Abstract
Vacuum circuit breakers(VCB) are widely used for current interruption of high-voltage inductive loads such as induction motors. This VCB can be chopped off before the current zero due to its high arc-extinguishing capability. One of the outstanding features of VCB is that it can cut off high frequency re-ignition current more than other circuit breakers. If the transient recovery voltage generated in the arc extinguishing is higher than the dielectric strength of the circuit breaker, a re-ignition phenomenon occurs. The surge voltage of the re-ignition is very high in magnitude and the steepness of the waveform is so severe that it can act as a high electrical stress on the winding. If the high frequency current of one phase affects the other two phases when the re-ignition occurs, it may cause a high surge voltage due to the virtual current chopping. If the magnitude of the voltage allowed in the motor winding is high or the waveform level is too severe, it may lead to insulation breakdown. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the voltage to within a certain range. In this study, we briefly explain the various phenomena at the time of interruption, analyzed the magnitude of the dielectric strength and the transient recovery voltage at the simultaneous three-phase interruption that can give the greatest influence to the inductive load, proposed a method to reduce the impact.
