Power Testing of Preinsertion Resistors: Limitations and Solution

Preinsertion resistors (PIR) are used in combination with circuit breakers to absorb switching transients and come into effect during the “closing” operation of the breaker. It is mainly used for rated voltages equal to or higher than 420 kV for line lengths above 200 km. Although it is an important component, power testing of complete PIR is very complicated and not well defined. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this paper to provide alternative test methods for power testing of PIR without compromising its important parameters. Due to high energy requirements and limitations of the test laboratory, a multipart testing of PIR is necessary to prove its thermal capability and dielectric behavior. Before proceeding with the complete PIR test, the critical parameters of PIR, such as mechanical insertion time, rate of decay of dielectric strength of the interrupter, and PIR switch, etc., should be verified with testing. These test procedures are also explained in detail along with a method to theoretically evaluate electrical insertion time for different network conditions. The series PIR configuration for the metal-enclosed SF
₆
system has been considered in this paper.