About Vacuum Technology The modern vacuum technology has many advantages over conventional and oil type systems. Large amounts of oil circuit breakers (OCBs) are now being exchanged for up-to-date vacuum circuit breakers. The di-electric strength of of vacuum is very high compared to that of oil and with faster rise of di-electric strength, vacuum quenches the arc in a small contact gap. Because of this short contact travel, the drive energy required to operate a vacuum breaker mechanism is also less compared to oil. The mechanism thus becomes simpler with less moving linkages, leading to a practically maintenance free and longer lasting lasting circuit breaker. The mechanical life of the vacuum breaker is 30,000, whereas oil is less than 10,000. Retrofit from Oil to Vacuum Today the retrofit is becoming widely accepted as the means for customers to update from oil based technology to vacuum technology. Retrofitting has some obvious advantages in that the customer is able to upgrade without the cost of changing entire equipment installations. |
