2460 IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-104, No.

9, September 1985

DEVELOPMENT OF A 500kV AIRBLAST HVDC CIRCUIT BREAKER

B. Bachmann G. Mauthe E. Ruoss H.P.Lips
Member IEEE Senior Member IEEE Senior Member,IEEE
Brown Boveri & Co.
Zurich, Switzerland
J. Porter, Senior Member IEEE J. Vithayathil, Fellow IEEE
Electric Power Research Institute Bonneville Power Administration
Washington D.C. 20036 Portland, Oregon

Abstract - The concept of a new HVDC circuit- CONCEPT OF THE HVDC BREAKER SYSTEM
breaker for 500 kV and its operating principle are
explained. The interruption of the direct current is Concepts for Interruption of Direct Current
based on a "passive" commutation circuit.
The basic circuit used for interrupting direct
Laboratory tests with an experimental breaker and current is illustrated in Fig. 1. This circuit
a-prototype breaker were performed. The prototype was consists of three main components:
finally tested in the field on the Pacific Intertie.
1. the current-carrying commutation switch
INTRODUCTION 2. the commutation circuit
3. the energy absorber circuit
A major development in power systems in the last
two decades has been the growth of HVDC transmission
systems in various parts of the world. These systems COMMUTATION SWITCH
are exclusively point-to-point links for the
transmission of energy. Additional HVDC systems,
including interconnections of existing systems, are
presently studied or planned. This represents a
change from the present two-terminal layouts to COMMUTATION CIRCUIT
multi-terminal arrangements.
~ -10
0 .-
Up to the present, the two-terminal networks have
been operated without any HVDC circuit-breakers. The ENERGY ABSORBER
use of such breakers in multi-terminal operation would
provide major advantages, both for switching opera-
tions and for fault clearing.
r3
The use of HVDC circuit-breakers has been
discussed for some time and various proposals for
their design and implementation have been published FIG. I
[1]. Except for the use of low voltage dc breakers as GENERAL PRINCIPLE OF HVDC CIRCUIT BREAKER
"metallic return-transfer breakers" in some cases, no
really practical solutions for HVDC breakers have as
yet been found [3,4].
The commutation switch is the main contact element
Advances in the technology of energy absorption of the HVDC breaker. When switching, the current is
elements, such as metal-oxide (MO) resistors, opened first made to commutate from the commutation switch
up new opportunities for the development of an HVDC into the commutation circuit. Then the current is
breaker that can be used not only for operational transferred to the energy absorber for dissipation of
switching, but also for rapid fault clearing. the remaining energy stored in the dc circuit.
The development of a new HVDC circuit-breaker for In principle, a distinction can be made between
500 kV, which has been tested on the Pacific Intertie, two fundamentally different kinds of commutation
was carried out by Brown Boveri Corporation (BBC) in circuits: "active" and "passive" circuits. In both
close collaboration with the Electric Power Research circuits suitable measures have to be taken to ensure
Institute (EPRI) and the Bonneville Power Administra- that, when the commutation switch is opened, the
tion (BPA). current in this switch is reduced to zero, even if
only for a short time. The current is thus
interrupted and forced to flow into the commutation
85 WM 251-4 A paper recommended and approved circuit and finally into the energy absorber circuit.
by the IEEE Switchgear Committee of the IEEE Power
Engineering Society for presentation at the IEEE/ In the "active" commutation circuit devices such
PES 1985 Winter Meeting, New York, New York, as auxiliary switches, spark-gaps and/or precharged
February 3 - 8, 1985. Manuscript submitted capacitators have to come into action at the
September 19, 1984; made available for printing appropriate moment. In the "passive" commutation
December 12, 1984. circuit, on the other hand, such devices are
unnecessary. The conditions for interruption of the
current in the commutation switch are created solely
by passive elements in parallel with the switch and by
the properties of the switch itself. There is no need
for additional moving, controlled or triggered
elements.

0018-9510/85/0009-2460$01.00©1985 IEEE
 F>~ Fig.4c
2461

The Principle Selected: Passive Commutation Circuit The shape of the voltages and currents associated
with this process with respect to time is illustrated
In the selected passive commutation circuit, an by Fig. 4. If a short circuit occurs on the HVDC
L-C series resonant circuit is connected in parallel transmission line, the fault current is reduced
with the commutation switch, as shown in Fig. 2. rapidly to the level of the rated current by the
converter control system. Consequently, either the
rated current or a fault current with the same
magnitude as the rated current has to be interrupted.

Contact Separation

FIG. 2
PRINCIPLE OF THE "PASSIVE" COMMUTATION CIRCUIT Fig. 4a
Uabsorber--,LS
The differential equation of this commutation
circuit can be expressed as follows:
UDC
d2i 2 du arc di 2 1 \Ur i-o. Fig. 4b
L t2 + di1 +- i2 =0
dt dt C
Since uarc decreases with increasing current il,
duarc < o
dil
If the actual "stray" resistance of the commuta- \
| >~~~0 Fig. 4d
tion circuit - that of the inductor L and the
connections - is smalll, an oscillation initiated in
the commutation circuit will not be damped, but would FIG. 4 CURRENT INTERRUPTION BY THE HVDC
possess an amplitude that increases with time. Since
the arc voltage in the commutation switch is never CIRCUIT-BREAKER ACCORDING TO THE PRINCIPLE
stable, but varies due to the inherent movement of the IN FIG. 3
arc and the blast to which the arc is subjected, an
oscillation of this kind can be initiated by these
short-time "disturbance functions."" With suitable tO: Contact separation of commutation switch
magnitude and characteristic of the arc voltage, the ti: Interruption of current ii in the
amplitude of the current in the commutation circuit
attains the value Io, with the result that the commutation switch
current il becomes zero for a short time. tc: Commutation time
UDC: System voltage
When the current is zero, the commutation switch
quenches the arc, i.e., the current i1 is
interrupted. The current Io continues to flow from
the network (see Fig. 3). This charges up the At to (Fig. 4a) the contacts of the commutation
capacitance C. The voltage that builds up across this switch separate. The characteristic of the arc,
capacitance is limited by the MO energy absorber. together with the commutation circuit, results in the
current oscillation shown. At t1 the current i1
i
3 through the switch is interrupted. Across the
MO ENERGY ABSORBER commutation circuit the voltage rises due to the
impressed current Io, until it reaches the limiting
value ("clipping voltage") of the non-linear MO energy
L absorber (see Fig. 4b). This absorber voltage is
higher than the system voltage UDC and now acts as
00 01 v counter-voltage to reduce the system current Io to
zero (see Fib. 4c).
The rate of rise of the voltage across the
absorber- circuit until the "clipping voltage" is
reached, corresponding to the r.r.r.v. across the
commutation switch, is (o/C)O.
FIG. 3 When the absorber clipping voltage is reached, the
current Io flows into the absorber circuit, so that
MODULE OF THE HVDC BREAKER the remaining energy contained in- the system
inductance is now dissipated in the absorber, bringing
Ls = System inductance the current io to zero (see Fig. 4c). When the
Io == Nominal current modified current io has dropped to zero, the resistance of
So Direct current by the breaker the MO absorber again becomes very high and the system
il,i2,i, see Fig. 4. voltage across the breaker is re-established.
2462
Practical Application
The phenonema described above indicate the
criteria for practical application. If a commutation
switch having the right arc characteristic is
available, the application of the simple passive
commutation circuit is possible. A decisive advantage
of such a circuit for practical applications is that
only well-known components are employed. In terms of
arc voltage magnitude and characteristics a standard
airblast breaker is a suitable candidate as a commuta-
tion switch. No additional moving parts are needed in
order to initiate the commutation process. All
elements in the commutation circuit have reasonable
values.
The connection of several modules in series, as
shown in Fig. 3, permits adaptation to different dc
system voltages. For the 500 kV breaker, for
instance, four such modules were arranged in series,
as described later.
FIG. 5 CALCULATED CURRENT COMMUTATION WITH
MAIN DATA OF PROTOTYPE BREAKER THE ZPASSIVE' COMMUTATION CIRCUIT, USING THE
The following data were specified for the prototype MAYR ARC MODEL EQUIVALENT
HVDC circuit-breaker: Uarc = Arc voltage
I i = Current In the Commutation Switch
Nominal system voltage 500 kV dc
Breaker "counter voltage" 700 kV dc
Continuous and interrupting current 2200 A dc
SIL, terminal to terminal 1175 kV
terminal to ground 1175 kV
BIL 1550 kV
Energy absorption capacity of absorber 10 MJ arc
Maximum time from trip to commutate 35 ms
DEVELOPMENT TESTS AND ASSOCIATED INVESTIGATIONS
Theoretical Investigation of the Commutating Process i 1=
A breaker test arrangement was set up in the
laboratory to determine the electrical values of the
commutating circuit elements, to dimension the energy
absorber units, and to make final modifications- to the
commutation switch. Parallel to the laboratory tests, Fig. 6 MEASURED CURREN C04MUTATICON WITH
computer calculations were performed, during which the SAME CCMMUTATION CIRCUIT AS IN FIG. 5
switching arc was simulated with an arc model
according to the Mayr equation. The method is
described in [6]. a)
0.5 HVDC BREAKER
Calculations were made varying the parameters C, L and I I IQ MODULE
R of the commutation circuit, as well as the current
10. The tests performed in the laboratory, partly
as a result of the computer calculations exhibited
good agreement with the simulations. In this manner b)
it is possible to determine the optimal dimensions.
Fig. 5 shows a computed oscillogram and Fig. 6 the
corresponding oscillogram obtained during laboratory
tests. The development of current oscillations in
steps, as seen in Figs. 5 and 6, is attributed to
sudden changes in the arc geometry and arc voltage [6].
Laboratory Development Tests
The principle illustrated in Fig. 3 and 4 was FIG. 7 LABORATORY TEST CIRCUIT FOR TESTING
tested in the laboratory with a circuit as illustrated
in Fig. 7. From a rectifier a) the current to be ONE AND TWO MODULES OF THE HVDC BREAKER
switched was fed at constant voltage (a few kV)
through a reactor of 0.5 H to the closed dc circuit
breaker, or one of its modules. During the a) Rectifier operating at 3 to 4 kV
interruption the inductance of 0.5 H acts as a current b) HVDC test breaker or prototype breaker
source. In th-is way it was possible to fully test the
stresses imposed on the HVDC breaker module. During
the test on two breaker modules in series the about 200 kV by adjusting the absorber clipping level,
commutation process was correctly simulated. However, since the 0.5 H reactor was only dimensioned for a
the voltage across the two modules was limited to voltage of 250 kV.
 2463
Fig. 8 shows the results of interrupting tests with
one module, i.e., one interrupter of the commutation tc
switch with its LC circuit and energy absorber. It ms
can be clearly seen that the commutation time tc is
dependent on the magnitude of the current to be
switched.
tc 20I
ms

0 x
0
OX X X x X
X 0
O xo xo o 0 0 X X o o ox
20- 10
x x
0 X

I I I I I I I I I I
10- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 n

FIG. 9 COMMUTATION TIME tc OF TWO MODULES

IN SERIES DURING A NUMBER OF INTERRUPTIONS
OF A CURRENT lo = 2400
l'O
I I I I 1 x Commutation time of module 1
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 kA
o Commutation time of module 2
e~

FIG. 8 COMMUTATION TIME t C OF ONE MODULE

VS. DIRECT CURRENT 10 TO BE INTERRUPTED
Fig. 9 shows the test results of two breaker
modules connected in series. Here the commutation
time tc is shown for a group of tests during which a a).
direct current of 2400 A was interrupted. From the
results it is quite clear that the total commutation
time (11 to 14 ms) is shorter than that for the tests
on a single module. The two modules are electrically
coupled, so that the maXimum difference between their
commutation times during an operation amounted only to
about 1.5 ms.
Fig. 10 also shows the oscillograms obtained
during a group of tests witkh two breaker modules in
series, where 2400 A was interrupted. Fig. lOa shows
the current through the commutation switch. The
frequency of the oscillation is approximately! 7 kHz.
Fig. lOb shows the voltage across one and both
modules, from which it can be seen that there is very
little difference between the moments of commutation.
This is important because it influences the thermal
capacity required by the energy absorbers.
It is also possible to apply circuit breaker
modules which consist of more than one break. Tests b)
have been carried out with a module consisting of two
breaks and twice the elements bf the basic commutation
circuit in series (see Fig. 11). For such a connec-
tion the resulting capacitance of the commutation
circuit is reduced to half the value while the
resulting inductance is doubled. Fig. llb shows the
measured commutation time tc obtained during
laboratory tests with a module in the two-break
configuration. These tests prove that such an Fig.10 Commutation test with two breaker modules in
arrangement is feasible. An advantage is that the series
dispersion in commutation time between two modules as (a) Current oscillation in one of the two modules
shown in Fig. 9 could be avoided. The longer (b) Voltage across one module (uipper trace) and the
commutation times observed in Fig. 11 compared to two modules (lower trace)
2464
LAYOUT OF ThE PROTOTYPE AND PROTOTYPE TESTS
C L C L C L C ~L Fig. 12 shows the conceptual view of the complete
HVDC breaker for 500 kV (Fig. 12a) and its circuit
diagram (Fig. 12b). One pole of a standard 500 kV
airblast circuit-breaker, type DLF, is used as the
commutation switch (1). The energy absorber units (2)
mounted on porcelain columns (T) are connected in
parallel with each interrupter unit of the commutation
(a) switch. The commutation circuit consists of four
capacitor banks (4) rated 5 microfarads each and four
air-core inductors rated 100 microhenries which are
insulated from ground by porcelain columns (6). The
commutation switch is equipped with closing resistors
tc (7) to limit line switching overvoltages.
ms I

20 -
a

10 -

* 0

10
I- a)
-
I~~~
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 kA

(b) C L C L C L

FIG. 11: a) DIAGRAM OF 500 kV HVDC CIRCUIT

BREAKER WITH: MODIFIED MODULES CONSISTING
OF TWO BREAKS OF THE COMMUTATION SWITCH.
b) COMMUTATION TIME tc OF ONE (b)
MODULE ACCORDING FIG. a) VS DIRECT CURRENT
10 TO BE INTERRUPTED.

FIG. 12(a) CONCEPiUAL VIEW AND (b) CIRCUIT

those in Fig. 8 and 9 is attributed to the laboratory DIAGRAM OF THE 500 kV CIRCUIT-BREAKER
arrangement not being optimal during these tests. The
field tests showed the breaker performance is similar
to that of Fig. 9 [7]. Commutation Switch (1) (see Fig. 12)
As shown in Fig. 8, the commutation times are very
One pole of an ac 550 kV air-blast circuit-
short for low currents, i.e., commutation takes place breaker, type DLF, consisting of four interrupters in
when the contacts in the commutation switch are only a series and equipped with 400 ohm closing resistors is
short distance apart. Under certain circumstances used as the commutation switch [8,9]. The arc voltage
this can lead to reignition in the, switch during the characteristic of these commutation switch
rise of the voltage across the commutation capacitor. interrupters is an essential feature in generating the
This reignition causes the capacitor to discharge current oscillation to obtain current zeros.
through the commutation inductor, thus beginning
an-other commutation process. Successful completion of
commutation- would follow with increased separation of The porcelain insulators used for the prototype
breaker contacts. The entire phenomenon takes place breaker are of conventional ac type. Extra long
within the commutation circuit and has no significant insulators for the interrupters are used to provide a
effect on the power system. sufficient creepage distance across the open switch
for the specified time the breaker is subjected to the
The laboratory tests confirmed that the selected full voltage in open position. Also the insulation to
commutation principle can be employed for HVDC ground is ensured by normal porcelain used for ac
circuit-breakers and, at the same time, yielded breakers. Special dc porcelain insulators can be
parameters for dimensioning the commutation circuit. employed if necessary without any difficulties.
 2465
Energy Absorber (2) With the test circuit shown in Fig. 7, the
Eight absorber units are installed on the complete full-scale prototype breaker consisting of four
breaker- 2 parallel units in each module. Four stacks breaker modules was tested. Fig. 13 shows the
of MO discs are connected in parallel in each unit. prototype breaker in the test lahnratonrv
The complete energy absorber can dissipate at least
10 MJ of energy. This enables the breaker to carry
out several operations or switching cycles before the
energy dissipation limit due to excessive heat
generation is reached. In designing the energy
absorber an increase in rating due to the small
dispersion of the commutation times between the
individual breaker modules is also taken into account.
Capacitor Bank (4)
The capacitors used in one module consist of five
cans in series and five such groups in parallel to
give 5 microfarads per module. The "all film
technology" for the roll type capacitors is employed
using pure plastic films instead of paper. This
design ensures the necessary mechanical strength when
the capacitors are stressed by an inrush current.
Discharge resistors will discharge the bank to less
than 50 volts within 4 to 5 minutes.
Inductor (5)
The prototype inductor of the commutation circuit
is a single-layer, dry-insulated, air-core cylindrical
coil. It consists of a cylindrical glass fiber body
on which a copper tape is wound and insulated with
glass-mica material. Both coil ends are shielded by
corona rings. The inductance value of the coil is in
the order of 100 microhenries.
Fig. 13 500 kV DC. PROTOTYPE CIRCUIT-BREAKER IN
Multiple Module Application THE TEST LABORATORY

For the 500 kV system voltage level an air-blast FIELD TESTS

commutation switch with four interrupters in series,
as descrlbed above, has to be employed. The In February 1984, the prototype breaker was tested
commutation circuit can be arranged in various ways. at the Celilo Station of the Pacific Intertie. Fig.
14 shows the prototype breaker with four modules in
a) "4-module" -- configuration as shown in Fig. series, as installed in Celilo substation. Visible
12: In principle the current oscillation in each from left to right are: The commutation switch, the
module takes place independently. But as it was shown MO energy absorber, the inductor and the capacitor
in Fig. 9, there is coupling between the modules which bank of the commutation circuit.
keeps the dispersion in commutation times between the
individual commutation modules to less than 2 ms. Tests were made at 400 kV which included line
This dispersion leads to an increase in the power to switching, load breaking and fault clearing. Test
the energy absorber of the module which commutates currents ranged from 500 to 2000 amps.
first. Therefore, the energy absorbers have to be The
commutation times ranged from 2.5 to about 12 ms. All
dimensioned to account for this effect. tests were successful. Details of these tests are
presented in Reference 7.
b) "2-module" - configuration: Two interrupters
of the commutation switch are combined into one
commutation circuit (see Fig. lla). The advantages of
this arrangement is that there are only two modules
instead of four. Within one module, which contains
two breaks of the commutation switch, no dispersion of
the commutation time occurs. Therefore, it is likely
that the dispersion of the commutation times for the
total breaker would be smaller.
c) "1-modulei' - configuration: In this case the
capacitors and inductors are connected across all four
breaks in series. There is only one commutation
circuit. Therefore, there is no dispersion in
commutation times and no single energy absorber unit
is stressed higher than the others. This
configuration -has not yet been tested in the
laboratory, but computer simulation has shown, that
such an arrangement would also operate successfully.
Fig. 14 500 kV HVDC CIRCUIT-BREAKER IN CELILO
STATION OF THE PACIFIC INTERTIE
2466

CONCLUSIONS Discussion
Thomas F. Garrity (Chas. T. Main, Inc., Boston, MA): The authors are
The development tests on the 500 kV HVDC circuit- to be commended for the significant step forward in dc breaker develop-
breaker proved that a current of up to 2500 A can ment which they have presented in this paper. There are two areas of
be interrupted. by taking advantage of the arc general comments from the authors which are solicited.
characteristic of an airblast commutation switch. (1) The successful application of airblast interrupting technology
clearly represents the use of state-of-the art techniques. With the
- The advantage of this principle is its simplicity. increasing world-wide trend toward SF6 technology for circuit
No auxiliary switches or electrically active breakers, what is the prognosis for continued availability of air
sourcei are required. blast interrupters for dc breakers?
- (2) With the expected increase in current interruption requirements
The development tests reveal ed that there is for dc circuit breakers of the future, would the authors comment
potential for higher breaking currents.
even on the requirements for test facilities to demonstrate satisfactory
breaker design tests?
- Actual field tests with interrupted currents up to
2000 A, at 400 kV carried out on the Pacific HVDC Manuscript received February 25, 1985
Intertie deMonstrate the practical application of
the principle of this HVDC breaker. Robert JMtten (Darmstadt, Germany): Invited by the chairman with whom
I had contact as a member of CIGRE WG 14-02, Control of HVDC
- This HVDC breaker arrangement can be adapted to
Systems, while he convened a WG on HVDC breakers, I would like to
suit other dc system voltages, as it is of modular comment on some of the statements made in the discussion and in the
design. papers which were presented at this session.
In a CIGRE-REPORT of 1980 on the state of the art in the control
REFERENCES of multiterminal systems there is a rather lengthy discussion on dc
especially a paragraph on line breaker action in fault cases,
[1] CIGRE Study. Committee 13: .,"Application of HVDC breakers,
which still is true and worth reading. I am pleased with the paper 85
Circuit-Breakers," Electra No. 31, 1973 WM 216-7 presented at the HVDC session by a WG of IEEE which brings
the issue up to date on the basis of existing projects.
[2] CIGFRE Working Group 13.03: "The Metallic Return One point of the earlier mentioned paper, however, has been lost. It
Transfer Breaker in HVDC Transmission," Electra has been outlined there that in a meshed system dc breakers are suitable
No. 68, 1980 to clear a faulty dc line without changing the power flow pattern but
the speed of the selection of the faulted line with dc is a problem yet
[3] A.L. Courts, J.J. Vithayathil, N.G. Hingorani, to be solved.
J.W. Porter, 3. Gorman, C.W. Kimblin. "A New DC I do not agree with the statement made in this discussion that there
Breaker Used as Metallic Return Transfer Breaker," is much to be gained by fast dc breakers in stability improvement after
IEEE Transactions, PAS, Vol. 101, No. 10, 1982 faults. The current control is able to reduce the current to zero within
10 ms to 20 ms, and an effort to do it faster by a breaker would be cost-
[4] J.J. Vithayathil, "HVDC Breakers a rd its ly for very obvious reasons.
Application," Proceedings of the International Theneed for dc breakers increases with the complexity of the multiter-
Symposium on HVDC Technology, Rio de Janeiro, minal system, and with many substations, taps, branch-offs, it will not
Brazil, March 20-25, 1983 be tolerable to stop the whole system for every switching operation, not
even for a very short time. While in the early stages of HVDC it was
[5] J.P. Bowles, L. Vaughan, N.G. Hingorani: gratifying that no dc breaker was needed, the time has now arrived with
"Specificatioh of HVDC Circuit-Breakers for projects for more extended multiterminal systems.
Different System Applications," CIGRE Report
13-09, 1976 Manuscript received February 28, 1985
[6] K. Ragaller, -A.. Plessl, W. Hermann, W. Egli: B. Bachmann, G. Mauthe, E. Ruoss, H. P. Lips, J. Porter, and J.
"Calculation Methods for the Arc Quenching System Vithayathil: We thank Mr. Garrity and Professor Jtftten for their in-
of Gas Circuit-Breakers," CIGRE Report 13-03, 1984 terest anl comments. Since Professor Jotten's comments are identical
to those he made with reference to the companion paper, "HVDC Cir-
[7] J.J. Vithayathil, Al Courts, W.G. Peterson, N.G. cuit Breaker Development and Field Tests", our response to those com-
Hingorani, S. Nilsson, J.W. Porter, "HVDC Circuit ments is included in the closure of that paper.
Breaker Development and Field Tests," Paper to be As to Mr. Garrity's questions, we would like to comment as follows:
presented at IEEE PES Winter Power Meeting, 1985 1. The matter of continued availability of air blast interrupters has
been studied prior to starting the development program. This
[8] E. Bross, H. Schubert: "The DLF Range of High technology will continue to have a market in ac transmission for
Voltage Airblast Circuit-Breakers; Design, special switching duties and in adverse cliniatic conditions.
Performance, Applications," Brown Boveri Review Therefore, it will also be available for dc breakers.
65, 1978 2. With current interruption requirements increasing above approx-
imately 4000 to 6000 amperes, it may be necessary to revert to alter-
-[9] A. Eidinger, G. Koppl: "Type DLF Airblast Circuit native circuits for design testing, such as low-frequency short-circuit
Breakers," Brown Boveri Review 54, 1967 (12) generators or synthetic circuits in case the available dc source is
not adequate to use the test circuit described in the paper. The pro-
blem is eased by the fact that the breaker is of modular design and
only individual modules are needed for design tests once the cor-
relation between single modules and full-size breaker has been
conflrmed.
Manuscript received April 9, 1985