A high-voltage heavy-current DC circuit breaker

摘要

A scheme of a d.c. vacuum circuit breaker consisting of two parallel circuits is proposed, and a prototype device is produced. The first circuit contains a vacuum contactor with an electromagnetic drive, and the second circuit contains a high-power GTO-thyristor. The processes of current transition from the first circuit of the device to the second circuit occurring when the contacts in the vacuum arc-extinguishing chamber are moved apart are analyzed for the currents ranging from 100 to 3000 A. The circuit breaker reliably interrupts a d.c. current of up to 500 A inclusively at a 1100 V voltage. A comparison between the results of simulation and experimental data showed their good agreement.