A high-voltage high-speed commutator on the base of triggered vacuum switches

We have developed a pilot high-speed device for protection of AC HV transmission lines and electrical distribution plants of 110 kV from very high short circuit currents up to 80 kA. This device being named as the high-voltage high-speed commutator (VBK-110) is designed on module principle. Each unified module contains a powerful triggered vacuum switch (TVS) of RVU-53-type controlled by a powerful triggering unit both of which are placed in a hard dielectric casing. The modules combined in series within vertical columns (branches) provide necessary electrical strength for the given HV of line and in turn the columns in parallel do the necessary limiting electric current to protect. In order to realize such a hard protective regime, the VBK provides very short time about of 0.5 ms to switch on the protective shunting, then maintains it during up to 200 ms, and finally terminates it within about 10 ms. A powerful triggered vacuum switch RVU-53 has been developed just specially for these purposes. As result, the VBK-110, for example, on short-circuit currents up to 40 kA consists of two parallel branches each with 4 modules in series. Finally, different functional, high-voltage and switching tests have been successfully carried out.