Parallel Fault Diagnosis Algorithm of Circuit Breaker Based on Arc Power Loss

The main function of the circuit breaker is to isolate the fault part of the power grid in time after the disconnection command is issued. A fault in the opening operation of the circuit breaker can result in a catastrophic event. Therefore, the fault detection of circuit breakers plays a vital role in the protection of power systems. This paper presents an algorithm for circuit breaker fault detection based on arc power loss. The power loss of the circuit breaker caused by the arc increases with the extension of the arc time, and the arc burning time increases with the failure caused by different reasons. There is a power loss between the input and output of the circuit breaker, and the power loss can be used to estimate the arc energy. Each time the estimated arc energy of the breaker opening operation reaches a predefined trip level, a trip signal is activated, and the absence of an interrupt current within the breaker's maximum allowable arc time indicates a fault in the breaker operation. Computer simulation studies to analyze the performance of the proposed technique show that the algorithm can distinguish between normal and abnormal arc energies and thus identify faults in circuit breakers.