Air Blast Circuit Breakers

by Engr. Khurram Hashmi

UCP, FOE

Circuit breakers Principle of operation of a circuit Breaker Arc phenomenon Principle of arc extinction

Circuit Breaker
A circuit breaker is a piece of equipment which can: i. make or break a circuit either manually or by remote control under normal conditions ii. break a circuit automatically under fault conditions iii. make a circuit either manually or by remote control under fault conditions

Principle Of Operation of a Circuit Breaker

A circuit breaker essentially consists of fixed and moving contacts, called electrodes. Under normal operating conditions, these contacts remain closed When a fault occurs on any part of the system, the trip coils of the circuit breaker get energised and the moving contacts are pulled apart The Circuit may also be broken under normal conditions: manually or by remote control.

Arc Phenomenon
When the Contacts of a circuit breaker begin to separate the contact area decreases rapidly. Large fault current causes increased current density Temperature rises rapidly Heat produced ionizes the medium surrounding the contacts and an arc is struck Current flow is uninterrupted in the circuit so long as the arc persists

Principles Of Arc Extinction

High resistance method
Arc resistance is made to increase with time so that current is reduced to a value insufficient to maintain the arc. Finally the current flow is interrupted The principal disadvantage of this method is that enormous energy is dissipated in the arc. It is employed only in D.C. circuit breakers and lowcapacity A.C. circuit breakers.
Methods employed

Lengthening the arc Cooling the arc Reducing cross sectional area of the arc Splitting the arc

Principles of Arc extinction

Low resistance Method
This method is employed for arc extinction in A.C. circuits only. Arc resistance is kept low until current reduces to zero where the arc extinguishes naturally and is prevented from restriking when the voltage across the contacts is restored
Methods Employed

Lengthening of the gap High pressure. Cooling. Blast effect.

Principle of Arc extinguishing in ABCBs Types

Principle Of Arc Extinguishing in ABCBs

These breakers employ a high pressure air-blast as an arc quenching medium. The contacts are opened in a flow of air-blast: established by the opening of blast valve The air-blast cools the arc and sweeps away the ionic products to the atmosphere This rapidly increases the dielectric strength of the medium between the contacts and prevents the arc from re-establishing

Types Of Air Blast Circuit breakers

Axial-blast type in which the air-blast is directed along the arc path (as shown in Fig. (i)) Cross-blast type in which the air-blast is directed at right angles to the arc path ( as shown in Fig (ii)). Radial-blast type in which the air-blast is directed radially (as shown in Fig (iii).)

Axial Cross

Axial Air Blast Circuit Breaker

Cross Air Blast Circuit Breaker

Contacts in Air Blast Circuit Breaker

Air Blast Circuit Breaker Module

Voltage Ratings Of Air Blast Circuit Breakers

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