Two new systems developed by ACTOM MV Switchgear have been successfully tested at the reputable Xi’an High Voltage Apparatus Research Institute (XIHARI) in Xi’an, China.
MV Switchgear R&D team members Greg Whyte, Design & Development Manager, Rhett Kelly, Technology Development Specialist, and Piet Ferreira, Engineering Manager, were in attendance to witness the tests in April this year.
The first system tested at the test facility was an internal arc classified door design and pressure relief system developed for the GEC range of legacy STV vacuum contactors. The door and associated pressure relief devices are based on the tried-and-tested SBV4E switchgear.
“This is a retrofit system developed for performance of the STV vacuum contactors under internal arc fault conditions, as no provision was made for this when they were designed in the late-1960’s,” Greg explained.
The Internal arc test was carried out at 31.5kA for 0.2sec in accordance with requirements stipulated by a major customer.
The other item tested was a new SBV4XE 25kA 800A and 1250A circuit breaker that has been developed at MV Switchgear to conform to the latest edition of IEC 62271-100. The testing comprised the following two short-circuit performance type tests:
- Electrical endurance testing for rapid auto-reclose applications, in which the circuit breaker achieved a Class E2 rating.
- Short-circuit test duties required to prove the circuit breaker’s performance for effectively earthed networks, as found typically in older distribution systems.
“The tests carried out at XIHARI on the new circuit breaker follow the earlier successful tests performed on this product at the KEMA electrical test centre in Holland in the middle of last year,” said Rhett.
On that occasion a 25kA prototype of the newly developed circuit breaker mechanism was successfully tested for short-time withstand current and the complete series of basic short-circuit switching duties in accordance with IEC 62271-100, qualifying it for use on 11kV non-effectively earthed systems.
“The tests conducted at XIHARI completes the short-circuit performance type tests required for our 630mm wide 25kA SBV4XE circuit breaker,” Rhett concluded.
Caption: Posing beside the SBV4XE 25kA 800A circuit breaker after completion of the tests at XIHARI in April are (from left) Greg Whyte, XIHARI Test Engineer Yanfeng Liu, Piet Ferreira and Rhett Kelly.