2006•Unpublished venueRequires access
"Vacuum forHV applications - Perhapsnotsonew? - Thirty Years ServiceExperienceof 132kV Vacuum Circuit breaker"
Mark Waldron
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Abstract
In 1968four132kV,3500MVA vacuumcircuit breakerswere manufactured by AEI in theUK and commissioned intoservice by thethenCentral Electricity Generating BoardintheUK.Thispaperdescribes thedesign andhistory oftheserevolutionary circuit breakers whichare believed tobethefirst application intheworldofvacuumcircuit breaker technology forcircuit breakers attransmission voltages. Although technically successful, inthe1960's thesecircuit breakers didnotcomparefavourably against theSF6circuit breakers whichhadbeendeveloped someyearspreviously and werebeing introduced toreplace OilandAirforTransmission voltages. Asaresult Vacuumdidnotgoontodominate theHV circuit breaker market, asitdidfortheMV market. Thiswas mainly duetolimitations ofthevacuumtechnology atthetime, asaconsequence ofwhichtheAEIcircuit breakers usedeight interrupters inseries perphase. Thisresulted inacomplex and expensive operating system, whichwas excessively costly in comparison withtheOilandSF6circuit breakers ofthetime.