• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.04c
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• pp.10-14
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• 2008

In this paper, abnormal heating of circuit breaker in panel board by poor connection was studied. Firstly, calculation method of contact resistance shown in IEC 60943 was examined. Secondly, concerning abnormal heating of circuit breaker in panel board, field measurements were performed. Field measurements showed that locally abnormal heating by poor connection could be detected, therefore, in that case, immediate action was needed. Finally, experiments regarding abnormal heating between terminal of circuit breaker and electric wire were conducted. The results showed that abnormal heating above $180^{\circ}C$ was measured. Also, in the results of analysis of electrical waveforms according to load current, voltage drop occurred around poor connection, and the oxide was generated according to mechanical vibration. In order to prevent electrical disaster caused by poor connection, adequate torque should be applied to electrical connection, and periodic check-ups are needed.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.601-605
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• 2012

The non-controlled closing of High-voltage SF6 gas circuit breaker can cause transient current and overvoltage in the field. The controlled closing technology is an effective way to reduce transient current and voltage, prevent equipment failures, and improve power quality. For the development of controlled closing, it is obviously necessary to determine the withstand voltage between arc contacts of High-voltage SF6 gas circuit breaker in making operation. This paper focuses on decrease of pressure and density of SF6 gas that can affect withstand voltage between arc contacts in making operation. The dielectric strength between arc contacts could be improved by minimizing the decrement of pressure and density of SF6 gas obtained by simulation and test and moreover the rate of decrease of dielectric strength (RDDS) of arc contacts could be foreseen.

• KIEE International Transactions on Power Engineering
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• v.3A no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2003

As power systems grow more complex and power demands increase, the fault current tends to gradually increase. In the near future, the fault current will exceed a circuit breaker rating for some substations, which is an especially important issue in the Seoul metropolitan area because of its highly meshed configuration. Currently, the Korean power system is regulated by changing the 154 ㎸ system configuration from a loop connection to a radial system, by splitting the bus where load balance can be achieved, and by upgrading the circuit breaker rating. A development project applying 154 ㎸ Superconducting Fault Current Limiter(SFCL) to 154 ㎸ transmission systems is proceeding with implementation slated for after 2010. In this paper, the resistive and inductive SFCLs are applied to re-duce the fault current in Korean power system and their technical and economic impacts are evaluated. The results show that the application of SFCL can eliminate the need to upgrade the circuit breaker rat-ing and the economic potential of SFCL is evaluated positively.

• KIEE International Transactions on Power Engineering
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• v.4A no.4
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• pp.221-226
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• 2004

As power systems grow more complex and power demands increase, the fault current tends to gradually increase. In the near future, the fault current will exceed a circuit breaker rating for some substations, which is an especially important issue in the Seoul metropolitan area because of its highly meshed configuration. Currently, the Korean power system is regulated by changing the 154kV system configuration from a loop connection to a radial system, by splitting the bus where load balance can be achieved, and by upgrading the circuit breaker rating. A development project applying a 154kV Superconducting Fault Current Limiter (SFCL) to 154kV transmission systems is proceeding with implementation slated for after 2010. In this paper, SFCL is applied to reduce the fault current in power systems according to two different application schemes and their technical and economic impacts are evaluated. The results indicate that both application schemes can regulate the fault current under the rating of circuit breaker, however, applying SFCL to the bus-tie location is much more appropriate from an economic view point.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.115-122
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• 2018

More than 70% of the electric fire cases happen in this country are caused by arc. This paper aims to prepare measures of preventing electric fires resulted from arc by analyzing the technical standards and related regulations on the existing circuit breaker. Based on the study, we concluded that the technical and legal standards of the arc detector should be separately regulated from those of existing circuit breaker, considering the characteristics of arc detectors. Accordingly, we suggested in this paper that the arc detector related regulations should either be added to the existing circuit breaker related regulations, or to be handled separately. For effective prevention of electric fires caused by arc, it is urgently required to install arc detector and it is, therefore, appropriate to make it mandatory to install an arc detector. Under the given circumstance, it is suggested that the arc detector related regulations should be added to the existing regulations for the circuit breaker. The technical standards of arc detectors should reflect the arc judgement specification, breaking threshold of arc and the range of unnecessary signal that breaker should not react to respond.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.105-105
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• 2010

Voltage circuit breakers are widely used in power distribution systems to interrupt fault current rapidly and to assure the reliability of the power supply. Power distribution system requires the transformer with higher capacity than ever, but this ever, but this may be the cause. of the increasing of short circuit current in contrast to conventional one when short-circuit accident is occurred. Therefore molded case circuit breaker improved in aspects of interrupting capacity of short circuit current in this system is needed. By using the proposed methods in this paper, such as new arc quenching structure of grid would contribute to minimizing the MCCB, realization of high interrupting performance and reducing the design time and development cost.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.62 no.6
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• pp.876-880
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• 2013

The major causes of electrical fire are classified to short circuit fault, overload fault, electric leakage and electric contact failure. The principal factor of the fire is electric arc or spark accompanied with such electric faults. Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELB) and Molded_case Circuit Breaker (MCCB), that is, Residual Current Protective Devices (RCDs) used on low voltage distribution lines cut off earth leakage and overload, but the RCD can not cut off electric arc or spark to be a major factor of electrical fire. As the RCDs which are applied in low voltage distribution panel are prescribed to rated breaking time about 30[ms] (KS C 4613), the RCDs can't perceive to the periodic electric arc or spark of more short wavelength level. To improve such problems, this paper studies on an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) using the distorted voltage wave in electric arc faults. The proposed voltage sensing type AFCI is an electrical fire prevention apparatus of new conception that operates a circuit breaker with sensing the instantaneous voltage drop of line voltage at electrical faults occurrence. The proposed AFCI is composed of control circuit topology using some semiconductor switching devices. Some experimental tests of the proposed AFCI confirm practicality and the validity of the analytical results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2022

Circuit breakers are a crucial factor in ensuring the safety of a Direct Current (DC) grid. One type of DC circuit breaker, the Z-source DC circuit breaker (ZCB), uses a thyristor, which is a type of semiconductor switch. In the event of a fault in the circuit, the ZCB isolates the fault by generating a zero crossing current in the thyristor. The thyristor quickly and actively isolates the fault while generating a zero crossing current, but thyristor switch cannot control turn-off and the allowable current is lower than the current of the mechanical switch. Therefore, it is best to use a mechanical switch with a high allowable current capacity that is capable of on/off control. Due to the slow reaction time of mechanical switches, they may not isolate the fault during the zero crossing current time interval created by the existing circuit. In this case, the zero crossing current time can be increased by using the property that hinders the rapid change in the current of the inductor. This paper will explore whether adding system inductance to increase the zero crossing current time interval is a solution to this problem. The simulation of changing inductor and capacitor (LC) of the circuit is repeated to find an optimal change in the zero crossing current time according to the LC change and provides an inductor and capacitor range optimized for a specific load. The inductor and capacitor range are expected to provide optimization information in the form LC values for future applications of ZCB's using a mechanical switch.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.200-203
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• 2003

A study on the arc resistance and light reflectance of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) nozzle for circuit breaker is presented. PTFE has been used widely as a material for circuit breaker nozzle. PTFE has excellent electrical resistivity, high melt viscosity, chemical inertness, heat resistance and low loss factor. PTFE melts at $327\;^{\circ}C$ but the viscosity is very high above the melting point. In the arcing environment in a circuit breaker, the fraction of the power is emitted out of the arc and reaches the nozzle wall by radiation, causing ablation at the surface and in the depth of the wall. Some fraction of the radiation power emitted out of the arc directly break up the chemical bonds at the surface while some fraction of the radiation power penetrates into the wall, heats up the material to evaporation temperature and causes damages deeper inside the volume of the nozzle. In this paper, some fillers that have endurance in the high temperature arc environment were added into PTFE. Adding some fillers into PTFE was expected to be efficient in improving the endurability against radiation. The light reflectance and arc resistance of PTFE composites were investigated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.204-207
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• 2003

This paper presents the electrical properties of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) nozzle for circuit breaker. PTFE has been used widely as a nozzle material for circuit breaker. In the arcing environment in a circuit breaker, radiation is considered to be the major energy transport mechanism from the arc to the wall. The fraction of the radiation power is emitted out of the arc and reaches the nozzle wall, causing ablation at the surface and in the depth of the wall. The energy concentration in the material lead to the depolymerization and eventually lead to the generation of decomposed gas as well as some isolated carbon particles. The generation of the decomposed gas in the depth of the material causes inner explosion. The surface of nozzle becomes uneven. The flow of gas is not uniform due to the unevenness of the surface. Adding some fillers into PTFE is expected to be efficient for improving the endurability against radiation. In this experiment, three kinds of fillers that have endurance in the high temperature environment were added into PTFE. Dielectric constant, dissipation factor, electrical resistivity and dielectric strength of PTFE composites were investigated.