Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker (MOCB)

- Construction, Working
The minimum oil circuit breaker is also called a small or poor oil circuit
breaker. It required a small percentage of oil (about 10% of oil) used in the
case of the bulk oil circuit breaker. The oil is mainly used for the arc extinction
process only. But in the case of bulk oil circuit breakers, the oil serves two
purposes i.e., as a quenching medium and also used as an insulating medium
between the parts.

Construction of Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker :

The construction of a minimum oil circuit breaker (MOCB) is simple which
consists of two oil-filled chambers separated from each other. The two
chambers are named supporting and circuit breaking chambers.

The circuit breaking chamber is a porcelain enclosure filled with oil

which is responsible for quenching the arc at the time of circuit breaking. It
consists of an arc control device, upper and lower fixed contacts.
The lower fixed contact is ring-shaped, which consists of moving
contact such that it can slide through the ring-shaped lower contact. There
exists a continuous electrical contact between moving contact and lower fixed
contact. The terminals of the circuit breaker are taken out through upper and
lower fixed contacts.
The arc extinction process is carried in the arc control device which is
fixed to the upper fixed contact. The arc control device consists of axial (for
interrupting low currents) and radial (for interrupting high currents) vents.
Hence, the circuit breaking chamber is also called an arc extinction chamber.
The below shows the constructional diagram of a single-phase minimum oil
circuit breaker.
The supporting chamber is also a porcelain enclosure filled with oil.
There is no physical contact between the oils present in the two chambers
(supporting and circuit breaking chambers). Also, the oil in the supporting
chamber does not involve in the arc extinction process. This oil is used only
for providing insulation. Hence the supporting chamber is also known as the
dielectric supporting chamber.
The moving contact is made to move through the supporting chamber
with an operating rod fixed to it. The operating rod provides vertical movement
to the moving contact for making and breaking the circuit. Both supporting and
circuit breaking chambers are separately enclosed chambers with cylindrical-
shaped synthetic resin bonded papers within the porcelain insulators.
Working of Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker :
Under normal operating conditions the moving contact remains in
physical (or electrical) contact with the upper fixed contact. Under abnormal
conditions i.e., when there is a fault, the moving contact is pulled down by the
operating rod which is controlled by the operating mechanism. When the
moving contact starts separating an arc is drawn between the two contacts.
As the contacts are immersed in the oil, the arc energy increases the
temperature of the oil. The oil surrounding the arc attains high temperatures
and gets vaporized. Thus gases are produced and will expand inside the
chamber so that pressure inside the chamber increases. The produced gases
move upward by decreasing the arc energy (splitting the arc) and cooling the
contacts.

When the gases move upwards, the oil surrounding the arc is filled with
fresh oil. Again due to arc energy this oil will decomposes by realizing gases.
This again increases the pressure inside the chamber and the gases move
upward, by replacing it with fresh oil again.

This process of replacing the fresh oil between the contacts will continue
until the arc is extinguished completely which occurs at current zero instant.
But in order to avoid restriking of the arc after current zero, the dielectric
strength of the medium (oil) should be maintained high. This can be achieved
by following methods,

 The oil pressure inside the chamber should be maintained high such
that the fresh oil gets pushed between the contacts and gases move
upwards.
 Forcing fresh oil onto the arc with the help of piston action produced by
the operating rod fixed to the moving contact.

Comparison Between Bulk Oil and Minimum Oil

Circuit Breakers :

Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker

Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker (BOCB) (MOCB)

The quantity of oil required is more. Only 10% of oil quantity is required.

If requires more space area. It requires less space area.

Because of its large size, it is difficult for Easy for transportation.

 transportation.

As the system voltage increases the

maintenance cost also increases. Low maintenance cost.

The degree of carbonization

Production of carbonization is less. produced is more severe.

More suitable for frequent operation. Less suitable for frequent operation.

It is easy to remove the gases from the Difficult to remove the gases from
contact space in time. the contact space in time.

This type of circuit breaker is used up to

33kV. These can be used up to 132kV.

Advantages of Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker :

A minimum oil circuit breaker is an improvement over the bulk oil circuit
breaker due to the following reasons,
 Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker (MOCB) requires a smaller quantity of oil when compared
with that required for Bulk Oil Circuit Breaker (BOCB).
 The fire and explosion hazards are comparatively lesser in MOCB.
 The weight of MOCB is appreciably lesser than BOCB due to the reduced amount of
steel required for the tank.
 The size of MOCB is quite smaller.
 Access to the contacts is easier in MOCB.
 MOCBs are suitable for both indoor and outdoor installations while BOCBs are suitable
only for outdoor installations.
 The problems associated with the storage of a large amount of high-grade mineral oil
(or transformer oil) in the generating stations and substations are reduced with MOCBs.
 For the same rating of circuit breakers, MOCB costs less.

Disadvantages of Minimum Oil Circuit Breaker :

A minimum oil circuit breaker has the following disadvantages as compared to
the bulk oil circuit breaker,
 The degree of carbonization is increased.
 There is difficulty in removing the gases from the contact space in time.
 The dielectric strength of the oil deteriorates rapidly due to a high degree of
carbonization.
Air Blast Circuit Breaker
Air blast circuit breaker used compressed air or gas as the arc
interrupting medium. In the air blast, circuit breaker compressed air is
stored in a tank and released through a nozzle to produce a high-velocity
jet; this is used to extinguish the arc. Air blast circuit breakers are used
for indoor services in the medium high voltage field and medium
rupturing capacity. Generally up to voltages of 15 KV and rupturing
capacities of 2500 MVA. The air blast circuit breaker is now employed in
high voltage circuits in the outdoors switch yard for 220 KV lines.

Though gasses such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, freon or

hydrogen are used as the arc interrupting medium, compressed air is
the accepted circuit breaking medium for gas blast circuit breakers. The
reasons are given below.

The circuit breaking capacities of nitrogen are similar to

compressed air and hence no advantage of using it. Carbon dioxide has
the drawback of its being difficult to control owing to freezing at valves
and other restricted passages. Feron has high dielectric strength and
good arc extinguishing properties, but it is expensive, and it is
disintegrated by the arc into acid-forming elements. The desirable
features to be found in air blast circuit breaker are

High-Speed Operation – It is very necessary on large interconnected

networks so that the system stability can be maintained. This is achieved
in circuit breaker because the time interval between the discharge of
triggering impulse and contacts separation are very short.

Suitability for frequent operation – Repeated switching by an air blast

circuit is possible simply because of the absence of oil, which rapidly
carbonizes with the frequent operation and because there is an
insignificant amount of wear and tear at the current-carrying contact
surfaces. But it must be remembered that if frequent switching is
anticipated, then the maintenance of a sufficient air supply is essential.

Negligible Maintenance – The ability of the air blast circuit breaker to

deal with repeated switching also mean that negligible maintenance is
required.

Elimination of Fire Hazard – Because of the absence of oil the risk of

fire is eliminated.
Reduced Size – The growth of dielectric strength is so rapid in air blast
circuit breakers that final gap required for arc extinction is very small.
This reduces the sizes of the devices.

Principle of Arc Extinction in Circuit Breaker

The air blast needs an additional compressed air system which

supplies air to the air receiver. When opening air is required,
compressed air is admitted to the arc extinction chamber. It pushes
away the moving contacts. In doing so, the contacts are pulled apart,
and the air blast moves away the ionized gas along with it and assists
arc extinction.

Air blast extinguishes the arc within one or more cycles, and the
arc chamber is filled with high-pressure air, which prevents restrikes.
The air blast circuit breakers fall under the category of external
extinguishing energy type. The energy supplied for arc quenching is
achieved from the high-pressure air, and it is free from the current to be
interrupted.

Types of Air Blast Circuit Breaker

All air blast circuit breakers follow the principle of separating their
contacts in a flow of arc established by the opening of a blast valve. The
arc which is drawn is usually rapidly positioned centrally through a
nozzle where it is kept to a fixed length and is subjected to the maximum
range by the air flow. The air blast circuit breakers according to the type
of flow of blast of compressed around the contacts are of three types
namely axial, radial and cross blast.

Axial blast Air Circuit Breaker – In the air blast circuit breaker, the flow
of air is longitudinal along the arc. Air blast circuit breaker may be a
single blast or double blast. Breaking employing double blast
arrangement are sometimes called radial blast circuit breakers as the air
blast flows radially into the nozzle or space between the contacts.
 The essential feature of air blast circuit breaker is shown above.
The fixed and moving contacts are kept in a closed position by spring
pressure under normal operating conditions. The air reservoir tank is
connected to the arc chamber through an air valve, which is opened by a
triple impulse.

When the fault occurs, the tripling impulse causes opening of the
air valve connecting the reservoir to the arcing chamber. The air entering
the arc chamber exerts pressure on the moving contacts which moves
when the air pressure exceeds the spring force.
 The contacts are separated, and an arc is developed between
them. The air flowing at a great speed axially along the arc cause
removal of heat from the edge of the arc and the diameter of the arc
reduced to a very small value at current zero.

Thus, the arc is interrupted, and the space between the contact is
flushed with fresh air flowing through the nozzle. The flow of fresh air
removes the hot gasses between the contact space and rapidly build up
the dielectric strength between them.

Cross Blast Air Circuit Breaker – In such breaker, an arc blast is

directed at right angles to the arc. The schematic representation of the
cross principle of cross blast air circuit breaker is given in the figure
below. A moving contact arm is operated in close spaces to draw an arc
which is forced by a transverse blast of air into the splitter plates, thereby
lightening it to the point when it cannot restrike after zero current.
 Resistance switching is not normally required as the lightening of
arc automatically introduces some resistance to control the restriking
voltage transient but if extra resistance is thought desirable. It is possible
to introduce it by connecting it in the section across the arc splitter.

Drawback of Air Blast Circuit Breaker

In the air blast circuit breaker, it is necessary that the compressed

air at the correct pressure must be available all the times, involving in the
largest installation of a plant with two or more compressors. The
maintenance of this plant and the problem of air leakages at the pipe
fittings are some factors which operate against air blast circuit breaker
and it costly for low voltage as compared to oil or air break circuit
breaker.