• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.340-343
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• 2001

In an electrical network, electrical power are transmitted by a various of protection, isolation and control electric circuit devices. This thesis deals with the protection function between circuit-breakers. The protective coordination concerns the behaviour of two devices placed in series in an electrical network, with a short-circuit downstream circuit-breaker. It has two basic principles: First, discrimination which is an increasing requirement of low voltage electrical distribution systems. Second, which is less well known: cascading, which consists of installing a device, whose breaking capacity is less than the three-phase short-circuit current at its terminals and helped by main circuit-breaker. The important advantage of cascading is to be able to install at a branch circuit-breaker of a lesser performance without endangering the safety of the installation for more economical usage. To determine and guarantee co-ordination between two circuit breakers, it is necessary to carry out a theoretical approach, first, and then confirm the results by means of standard tests. This is illustrated in appendix A of IEC 947-2.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.1-7
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• 2023

This study analyzes the operational characteristics of 311 aged and non-aged residual current circuit breakers (RCCBs) in low-voltage consumer contexts. It investigates the influence of external temperature and harmonics based on the rated current multiples. To simulate temperature variations, a convectional oven was used around the circuit breakers. Additionally, the generation of harmonic reference signals and data measurement for overcurrent experiments were conducted using NI SCXI, myDAQ, and LabVIEW. An observation revealed that as the ambient temperature increased, the operating time of RCCBs decreased in the time delay region. This was attributed to the faster response or bending of the bimetal, which is the tripping element. However, aged RCCBs encountered challenges with tripping outside the protective curve. The operating time of the circuit breakers exhibited an acceleration influenced by the order and content of harmonic currents, potentially leading to malfunctions. Aged RCCBs demonstrated faster operating times than their non-aged counterparts. However, the difference in operating time varied based on the manufacturer's and operating environment of the RCCBs. Frequent malfunctions of RCCBs can result in power outages. In cases where these circuit breakers fail to operate, they can lead to secondary damages, including electrical fires and shocks. Consequently, it is imperative to consider the operating environment of RCCBs and provide appropriate replacement cycles to mitigate these risks.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.632-635
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• 2004

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of arc current and contact velocity on the erosion of silver-based contact materials to be used in low voltage circuit breakers. The opening velocity during breaking, which is constant, ranges between 2m/s to 6m/s in the 415V $25kA_{rms}$. Contact erosion is evaluated by measuring the mass change of the cathode and anode. The results show that the increase in opening velocity from 2m/s to 6m/s leads to a decrease in the contact erosion. It is shown that the material transfer from one electrode to another depends on the transfer charge and the opening velocity of the contacts. The contact pairs of AgWC/AgCdO are superior to $AgWC/AgSnO_2In_2O_3$ or AgWC/AgC contact pairs in the contact erosion.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.473-476
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• 2010

In this paper, we analyzed the short circuit current of a low voltage direct current distribution system. For the analysis, we performed the modeling of the low voltage direct current distribution system with a 6-pulse three-phase thyristor rectifier using the PSCAD/EMTDC, surveyed impedance of sources, transformers and distribution lines to run a simulation. A result of the simulation is that short circuit currents of the direct current distribution system with the rectifier decreased due to a thyristor-ON-resistance(Ron). But in case of the low thyristor-ON resistance, output fault current of the rectifier increased over three-phase short circuit current of an AC power system without a rectifier by regular ratio of the rectifier. Because the output fault current of the rectifier can increase over interrupting the capacity of circuit breakers, studying short circuit currents of a low voltage direct current distribution system with a rectifier is necessary for introducing the direct current distribution systems.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.8-13
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• 2015

Molded Case Circuit Breakers (MCCBs) are typically used to provide over current protection for electrical safety caused by short circuit faults and overloads in indoor low voltage power systems. The MCCB automatically connects and disconnects loads from the electrical source when the current reaches a value and duration that will cause an excessive. However, the MCCB sometimes is not interrupted due to a malfunction, nuisance tripping, or in a fire. Ensuring electrical safety is very important in a indoor low voltage power system. This paper presents the operating characteristics of MCCBs according to a temperature rise from room temperature to 160 degrees Celsius delivered by a radiant panel heater. The ABS 54c(rated current: 30A) of the hydraulic magnetic trip type was used in the experiments. The signals of temperature, voltage, and current were measured using the high accuracy Signal Conditioning Extensions for Instrumentation (SCXI) measurement system with the LabVIEW program manufactured by National Instruments. The operating characteristics were measured as functions of current amplitude and ramp-up rate. The MCCB tripping time decreased as a result of increasing current amplitude and ramp-up rate under a temperature rise condition, because the temperature and level of the current are directly proportional to the tripping time. Additionally, an instantaneous operation was observed after 8 times of the rated current, and the MCCB began to melt a surface temperature of around 300 degrees Celsius of. The experimental results coincided well with the operating curve.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.495-499
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• 2012

Recently, DC distribution systems become hot issues since DC type loads increase rapidly according to the expansion of IT equipment such as computers, servers, and digital devices; DC type loads will cover 50% for all electricity loads in 2020 which was mere 10% in 2000. DC distribution systems are also accelerated by the expansion of renewable power systems since they are easy to be interfaced with DC grids rather than AC grids. However, removing the fault current in DC grids is comparably difficult since the current in DC grids has non zero-crossing point like in AC grids. Thus, developing dedicated DC circuit breakers for DC grids is necessary to get safety for human and electrical facilities. Magnet arc extinguishing method is proper to small size DC circuit breakers. However, simple Magnet arc extinguishing method is not enough to break inductive fault currents. This paper proposed a novel DC circuit breaker against inductive fault current defined by IEEE C37.14-2004 Standard for Low-Voltage DC Power Circuit Breakers Used in Enclosures. The performance of the proposed DC circuit breaker was verified by an experimental circuit breaker test system built in this research.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.299-304
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• 2018

An ideal circuit breaker should supply electric power to loads without losses in a conduction state and completely isolate the load from the power source by providing insulation strength in a break state. Fault current is relatively easy to break in an Alternating Current (AC) circuit breaker because the AC current becomes zero at every half cycle. However, fault current in DC circuit breaker (DCCB) should be reduced by generating a high arc voltage at the breaker contact point. Large fire may occur if the DCCB does not take sufficient arc voltage and allows the continuous flow of the arc fault current with high temperature. A semiconductor circuit breaker with a power electronic device has many advantages. These advantages include quick breaking time, lack of arc generation, and lower noise than mechanical circuit breakers. However, a large load capacity cannot be applied because of large conduction loss. An extinguishing technology of DCCB with polymeric positive temperature coefficient (PPTC) device is proposed and evaluated through experiments in this study to take advantage of low conduction loss of mechanical circuit breaker and arcless breaking characteristic of semiconductor devices.

• KIEE International Transaction on Electrical Machinery and Energy Conversion Systems
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• v.3B no.4
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• pp.165-172
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• 2003

Low voltage circuit breakers are widely used in power distribution systems to interrupt fault current rapidly and to assure the reliability of the power supply. This paper is focused on understanding the interrupting capability, more specifically of the contacts and the arc runner, based on the shape of the contact system in the current molded case circuit breaker (hereafter MCCB). Moreover, in order to improve the interrupting capability of the circuit breaker, the estimation and analysis of the interrupting capability, based on the 3-D magnetic flux analysis, were developed. Furthermore, this paper also presents results of the estimation and analysis of the interrupting capability when applied to different model breakers. In addition, this paper analyzes the efficiency of the interrupting tests by forming false current paths consisting of a three-division cascade arc runner in the contact system. With regards to the interrupting test, there is a need to assure that the optimum design required to analyze the electromagnetic forces of the contact system generated by the current and flux density be present. Based on the results of this study, this paper presents both computational analysis and test results for the newly developed MCCB 460V/225A/50㎄ contact system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.593-596
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• 2001

It is necessary for calculation of repulsion forces acting on the closed electric contacts flowing over-current. e.g. inrush current and overload currents, to do optimum design of switching devices. In this paper. the forces and flux densities generated by currents at the contact point when circuit breakers are in closed state are obtained by using 3D finite element methode. To be convinced of the results, we measure electrogmanetic repulsion forces on contacts by measuring voltage between opened contacts in MCCB

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.368-370
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• 2005

Due to the tendency towards large capacity and complexity of power system, an enhancement of power system equipment make a system impedance to be low in power system. Generally if an equivalent impedance of system becomes lower, a system stability will be better. But the fault current becomes very larger. The 345kV ultra-high voltage system will use current limit reactors(CLR) in a transmission line or a bus in substation to limit the magnitude of fault current. The CLR makes a significant contribution to the severity of the transient recovery voltage(TRV) experienced by feeder and bus circuit breakers on clearing feeder faults. Based on the conclusions of an investigation of actual circuit breaker failures while performing this duty, the mitigation of the transient recovery voltage associated with the reactors is described. Therefore in this article we simulated the TRV by EMTP at Bus Terminal Fault.