Vacuum Circuit-Breaker Parameter Calculation and Modelling for Power System Transient Studies

In this paper, a black-box vacuum circuit-breaker model is developed and its parameters are calculated. The developed model is deterministic and does not include the stochastic behavior of arc interruption. The phenomena, such as the current chopping, high-frequency current quenching capability, and rate of rise of dielectric strength are treated as deterministic and calculated using mean values. The vacuum breaker model is verified using a laboratory test setup, and simulation results show good agreement with the obtained measurements. The withstand voltage of the breaker during appearance of the voltage restrikes shows good agreement with the measurements. Moreover, the magnitude and repetitiveness of the high-frequency transients obtained in simulations are within a 10% margin when compared with measurements.