MEASUREMENT OF THE POST ARC CURRENT OF HV CIRCUIT-BREAKERS APPLICATION TO SHORT-CIRCUIT TESTS WITH ITRV

A few years ago, some power test laboratories and manufacturers acquired facilities for measuring the post-arc current in SF6 circuit breakers. Such measurements have been improved to produce further comparison with modeling. Calculations based on experimentation on two circuit breakers, one having a high post-arc current level, the other not having a detectable post-arc current, have enabled us to compare 3 ITRV test circuits. The main conclusion is that the international standard, in specifying stresses and not circuits, does not lead to notable differences in the severity of the tests.