Benefits of Permanent Travel Measurement in High Voltage Circuit Breaker Online Monitoring

A Technical Guide to Enhancing Circuit Breaker Condition Monitoring

As the power industry increasingly adopts condition-based maintenance strategies, circuit breakers are finally receiving the monitoring attention they deserve. While transformer monitoring has long been prioritized, and basic parameters like coil current and auxiliary contacts are straightforward to measure, one critical question remains: Is permanent travel measurement worth the investment?

This comprehensive whitepaper from Qualitrol explores the technical and operational benefits of continuous travel curve monitoring for high voltage circuit breakers. Authors Nicola Gariboldi and Phillip L. Corliss demonstrate how contact travel directly impacts a circuit breaker's making and breaking performance, affecting everything from short circuit clearing capability to capacitive current switching.

What You'll Discover:

The paper reveals how deviations in key parameters—opening speed, closing speed, over-travel, and rebound—can impair breaker functionality or signal impending failures. Learn why slower opening speeds reduce pressure buildup in SF6 interrupting chambers, potentially causing thermal or dielectric failures. Understand how inadequate closing speed increases pre-arcing time, creating excessive thermal stress on arcing contacts that could lead to catastrophic internal faults.

Beyond performance implications, this guide provides practical engineering guidance for implementing permanent travel monitoring. You'll find detailed criteria for selecting appropriate travel transducers, including the advantages of encoder-based systems over resistive types for long-term reliability. The authors address critical technical considerations: optimal pulse numbers, frequency requirements, mechanical stress tolerance, and proper power supply selection.

Whether you're deciding if permanent travel measurement justifies the additional installation cost, or you're ready to implement a system and need transducer selection guidance, this whitepaper delivers actionable insights backed by real-world circuit breaker operating parameters and performance data.

Download this essential resource to elevate your circuit breaker monitoring strategy and make informed decisions about travel measurement implementation.