High voltage puffer breaker and a circuit breaker unit comprising such a puffer breaker

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9837230-B2
Application number	US-201615367990-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2016
Priority date	Jun 2, 2014
Publication date	Dec 5, 2017
Grant date	Dec 5, 2017

Abstract

Gas-insulated high voltage puffer breaker comprising a puffer unit with a movable piston running in a puffer cylinder and delimiting a puffer volume. A piston and a first contact member are attached to a piston stem. A piston and a first contact member are attached to a piston stem. An electric arc is extinguishable in an arcing zone when the first contact member moves from a first position to a second position. The puffer volume is fluidly connected to a gas nozzle by a gas channel such that the puffer volume comprises the gas channel as well as a portion of the puffer cylinder. The gas channel is provided radially outside of the puffer cylinder between a puffer cylinder wall delimiting the puffer cylinder and a wall structure of the puffer unit.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Gas-insulated high voltage puffer breaker, comprising
a puffer unit with a piston that is movably arranged in a puffer cylinder such that a puffer volume is delimited,
a first contact member being movably arranged relative to a second contact member of the circuit breaker such that a current path is established in a first position where the first contact member is contacting the second contact member and that said current path is interrupted in an arcing zone once the first contact member is moved to a second position where the first contact member is opened from the second contact member, wherein the first contact member is connected to a drive by a piston stem,
and a nozzle for circumferentially delimiting the arcing zone of the puffer breaker,
wherein
the piston and the first contact member are attached to the piston stem,
and wherein the puffer volume comprises the gas channel as well as a portion of the puffer cylinder, wherein the gas channel and said portion of the puffer cylinder are fluidly connected to one another by a port such that a gas flowing in a first direction from the portion of the puffer cylinder is redirected via the gas channel in a second direction towards the nozzle once the first contact member is moved from the first position towards the second position,
and wherein the gas channel is provided radially outside of the puffer cylinder between a puffer cylinder wall delimiting the puffer cylinder and a wall structure of the puffer unit.

2. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein the first contact member and the piston stem are movably arranged such that they are movable along a switching axis, in particular along a linear switching axis.

3. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein the portion of the puffer cylinder is arranged rotationally symmetric with respect to the switching axis,
wherein the puffer volume in the portion of the puffer cylinder is delimited radially inwards with respect to the switching axis by the piston stem.

4. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein the gas channel is arranged in between the puffer cylinder wall and the wall structure of the puffer unit such that a annular radial gap is formed.

5. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein the gas channel is stationary with respect to the arcing zone.

6. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 4 , wherein an overall cross section of the annular radial gap is smallest at an end of the gas channel discharging into the nozzle.

7. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein the port is arranged at a remote first end of the puffer cylinder with respect to the arcing zone.

8. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein the port is arranged in the puffer cylinder wall extending circumferentially about the portion of the puffer cylinder with respect to the switching axis.

9. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein the port comprises a plurality of gas outlets leading from the portion of the puffer cylinder to the gas channel.

10. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein a further volume of the puffer cylinder is located on an opposite side of the piston with regards to the portion of the puffer cylinder and is fluidly connected to an exhaust arranged outside the wall structure of the puffer unit by at least one exhaust port.

11. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein the piston is dimensioned relative to the portion of the puffer cylinder such that no bodily radial seal element in between the piston and the interior side of the puffer cylinder wall is required.

12. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein an annular groove is arranged on an interior side of the puffer cylinder wall adjacent to the port such that a diameter of the interior side of the puffer cylinder is larger than an outer diameter of the piston,
wherein the annular groove starts at about an axial position reached by a trailing end of the piston when the first contact member is approaching the second position in an operating state of the puffer breaker, and wherein the annular groove extends in the direction of the switching axis over a distance being larger than a thickness of the piston at the inside wall of the puffer cylinder,
and wherein the annular groove is dimensioned such that gas from the portion of the puffer cylinder is allowed to escape to the exhaust via said annular groove to a rear side of the piston along an escape path when the first contact member is approaching the second position.

13. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein an electromagnetic repulsive force can be produced by the Thomson coil drive for moving the piston stem.

14. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the piston and the first contact member are at least partially integrated into the piston stem.

15. The high voltage puffer breaker according to claim 1 , wherein the puffer unit is arranged in a gas-tight enclosure, and in that the drive is connected to the piston stem by a pull rod, wherein the drive and the pull rod are located in the same gas-tight enclosure as the puffer unit, too.

16. A breaker unit comprising a vacuum interrupter that is electrically connected in series to a high-voltage puffer breaker comprising:
a puffer unit with a piston that is movably arranged in a puffer cylinder such that a puffer volume is delimited,
a first contact member being movably arranged relative to a second contact member of the circuit breaker such that a current path is established in a first position where the first contact member is contacting the second contact member and that said current path is interrupted in an arcing zone once the first contact member is moved to a second position where the first contact member is opened from the second contact member, wherein the first contact member is connected to a drive by a piston stem,
and a nozzle for circumferentially delimiting the arcing zone of the puffer breaker,
wherein the puffer volume is fluidly connected to the nozzle by a gas channel,
wherein the piston and the first contact member are attached to the piston stem,
and wherein the puffer volume comprises the gas channel as well as a portion of the puffer cylinder, wherein the gas channel and said portion of the puffer cylinder are fluidly connected to one another by a port such that a gas flowing in a first direction from the portion of the puffer cylinder is redirected via the gas channel in a second direction towards the nozzle once the first contact member is moved from the first position towards the second position,
and wherein the gas channel is provided radially outside of the puffer cylinder between a puffer cylinder wall delimiting the puffer cylinder and a wall structure of the puffer unit.

17. The circuit breaker unit, according to claim 16 , wherein the vacuum interrupter comprises a further drive, wherein a further electromagnetic repulsive force can be produced by said further drive for moving a movable contact member of the vacuum interrupter.

18. The circuit breaker unit, according to claim 16 , wherein the movable contact member of the vacuum interrupter can be moved by the same drive as the first contact member of the puffer breaker.

19. A combination, comprising:
a HVDC system and
a circuit breaker unit comprising a vacuum interrupter that is electric

Assignees

• Abb Schweiz Ag

Inventors

• Bujotzek Markus
• Garyfallos Angelos
• Simka Philipp
• Panousis Emmanouil
• Ranjan Nitesh

Classifications

• H01H33/6661

  Combination with other type of switch, e.g. for load break switches (H01H33/143, H01H33/6662 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01H33/90

  this movement being effected by or in conjunction with the contact-operating mechanism · CPC title

• H01H33/666

  Operating arrangements · CPC title

• H01H33/882 Primary

  the movement being assisted by accelerating coils · CPC title

• H01H1/385 Primary

  Contact arrangements for high voltage gas blast circuit breakers · CPC title