, I.E.E. August 1960.