The characteristics of the high-speed vacuum circuit breaker and its application

The authors have investigated a high-speed vacuum circuit breaker, which forced a fault current to zero. A high frequency current was superimposed on a vacuum interrupter so that the current at the interrupter was forced to zero and the current was interrupted. They investigated experimentally the characteristics of its interruption ability. The arcing time of the high-speed vacuum circuit breaker is shorter than that of a conventional circuit breaker. They observed the arc behavior of the test electrode immediately after the contact separation. They also investigated the effect of high speed interruption for a high speed vacuum circuit breaker applications. The results demonstrate the interruption ability, the arc behavior and the good performance of the high-speed vacuum circuit breaker for the protection of power system equipment.