Materials, Advanced Design
&
Manufacturing
00
Arcing process simulation in circuit breakers
CASE STUDY
Background
Pinggao is the second largest manufacturer of high
voltage switchgear in China, owned by the China State
Grid. Until recently the design of its products relied
largely on the experience of the design engineers,
supported with results from trial and error tests. This
is an extremely costly and time-consuming approach,
poorly adapted to the current global competitive market.
The company was facing significant challenges to
develop a newer generation of product with more
complex operation principles of coupled multiphysics.
The only way forward was to use well-developed
computer simulation models to help the design
engineers to understand the operation, and optimise
the design of the breaker.
The project
Starting with the design details of Pinggao’s circuit
breaker, the University developed an arc model which
included all the important physical mechanisms,
including electromagnetic fields, Ohmic heating,
radiation, nozzle ablation and turbulence cooling of
the arc. Computer simulation and CAD tools were
developed to model the operation of moving objects
and pressure relief valves.
Working closely with the test engineers at Pinggao,
the model was verified using the company’s own
experimental results. The model was further improved in
the second phase of the collaboration, which integrated
the simulation of moving contacts with round tips to
reflect the true flow situation in the breaker. The material
properties for the SF6-PTFE gas mixture in the breaker
were also made available to the model.
Liverpool also provided training to Pinggao’s design
engineers, who mastered the use of the simulation and
CAD tools to successfully modify the initial designs of
three new products. These subsequently passed the
Type Tests at the first round of testing, something that
had never happened in the past.
Outcomes
•
A practical and useful CAD tool for high voltage
circuit breaker design
•
Reduced development cost
•
Shortened time span from product design to sales
•
Improvements in the overall competitiveness
of Pinggao.
85
Partner
Pinggao Electrical Co Ltd
Activity type
Contract research
Academic lead(s)
Dr J D Yan, Faculty of Science and Engineering, School of Electrical Engineering and Electronics
and Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Electronics
