Current transfer process in open operation between parallel breaks of vacuum generator circuit breaker

A new kind of vacuum generator circuit breaker (VGCB) is introduced. The new VGCB have 2 breaks in each phase. One break is a vacuum disconnector (VD) which can load large rated current and the other one is a vacuum interrupter (VI) that can interrupt large short circuit current. In open operation, it is required that VD opens first and when the total current passes through VI then VI opens. An experiment that can simulate the situation is shown. In this experiment sinusoidal current up to 24 kA (rms) is used and the current can transfer from VD to VI successfully each time. In addition to the experiment, a theoretical analysis is made and a typical result is simulated. The simulation result is similar to the experiment one. From the experiment and theoretical results it is known that the new vacuum generator circuit breaker design is feasible.