Sulfur Hexafluoride Industrial Circuit Breakers

The high voltage industrial circuit breakers in use today are much more advanced as opposed to those that were first introduced more than a half a century ago. Current interrupted in high-voltage industrial circuit breakers is achieved by separating two contacts in a medium, such as sulfur hexafluoride, which has arc dampening properties. After separation, the current is carried through an arc and is ultimately interrupted when the arc is cooled by a gas blast.

Sulfur Hexafluoride Industrial circuit breakers in use Today

New types of sulfur hexafluoride industrial circuit breakers and breaking chambers utilize new and innovative interrupting technologies as of late. These new technologies work to reduce the operating energy of industrial circuit breakers. This increases their overall reliability by reducing the dynamic forces in the pole. The use of the self-blast technique of interruption for sulfur hexafluoride interrupting chambers has been on the rise since 1996.

Another thermal blast technique is known as the “self-blast” technique. This utilizes a valve between the expansion and compression volumes. When the need arises to interrupt low currents, the valve will open due to the overpressure generated in the compression volume. The blow-out of the arc takes place due to the compression of the gas obtained by the piston action. This technique has also been widely used since 1996.

Generator Industrial Circuit Breakers

Generator industrial circuit breakers are another type of sulfur hexafluoride circuit breaker that is connected between a generator and a step-up voltage transformer. These are most commonly utilized for high power generators so they are well protected in both a reliable and economic approach.

These industrial circuit breakers need to allow for the passage of high permanent currents with continuous service as well as have a high breaking capacity.

Industrial Circuit Breakers

There are a wide variety of industrial circuit breakers in use today. While most are in the low to medium voltage range that are used in plants and facilities, high-voltage industrial circuit breakers need to meet a variety of different needs using multiple current-dampening technologies.