US-12618903-B2 - System and methods for measuring arc duration

US12618903B2US 12618903 B2US12618903 B2US 12618903B2US-12618903-B2

Abstract

An example method of estimating an arc duration in a circuit breaker includes receiving a first measurement corresponding to a low-frequency electric field emitted from a vacuum circuit breaker during an interruption or circuit break operation and a second measurement corresponding to a low-frequency magnetic field, vibration, or acoustic emitted by the vacuum circuit breaker during operation, aligning the first measurement and the second measurement in time, wherein the first measurement is calibrated according to a first physical constant and wherein the second measurement is calibrated according to a second physical constant; and determining, by a sensor-fusion algorithm or a trained AI model, an estimated duration value of an arc duration using the time-aligned first measurement and second measurement, wherein the arc duration corresponds to a first time corresponding to a separation of contacts of the vacuum circuit breaker and a second time corresponding to arc extinction.

Inventors

Ning Guo
Abdul Raheem Beyah
Morris Cohen
Lukas Graber
Roderick Gray
Samuel Neall
Kevin Whitmore

Assignees

GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240429

Claims (20)

1 . A method of determining arc duration in a circuit breaker, the method comprising: receiving (i) a first measurement corresponding to a low-frequency electric field emitted from the circuit breaker during an interruption or circuit break operation and (ii) a second measurement corresponding to the low-frequency magnetic field, vibration, or acoustic emitted by the circuit breaker during operation, wherein the first measurement is acquired by an electric-field sensor, wherein the second measurement is acquired by a magnetic-field or acoustic sensor, wherein the first measurement and the second measurement are contemporaneously acquired; aligning the first measurement and the second measurement in time, wherein the first measurement is calibrated according to a first physical constant and wherein the second measurement is calibrated according to a second physical constant; and determining, by a sensor-fusion algorithm or a trained AI model, an estimated duration value of an arc duration occurring at the circuit breaker using the time-aligned first measurement and second measurement, wherein the arc duration corresponds to a first time corresponding to a separation of contacts (i.e., arc initiation) of the circuit breaker and a second time corresponding to arc extinction (e.g., when current is zero), wherein the estimated duration value of the arc duration is employed, or accumulated with other estimated durations, to determine a contact erosion analysis, life analysis, or remaining life analysis of the circuit breaker.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first measurement comprises a low-frequency electric field signal, and wherein the second measurement comprises a low-frequency magnetic field signal.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first measurement comprises a low-frequency electric field signal, and wherein the second measurement comprises a low-frequency vibration signal.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first measurement comprises a low-frequency electric field signal, and wherein the second measurement comprises an acoustic signal.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the trained AI model comprises a 1D CNN model (e.g., multi-input 1D CNN model).
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first measurement is acquired via a dipole antenna positioned a distance from the circuit breaker.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second measurement is acquired via a magnetic field coil antenna, a microphone, an accelerometer, or a combination thereof.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second measurement is acquired by a microphone, and the microphone is insulated on a shock mount to decouple seismic (vibration) waves from sound waves associated with the interruption or circuit break operation.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the circuit breaker is employed for distribution load switching, fault protection, or capacitor bank insertion and disconnection.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimated duration value is employed in a subsequent arc energy/duration-based contact erosion analysis.
11 . A system comprising: a processor; and a memory having instructions stored thereon, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor causes the processor to: receive (i) a first measurement corresponding to a low-frequency electric field emitted from circuit breaker during an interruption or circuit break operation and (ii) a second measurement corresponding to the low-frequency magnetic field, vibration, or acoustic emitted by the circuit breaker during operation, wherein the first measurement is acquired by an electric-field sensor, wherein the second measurement is acquired by a magnetic-field or acoustic sensor, wherein the first measurement and the second measurement are contemporaneously acquired; align the first measurement and the second measurement in time, wherein the first measurement is calibrated according to a first physical constant and wherein the second measurement is calibrated according to a second physical constant; and determine, by a sensor-fusion algorithm or a trained AI model, an estimated duration value of an arc duration occurring at the circuit breaker using the time-aligned first measurement and second measurement, wherein the arc duration corresponds to a first time corresponding to a separation of contacts (i.e., arc initiation) of the circuit breaker and a second time corresponding to arc extinction (e.g., when current is zero), wherein the estimated duration value of the arc duration is employed, or accumulated with other estimated durations, to determine a contact erosion analysis, life analysis, or remaining life analysis of the circuit breaker.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first measurement comprises a low-frequency electric field signal, and wherein the second measurement comprises a low-frequency magnetic field signal.
13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first measurement comprises a low-frequency electric field signal, and wherein the second measurement comprises a low-frequency vibration signal.
14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first measurement comprises a low-frequency electric field signal, and wherein the second measurement comprises a low-frequency acoustic signal.
15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the trained AI model comprises a 1D CNN model (e.g., multi-input 1D CNN model).
16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first measurement is acquired via a dipole antenna positioned a distance from the circuit breaker.
17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the second measurement is acquired via a magnetic field coil antenna, a microphone, an accelerometer, or a combination thereof.
18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the second measurement is acquired by a microphone, and the microphone is insulated on a shock mount to decouple seismic (vibration) waves from sound waves associated with the interruption or circuit break operation.
19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimated duration value is employed in a subsequent arc energy/duration-based contact erosion analysis.
20 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein execution of the instructions by a processor causes the processor to: receive (i) a first measurement corresponding to a low-frequency electric field emitted from a circuit breaker during an interruption or circuit break operation and (ii) a second measurement corresponding to the low-frequency magnetic field, vibration, or acoustic emitted by the circuit breaker during operation, wherein the first measurement is acquired by an electric-field sensor, wherein the second measurement is acquired by a magnetic-field or acoustic sensor, wherein the first measurement and the second measurement are contemporaneously acquired; align the first measurement and the second measurement in time, wherein the first measurement is calibrated according to a first physical constant and wherein the second measurement is calibrated according to a second physical constant; and determine, by a sensor-fusion algorithm or a trained AI model, an estimated duration value of an arc duration occurring at the circuit breaker using the time-aligned first measurement and second measurement, wherein the arc duration corresponds to a first time corresponding to a separation of contacts (i.e., arc initiation) of the circuit breaker and a second time corresponding to arc extinction (e.g., when current is zero), wherein the estimated duration value of the arc duration is employed, or accumulated with other estimated durations, to determine a contact erosion analysis, life analysis, or remaining life analysis of the circuit breaker.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/499,062, filed Apr. 28, 2023, entitled “System and Methods for Measuring Arc Duration of Vacuum Circuit Breakers,” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT This invention was made with government support under grant no. 1929580 awarded by the National Science Foundation. The government has certain rights in the invention. BACKGROUND Vacuum interrupters are installed in the power grid for a wide variety of uses. With an increasing share of distributed generation, they see more switching operations, which makes them more susceptible to contact wear and reduced life expectancy. Studies have shown the relationship between arc duration and contact mass loss during load switching as well as the application of accumulative arc duration in contact wear estimation and circuit breaker condition-based maintenance. There is a benefit to improving sensors for reliably monitoring and/or measuring circuit breaker switching. SUMMARY Systems, methods, and devices are described herein for sensing the operation of electrical equipment using multi-fusion approaches. Example embodiments of the present disclosure include systems, methods, and devices for detecting electrical arcs and/or determining the duration of electrical arcs. Electrical arcs can form when two energized electrical contacts separate, and the voltage between the contacts ionizes air (or other material) between the contacts to allow electricity to flow through the ions between the separated contacts. Electrical arcs can generate large amounts of heat and can be damaging both to equipment and workers. An exemplary method is described herein that can be used to determine and/or estimate arc duration in circuit breakers. The example method described herein can be used, for example, to improve estimates/measurements of circuit breaker contact erosion. Contact erosion can be used as a factor for predicting circuit breaker reliability and/or lifespan. The exemplary method includes sensor fusion algorithms and/or AI (artificial intelligence) models that improve the detection of electrical arcs and/or measurement of electrical arcs (e.g., arc duration), allowing for non-invasive sensing of arc duration. In an aspect, a method is disclosed of determining arc duration in a circuit breaker (e.g., vacuum interrupters, SF6 circuit breaker, etc.), the method comprising: receiving (i) a first measurement corresponding to a low-frequency electric field emitted from a circuit breaker during an interruption or circuit break operation and (ii) a second measurement corresponding to the low-frequency magnetic field, vibration, or acoustic emitted by the circuit breaker during operation, wherein the first measurement is acquired by an electric-field sensor, wherein the second measurement is acquired by a magnetic-field or acoustic sensor, wherein the first measurement and the second measurement are contemporaneously acquired; aligning the first measurement and the second measurement in time, wherein the first measurement is calibrated according to a first physical constant and wherein the second measurement is calibrated according to a second physical constant; and determining, by a sensor-fusion algorithm or a trained AI model, an estimated duration value of an arc duration occurring at the circuit breaker using the time-aligned first measurement and second measurement, wherein the arc duration corresponds to a first time corresponding to a separation of contacts (i.e., arc initiation) of the circuit breaker and a second time corresponding to arc extinction (e.g., when current is zero), wherein the estimated duration value of the arc duration is employed, or accumulated with other estimated durations, to determine a contact erosion analysis, life analysis, or remaining life analysis of the circuit breaker. In some embodiments, the first measurement comprises a low-frequency electric field signal, wherein the second measurement comprises a low-frequency magnetic field signal. In some embodiments, the first measurement comprises a low-frequency electric field signal, wherein the second measurement comprises a low-frequency vibration signal. In some embodiments, the first measurement comprises a low-frequency electric field signal, wherein the second measurement comprises a low-frequency acoustic signal. In some embodiments, the trained AI model comprises a 1D CNN (one-dimensional convolutional neural network) model (e.g., multi-input 1D CNN model). In some embodiments, the first measurement is acquired via a dipole antenna positioned a distance from the circuit breaker. In some embodiments, the second measurement is acquired via a magnetic field coil antenna, a microphone, an accelerometer, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the microphone is insulated on a shock mount to d