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I. I NTRODUCTION
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TABLE I
H ISTORY OF T RANSFORMER FAILURES R ELATED TO
P RIMARY VACUUM B REAKER S WITCHING
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TABLE II
C URRENT C HOP V ERSUS C ONTACT M ATERIAL
or
V = I L/C.
(1)
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Fig. 6.
(2)
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TABLE III
C URRENT C HOP AND R EIGNITION C ASES FOR D RIVE P ROPULSION
T RANSFORMER S WITCHING
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Fig. 9. Simplified electrical distribution system for Tier III data center.
D. Borderline Case
It is important to note that not all applications involving
primary switching of transformers using vacuum breakers require snubbers. The large majority of applications do not require snubbers. Switching transient studies are conducted to
determine when snubbers are needed. In this paper, the cases
were selected to show different situations requiring snubbers.
For the system shown in Fig. 9, the results were borderline; therefore, a snubber was still applied for reliability purposes. The Fig. 9 system is a Tier III data center with two
24.9-kV incoming lines, two 12.5-MVA 25/13.2-kV transformers, a 13.2-kV ring bus, two 2250-KW generators, and six
3750-kV cast-coil transformers.
Data centers fall into the highest risk categories because of
their high load density, close proximities of circuit components,
highly inductive transformers (high-efficiency designs), and
frequent switching. The critical parameters for the Fig. 9 system
are vacuum circuit breakers, 90-kV-BIL transformers, and cable
lengths ranging from 109 to 249 ft. For the cable of 109 ft, the
results of opening the vacuum breaker with current chopping of
8 A are shown in Fig. 10. The TOV is as high as 123 kVpeak
on phase A which exceeds the transformer BIL of 95 kV.
The TOV exhibits a significant dc offset because there is very
little resistance in the highly inductive circuit. The oscillation
frequency of 969 Hz is slightly less than the acceptable limit.
A snubber is required to reduce the peak below 95-kV BIL.
The results of adding a snubber are shown in Fig. 10. Note
the significant reduction in the dc offset. The resistor in the
snubber provides the reduction in dc offset as well as damping.
The peak is reduced to 28.6 kV and an oscillation of 215 Hz,
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Fig. 12. TOV during de-energization of LMF transformer with and without
snubber protection.
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Fig. 13. Typical snubber and arrester arrangement for transformer protection.
Fig. 14.
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TABLE IV
C URRENT C HOP AND R EIGNITION C ASES FOR LMF T RANSFORMER S WITCHING
had to be mounted above the transformer. The cable connections from the transformer were field installed and land on the
copper bus. A 15-kV nonshielded jumper cable was used to
make the connection. Each phase passed through an insulation
bushing to the transformer below. Bus work was required to
provide a solid support for the fragile resistors. Normally, only
one resistor would be provided, but for this application, to
achieve the delivery schedule, parallel resistors were designed
to obtain the correct ohmic value (the correct single resistor
value had long delivery).
Fig. 16(a) and (b) shows a snubber assembly mounted in
medium voltage switchgear. The photo on the left shows the
single-phase surge capacitors mounted vertically. The black
cylinders are ceramic resistors. A variety of options are available to detect if the snubbers are functional. They range from
nothing (oversized but treated like a lightning arrester) to very
sophisticated loss of circuit detection. Glow tube indicators are
shown at the top of Fig. 16(a), and a close-up is shown in
Fig. 17(a). These glow tubes are visible through a window in
the switchgear door and provide a visual indication of snubber
Fig. 16. 15-kV snubber mounted in switchgear with glow tubes and current
sensors.
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Fig. 17. 15-kV snubber visual indication (glow tubes) and continuity verification (current sensors).
consider the location of the switching transient source when developing the custom design layout of the protective equipment.
Abrupt changes in the electrical path should be avoided. A low
inductive reactance ground path should be designed, using noninductive ceramic resistors and flat tin braided copper ground
conductors. The minimum clearances of live parts must meet or
exceed the phase-to-phase and phase-to-ground clearances of
NEC Table 490.24. The enclosure should be designed to meet
the requirements of IEEE Standard C37.20.2 1999. When the
enclosure is mounted greater than 10 ft from the equipment to
be protected, NEC tap rules may apply to the cable size required
and additional circuit protective devices may be required.
Fig. 18. Snubber with (left) three-phase and (right) single-phase surge capacitors for 13.8-kV paper mill application.
Fig. 19.
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[1] ANSI/IEEE, A Guide to Describe the Occurrence and Mitigation of Switching Transients Induced by Transformer and Switching Device Interaction.
C57.142-Draft.
[2] D. Shipp and R. Hoerauf, Characteristics and applications of various arc
interrupting methods, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 849861,
Sep./Oct. 1991.
[3] Standard for AC High-Voltage Generator Circuit Breakers on a Symmetrical Current Basis, C37.013-1997, 1997.
[4] Application Guide for Transient Recovery Voltage for AC High-Voltage
Circuit Breakers, C37.011-2005, 2005.
[5] D. Durocher, Considerations in unit substation design to optimize reliability and electrical workplace safety, presented at the IEEE IAS Electrical
Safety Workshop, Memphis, TN, 2010, Paper ESW2010-3.
David D. Shipp (S72M72SM92F02) received the B.S.E.E. degree from Oregon State University, Corvallis, in 1972.
He is a Principal Engineer with the Electrical
Services and Systems Division, Eaton Corporation,
Warrendale, PA. He is a distinguished scholar in
power system analysis and has worked in a wide
variety of industries. He has spent many years performing the engineering work associated with his
present-day responsibilities, which include a wide
range of services covering consulting, design, power
quality, arc flash, and power systems analysis topics. Over the last few years,
he has pioneered the design and application of arc-flash solutions, modifying
power systems to greatly reduce incident energy exposure. He has written over
80 technical papers on power systems analysis topics. More than 12 technical
papers have been published in IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS)
national publications and two in EC&M. He spent ten years as a professional
instructor, teaching full time. He occasionally serves as a legal expert witness.
Mr. Shipp is currently the Chair for the IEEE Industrial and Commercial
Power Systems-sponsored Working Group on generator grounding. He has
received an IEEE IAS Prize Paper Award for one of his papers and conference
prize paper awards for six others. He is very active in IEEE at the national level
and helps write the IEEE Color Book series standards.
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