Oil cut
Medium-voltage switching techniques
Article REF: D4705 V1
Oil cut
Medium-voltage switching techniques

Author : Serge THÉOLEYRE

Publication date: November 10, 1999 | Lire en français

Logo Techniques de l'Ingenieur You do not have access to this resource.
Request your free trial access! Free trial

Already subscribed?

6. Oil cut

Oil, which had already been used as an insulator, was employed from the beginning of the century as a breaking medium, as this technique enabled the design of relatively simple and economical devices. Oil circuit breakers were mainly used for voltages from 5 to 150 kV.

6.1 Principle

The contacts are immersed in a dielectric oil. During separation, the arc causes the oil to decompose, releasing hydrogen (approx. 70% by volume), ethylene (approx. 20%), methane (approx. 10%) and free carbon. An arc energy of 100 kJ produces around 10 L of these gases. These gases form a bubble which, due to the inertia of the oil mass, is subjected to a dynamic pressure of up to 50 to 100 bar during cutting.

The hydrogen obtained from the decomposition of...

You do not have access to this resource.
Logo Techniques de l'Ingenieur

Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!

You do not have access to this resource. Click here to request your free trial access!

Already subscribed?


Article included in this offer

"Electricity networks and applications"

( 184 articles )

Complete knowledge base

Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees

Services

A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources

View offer details