Temperature rise in a load break switch

Air is a desirable alternative to the less environmental friendly SF₆ in compact medium voltage switchgear. However, the poor thermal properties of air requires better thermal designs to keep the temperature rise within the allowable industry limits to avoid premature switch degradation. This publication focuses on the temperature rise of load break switches (LBS) of different designs. A LBS with flexible braid was found to have considerably higher temperature rise than a design with the sliding contact. The study has shown that a stripped switch (with only the current path) can be used together with empirical determined heat transfer coefficients in a first approach for predicting the temperature rise of the critical parts of the LBS. Aluminum construction elements functioning as heat sinks had a huge impact on the temperature rise of the LBS, and design elements that can utilize this might be important when replacing SF₆ with air.