IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 20, NO.

3, JULY 2005 2079

Parameter Determination for Modeling System

Transients—Part VI: Circuit Breakers
IEEE PES Task Force on Data for Modeling System Transients of IEEE PES Working Group on Modeling and Analysis
of System Transients Using Digital Simulation (General Systems Subcommittee)

J. A. Martinez, J. Mahseredjian, and B. Khodabakhchian

Abstract—A detailed dynamic arc model may be used to roughly transient recovery voltage (TRV) withstand capability for
evaluate the interrupting capacity of a breaker and its influence the breaker.
on the deformation of the interrupted current. In some cases 2) A more elaborate model considers the arc as a time-
the correct computation of the actual arcing time is of crucial
importance for assessing the first current-zero crossing of the varying resistance or conductance. The time variation
breaker. Arc models in conjunction with surrounding network is determined ahead of time based on the breaker char-
details are also used to understand complex arc instability prob- acteristic and perhaps upon the knowledge of the initial
lems. This paper recalls gas circuit breaker models and presents interrupting current. This model can represent the effect
data requirement for such models. The document includes some of the arc on the system, but requires advanced knowl-
illustrative examples and typical data.
edge of the effect of the system on the arc. Arc parameters
Index Terms—Circuit breakers (CB), modeling, power system are not always easy to obtain and the model still requires
transients, simulation. the use of precomputed TRV curves to determine the
adequacy of the breaker.
I. INTRODUCTION 3) The most advanced model represents the breaker as a dy-
namically varying resistance or conductance, whose value

A CIRCUIT-BREAKER (CB) is a mechanical switching de-

vice, capable of making, carrying, and breaking currents
under normal circuit conditions and also making, carrying for a
depends on the past history of voltages and currents in
the arc itself. This model can represent both the effect
of the arc on the system and the effect of the system on
specified time and breaking currents under specified abnormal
the arc. No precomputed TRV curves are required. Most
circuit conditions such as those of a short circuit. In normal oper-
of these models rely on a first-order differential equation.
ating conditions, a CB is in the closed position, and some current
This type of model is generally developed to determine arc
is usually flowing through the closed contacts. The CB opens its
quenching capability. Most models can be used to study
contacts when a tripping signal is sent to it. The separation of the
the thermal period, some can be used to determine arc
contacts causes the generation of an electric arc, which consists
reignition due to insufficient voltage withstand capability
of metal vapor surrounded by an ionized environmental gas. The
of the dielectric between breaker contacts. Their most im-
arc is established within a limited space so that it can be quickly
portant application cases are short-line-fault (SLF) inter-
cooled by the gas.
ruption and switching of small inductive currents. They
Several levels of model complexity can be available in tran-
are exclusively applied to gas CBs (air, ). Models for
sient analysis applications [1]–[5].
other types of CBs have also been proposed [6], [7].
1) The simplest model considers an ideal breaking action Several models can be used to represent a CB in closing
that is completely independent of the arc. The breaker is operations.
represented as an ideal switch that opens at the first cur-
1) The simplest model assumes that the breaker behaves as
rent-zero crossing after the tripping signal is given. The
an ideal switch whose impedance passes instantaneously
model may include a current margin parameter for ap-
from an infinite value, when open, to a zero value at the
proximate modeling of possible current chopping. Such
closing time. This performance can be represented at any
a model is applicable in studies where the interaction be-
part of a power cycle. A closing operation can produce
tween the breaker arc and the surrounding network can be
transient overvoltages whose maximum peaks depend on
neglected. It can be used to obtain the voltage across the
several factors; for instance, the network representation
breaker; this voltage is to be compared with a prespecified
on the source side of the breaker, or the charge trapped
on transmission lines in a reclosing operation. One of the
Manuscript received April 14, 2004; revised August 27, 2004. Paper no. factors that has more influence on the maximum peak is the
TPWRD-00191-2004.
IEEE PES TF on Data for Modeling System Transients of IEEE PES WG on instant of closing, which can be different for every pole of
Modeling and Analysis of System Transients Using Digital Simulation (General a three-phase breaker.
Systems Subcommittee). Most transient programs allow users to analyze the in-
Task Force Members: J. A. Martinez (Chairman), D. Durbak, B. Gustavsen,
B. Johnson, J. Mahseredjian, B. Mork, R. Walling. fluence of this factor and obtain a statistical distribution
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2005.848726 of switching overvoltages, usually provided in the form of
0885-8977/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE
2080 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 20, NO. 3, JULY 2005

TABLE I
MODELING GUIDELINES FOR CBs [3]

a cumulative distribution function. Two types of switches

can be represented.
• The closing time of a switch is systematically varied
from a minimum to a maximum instant in equal incre-
ments of time; this type is known as systematic switch.
• The closing time is randomly varied according to ei-
ther a normal (Gaussian) or a uniform distribution; this
type is known as statistical switch. Data required to
represent these switches are the mean closing time, the
standard deviation and the number of switching oper-
ations. When a preinsertion resistor is used to mitigate
switching overvoltages, the closing time of both main
and auxiliary contacts is statistically determined.
2) The breaker model assumes that there is a closing time Fig. 1. Breaker current for a three-phase-to-ground fault [10].
from the moment at which the contacts start to close to
the moment that they finally make. The withstand voltage
breaker and its influence on the interrupted current, a detailed
decreases as the separation distance between contacts de-
arc model must be used. This test case was taken from a Hydro-
creases; an arc will strike before the contacts have com-
Québec 735 kV series-compensated network study [10]. It ap-
pletely closed if the voltage across them exceeds the with-
pears that a sufficiently high arc voltage can force the interrupted
stand voltage of the dielectric medium. Modeling of the
current to cross zero earlier than an ideal switch model. With
prestrike effect and its influence on the switching overvolt-
the ideal switch model, the current crosses zero after 113 ms
ages produced during line energization has been analyzed
compared to only 63 ms when the air-blast breaker arc model is
in [8].
used. The arcing time is of crucial importance for assessing the
Table I shows modeling guidelines proposed by the CIGRE arc quenching capability of a given breaker type.
WG 33-02 for representing CBs in both closing and opening The main objectives of a CB model are:
operations [9].
• from the standpoint of a system, to determine all voltages
and currents that are produced within the system as a result
II. ARC MODELING of the breaker action;
Fig. 1 illustrates the importance of arc modeling. The usual • from the breaker viewpoint, to determine whether the
breaker model used in the simulation of transients is an ideal breaker will be successful when operating within a given
switch that is allowed to open at current-zero crossing and may system under a given set of conditions.
include a current margin parameter used for an approximate rep- Arc models differ in the type of dependence of the parameter
resentation of possible current chopping. Such a model is appli- functions and in the way the latter are determined.
cable in studies where the interaction between the breaker arc Several arc models are available in the literature; some are
and the surrounding network can be neglected. In other studies, derived from Cassie and Mayr equations, some are a combina-
where it is needed to evaluate the interrupting capacity of a tion of both models. Most models keep the basic idea of de-
MARTINEZ et al.: PARAMETER DETERMINATION FOR MODELING SYSTEM TRANSIENTS–PART VI: CIRCUIT BREAKERS 2081

scribing arc behavior using parameters with different physical cooling power. An extra parameter is needed to specify the
interpretation. number of breaks per pole.
Basic descriptions of arc behavior were first described by Parameters for this model have been derived from experi-
Cassie and Mayr. mental tests and this model has been successfully used and val-
• The Cassie model is given by the following equation: idated in [5], [10], [12], and [13].
This model can be used to represent thermal failure near cur-
rent interruption and conductivity in the post-arc region. Re-
(1) sistance instability near current interruption can cause current
chopping. Although parameters for this model are best derived
It assumes an arc channel with constant temperature, cur- from short-line fault (SLF) breaking tests, it is, however, feasible
rent density, and electric field strength. Changes of the arc to provide some typical data. It has been observed through prac-
conductance result from changes of arc cross section; en- tical cases that the applicability range of (4) is actually longer
ergy removal is obtained by convection. than the near current-zero region.
• The Mayr model is given by the following equation: Although in some cases it is feasible to simulate arc model
equations using control diagram blocks and sufficiently small
time steps, the best solution is achieved using a hard-coded arc
(2)
model with sophisticated iterative techniques, as explained in
[5]. The highly nonlinear model of (4) still requires a small
This model assumes that changes of arc temperature are integration time step to correctly account for its time constants
dominant, and size and profile of the arc column are con- and achieve nonlinear solution method convergence. Such
stant. Thermal conduction is the main mechanism of en- a small time step (0.1 s typically) requires a prohibitive
ergy removal. computer time for statistical studies. Another difficulty is the
where is the arc conductance, is the arc voltage, is the availability of parameters from the breaker manufacturer. This
arc current, is the arc time constant, is the steady-state is why a simplified arc model must be used in statistical studies
power loss, and is the constant part of the arc voltage. The [10], [17]. Such a model combines a current-arc voltage char-
is in the region of 1 s and the is between 0.1 and acteristic per break and a time-dependent function
0.5 s . These parameters are not strictly constant for an to account for blast pressure, arc length, and arcing time.
actual arc, but observations indicate that during the brief time Contrary to the Avdonin equation, this simplified model cannot
around current-zero, these parameters vary sufficiently slowly account for thermal reignition, but it can correctly compute
to assume them to be constant. A combination of both models the breaker’s arcing time with a larger integration time step
gives the Cassie-Mayr model (typically 70 s). The functions and must be
provided by the manufacturer.
Other arc models are presented in the Appendix.
(3)

This is justified by the fact that at high currents, the entire

voltage drop takes place in the Cassie equation, but before cur- III. PARAMETER DETERMINATION
rent-zero, the contribution from the Mayr equation increases,
while the Cassie part goes to zero. The identification of arc models has to be made in close con-
Another widely used model was proposed by Avdonin [11]. nection with the specific methods of arc parameter evaluation.
It is an adequate model for air-blast and breakers. The arc Although some methods are presented in the literature, there are
resistance of this model is expressed by no readily accessible general-purpose methods. In most cases,
it is needed to start from experimental data.
Actual tests provide traces of arc voltage and current during
(4) the thermal period. The analysis of these results is based on a
specific arc equation and additional assumptions regarding par-
which is derived from the modified Mayr model ticular parameters functions. The main subject of this analysis is
the procedure of arc parameter evaluation. Equation and param-
(5) eters define the arc model established on an experimental basis.
A laboratory test case of noninterruption of a delayed current-
zero using both air-blast and breakers is shown in Fig. 2,
with see [10].
It is apparent from these type of tests that the time sequence
(6) of events during the opening process in a CB can be repre-
(7) sented as in Fig. 3, [5]. The initial contact parting occurs at time
. It is used as a manual input or controlled by a fault detec-
where , and are the arc resistance, voltage, and current tion signal. The nonlinear arc equation zone is normally entered
respectively, is the arc time constant, and is the breaker shortly after reaching .
2082 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 20, NO. 3, JULY 2005

of the blasting period. The 35 ms is considered as the

safe breaking window, but breaking may still occur out-
side this window if the interrupted current is sufficiently
small. The average arc resistance of the blasting period is
0.6 per break. Repetitive breaking tests indicate that the
maximum current amplitude that air-blast circuit breakers
can safely force to zero is 1500 A with an arcing time
of 32 ms. Equation (4) can correctly reproduce the 5-kV
value, but cannot account for the voltage drop occurring
at the end of the blasting period. Air-blast arc parameters
for (4) are given by

• breaker: This breaker produces an average arc voltage

of 1.5 kV. The characteristic drop from 1.5 kV to 600 V in-
dicates the end of the arcing period. At this instant, after an
arcing time of 29 ms, the arc could be drawn along an un-
desired path and damage vital parts of the CB. The average
arc resistance is 0.25 per break. Repetitive breaking tests
indicate that this type of breaker can force to zero a max-
imum of 400 A for an arcing time of 30 ms. Typical
arc parameters for (4) are given by

These parameters indicate that an breaker has a much

faster behavior than in the air-blast case.
The setting of and is not simple and is best achieved
by using experimental results. In the air-blast case, the max-
imum voltage is reached after approximately 1 to 3 ms and the
nonlinear region is entered after approximately 2 to 4 ms. En-
tering the nonlinear region almost immediately after reaching
the maximum voltage (around 5 kV) will also provide accept-
able results in most simulation cases. The single-pressure
—N2 can be set to reach a voltage maximum of around 1.5 to
2 kV after 10 ms and enters the nonlinear arc equation region
after 0.50 ms.
Other breaker parameters are available in [12]. For an air-
blast breaker
Fig. 2. Non interruption of a delayed current-zero [10]. (a) Air blast
breaker—Arcing time over 35 ms, (b) SF breaker—Arcing time exceeding
29 ms.

The oil-filled version has

Another breaker is given

Fig. 3. Opening sequence in a circuit breaker.

A. Parameter Determination Procedures
A short description for each breaker type follows: Arc equations with two parameters are at most possible; a
• Air blast breaker: When the contacts are completely large number of free parameters requires additional assump-
parted, the arc voltage is approximately 5 kV. The char- tions. The evaluation of arc parameters can follow different
acteristic voltage drop from 5 to 1 kV indicates the end principles [3]:
MARTINEZ et al.: PARAMETER DETERMINATION FOR MODELING SYSTEM TRANSIENTS–PART VI: CIRCUIT BREAKERS 2083

• The parameter functions are calculated directly from

measured voltage and current traces applying the specific
arc equation. A typical example is based on making one
parameter constant and finding the remaining parameter
function from the arc equation model.
• Special test circuits may be applied in order to produce sin-
gular conditions in arc current or arc conductance suitable
for direct parameter evaluation. Singular points are found
by separating the parameter functions. Setting
in (2) allows finding , and leads to an expres-
sion of .
• Parameter functions may be defined in general form (e.g.,
). The free parameters , and can
be determined by curve-fitting techniques. In some cases,
this approach can become very precise.
A testing and measuring setup for one air-blast and two
breakers is given in [12]. The digitized arc current and voltage
records are used in [12] for determination of the modified Mayr
model parameters . It is using an integration method
which allows global minimum search of an error function of
variables. The error function is
Fig. 4. A 400=63-kV substation.
(8)

To find the error, the experimental data must be divided into

sections for integration purposes. For the total time interval, the
total error is given by

Total error (9)

where is the error of section . The best results are obtained

when the total error is divided by the factor with being the
arc resistance. This operation reduces this error in the region of Fig. 5. Kilometric fault test of a 420-kV CB.
high arc resistance and extremely low arc current, which can
originate inaccurate calculations of the resistance value.
of the breaker, were responsible for its thermal failures and,
thus, the noninterruption of the low 50-Hz reactor current by
IV. ARC INSTABILTY the 50-kA CB.
Considerable amount of information about the phenomenon The whole substation is modeled in detail using frequency-
of arc instability exists in the literature. Arc instability in CBs dependent models for busbars and lines. The 150- and 500-VA
may occur only at high frequencies (from few tens up to hun- CTs are modeled using a series inductance of 55 and 200 H,
dreds of kilohertz) and near current zero (up to few tens of am- respectively, lead to ground capacitances of 0.25 nF and resis-
peres). As the variable dc arc voltage excites all of the circuit tances are added in order to take into account their frequency de-
natural frequencies, arc instability happens at the frequencies pendence. The CT modeling is complex and represents a weak
where the amount of negative resistance it introduces cancels point in this type of study, due to uncertainties about the losses,
out the total frequency-dependent resistance of the circuit, thus mainly at those frequencies that govern arc instability. Param-
creating a negatively damped current oscillation. It is of cru- eters of the Cassie–Mayr model (3) were adjusted and checked
cial importance to represent the surrounding network in details for thermal capabilities under kilometric faults using the test cir-
and through frequency-dependent models. The following ex- cuit of Fig. 5. The fault is successfully cleared when the source
ample demonstrates that complex problems can be studied by inductance is 10 mH, but thermal failure occurs when 9 mH
fine-tuning data and performing sensitivity analysis. is used. The TRV shapes for both cases are shown in Fig. 6,
More details on this case can be found in [18]. The paper re- clearing at 28.9 A/ s and failing at 31 A/ s.
ports the case of an breaker (BR 9832 on phase a) repet- The study of the substation breaker must be started by per-
itive failure during the opening of 100-MVAR shunt reactor in forming a frequency scan for finding the poles and zeros of the
a 400-kV substation shown in Fig. 4. Simulation results show network impedance seen by the arc. The initial simulations do
that opposite-polarity high-frequency arc-instability-dependent not show a particular problem. Sensitivity analysis is performed
oscillations, caused mainly by current transformers on each side by decreasing the cooling power of the arc, which decreases the
2084 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 20, NO. 3, JULY 2005

Although some of the parameters involved in the simulations

were not too accurate, these results prove that the thermal failure
of shunt-reactor CBs can occur under certain conditions.

V. CONCLUSION
The resistance of a CB dynamic arc during the thermal period
can pass from zero to infinity in a few microseconds. Several
models have been developed and implemented for duplicating
the performance of a CB near current zero.
Modeling of such nonlinear behavior must be based on pa-
rameters determined from accurate measurements. Validation
must be also carried out with accurate models of the test cir-
cuits. In addition to the arc model, it is essential to correctly
model the network surrounding the breaker. Sensitivity analysis
approaches must be used to observe complex arc-network inter-
Fig. 6. Kilometric fault strength of the modeled arc.
action problems.
Some default values of arc model parameters are provided in
the literature. However, users must be warned about the validity
of these values; they should be considered as an initial estima-
tion or just a reference.

APPENDIX
OTHER ARC MODELS
1) The Urbanek model can represent arc interruption and
both thermal and dielectric failure [14]. Both current
chopping and reignition are also represented. It is charac-
terized by the following equation for the arc conductance:

(10)

where is the arc voltage for high arc currents, is the

minimum power to maintain the arc, and is the dielec-
tric breakdown voltage for cold arc channel. For param-
Fig. 7. Chopped current near current zero. eter determination and validation of this model, see [13]
and [15]. Typical data for this model can be found in [12].
An air-blast breaker is given:
level of chopped current, without showing any special phenom- kV, and kV (Fig. 3).
enon. The following set of simulations is based on increasing 2) Another model for simulation of thermal breakdown is
the damping of the CTs at high frequencies and those of the the Kopplin model, which is mostly suitable to represent
circuit elements (the two power transformers and the shunt re- generator CBs. It is also characterized by an equation for
actor). These simulations lead to the observation of a second the arc conductance [16]
simultaneous arc instability at a higher frequency in the last cur-
rent loop before current zero (Fig. 7). All simulations were per- (11)
formed with a time step of 5 ns.
The lowly damped arc-circuit interaction at a frequency of where
66 kHz excites a second arc instability. The current spike near
0.955 s corresponds to the instability created at 400 kHz due
to the second low zero impedance of the circuit. This second (12)
high-frequency arc instability creates a high of 14.5 A/ s
(13)
near current zero. It is shown in [18] that a negative dynamic arc
resistance of 500 (corresponding to the circuit impedance at where and are model parameters.
400 kHz) is present for a short period of time. Testing and validation of this model were presented in [16].
The injected excites the 210-kHz parallel resonance
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