Unit-4

Testing of Breakers
 Types of Tests

1) Type tests
2) Routine tests
3) Developmental tests
4) Reliability Tests
5) Commissioning tests
 Type tests
Performed on one sample of each type to
confirm their characteristics and rated capacities
according to their design.
Indian standards (IS)
International Electromechanical Commission(IEC)
British standard (BS) codes
 Classification of Type tests- DJ Littler
1) Mechanical tests
To ensure proper opening & closing of CB mechanism
 The CB must be smoothly operated at maximum as well as
minimum allowable auxiliary and control circuit supply
voltage
 Closing and tripping operation should be performed at least 5
times for specified maximum & minimum allowable control
circuit supply voltage

2) Tests of temperature rise

 To ensure capability of contacts to carry rated normal
current within specified temp. rise limits
 During test if temp exceeds ambient temp 40o CB is
considered to be failed
3) Millivolt drop test
 To determine the condition of the contact surfaces
 DC current is injected and Voltage drop is measured;
 R is calculated and compared with standards

4) Dielectric tests
To check characteristics of Circuit breaker for the
following tests:
I) Dry, wet, power frequency
II) Lightning impulse voltage
III) Switching impulse voltage (applicable for 400 kV &
above)
 5) Short circuit test
To check ability of the CB to clear the current on
different tests in symmetrical & asymmetrical
conditions as per provisions of IEC

6) Critical current tests

Critical current is the value of breaking current
less than rated short circuit breaking current at
which arcing time is maximum and significantly
longer
7) Single phase short circuit test
Breaking of the rated symmetrical short-circuit
current with the maximum arcing time and with
the recovery voltage based on phase-to-earth
voltage
8) short time current test
To check the ability of the circuit to carry the
maximum rated short-circuit withstand current
(2.5 times the RMS value) at 50 Hz in close
position during the specified short-term
duration of 1 or 3 sec.
 Types of Routine tests
Performed on every sample to confirm proper
functioning of CB
i) Dielectric test on Main circuit
To check the dielectric’s withstand capability of live
terminals to live terminals and to earth in both
close & open condition of CB
ii) Dielectric test on auxiliary and control circuit
Test voltage of 2000 V is applied for duration of
one minute to auxiliary and control supply circuits
and there should not be any destructive discharge
during the test.
iii) Millivolt drop test:
iv) Tightness Test
Leakage rate is measured in gas insulated
switchgear. Covered with polythene and using
gas detector gas density is measured. Maximum
gas leakage permitted is 3 ppm/8 hrs
v) Visual Checks
To check visually any cracks, name plate rating
etc.
vi) Mechanical Operation test
3) Developmental Tests
 These tests are essential to observe the effect of
different parameters on the CB performance
 Different parameters and their effects are
theoretically predicted
 Designers use the available data in the company
to obtain better design
Example:
Contacts should give low resistance in closed
position. To verify the capability of this functional
requirement, developmental tests are conducted.
4) Reliability Tests
In Type & Routine Tests, the testing conditions are
different with and the actual conditions when the
breaker is put into service. At site the CB is
subjected to
i) Variation in ambient temperature
ii) Extremely low & high temperatures
iii) Rain moisture
iv) vibrations on account of earthquakes
v) Dust & chemical fumes
vi) Overloads and over voltages
5) Commissioning tests
Performed after installing the breaker at site.
The following tests are conducted
Proper assembly and readiness is verified.
Mechanical operational tests
Measurement of insulation resistance
Checking the relays are getting energized or
not
 Short Circuit Tests
1) Direct testing 2) Indirect testing
Direct testing
Circuit breakers of smaller capacity are
carried out by direct testing techniques
• CB is subjected to conditions actually exist in PS &
Subjected to Re-striking voltage
• X- controls SC current
• C,R1 & R2 – to adjust transient Re-striking voltage
• MCB & CB under test are closed, SC current is
passed by closing making switch
• SC current is interrupted by opening breaker
Following Measurements are taken
• Symmetrical, Asymmetrical breaking current,
recovery voltage and frequency of oscillation &
RRRV
 Direct testing
i) Test for Breaking capacity
 The short circuit current is interrupted by the
breaker under test.
 From the tests, Symmetrical breaking current,
Asymmetrical breaking current, recovery
voltage, frequency of oscillation and RRRV are
measured
 CB must be capable of breaking all currents .
Therefore, tests are performed at 10%, 30%,
60% and 100% of its rated breaking current.
ii) Test for Making capacity
Master CB, making switch are closed first then SC is
initiated and CB is opened, The first peak value of
major loop of SC current is measured.

iii) Duty Cycle ( B- breaking, M-Making, MB-Making

followed by breaking, 3 -minutes duration)
1) B-3-B-3-B
10%,30% and 60% of rated symmetrical breaking capacity
2) B-3-MB-3-MB
Performed for 100% symmetrical breaking & making
capacity
3) B-3-B-3 -B
Performed for 100% Asymmetrical breaking capacity
iv) Short time current test
• Rated short time current (ac + dc components) is
passed thru the breaker for 1 sec or 3 sec.
• Current waveform is recorded using DSO
• This current should not cause any mechanical or
insulation damage
Indirect Testing
For large capacity breakers short circuit capacity of
testing station increases, becomes uneconomical.
Therefore these methods are used
1. Unit testing
2. Synthetic testing
Unit Testing
 High voltage breakers are designed with several
arc interrupter units per pole
 All these interrupters share the voltage and
breaking capacity equally and operate
simultaneously
 One unit is tested and from this results complete
breaker capacity can be determined.
Example: 220kV,3-pole, 3units per pole
Vph = 127 kV, then under each pole 3 units are
there each unit will be tested for a voltage of
(127/3) 42.33 kV
 Synthetic Testing
Two sources of power supply
Current source – high current, low voltage source –
supplies SC current during the test
Voltage source – High voltage, low current source-
provides Re-striking & recovery voltage
Two methods:
i) Parallel current Injection method –widely used as
it is capable of providing RRRV & recovery voltage
as required by various standards
ii) Series current Injection method
 Parallel current injection

Motor – generator set ( high current source) injects SC current i1

into the CB under test at reduced voltage Vg
L1 controls the Short circuit current
L2 & C2 control transient recovery voltage & RRRV
C1 ( HV source) provide recovery voltage and charged to √2Vs
prior to testing
• Master CB and CB under test are tripped before i1 reaches
natural zero say at t1
• Using the control circuit, spark-gap is fired at appropriate
moment i.e. at time t1 and √2Vs voltage get appeared across
the contacts of CB under test.

• The injected current i2 begins to flow.

• The current i1 + i2 flows through the Testing Breaker until the
time t2 is reached.
• Breakers get fully opened at time
 Short Circuit Testing Station
1) Field Type Testing station
 Power required for testing is fed directly from large PS
 This method is economical particularly for testing HV
breakers as large amount of power is easily available
for testing
Drawbacks:
 For R&D work, tests has to repeated again & again
which is not possible without disturbing the PS
 Power available for testing depends upon the loading
conditions of the PS
 Difficult to control the transient recovery voltage &
RRRV
2) Laboratory type testing station:
 Short Circuit generators provide power for testing
 For R&D work, tests can be repeated again &
again to confirm the designed characteristics &
capacity
 Current, voltage, re-striking voltage & RRRV can
be controlled conveniently
Large capacity CB can be tested by synthetic testing
Drawbacks:
 High cost of installation
 Availability of limited power for testing of CB
Short circuit testing Station
Power required is provided by three or four
alternators each driven by its own induction
motor with separately driven exciter.
 Variable reactors with wide range of settings
give necessary range of SC currents
 Variable resistors in the main circuit provide
control of power factor
 1-ph T/F’s provide test voltages greater than
alternator voltage . These can be connected in
Y or ∆ to get 3-ph O/P
High speed compressed air insulated Making
switch is provided to close the circuit at
desired moment and it carries the making
currents.
 A 3-ph pneumatically operated air-blast,
back-up breaker is provided (in case of Test
breaker failure)
 A large capacitor bank to simulate line and
cable charging currents
 An artificial transmission line to enable short
distance fault testing
Test facility at ERDA, Vadodara
Test facility at ERDA, Vadodara
 Test facility at CPRI

SC Generator EHV transformer