Diverter switch switching velocity measurement

Nominal voltage is a basic parameter of the electrical power quality. Essential tool for voltage regulation under load in power transformers is the use of on-load tap-changers (OLTC). Leading manufacturers of in the world apply widely vacuum interrupters in the construction of the diverter switches as main part of the OLTC. This provides significant advantages in operation but changes the process of switching of the diverter switch. Diverter switches of OLTC perform switch over operation between the taps of the transformer, in which they are embedded at a leap. Speeds reached during this process are very high. This leads to enormous dynamic stress and strokes and should be carefully designed and optimized to reach the best performance and reliability. The paper presents the hardware and software of a virtual instrument designed to measure the angular velocity of the moving contacts of a diverter switch during its switch over operation. It was developed in LabVIEW environment and can be used for every diverter switch with proper coupling elements. The results from measurements of the tested diverter switch are presented.