• 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.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.30-34
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• 2016

In this study, a SFCL-combined DC circuit breaker system was proposed by applying the current-limiting technology for DC circuit breaking. The SFCL-combined circuit breaker system consists of a mechanical DC circuit breaker combined with superconductors. To ensure the reliable structure and operation of the SFCL-combined circuit breaker system, a simulation grid was designed using the EMTDC/PSCAD program, and simulation was conducted. The results showed that the SFCL-combined DC circuit breaker system with superconductors limited the maximum fault current by 37%. In addition, the burden on the DC circuit breaker was decreased by 87%.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.272-281
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• 2017

The DC circuit breaker is essential for supplying stable DC power with the advent of DC transmission/distribution and sensitive loads. Compared with mechanical circuit breakers, which must interrupt a very large fault current due to their slow breaking capability, a solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) can quickly break a fault current almost within 1 [ms]. Thus, it can reduce the damage of an accident a lot more than mechanical circuit breakers. However, previous DC SSCBs cannot perform the operating duty, and are not economical because many SCR are required. Therefore, this paper proposes a new DC SSCB suitable for DC grids. It has a low semiconductor conduction loss, quick reclosing and rebreaking capabilities. As a result, it can perform the operating duties of reclosing and rebreaking. The proposed DC SSCB is designed and implemented so that it is suitable for home dc distribution at a rated power of 5 [kW] and a voltage of 380 [V]. The operating characteristics are confirmed by simulation and experimental results. In addition, this paper suggests design guidelines so that it can be applied to other DC grids. It is anticipated that the proposed DC SSCB may be utilized to design and realize many DC grid systems.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.68 no.1
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• pp.215-219
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• 2019

Development of DC interruption technology is being studied actively for enhanced DC grid reliability and stability. In this study, coil type superconductor DC circuit breaker was proposed as DC interruption. It is integration technology that combined current-limiting technique using superconductor and cut-off technique using mechanical DC circuit breaker. Superconductor was applied to the coil type. In simulation, Mayr arc model was applied to realize the arc characteristic in the mechanical DC circuit breaker. PSCAD/EMTDC had used to model and perform the simulation. To find out the protection range of coil type superconductor DCCB, the working operation have analyzed based on the rated voltage of DCCB. The results confirmed that, according to apply the limiting device, the protection range was increased in twice. Therefore, the probability of failure of interruption has lowered significantly.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.1215-1220
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• 2014

Breaking time is an important performance indicator of a circuit breaker. Thus, the operating mechanism of the circuit breaker should be optimized for reducing the breaking time. The operating mechanism in a gas circuit breaker is made up of several latches. Specifically, the geometry and relative positions of latches influence the dynamic behaviors of the operating mechanism. In this study, a three-stage latch operating mechanism is analyzed on the basis of the verified multibody dynamics model constructed using the MSC.ADAMS program. The relative positions and lengths of latches are selected as design variables. The dominant design variables are selected by a design study. Optimization is performed using a genetic algorithm (GA). The study results demonstrate that the performance of the circuit breaker improves by about 22.5.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.991-996
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• 2007

Since the performance of the circuit breaker mainly depends on the spring operating mechanism, the analysis of the spring operating mechanism is required. The spring, especially closing spring, stores the deformation energy due to the compression and then accelerates the big loads rapidly in the circuit breaker. To accurately carry out the kinematic and dynamic analysis of the circuit breaker, the precise modeling of the spring behavior is necessary. In this paper, the static stiffness of the spring is captured by using the tester. When the spring is used in the circuit breaker, it is installed horizontally. Therefore, Sine excitation tests are carried out horizontal and vertical direction. Three types of spring models such as a linear spring model, modal spring model, and nodal spring model are suggested and compared with the experimental results.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.43-49
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• 2004

A spring-actuated linkage system is used to satisfy the desired opening and closing characteristics of the electric contacts of a vacuum circuit breaker. If the type of a circuit breaker and the structure of the linkage system are predetermined, then design parameters such as stiffness, free length and attachment points of the spring become the important issues. In this paper, based on the energy conservation, the total system energy is constant throughout the operating range of the mechanism; a systematic procedure to optimize the spring design parameters is developed and applied to a simplified mechanism of a circuit breaker. The developed procedure is converted to the environment of the multi-body dynamics program, ADAMS for an in-depth consideration of the complex dynamics of a circuit breaker mechanism.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06b
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• pp.476-481
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• 2001

In this paper, based on the developed dynamic model of a vacuum circuit breaker mechanism, the development of the new circuit breaker with less energy mechanism is focused. The energy flow analysis of the original mechanism is carried out to show where the elastic potential energies of pre-loaded springs are transmitted. Through energy flow analysis, the concept design of the new circuit breaker with less energy mechanism is proposed, and then the detailed design is carried out through the design process based on the verified dynamic model. Comparing simulation results with experiment using a high-speed camera, the appropriateness of the proposed design procedures for the rapid circuit breaker mechanism is shown.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2014

The dynamic characteristics of a gas circuit breaker depend on the underlying high-speed operating mechanism with a spring-actuated latch system. Many studies have been carried out to reduce the breaking time of circuit breakers. In this study, the optimum latch contour design is determined for reducing the breaking time of a circuit breaker. A multi-body dynamic model of the latch is established for analyzing the dynamic behaviors of the circuit breaker by using the MSC/ADAMS program. Simulation results are matched against experimental data. VisualDoc is employed for determining the optimal latch contour. From the optimum design, the breaking time of a gas circuit breaker is improved by about 8.6%.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.61-68
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• 2011

The circuit breaker of power distribution board is essential part for the protection of electrical disaster from load short, trouble of power system. For the normal operation of circuit breaker, trip coil of the circuit breaker can cut the mechanical contact of circuit breaker from the detection of power system troubles. This paper presents a design and experimental results of trip coil fault detection system for the real time monitoring of the circuit breaker. The designed system is consisted by the trip coil fault detector which is connected to the each circuit breaker and remote monitoring unit. The trip coil fault detector can detect the impedance and operating voltage of the trip coil, and the detected values are compared with the normal state. And the remote monitoring unit can be connected to the 32 channels of trip coil fault detectors by serial communication. From the designed system, the fault and normal states of the trip coil can be remotely monitored in real time. The designed system is verified by the practical circuit breaker of power distribution board. And the results shows the effectiveness of the designed system.