How Does an Industrial Circuit Breaker Work?

An industrial circuit breaker has common features that can be found in all other types of these devices. The details may vary quite substantially between the different voltage classes or current ratings. This is why someone that lives in the United Kingdom cannot use a breaker that was manufactured for use in the United States. The voltage class is different in the United Kingdom than it is in the United States. Products designed for one country will more than likely not operate on the power supply of the other country without modifications being made.

Industrial circuit breaker

What is the main purpose of an industrial circuit breaker? The industrial circuit breaker must detect a fault for it to do anything. The low-voltage devices are designed so that this detection is done within the enclosure of the device itself. The ones that are used for high voltage items are arranged in conjunction with pilot devices that sense the fault in the current and these pilot devices will then cause the breaker that is to trip so that the flow of current is interrupted until the problem creating the fault is detected and corrected.

Detecting Faults with an Industrial Circuit Breaker

Once a fault has been detected the contacts within the breaker must open up so that they create an interruption in the flow of electricity. In order to cause this to happen, a mechanically stored energy component within the item will be used to separate the contacts and interrupt the current. These mechanically stored energy components are generally things like springs, or sometimes compressed air is used, and to some degree the flow of current can be used to cause the contacts to separate.

These items are generally made out of materials that can withstand the heat of operating and the heat of the arc that is produced when the contacts are separated. Materials that these items are commonly crafted from include copper and copper alloys, and silver alloys, as well as other highly conductive materials that can withstand the demand of the heat that will be placed on them.

The components such as the contacts in these products will generally become corroded over time because of the metals they must be crafted from. This limits their service life greatly. You will find that the smaller ones will be discarded and replaced when this corrosion occurs, but the larger ones that are designed to operate high voltages will have contacts designed so they are replaceable. These items are extremely expensive and it would not be cost effective to replace the entire item each time corrosion occurs since most high voltage ones are located outdoors.

When the current is interrupted in one of these an arc is generated, and this arc must be kept contained, and it must be cooled, and then extinguished quickly, and in a very controlled manner. This will allow the gaps that are between the contacts to be able to tolerate the voltage that is going to be emitted. Vacuum air, oil, and insulating gas are all things that are used for the purpose of controlling and extinguishing the arc.