Automated Circuit Breaker Monitoring

Circuit breakers are used in a power system to break or make current flow through power system apparatus. The action of circuit breakers changes switching topology of a power system. Reliable operation of circuit breakers is critical to the ability to reconfigure a power system and can be assured by regular inspection and maintenance. An automated circuit breaker monitoring system is proposed to monitor circuit breaker's control circuit. System is designed to enable deployment of system-wide applications that utilize the data recorded by the system. An application of system wide data analysis is demonstrated. It makes possible to track the circuit breaker switching sequences and make conclusions about their performance and final outcome. Lab and field evaluation of the designed system is performed and results are presented.