Meeting the requirements of smart grid automation, informatization, interactivity, and digitalization for vacuum circuit breakers has become a hot topic. From the user's perspective, intelligent vacuum circuit breakers, in addition to the general functions of vacuum circuit breakers, should also possess sensing, judgment, and execution capabilities. They should not only be able to sensitively and accurately acquire large amounts of surrounding information, analyze and process this information, issue execution commands, and monitor the process, but also provide effective feedback on the analysis results and perform necessary operations. Therefore, intelligent vacuum circuit breakers face three key technical challenges:
The first technical challenge is realizing the sensing function. This is the foundation of intelligence, and its realization relies on modern sensor technology to acquire information such as voltage, current, insulation (partial discharge), distance, speed, and temperature. The sensor converts this information into various signals that can be identified and processed. These signals can accurately, reliably, and sensitively reflect changes in information. In addition to having high quality and high reliability, the sensor should also be adaptable to the circuit breaker's working environment, small in size, and easy to install.
The second technical challenge is realizing the intelligent judgment function. This is the core of intelligence, and its realization relies on modern electronic, computer, and communication technologies. The intelligent controller receives inputs from sensing functions, feedback from execution functions, and control information from the system. By integrating this information, the intelligent controller can automatically identify the circuit breaker's operating status, automatically adjust its operation, automatically record key information, and automatically diagnose the circuit breaker's components and operations—all through intelligent judgment. The intelligent controller's output provides operational instructions to the execution functions and circuit breaker operating status information to the system. In addition to intelligent judgment, the intelligent controller must also possess high reliability, long lifespan, and strong resistance to electromagnetic interference.
The third technical challenge is implementing the execution function. This function must reliably operate according to the control commands issued by the controller, completing the closing and opening of the circuit breaker; simultaneously, it must possess high reliability, long lifespan, and small size. Currently developed and applied permanent magnet operating mechanisms can largely meet the execution function requirements of intelligent circuit breakers.
