hv Shunt Reactor Circuit Breakers

hv Shunt Reactor Circuit Breakers

The hv shunt reactor is a power line component that acts to counteract the line parasitic capacitance.hv shunt reactor This capacitive current can cause voltage unbalance in the power system resulting in the line receiving end being higher than the sending end and causing excessive stress on the line insulators. The shunt reactor draws an inductive current to offset this charging current and help keep the line voltage within acceptable limits. This functionality is important for medium and long transmission lines, especially in areas of high population density, where the line voltage can rise rapidly.

During operation, the shunt reactor experiences core losses which need to be minimized for optimal performance.hv shunt reactor For this reason, shunt reactor designs should use gapped or magnetically shielded air cores. Gapped or magnetically shielded cores allow the shunt reactor to maintain an impedance close to its rated value throughout its lifetime of operation.

As an electrical device, the shunt reactor can be impacted by a variety of transients and disturbances.hv shunt reactor In order to prevent the shunt reactor from becoming damaged by these disturbances, it is essential that the shunt reactor is equipped with a circuit breaker (CB) suitable for the application. Specifically, the CB must be capable of interrupting the small inductive currents produced by the shunt reactor at its opening and closing stages. This type of switching will minimize the occurrence of transients and disturbances on the power system.

In many applications, it is necessary for the shunt reactor to be switched in and out of service based on load changes.hv shunt reactor Typically, this is accomplished by monitoring the busbar voltage level to detect excessive voltage rise. This capability is often found in multifunctional transformer protection relays but the suitability of a relay for this application should be carefully evaluated.

Switching the shunt reactor in and out imposes extreme duty on the switching device.hv shunt reactor This is due to the fact that the shunt reactor’s small inductive currents can reach a high rate of rise at its CB opening. The resulting arcing and re-ignitions place tremendous stress on the turn-to-turn insulation of the shunt reactor and can shorten its switching life.

This problem can be eliminated by using a relay with controllable closing and opening impulses. This allows the relay to be closed at the correct instant in time to achieve pole closing at the maximum phase voltages and thus reduces the amplitude of disturbances in the power system. Furthermore, superior denoising methods can remove interference noise unrelated to the shunt reactor acoustic signal and provide clear and reliable acoustic signals. This is particularly important for the monitoring of high-voltage shunt reactors.

Tags:harmonic filter reactor | high-voltage reactor | line reactor | load reactor