ABSTRACT
Current interruption in high-voltage ac networks has been intensively researched since the introduction of high-voltage transmission lines. These advances can be viewed as an increase in the breaker interrupting capacity per chamber or a decrease in the weight with respect to interrupting capacity. Fundamental electrical phenomena occurring in the electrical network and the physical aspects of arc interruption processes need to be considered simultaneously. The phenomena occurring in an electrical system and the resulting demands on the switchgear can be well appreciated and explained theoretically, yet no well founded and generally applicable theory of the processes in a circuit breaker itself exists. Certain characteristics have a different effect under different conditions, and care must be applied in generalizations.
