IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 11, No.
2, April 1996
A New IEEE Application Guide for Shunt Reactor Switching
D.F. Peelo, Senior Member IEEE
BC Hydro
Canada
Abstract - The paper gives a brief overview of the content of the
new IEEE Application Guide for Shunt Reactor Switching,
C37.015. The interruption of shunt rector currents involves a com-
plex interaction between the circuit breaker and the source and re-
actor circuits resulting in several transient overvoltage phenomena.
The derivation of the overvoltage levels for the three cases of di-
rectly grounded, ungrounded and reactor grounded shunt reactors is
explained. For the overvoltage calculation, the so-called chopping
number concept is used. Methods of limiting the overvoltages are
also discussed.
1. INTRODUCTION
Shunt reactor switching is probably the only switching duty
that has not been treated to this point in IEEE and IEC stan-
dards. The fundamental work on the switching of small induc-
tive currents, the generic description that includes shunt reac-
tor switching, was done by CIGRE Working Group 13.02.
The results of the work were published in Electra Nos. 72,
101 and 113. It was recognized that a rating structure ap-
proach to shunt reactor switching was not appropriate and that
there was, therefore, a need to express the CIGRE work in
practical circuit breaker application terms. The work of writ-
ing an application guide was undertaken by the Working
Group on Shunt Reactor Switching of the IEEE High Voltage
Circuit Breaker Subcommittee. The Working Group included
representation from IEC and thus reflected an excellent exam-
ple of cooperation between the two organisations in the prep-
aration of a power electrical engineering document. The
Guide prepared by the Working Group is published as an
IEEE Application Guide (C37.015) and as an IEC Technical
Report (Publication 1233).
95 SM 607-2 PWRD A paper recommended and approved
by the IEEE Switchgear Committee of the IEEE Power
Engineering Society for presentation at the 1995
IEEE/PES Summer Meeting, J u l y 23-27, 1995, Portland,
OR. Manuscript submitted November 28, 1994; made
available for printing April 27, 1995.
0885-8977/96/$0S.00 0 1995 IEEE
881
E.M. Ruoss, Life Fellow IEEE
ABB High Voltage Technologies Ltd.
Zurich, Switzerland
Shunt reactor switching imposes a unique and severe duty on
circuit breakers and shunt reactors. Each interruption involves
a complex interaction between the circuit breaker and the
source and the reactor (load side) circuits. This interaction re-
sults in overvoltages dependent on system parameters and
characteristics of the circuit breaker. The application guide
details the derivation of the overvoltage levels for the three
cases of directly grounded, ungrounded and neutral reactor
grounded shunt reactors and methods of limiting the overvolt-
ages. The guide details further the application of circuit break-
ers for the duty using the so-called chopping number approach
based on laboratory test results. The guide includes, as an an-
nex, a detailed case study to illustrate the use of the guide.
The purpose of this paper, presented on behalf of the Working
Group (refer to Acknowledgment), is to give a brief overview
of the guide and its content. Those readers, who wish to pur-
sue the application of circuit breakers for shunt reactor
switching in detail, are referred to the guide and its extensive
list of reference material.
2. TYPES OF TRANSIENT PHENOMENA
When a circuit breaker interrupts shunt reactor current several
transient phenomena can be observed, but not all of them oc-
cur necessarily during each interruption. These transients and
their associated oscillation modes are dependent on the circuit
breaker characteristics and on the system configuration where
the reactor is installed. An overview of these transient is given
below and will be explained in more detail in the section on
directly grounded reactors.
Fig. 1 shows a general single phase diagram of a reactor in-
stallation, which can be used to explain the four possible tran-
sient oscillation modes in a simplified way.
1. Load side oscillation: A successful shunt reactor current in-
terruption results in the decaying load oscillation with the
trapped energy oscillating between the inductance L and the
capacitance CL of the load side circuit. The frequency range
of this oscillation is in the order of 1 - 5 kHz. Overvoltages
due to current interruption prior to its natural zero (current
chopping) may be observed with the load side oscillation.
This overvoltage and consequently the TRV across the break-
er depends on the magnitude of the chopped current.
 --
882

I - 1
' V
LS

-* I
1 - 1
-CB
Lb

- - I I
maturely to zero due to arc instability, a phenomenon referred
to as current chopping.
The value of the chopped current depends on the capacitance
Ct seen from the circuit breaker terminals, the number N of
intempters in series per pole and the socalled chopping num-
ber h for a single interrupter, which is a characteristic value of
the circuit breaker. The chopping current level is given by the
following equation.

I
Fig. 1. General single line diagram of a directly grounded shunt re-
with

actor installation
Ls source side inductance
Cs source side capacitance
CB circuit breaker The maximum value of Ct leading to the highest chopping
Lp, Cl, inductance and capacitance of the breaker level and the worst case for the chopping overvoltage occurs
Lb connection series inductance when Cs >> CL in which case C, is given by
load side capacitance (mainly shunt reactor capacitance)
CL
L shunt reactor inductance
e; = C p + C L .
This chopping number concept can be applied to all circuit
2. Reignition oscillations: Three different oscillation circuits breaker types except for vacuum circuit breakers. Ranges for
are involved if a reignition occurs in the circuit breaker due to typical chopping numbers are given in Table 1.
the transient recovery voltage across the circuit breaker.
A "first parallel oscillation" occurs when C discharges TABLE 1. CIRCUIT BREAKER CHOPPING NUMBERS
P
through the circuit breaker and its inherent inductance L .
The frequency of this oscillation is in the order of 1 to f0
MHz. The circuit breaker will not interrupt the current
I Circuit breaker type I Chopping number h I
associated with this oscillation and therefore has no signifi-
cance with respect to overvoltages. Minimum oil
In the reignition voltage oscillation ("second parallel oscilla- Air blast
tion"), which follows the first parallel oscillation, the capaci-
tances C and CL as well as the inductance Lb are involved
and res& in equalization of the voltages across Cs and Cc
The frequency of the reignition voltage oscillation is in the or-
I
SF6 I
I
4-17.lo4 (AF-0.5) I
I

der of 50 to 1000 kHz. Its magnitude depends on the magni-

tude of the load side oscillation and chopping overvoltage and
consequently also on the chopped current.
Under certain system configurations a "main oscillation I ' wilt
be developed in which the parameters of the total circuit are
involved (L, Ls Cp CL). This oscillation will also depend on
the load side oscillation.
Since these transients all depend on the load side oscillation
and load side overvoltage (chopping overvoltage) determined
by the magnitude of the chopped current, it is essential to
know the value o f the chopped current level.
3. DIRECTLY GROUNDED REACTORS
The energy trapped in the load side inductance and capaci-
tance at the instant of current chopping will oscillate between
the inductance and the parallel capacitance. The first peak of
the oscillation has the same polarity as the system voltage at
the time of interruption, leading to the chopping overvoltage
(commonly referred to as the suppression peak overvoltage).
The chopping overvoltage can be calculated by observing the
energy balance. The energy stored in the reactor inductance at
the moment of current interruption will be fully transferred to
the effective load side capacitance at the instant of the maxi-
mum overvoltage peak. This is illustrated by Fig. 2 and the
following formula with reference to the circuit elements
shown in Fig. 1 and the quantities defined in Fig. 2.

The switching of directly grounded reactors can be analysed

using the equivalent single line circuit shown in Fig. I .
ChoDDing current level and choping overvoltage. energy at energy at
Basically, circuit breakers have no difficulty intempting current inter- = cho ping
ruption pea[ voltage
shunt reactor currents. In fact the current may be forced pre-
 883

r
Current instability fulfilled and the formula leads to conservative results giving
leadingto the highest possible chopping overvoltage factor.
current chopping
Reignition overvoltages
When a reignition in the circuit breaker occurs, the load side
voltage rapidly tends to the source side voltage, but over-
shoots producing a reignition overvoltage as shown in Fig. 3.
The reignition transient oscillates around V'o as axis which is
the case when C is not dominating over C,.The value of
/ VIo is determined i y the following equation
Recovery voltage peak
overvoltage

I, Load side
oscillation

In such a case a main circuit oscillation will occur as shown

in Fig. 3.
In most cases at HV and EHV, the system side capacitance
is considerably greater than the load side capacitance, V', be-
ing equal to V . That means the reignition overvoltage tran-
Source side power
frequency voltage sient will oscifiate around V,, which is the conservative ap-
proach for the practical application.
Suppression peak
overvoltage Fig. 4 shows two examples of shunt reactor installations.
In Fig. 4a) the shunt reactor is installed close to a power sta-
Fig. 2. Current chopping phenomena and chopping overvoltage tion or substation. In such a case is Cs >> C , whereas in
a) current through breaker
b) voltage across shunt reactor Fig. 4b), where the reactor is installed in the mifidle of a line,
C, may be only 3 to 4 times CL and, as explained above, re-
The chopping overvoltage factor k, can then be calculated as ignition transients behave differently.
follows
Main circuit
oscillation

I I t
Vo is the power frequency crest voltage across the shunt re-
I A
actor at the instant of current interruption and is usually prac-
tically the peak voltage of the power frequency system volt-
age to ground.
This formula can be re-written by introducing the three phase
MVA rating of the reactor and taking Vo as the crest voltage
Reignition
of the rated system voltage to ground and assuming Cs >> overvoltage
CL and C is negligible. Load slde oscillation
P oscillation

where Reignition

Q is the three phase reactor ratin (VA)

0.4) for a single inter-
h is the chopping number (AF-
rupter
0 is the angular rated power frequency
N is the number of interrupting units in series per
pole.
The chopping overvoltage depends in this case only on the
chopping number and the reactive power of the reactor. In a
majority of cases the above mentioned criteria are practically
Fig. 3. Chopping and reignition overvoltage phenomena
V, power frequency crest voltage across shunt reactor at
instant of current interruption (- crest of system line
to ground voltage)
k, suppression peak overvoltage in pu of V ,
k,, reignition overvoltage peak to ground in pu of V ,
ks reignition overvoltage excursion in pu of V ,
884

4. UNGROUNDED REACTORS AND REACTOR

GROUNDED REACTORS
The overvoltage factors for ungrounded and reactor grounded
Power station
2E3b reactors can be derived from a general diagram. This general
schematic for chopping and reignition overvoltages is shown
I1 in Fig. 5 .
Fig. 4a) Prior to interruption of current in any phase the neutral of the
f reactor is at ground potential due to symmetry of the voltage
and circuit. When the first pole clears the neutral potential
line Z line shifts through a transient oscillation towards a bias voltage K
(pu) dependent on the grounding arrangement.
The load side oscillation of the first pole-to-clear will oscil-
late around the shifted neutral voltage. This is illustrated by
Fig. 6 showing the various chopping and reignition voltage
factors.
Fig. 4b) CB
The derivation of the equation for the chopping overvoltage
k can be achieve by using the diagrams of Fig. 7. Fig. 7a
sffows the simplified scheme of Fig. 5 and Fig. 7b is the
-- equivalent diagram for calculating k,. The energy balance -
as explained for the solidly grounded shunt reactor - leads to
the equation given below, where K is the neutral shift in pu
Fig. 4.Examples of shunt reactor installation
(For designations see Fig. 1) (from Fig. 7a) and L* the equivalent load side shunt reactor
inductance Fig. 7b. V , is kb.Vo.
With damping considered, the maximum magnitude of the re-
ignition overvoltage to ground ( k pu) is given by the equa-
P
tion
+
k , = 1 p(1+ k,)
where p is the damping factor whose value will not normally
exceed 0.5.
The voltage breakdown at a reignition creates a steep voltage
transient that is imposed on the shunt reactor. Since the volt-
age breakdown in the circuit breaker is practically instantane-
ous, the steepness is solely determined by the frequency of
the reignition transient (second parallel oscillation) which de- CB
pends only on the system / station layout (CpCL. L in Fig.
1, see also Fig. 3). The frequency of the second paralkl oscil-
lation may be in the order of 50 kHz up to 1 MHz. This steep
-+zh-r&
transient may be unevenly distributed across the shunt reactor
winding and overstressing of the entrance turns of the wind-
ing could occur.
The maximum peak-to-peak excursion voltage of the reigni-
tion transient (k, pu) is given by
k, = ( 1 + B ) ( 1 + k u ) U I
Recoverv voltage across circuit breaker. T C G
The transient recovery voltage across the breaker following I
--
interruption is the difference between the source side and the Fig. 5. General diagram of a shunt reactor arrangement
load side voltages (see Fig. 2 and 3). If no reignition occurs,
the per unit crest value of the transient recovery voltage (k,.,, CB circuit breaker
pu) is phase to phase capacitance of connection
and shunt reactor
CG phase to ground capacitance
k," = 1 + k, L shunt reactor inductance
LN neutral reactor reactance
 885

Compared to the solidly grounded shunt reactor, the highest

chopping overvoltage to ground is not k, but - due to the
neutral voltage shift - k, (refer to Fig. 6).
a t For directly grounded reactors (K-1)the formula can be ap-
plied to any phase. For ungrounded or reactor grounded re-
actors, the equations apply to the first-pole-to clear. However
it can be assumed that the chopping overvoltages are lower
for the second and third pole to clear due to no or smaller
neutral voltage shift and lower stored energy at current chop-
ping.
Time
Table 2 lists the various overvoltage factors for solidly
grounded , ungrounded and reactor grounded shunt reactors.
For the designation of these factors refer to Fig. 6.

5. RELATED PHENOMENA
Fig. 6. General schematic for chopping and reignition overvoltages
as well as TRV for the general case of Fig. 5.
Interaction between ohases.
Due to mutual coupling between the individual phases, the in-
1
:CLv; 1
=-CL[(l+K)vo]2 +-$&
1 2 * teraction manifests itself in the form of beating of the recov-
ery voltage oscillation. The degree of beating is dependent on
2 2 the length of the connection between the circuit breaker and
the reactor and on the type of the shunt reactor. When the cir-
cuit breaker is located close to the shunt reactor, the interac-
tion is minimal or nonexistent (see Fig. Sa). For long connec-
tion length, beating of the recovery voltage will occur as
shown in Fig. Sb due to the phase to phase capacitance C
$-

d
k, = ( l + K ) I+---K
1 3"
( i + K ) 20Q
High freauencv current intenuotion and voltarre escalation.
The occurrence of a reignition results in several modes of cur-
rent oscillations superimposed on the reestablishing of the
load current. If current zeros are produced the circuit breaker
may attempt to interrupt this current.
In the event an interruption occurs during the second parallel
or main oscillation, the oscillating energy may have changed.
A new reignition may occur close to the recovery voltage
peak, and if the energy has increased, the reignition voltage
may be higher than at the first reignition. This procedure may
be repeated several times with increasing voltage magnitudes.
This is referred to as "voltage escalation" and is a significant

-1
characteristic of vacuum circuit breakers due to the ability to
i o =system peak phase to
- ground voltage interrupt high frequency currents. Other circuit breaker types
may interrupt high frequency currents especially when the
frequency of the reignition current is less than approximately
70 kHz and normally only at lower amplitudes.
CB

I I 1
Vd,.ive = Vo + neutral shift (K x V,)
vo (I+K)
Fig. 7. Diagram for the calculation ofko
a) General diagram for first pole to clear
b) Equivalent diagram
6. OVERVOLTAGE LIMITATION
= Surge arresters at the shunt reactor terminals to ground will
limit the chopping gvervoltages. They will operate only if the
overvoltage is higher then the arrester protective level. The
energy the arresters have to absorb, even for the highest pos-
sible chopped current, is an order of magnitude less than the
line discharge energy, and is of no significancc.
886
TABLE 2. SUMMARY OF OVERVOLTAGE FACTORS FOR GROUNDED, UNGROUNDED AND REAC-
TOR GROUNDED REACTORS
I grounded reactor ungrounded reactor i reactor grounded reactor (general formula)
.................... <..............................................................................................................................

k, j

G 1 . 5 1 s - 0.5
................. :................................................................... .......................................................................................................... <..............................................................................................................................

I 1
K j0 1.5 L
2+-
..... ...... -........
LN
kc 1 ak,
.....................................................................................
0.5+a(k, +0.5)
..........................................................................................................
j K+X(~,+K)
& ........................................................................................................

FI'V ]+aka 1.5+a(k, + O S ) fl+K)+a(k,+K)

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

1 + p11.5 + a(ka+ 0.5)j . 1 +p[(1 + K ) + a ( k , + K)]

(1 + p)[ 1.5+ a(k, + 0.511 ! +K)]
(l+P)[(l+K)+a(k,..............................................................
i

k, + 0.5 j k,+K
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

cx is the damping factor associated with the chopping overvoltage oscillation and is in the order of 0.9. A conserva-
tive approach is to assume a =I.
p is the damping factor associated with the reignition overvoltage oscillation and can be assumed to be 0.5.

High chopping overvoltages can be limited by installing Reignitions in modern circuit breakers can be eliminated by
opening resistors and associated resistor switches across the controlled opening of the circuit breaker. Contact parting will
main interrupters of the circuit breakers. Such opening resis- take place at such an instant as to achieve arcing times suffi-
tors are seldom used for modem SF6 circuit breakers since ciently longer than the minimum arcing time. The circuit
the chopping overvoltages are much lower than for air-blast breaker will interrupt the current at the first current zero after
breakers. contact parting but the contact gap will have sufficient dielec-
Metal oxide arresters applied across the circuit breaker can be tric strength to avoid reignitions.
used to limit the reignition overvoltages. Such arresters limit
the magnitude of the transient recovery voltage across the cir-
cuit breaker and consequently also the reignition transients.
Furthermore the probability of occurrence of reignition is re-
duced.

1 .
Load side voltage
Load side voltage

n -
/ Shunt reactor current
*

Shunt reactor current

Fig. Sa. Load side oscillation with circuit breaker located close to Fig. 8b. Load side oscillation with circuit breaker located remote
the shunt reactor from the shunt reactor

7. TESTING ASPECTS
It is hardly possible to perform laboratory tests with real
shunt reactors. The purpose of laboratory tests is mainly to
determine the chopping number of a single interrupter of the
circuit breaker. Further the probability of reignitions can be
estimated by searching for the, minimum arcing time. The Ap-
plication Guide presents in an annex how to apply laboratory
tests to actual shunt reactor installations.
8. CIRCUIT BREAKER SPECIFICATION
The specification of circuit breakers for shunt reactor swit-
ching is described in the guide. Given the interactive nature
of the duty, the user must provide electrical details not only
of the voltage, the current level to be switched and the shunt
reactor grounding arrangement, but also of the characteristics
of the complete load side circuit, e.g. the shunt reactor and
the connection arrangement between the circuit breaker and
the shunt reactor. Overvoltage limit specification is an impor-
tant issue and warrants some discussion in this paper.
Shunt reactors can be described electrically in terms of their
inductance and inherent parallel capacitance. Typical values
for MV to EHV are given in an annex to the guide. Induc-
tance values range from less than 100 mH at MV to 10 H at
EHV. Corresponding natural frequencies range from 40 kHz
or less to 5 kHz or less. The inherent capacitance for oil-filled
reactors is fairly constant; for dry-type reactors, the capaci-
tance is 3 to 4 times lower than for oil-filled reactors and the
natural frequencies will be correspondingly higher.
The connection arrangement contributes electrically to the
duty through its capacitance (the series inductance of the con-
necting buswork also contributes, but only to the reignition
circuit which is not a specification matter as discussed be-
low). Typical capacitance values for buswork, supporting in-
sulators, instrument transformers etc. are provided in an an-
nex to the guide. The sum total of these capacitances, togeth-
er with the inherent capacitance of the reactor, constitutes the
effective capacitance to ground of the load side circuit.
The application guide recommends that the specified limita-
tion for the suppression peak overvoltage be 2 pu for EHV
and HV applications and 2.5 pu for MV applications. This is
a legitimate specification requirement for the circuit breaker
manufacturer to meet despite the interactive nature of the du-
ty. Reason: for a given application, reactor rated Q . it has
been shown that the suppression peak overvoltage is depen-
dent only on the chopping number, which is a characteristic
of the circuit breaker. In contrast, reignition overvoltages are
dependent on the interaction between the circuit breaker and
the user's system and load side circuit arrangement. No spe-
cific limitation with respect to these overvoltages should,
therefore, be stated. The calculation of reignition overvoltage
levels is described in the guide.
887
9. CONCLUDING REMARKS
This paper presents a summary of the main part of the Appli-
cation Guide on Shunt Reactor Switching, which includes al-
so a bibliography with published articles, and part of the an-
nexes. Annexes A to F of the Application Guide contain addi-
tional information on the subject, namely
Annex A Shunt reactor characteristics
Annex B: System and station characteristics
Annex C: General derivation of chopping and reignition over-
voltages
Annex D: Oscillation modes
Annex E: Application of laboratory test results to actual reac-
tor installations
Annex F: Statistical formulas for derivation of chopping and
reignition reignition overvoltages.
10. REFERENCES
[ I ] IEEE Standard C37.015 - 1993
Application Guide for Shunt Reactor Switching
[2] IEC Technical Report (Publication 1233).
Application Guide for Shunt Reactor Switching
The IEEE Standard C37.015 - 1993 contains a large number of ref-
erences related to the switching of shunt reactors.
1 1. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors acknowledge the dedicated effort of the Working Group
on Shunt Reactor Switching that developed and wrote the applica-
tion guide.The Working Group had the following membership: D.F.
Peelo (chair), S.S. Bemeryd, J.A. Bonner, J.H. Brunke, R.D. Gar-
zon, K.I. Gray, S.R. Lambert, A.K. McCabe, D.E. Parr, G.O. Per-
kins, E.M. Ruoss, G. Seyrling, H.M. Smith, D.L. Swindler and T.J.
Tobin.
12. BIOGRAPHIES
D.F. Peelo received his B.E. degree from University College Dublin
in 1965. He joined ASEA after graduation, working in the High
Voltage Laboratory of the Power Transmission Products division in
Ludvika, Sweden. In 1973 he joined BC Hydro working first in the
Quality control and Inspection Department and later in the Stations
Engineering Division, where he is currently a Specialist engineer re-
sponsible for the procurement and application of switchgear and
surge arresters. He is a Fellow of the IEE and a Senior Member of
the IEEE, and at present is the Vice-Chair, Standards Coordination
of the IEEE PES Switchgear Committee.
E. M. Ruoss received his diploma in Electrical Engineering from
the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland in
1952. He joined Brown Boveri, Baden, Switzerland, as development
engineer in the High Power Laboratory. After working for 2 years in
the US he became in 1963 manager of the High Power Laboratory
engaged in the development of circuit breakers. From 1976 he was
in charge of circuit breaker application and system studies and head
of a study group. At present he is consulting engineer to ABB High
Voltage Technologies Ltd., Switzerland.
He is a Life Fellow of IEEE, member of the IEEE High Voltage Cir-
cuit Breaker Subcommittee and active in IEEE Working Groups.
From 1984 to 1990 he was chairman of CIGRE Study Committee
13, Switchgear, and is Honorary Member of CIGRE.