Revision of TRV Requirements for the Application of Generator Circuit-Breakers

The requirements imposed on generator circuitbreakers greatly differ from the requirements imposed on other transmission and distribution circuit-breakers. Due to the location of installation between the generator and the associated step-up transformer, a generator circuit-breaker must meet high technical requirements with respect to rated normal currents, short-circuit currents, fault currents due to out-of-phase conditions and transient recovery voltages. The question whether the transient recovery voltage requirements laid down in IEEE Std C37.013-1997 (R2008) and in its amendment IEEE Std C37.013a-2007 are still adequate for the application of generator circuit-breakers in modern power stations is considered in the present work. In order to quantify the transient recovery voltage requirements for the application of generator circuit-breakers a comprehensive survey of different fault conditions occurring in several power stations has been performed. The fault transients’ simulations have been performed by means of the Electromagnetic Transients Program (EMTP).Electrical Sustainable EnergyElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc