IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 7, No.

2, April 1992 853

Design and Testin of a Three-Break800kV SF6 Circuit Breaker
With ZnO karistors for Shunt Reactor Switching

A.K. McCabe G.Seyrling J.D. Mandedle J.M. Willieme

American Electric Power GEC Alsthom American Electric Power GEC Alsthom
Columbus, Oh0 Villeurbanne, France Columbus, Ohio Villeurbanne, France

Abstract - Considerations in the design and testing of a

three-break 800kV SF6 circuit breaker wth ZnO varistors for
shunt reactor switching are resented in this pa er. Included
are system and circuit breder considerations, kctory design
and analysis, and description of the field test circuit apd
instrumentation. Field test results are presented which verlfy
the design and application.
Kev Words : circuit breaker, current chopping, inductive I
cufrent switching, and reignition.

htroductia
The long-distance 765kV transmission lines of the American
Electric Power (AEP) system have shunt reactors to com-
pensate the line capacitance current. The ability to regulate
system operating voltages, depending upon system loading, by
switching shunt reactors is increasin y important. Prior to
@
reactor switch application, the AE line connected shunt
reactors, as shown 111 Figure 1,were put in service or removed
from service by de-energizing the attached line, openin or
closingthe reactor disconnect swtch and re-energizingthe L e .
This mode of operation is extremely restrictive since heavy load -
A Reactor E -Line
periods with low voltage conditions, requirin reactor removal, B - Surge Arrester F -WaveTrap
conflict with the desire not to interrupt the ieavy loads. C - Retrofit Reactor G -CCW
Switching Circuit Breaker H - Disconnect
Initial applications of 800kV reactor switches used airblast D - Disconnect Switch I - Line Circuit Breaker
circuit breakers with high ohmic opening resistors, up to 5600
ohms, to reduce reactor overvoltages resulting from current FiEure 1:-
Single-Line Diagram for Marysville
chopping or dielectric reignitions. SF6 puffer circuit breaker
technology, with good mechanical endurance ca abilities for
frequent switching duties, produces relatively Pow current
cho ping levels and associated low overvoltages. Few SF6
pufgr designs, however, have opening resistors to limit over-
voltages on the reactors due to current cho ping and reigni-
tions. SF6 designs with mechanicallycoupled?opening resistors
offer an accepted means of controhg the overvoltages on the
reactor. However, the mechanical com lexi of the resistor
assembly and associated economics enailed %e evaluation of
nonconventional designs. As a result, other means of con-
trollin reactor terminal voltages to levels acceptable to reactor
manukct urers were investigated.
The benefits of reactor switchingand the characteristics of SF6
puffers led to the first application of metal-oxide varistors
across the contacts of a four-break SqOkV SF6 uffer circuit
breaker for 765kV shunt reactor swtchmg at AE$s Cloverdale
Station. [l] Metal-oxide varistors act as non-mechanical
opening resistors to limit the voltage across the circuit breaker
terminals after current interruption, thereby reducing the
transient voltages at the reactor terminals. Subsequently
special application concerns and economic considerations led
to the desigp and testing. of the first three-break 800kV SF6
puffer circcut breaker wth metal-oxlde varistors for 765kV
shunt reactor switching at AEYs Marysdle Station. (See
Figure 2.)
F i s r e 2 : - Three-break 800kV SF6 Circuit Breaker
This paper was presented at the Transmission
and Distribution Conferencein Dallas, Texas
. .
ication Considerations
from September 22-27,1991at the Dallas Con- Proper reactor switch a plication requires consideration of the
vention Center. Sponsored by the IEEE Power system parameters, siunt reactor characteristics and the
reactor switching circuit breaker characteristics.
Engineering Society.
0885-8977D1/$3.oOO1992 IEEE
854

I CH (AMPS)
Figure 1
14

12

10

0
2 4 6 8 10 12
ARCING TIME (ms)

Without Reignition With Reignition

0 n
I CH (AMPS)
16 Figure 2

14

12

10

0
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

V REACTOR (P.U.)
Without Reignitions With Reignitions Calculated
0 n +
System Characteristics 855
where: VM = phase-to-ground overvoltage due to current
The normal s stem voltage at M T d e is allowed to vary chopping, in p.u.
between97Sdand 102% of the 765k nominal system voltage. L = reactor mductance
The maximum short-circuit current required to be interrupted C = reactor equivalent capacitance
for a shunt reactor fault is 12,200 amperes. Figure 1shows the Ich = chopped current (Equation 1)
phase-to-ground surge arresters located at the reactor termi- Vs = bus voltage at interruption
nals. There are coupling capacitor voltage transformers
(CCVTs) for line potential indication and carrier current (3) VRO = Vb * (k-1) +1
The line-to-ground capacitance of these CCVTs is
g
er hase. The equivalent station source capacitance,
as seen y t e reactors, is calculated to be 72.5nF.
where: VRO = phase to ground overvoltage
ue to reignition
peak value of TRV before reignition
Reactor Characteristics vB$ 1 voltage overshoot factor
The AEP line-connected shunt reactors are 150MVAR or 300
MVAR three-phase installations using single hase reactor
desi s [l]. The reactof banks switched using t i e SF6 circuit
6"'
w ere: VRG
vRG = voytage
= v * k change on the reactor terminals
r
b r e g r s are mstalled wth then neutrals ounded. However,
future ap lications of the same reactor anks must consider
the use o& neutral groundingreactor to roduce a four-le ed
scheme for use in sin e- hase switchingf2]. The reactorsgve
a natural fre uenc ofll.&z to 16kHz,are rated for awindmg
BIL of 1800& anJtested to a three microsecond choppedwave
value of 2070kV.

The application of an SF6 uffer e circuit breaker as a

reactor switchingdevice need! s ecic?!onsiderations, since the
electric environment is quite d e r e n t from that of a h e circuit
breaker. Reduced interruptingrequirements are balancedwith REIGNITION CURRENT INTERRUPTION
concerns for the hi overvoltages which can be caused by the
9
interru tion of sm 1inductive currents. The hase-to-ground b r e 3 ;-
overvofage and TRV (transient recovery votage) across the with reignition
Reactor voltage during reactivecurrent interruption
circuit breaker needs special considerationwith respect to the
internal and externaldielectricwithstand of the circwt breaker.
T ical overvoltagevaluesobtained for shunt reactor switchin
The interruptionof small inductive currents by circuit breakers, w% SF6 circuit breakers on EHV systems are in the range of
designed for high current interruption,leads to the phenomena 1.3 to 2.0 P.u., which can be withstood by general purpose
of current chopping. The origin of the phenomena is in the breakers. Furthermore, the system will always have a phase-
interaction between the arc in the interrupting chambers and to-groundprotectivegap or surge arrester to h i t the transient
the capacitances parallel to the interrupting chambers. The
interactionprovides arc instabili and the current chops before overvoltage on the reactor terminal to values of 1.8to 2.2 p.u.
9
its natural current zero. The v ue of this chopped current is The external withstand of the circuit breaker relative to the
proportional to the square root of the number of interrupting peak value of the TRV (VB) across the circuit breaker needs
chambers and the parallel capacitanceas describedin Equation to be considered.
1.
(1) I c h = h J n * C
where: n = number of chambers VB = peak value of TRV in p.u.
C = parallel capacitance where: VM = phase to ground overvoltage (from Equation 2)
h = chopping number
For the 1.6 p.u. choppin overvolta e level limit required by
The chopping number h is a characteristic value for a circuit AEP, the TRV across ?he circuit %reaker reaches 2.6 p.u.
breaker which depends on gas pressure and arcing time. (1700kV) with a rate-of-rise similar to the standard switching
Characteristicvalues are normally given for rated gas pressure surge peak value of 1550kVfor an 800kV circuit breaker. This
and maximum arcing time. To mlnimize the resulting over- com arison of applied voltage to the standardized withstand
volta es on the reactor, the chopped current must be mini- capaiili demonstrates the need for a special circuit breaker
mize8. Since the arallel capacitance is given by th? reactor
characteristics an8 the circuit breaker grading capacitors, the
2
designe to withstand or modify the recovery voltage.
most efficient means of reducing current chopping is to
minimize the number of interrupting chambers. With respect to rei? phenomena, the a plied TRV must
be compared with t e internal withstand of tge circuit breaker
as a function of arcing time (see Figure 4). To guarantee a
A
The phase-to-ground overvoltages VMor VRO)on the reactor
termmals (see Equations 1,2 and igure 3) are due to current
chopping or to reignitions occurring for short arcing times.
successfulinterruption of the reactive current and to avoid late
reignitions, and thus high reignition overvolta es, the minimal
arcmg time should be as short as possible, a n i less than half a
cycle. Reignitions will occur for arcing times less than the
minimal arcin time, and current interruption will occur
one-half cycle i t e r at the next current zero.

t
856 can increasefrom 2.3 p.u. to 2.8 p.u. on a circuit breaker without
L a varistor. For circwt breakers with varistors the TRV will
remain 1.6 p.u.
KV
The three interrupting chamber device is capable of inter-
rupting a 4OkA short circuit fault. Therefore, reactor faults can
be interrupted without de-energizing the transmission line, as
would be necessary for reactor switching devices without full
short circuit ratings.
TRV WITH VARISTOR Circuit Breaker Design
The design of the 800kV three interruptin chamber reactor
switching circuit breaker is based on &gitaficom uter studies
using the Electromagnetic Transient Program &MTP) and
laboratory tests. The laboratory test results allow determina-
tion of the chopping number for the circuit breaker as shown
previously in Equation 1. The studies evaluated the ossibility
of reducing the mterrupter chambers from four to tlkee using
Equation 6:

HINIHAL ARCING TIHE

- (6) I c h 2 = I c h l J ( n 2 * ~ 2 ) / ( n l * c l )

with Ichl = chopped current with n l chambers

F i y - e 4 L - Circuit breaker internal withstand vs arcing time Ich2 = chop ed current with n2 chambers
c1,2 = pardel ca acitances
n1,2 = number otchambers
Varistor Application
Analysis of shunt reactor switching phenomena shows that the To satisfy the specified maximum overvoltage level of 2.4 p.u.
main concerns are with the transient overvoltagesfrom current change in voltage at the shunt reactor terminals and the
chop ing and reignition. Metal-oxide varistors placed in requlrement of future use with a neutral groundin reactor, the
parafel with the interrupting units effective1 become a per- circuit breaker with varistor was tested with antwithout the
without the need of auxiliary interrupting units. E].
manently inserted non-linear,non-mechanicabpening resistor neutral reactor. The neutral o u n h g reactor was simulated
by an additionalvoltageoffset The circuit breaker produced
successful interruptions without change of TRV values due to
Considerations for varistor application arallel to the inter- the control of the varistor.
rupting units include energy absor tion k i t s and long term
mechanical stability for circuit brezer o eration. For reactor Dielectrictests were performed to determine the tem erature
switching,the varistor conduction period$, very short (1-2 ms) rise of the varistors wth the circuit breaker opened, wKere the
and current is limited by the inductance of the reactors. varistors are subject to phase-to-ground volta e. Tests were
Therefore, the energy absorption per interruption is insi&i- performed to verify the thermal withstand at f.2 times Maxi-
cant. mum Rated Voltage ( 8 0 0 / 6 ) for four hours. A low value
The main criteria for the varistor desi is the thermal of temperature rise was measured. The energy abso tion for
withstand capabilityat the system voltage, wFch is continuously current interruptionwas investigated by computer stuxes. The
a plied when the circuit breaker is in the open position. For energy absorption, even at elevated system voltages, was well
t&s application, the arrester is rated to allow continuous within the energy capacity of the varistors.
operationat a maximum system voltage of 803kV (765kVactual
volta e x 1.05 maximum overvoltage . If the reactor circuit The mechanical stability of the metal oxide varistors was of
A
breaferwas equippedwithamotorize series disconnect switch rimary concern, prompting s ecial design of the metal-oxide
to allow isolation from the system after interruption, no bock supporting structure. drificatjon pf the. design was by
overvoltage withstand would be re uired after current inter- mechamcal endurance tests in combmation wth partial dis-
ru tion, and the varistor rating codd be reduced to limit the charge tests. A total of 3000 close-open operations were
vogage to 1.2 to 1.3 p.u. performed without change of the partial discharge
characteristics and without damage to the circuit breaker or
ZnO varistors reduce the TRV across the circuit breaker from varistor.
2.6 p.u. to 1.6 p.u. (1700kV to 1045kV) independent of the
chopping number of the breaker. The number of interrupting . .
Test C i r m
umts can then be reduced to lower the chopping current values
and associated phase-to-groundovervoltages. Also, the change
in voltage at the reactor terminals (see Figure 3 and Equation It was decided to perform reactor switchin verification field
4) is limited by the varistor to 2.4 p.u. (1.6 x 1.5),.for a typical tests prior to normal service o eration of the first 800kV
overshoot factor of 1.5. The minimal arcing time is reduced as three-interruptingbreak design. !'he installationwas at AEP's
shown in Figure 4. Marysville Station on the Gavin line as shown in Figure 5. For
the verification test, the reactor switchin circuit breaker was
4
The oundin scheme of the reactor bank must also be operated on a sin e pole basis, on P%ase 2 only, with a
consigred. t h e controls for these breakers have been synchronous contro er to vary the opening and closing angle
designed for ossible future use in smgle pole swtching, using with respect to current zero. The Phase 1and 3 shunt reactors
a four-leggetscheme with a neutral grounding reactor. If it is remained energized throughout the test. The characteristics
not limited by a varistor, the voltage on the shunt reactor of the circuit breaker, varistors and shunt reactor are given in
terminal provldes a higher TRV for this scheme. The TRV Tables 1,2 and 3, respectively.
 DUMONT LINE 857

GAVIN UNE
<-3$Jzy REACTOR
*

1
% S B
765kV BUS NO. 2
E F
DISCONNECT

TRANSFORMZR
mm OPTIC
BUSHING
Z POTENTLU.
TRANSMITTER
b

/B FIBER OPTIC HIGH SPEED

BUSHING CAPACITANCE
TAP

500kHZ

REACTOR
t t
CAVIN -ER TRANSFORMER # I

m-
Station One-Line Diagram -re 6 L - Test Instrumentation Diagram

Table 1 Instrumentatiog
Circuit Breaker Characteristics To verify the circuit breaker shunt reactor switching charac-
Rated Maximum Voltage 800kV teristics, the current must be accuratelymeasured. As shown
Rated Interrupting Current 4OkA in Figure 6, two Pearson current transformers were used. One
Rated Gas Pressure 90 psig @ 20'C Pearson CT was inserted directly around the high-voltage
Number of Interrupting Breaks 3 conductor at the reactor bushing with battery-operated elec-
Openin Time 20 msec tronicsto convert the electrical output to an o tical signal. The
05
Value Grading Capacitors
(per chamber)
1200 pF
Pr
o tical signal was brou t to ound throu& a non-ceramic
figer optic insulator. he ot er Pearson CT was installed
around the shunt reactor bushing current transformer lead.
This CT measured 60Hz currents, whereas, the CT at hi h
Table 2 voltage with a limited (clipped) current circuit measured tke
Varistor Characteristics occurrenceof high frequencycurrents due to current chopping
(One of three units) and reignitions.
Rated Maximum Voltage 186kV, rms The accurate measurement of voltages was made from the
Maximum Continuous Oper. Voltage 155kV, rms capacitive bushing potential tap of transformer 1 and the
Rated Dischar e Current (peak) l0kA line-side reactor using a capacitive voltage divider to provide
Energy Input Eapacity 74OkWs adequate frequency response.
The output of all measured quantitieswas transmitted via fiber
Electrical Characteristics: o tic equipment having a 5Hz to 1MHz bandwidth to the AEP
Residual Voltage Discharge Current dectrical Lab electrically and magnetically isolated portable
test trailer. The si als were recorded on an analo tape deck
340kV 1A with 500kHz ban&dth and later pasyd throua a. 12 bit
350kV 10 A digitizer and stored on 5.25 inch floppy disks for analysis. The
360kV 30 A magnitude and fre uenc of the r e p were consciously
outside the bandwi%th oPthe recor g s stem since previous
P
tests [l] accurately measured them or identical system
Table 3 parameters.
Shunt Reactor Characteristics
Rated Voltage 765kV
Rated Current 226 A, rms Current Chopping
Rated Capacity 300 MVAR
Inductance 5.17 H Figures 7a,b,c show a typical test record includm the reactor
Equivalent Capacitance-to-Ground 2.7 nF terminal voltage limited reactor current and TkV. At the
Natural Frequency 1350 Hz estimated9.9mdisecond arcingtime (8 millisecond arcing time
after reignition), the chop ed current of 12 amperes produces
a 1.27p.u. phase-to-groun8overvoltageat the reactor terminal.
 858
The effect of the metal oxidevaristor across the circuit breaker
chambersis evident by the volta e limitation as the TRV across
the circuit breaker a proache! 1.6 p.u. Figure 8 shows an
EMTP simulation of %e test; a cho ed current of 12 amperes
leads to an overvoltage of 1.3 p.u. T h e TRV is limited by the
varistor at 1.6 p a , with a short time varistor current of 15
amperes.

1.27 p.u.

' REACTOR CURRENT

w e 8 L- EMTP simulation of Test No. 15

I Marysville Test N o 15 :

m
Reactor Voltage
1 I CH (AMPS)

ARCING TIME (ms)

-
Without Reignition With Reignition
0 A

Marysville Test No IS : Reactor Current - Chopped current versus arcing time

The current cho ping levels as a function of arcing time and
resulting overvogage for all tests are shown in Figures 9 and
10.

I CH (AMPS)
18

14 -
12 -
10 -

-- 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

1.6 p . u . Marysville Test No 15 : TRV V REACTOR (P.U.)
$ Without Reignitions With Reignitions Calculated
0 A -sc-

Figures 7 a,b & c: Oscillograms of Test No. 15 E i g u d L - Chopped current versus overvoltage

I
Marysville Wst No U : Reactnr V o l w
I 1
&ud&. - Oscillogram Test No. 12
-\
7I-
I I
- Oscillogram Test No. 12
Calculation of Chopping Number
The chopped current is approximately a linear function of the
arcing time (Fi ure 9). For the maximum arcing time achieved
during the fielcftest,the measured chopped current is less than
13 amperes. The chopped current can also be calculated from
the measured chopping overvoltages using Equation 2.
The chopping number of 133,000 A/@ is calculated for the
circuit breaker from the results of the field tests, using Equation
1. This value is within the range of 110,000to 140,000obtained
from the design tests.
High Frequency Reignitions
P
The mechanism by which hi frequency reignitions occur
followin interruptions with s ort arcing times is well known
[3], [4], A].
Prewous AEP tests [l]for similar circuit config-
urations produced reignition transients with times-to-crest of
about one microsecond. This stress was considered similar to
those of a chopped wave test. Shunt reactor manufacturers
indicated a value of 80 percent of the chopped wave test value
as acceptable (2.5 u.). Typical AEP circuit parameters pro-
duce transients w i g a change in voltage, at the reactor termi-
nals, as much as 1.5times the voltage across the circuit breaker.
The metal oxide varistors were applied to limit the voltage
859
Matysville Test NO 16 : Ibzactor voltage
m e 13: - Oscillogram Test No. 16
____ ....... _
__.._______
Marysville
lur = 9.4A
. _ _ _ - . . _ _ . . _ . ..
~
Test No 16 : RBactor n t
I I
&re 14; - Oscillogram Test No. 16
across the circuit breaker to 1.6 p.u, and thus limit the mag-
nitude of change in voltage due to the reignition to 2.4 p.u. (1.5
times 1.6).
Since the characteristics of the varistors are well known, the
minimal arcing time, where reignition can occur, was calculated
as shown in Figure 4. Test data shows that the TRV is limited
to 1.6 .U. as calculated and, as expected, reignitions did not
occur E r arcing times in excess of 2.3 milliseconds. Figure 11
shows atypical test result with an arcing time of 1.4milliseconds
prior to reignition and 9.7milliseconds until interru tion of the
reactor current. After 1.4 milliseconds, the vaies of the
chopped current and associated overvolta es are very small,
whereas for the final interruption after 9.? milliseconds, the
k f
current is 9.3 Amperes see Fi ure 12), producin an over-
volta e of 1.14 p.u. The T V be ore reignition reacfes a value
of 01fy0.35 .U. due to the short arcing time of 1.4milliseconds.
Figure 13 sfows a test result with an arcing time of 2.3 milli-
seconds to reignition. The TRV before reignition reaches a
value of 1.37 u., much hi@er than in figure 11, due to the long
arcing time gkfore reigmtion. The final interruption of the
reactor current occurs after 10.6 milliseconds, producing sim-
ilar current chopping (see figure 14) and overvoltages, as the
tests show in figures 11 and 12.
 860
-
.
1 P.U.
I
TRY: 5.5 P-U.
1.8 P.U.
NO RESTRIKE - NO VARISTOR
-,
w e 15 : - EMTP simulation of voltage escalation
(with and without varistors)
High Frequency Current Interruption
The interruption of the high frequency reignition currents
de end very much on the frequencyof the reignition 51 which
is $e endent on s stem configuration, which may de:widely
in laloratory anJfield circuts. T ical values of rei
frequency measured on 550kV and%OkVsystems, wit
distances between the circuit breaker and reactor, are in the
ran e of 300 to 500kHz. In this frequenc range, no interruption
of t i e high frequency current occurrelalthough it was inves-
tigated by computer study to compare the henomena for
circuit breakers with and without varistors. Agure 15 shows
an EMTP study of voltage escalation at the reactor terminal
t
due to hi frequency current interruption producing virtual
current c opping.
Curve 1 represents the normal reactor voltage with a chopping
overvolta e of 1.3p.u. There arenovaristors, andno reiptions
occur. T i e TRV is 2.3 p.u.
Curve 2 shows a reignition after interruption for a circuit
breaker without a varistor. The high frequenc reignition
current is interrupted immediately and the T R J reappears.
This phenomena can be repeated until the circuit breaker
interrupts without reignition. The simulation shows two reig-
nition phenomena wth a successful interruption after the
second reignition. The re? overvoltage is 1.8 p.u. for this
simulation, which depen s on the damping of the reignition
circui! and arcvoltageof the circuit breaker, which also provides
dampmg.
During the reignition, not only the high frequenc reignition
current appears, but the 60Hz current is re-estabished, pro-
A
uc - 2.5 P.U.
NO VARISTOR
M
100 vs
1 BUS VOLTAGE
2 TRV
UC 1.65 P * U *
WITH VARISTOR
& w e 16 L - EMTP simulation of 10% fault interruption
(with and without varistor)
vidmg virtual current cho pin The simulation leads to an
overvoltage of 2.5 p.u. a n z a T k V of 3.5 .U. Field conditions
can allow for even higher values if the &tan,, between the
circuit breaker and shunt reactor is long, increasingthe chance
for high frequency current interruption.
Curve 3 shows the same henomena as Curve 2, however, with
the varistor applied. T i e first reignition result is the same.
However when the TRV is reapphed, it is limited to 1.6 P.u.,
and multiple reignitions are eliminated. The simulation shows
that the peak value of TRV is independent of virtual currFnt
chop ing, but sole1 dependent on varistor characteristics
whicf limit the T R J t o 1.6 p.u.
Short Circuit Interruption
Although short circuit performance was not tested durin the
field test, an EMTP analysis was performed. Figure 16 siows
the TRV during an interruption of a 10% termmal fault with
and without varistors. The TRV is damped by the varistors,
providin better conditions for the fault interruption. The
energy a%sorbed b the varistors is maximum fof the 100%
termmal fault and &st pole to clear. However, t h s conhtion
is well within the capabdity of the varistor.
The design of a three-break 8OOkV circuit breaker for reactor
switchin is presented in this a er. The performed computer
studies, faboratoq tests and {e& tests m AEP's 765kV system
lead to the followmg conclusions:
 861
1. Actual circuit breaker performance for switching shunt Mr. McCabe is a member of the Power Engineering Society
reactors can be calculated using circuit breaker characteristics and the IEEE Switchgear Committee. He has been a member
obtained in a test laboratory and applied system parameters. and Chairman of various High-Voltage Circuit Breaker Sub-
committee Working Groups. He is presently Secretary of the
2. The chop ingnumber can be calculated to estimate current High-Voltage Circuit Breaker Subcommittee and Executive
chopping performance and associated overvolta es, which are Vice-chairman of C37 High Volta e Standards. He is also
dependent on the number of interrupting chamters. Deputy Technical Advisor of TClYA for the U.S. National
Committee of the IEC and Technical Advisor to U.S. CIGRE
3. The use of metal-oxide varistors across the interrupting Working Group 13.
contacts allows the reduction of the number of interruptin
units, which reduces the chopping current values and associate8
phase-to- ound overvoltage. Further, the varistors modify the
applied TKV to aid in short circuit interruption.
4. The combination of the varistors parallel to the circuit Gerhard Seyrling was born in
breaker and the phase-to-ground surge arresters controls the May, 1962 in Bregenz, Austria.
TRV and reactor voltage, mde endent of any phenomena of He studied Electrical Power
current chopping, restrike or k g h frequency current inter- Engineering at the Technical
ruption. University of Vienna, Austria
5. Because metal-oxide varistors represent a completely where he did his first work in the
assive system, the can control the transient voltage with a area of arc physics. In 1987, he
Eigh degree of reliatility. raduated as an Electrical
kngineer and moved to France
to join the GEC Alsthom
References Research De artment for High
Voltage Switcigear. Since then,
E] J.G. Reckleff, et. Al;,
"Applicationof Metal-Oxide Varistors he has worked on development
n An 800kV Circuit Breaker Used For Shunt Reactor projects of Live Tank Breakers.
Switching,"CIGRE 13-16, 1988. He is a member of the IEEE
Working Group on Shunt
r ] A. Fakheri,. et. Al.,"The Use of Reactor Switches in Reactor Switching.
ingle-Phase Swtching," CIGRE 13-06,1980.
31 CIGRE Workin Group 13.02, "Interfu tion of Small
Inductive Currents, &apter 4, Reactor Swtckng." Part A,
"General and Specific Theory," Electra No. 101, July 1985, pp.
13-39.Part B, "Limitationof Overvoltages andTesting," Electra John D. Mandeville was born on
NO. 113,July 1987, pp. 51-74. October 28, 1958 in Massillon,
Ohio. In June, 1980,he obtained
[4] S. Berneryd, et. Al., "Switching of Shunt Reactors - an Associate Degree in Elec-
Com arison Between Field and Laboratory Tests," CIGRE tronic Engineering and in June,
13-0t 1976. 1981, an Associate Degree in
Electrical Engineering, both
L120-9,
51 H. Kawada,, et. .Al., "Switching Surge of Shunt Reactor
aused b SF6 Circuit Breaker Operation, IEEE PES, 87 WM
19i7.
from Stark Technical College,
Canton, Ohio. He joined
American Electric Power in
June, 1980 as a technician. His
Acknowledgements major area of interest is elec-
tronic instrumentation, with a
The authors wish to thank E,E. Wilcox,. D.L. Gary and V.L. special interest in the
Hicks for their diligent work m preparation of this paper. application of fiber optics.
Biographies

Andrew K. McCabe (M '76)

was born in Staten Island, New JeanMarc Willieme was born in
York in 1953. He received the Bron, France, on June 8th, 2956.
BSEE degree in 1976 from the He received the Electrical and
Polytechmc Institute of Mechanical En ineering
Brooklyn and the MSEE Degree from ECAM, !yon. In
de ee in 1981 from the Poly- 1980, he joined GEC ALS-
tegnic Institute of New York. THOM, as Qualit Control
Engineer, in the d V Circuit
In 1976, he joined American Breaker Department. Since
Electric Power working in the 1985, he has been involved as a
Electric Station Projects Sec- research engineer in the HV
tion. Since 1979, he has been Technical Department, in GIS
responsible for circuit breaker and presently in Live-Tank
engineering. Circuit Breaker Development.