This application is the US-national stage of PCT application PCT/EP2014/070585 filed 26 Sep. 2014 and claiming the priority of German patent application 102013110652.8 itself filed 26 Sep. 2013.
The present invention relates to a switching arrangement with a preselector and optionally a polarity circuit for selectable connection of a plurality of windings of a power transformer, i.e. a transformer with a power of at least 100 kilowatts, preferably with a power of more than 1 megawatt.
Such a transformer can comprise a plurality of windings arranged in a regulating transformer, for example as at least one primary winding and at least one regulating winding with a plurality of winding taps. In the switching arrangement according to the invention the preselector is provided for the purpose of connecting a first winding of the transformer selectably with one of the two ends of a second winding for subtractive or additive coupling of the windings. In addition, the switching arrangement according to the invention has a polarity circuit that connects a defined point of the second winding, for example a center tap or one of the two end taps, with the first winding or a load diverter by a polarity resistance. The idea of the polarity circuit is to bring the second winding to a defined potential. A circuit of that kind is also known from DE 32 24 860. The polarity circuit with the polarity resistance has the consequence of a significantly smaller arc formation during switching over of the preselector, which in the case of tap changers in an oil bath environment leads to a significantly smaller induction of gas into the oil bath. However, a loss current constantly flows by the polarity resistance, which has the consequence that the polarity resistance heats and can lead to heating of the surrounding oil medium and in addition the effectiveness of the transformer is reduced.
It is therefore an object of the invention to create a tap changer that allows arc-free switching-over of the preselector with lower losses than in the case of the prior art.
According to the invention this object is attained by a switching arrangement with a preselector for a power transformer having a plurality of windings is proposed, wherein the preselector is constructed for the purpose of connecting at least one first winding selectably with one of the two end contacts of at least one second winding, usually a regulating winding.
According to the invention, at least one first switch is arranged in the connection between the preselector and the first winding. By means of this first switch the preselector can be decoupled from the first winding during the switching over so that gas-free switching over of the preselector is possible. For that purpose, the first switch is preferably actuated before switching-over of the switching element of the preselector.
Use is preferably made for the first switch of switches that themselves switch in gas-free manner, such as, for example, semiconductor switches, varistors, vacuum switches and thermistors. These switches can also be combined with one another and/or with mechanical load switches, preferably in a parallel circuit. Thus, for example, the first switch can be formed by a parallel connection of a first mechanical load switch with a vacuum switch or by a parallel connection of a varistor with a vacuum switch.
For preference the first switch is or includes a vacuum switch. Vacuum switches have proved themselves in the power field as switching elements that switch free of gas and reliably. They can also be arranged in an oil bath together with a power transformer. These vacuum switches are as a rule constructed as vacuum interrupters.
The first switch can preferably be formed by a diode circuit or include a diode circuit. This is particularly advantageous for circuits in which switching takes place at the zero transition of the alternating voltage.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention the part, which is connected with the first winding, of the first switch is grounded by a varistor and/or a capacitor and/or an RLC network and/or combinations of RLC networks and varistors. In this way it is possible to dissipate high-frequency return voltages that arise when the switching arrangement is in a load-free state during the switching-over of the preselector.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention a polarity circuit connects a defined point of the second winding with the first winding during switching over of the preselector. The defined point can preferably be the center tap of the second winding or selectably one of the two end taps of the second winding. However, in principle it is possible to make use of any point of the second winding. In addition, according to the invention at least one second switch is connected or connectable into the connection of the polarity circuit with the first winding. In this way, the advantages described above in connection with the switching-over of the preselector are realized by the arrangement of the first switch even the polarity circuit is switched by means of the second switch. Thus, the polarity circuit is also switched in gas-free manner by means of the second switch. As second switch, use can be made of any of the switch types described above in connection with the first switch.
For preference the first switch also forms the second switch and is thus selectably connectable into the connection of the preselector with the first winding and into the connection of the polarity circuit with the first winding. This has the advantage that only one switch has to be used for the first and second switches. However, a separate switch, for example a vacuum switch, can also be arranged for each of these connections (preselector, polarity circuit).
The connection of the defined point of the second winding with the first winding of the transformer by means of the polarity circuit has the consequence that on switching over of the preselector the defined point lies at the same potential as the first winding. The polarity circuit is switched on and off for the switching-over of the preselector by the second switch. The switching process takes place in arc-free manner by virtue of the second switch. In addition, the switching-over, i.e. the separating and connecting of the preselector, in that regard takes place initially by a vacuum switch and only after actuation of the vacuum switch is the switching element of the preselector, for example a reverser, actuated. Thus, a potential-free and thereby completely arc-free switching over of the preselector can be realized by means of the invention. Not only the polarity circuit, but also the preselector can in that case have an individual vacuum switch or, by an appropriate circuit, they can use a vacuum switch in common, which is possible because the switching processes of the polarity circuit and the preselector can take place separately in time.
If not only the preselector, but also the polarity circuit have an individual switch, for example vacuum switch, these can, for example, be coupled together in a mechanical or electrical manner, which increases operational reliability.
The polarity circuit is preferably a polarity resistance or other electronic component with a defined resistance characteristic curve.
The second switch is so connected into the connection of the polarity circuit with the first winding that the polarity circuit is connected with the first winding before the switching-over of the preselector. As a result, the second winding is brought to a defined potential. The first switch in the connection of the preselector and the first winding is subsequently opened. The switching element of the preselector is now free of potential and can be switched over to the new position. After the switching-over of the preselector the first switch is closed again. By virtue of the polarity circuit the voltages/currents to be switched by the first switch of the preselector are in that case kept within limits. Finally, the second switch for connection of the polarity circuit with the first winding is opened again, as a result of which the polarity circuit is switched off again. The switching-over process of the preselector is thus concluded. The invention thus allows an almost completely gas-free actuation of the polarity circuit and also of the preselector of a switching arrangement, for example of a tap changer.
In an advantageous development of the invention the first and second switches are formed by the same switch that can be selectably connected into the connection of the preselector or the polarity circuit with the first winding. This switch is described in the following as vacuum switch, but can also be formed by another switching element according to the above explanations. For preference, the vacuum switch is connected with the first winding and a switching bridge is connected with the vacuum switch, by which bridge the vacuum switch is connectable not only with the preselector, but also with the polarity circuit. This preferred embodiment of the invention has the advantage that merely one vacuum switch, for example a vacuum interrupter, has to be provided to switch both the preselector and the polarity circuit by means of the vacuum switch. If required, the vacuum switch is then connected into the connection of the preselector with the first winding or into the connection of the polarity switch with the first winding.
In an advantageous development of the invention this switching bridge has four bridge switches, of which a first bridge switch and a second bridge switch connect the first terminal, which is connected with the first winding, of the vacuum switch with the preselector and with the polarity circuit and of which a third bridge switch and fourth bridge switch connect the second terminal of the vacuum switch with the polarity circuit and with the preselector. A bridge circuit of that kind makes it possible to connect the vacuum switch in simple manner into the connection of the polarity circuit with the first winding and into the connection of the preselector with the first winding.
In an advantageous development of the above-mentioned embodiment the first bridge switch and also the third bridge switch are coupled and also the second bridge switch and fourth bridge switch are coupled. This cross-actuation of the bridge switches of the switching bridge represents a simple way of connecting the vacuum switch into the connection of the preselector with the first winding on the one hand and into the connection of the polarity circuit with the first winding on the other hand.
The particular advantage of this embodiment of the invention resides in the fact that a single switch, for example vacuum switch, can be used for the purpose of gas-free switching of not only the preselector, but also the polarity circuit, which is a decisive step in the direction of a tap changer with gas-free operation. The freedom of actuation of a tap changer from gas is important because tap changers of that kind are usually arranged in a common oil bath together with the regulating transformer or in a separate oil bath. An arc and corresponding induction of gas during switching leads to contamination of the oil bath and thus to reduction in its insulating capability and cooling capability. As a result there is a greater need for maintenance, particularly with respect to oil exchange in the regulating transformer, which due to more focused environmental conditions constitutes an outlay and a cost factor that should not be under-estimated.
In another embodiment of the invention at least one respective separate switch, for example vacuum switch, is arranged not only in the connection of the preselector with the first winding, but also in the connection of the polarity circuit with the first winding. This embodiment does indeed need two switches, for example vacuum interrupters, but this embodiment can be realized with a lower outlay in terms of switching technology. For preference, in this embodiment the first and second switches are mechanically or electrically coupled, which enables simple control of actuation of the polarity circuit in conjunction with the switching-over of the preselector. The time sequence is, in particular, such that prior to the switching-over of the preselector firstly the polarity circuit has to connect the defined tap of the second winding with the first winding, subsequently the preselector is switched over and finally the connection of the polarity circuit is separated again. This switching sequence can be realized in simple manner by coupling of the two vacuum switches.
The vacuum switch is preferably a vacuum interrupter, which has proved in operation in conjunction with tap changers to be a switch that switches reliably and in gas-free manner.
The defined point, which is to be connected with the polarity circuit, of the second winding is preferably connected with either the center tap or selectably one of the two end taps of the second winding, in which case use can be made here of a switch that selectably connects the polarity circuit with one of the two end taps of the second winding, such as realized in, for example, DE 10 2009 060 132 [U.S. Pat. No. 8,576,038]. In principle, however, the polarity circuit can be connected with any point of the second winding.
The first and second windings can be any desired windings, for example, several primary windings of a transformer. They can also be formed at least one primary winding and at least one tap winding of a regulating transformer. In the last-mentioned case, the switching arrangement is preferably a tap changer.
The invention is described in the following by example on the basis of the schematic drawing, in which:
In particular, the bridge circuit 18 serves the purpose of connecting the regulating winding 14 with the primary winding 12, during the switching-over process of the preselector 28, by the polarity resistance 34 so as to thus keep the regulating winding 14 at a defined potential and thereby reduce the high potential differences and capacitive currents when switching over of the preselector 28 takes place. Actuation of the individual bridge switches 20 to 26 of the bridge circuit 18 during the switching-over of the preselector is described in the following in the figures
For this purpose, as illustrated in
In
In the next step according to
In the next step according to
In the next step according to FIG. if the vacuum switch 38 is opened, whereby the primary winding 12 is connected only with the center tap 36 of the regulating winding 14 by the second bridge switch 22 and the polarity resistance 34. The preselector 28 is now no longer connected with the primary winding 12, so that in the next step according to
The preselector 28 can now, as illustrated in
As shown in
After the connection of the preselector 28 by the vacuum switch 38, the first bridge switch 20 can now, as in
In the next step according to
This switching sequence makes it clear that arc-free switching of not only the preselector 28, but also of the polarity circuit during the switching-over process of the preselector 28 can be performed with only a single vacuum switch 38.
With respect to actuation of the second switch 46 this means that the second switch 46 is closed before the first switch 42 is opened. The second switch 46 is opened again only when the preselector 28 has switched over and the first switch 42 is closed again. After closing of the second switch 46, the regulating winding is connected by the polarity resistance 34 and the polarity circuit 47 with the load tapping point 19.
It is alternatively also possible to couple the actuation of the first and second vacuum switches 42, 46 by an electrical or mechanical coupling, in which case the coupling is to make possible actuation of the vacuum switches 42, 46 with an offset in time.
The switching configurations shown in
Finally,
The outer switch elements S1 and S2 are so movable by the co-operation with the stationary switch contacts 70, 72 that they can actuate the vacuum switch 108. It is thereby ensured that the separation of the switching configuration from a stationary switch contact 70, 72 always takes place by the vacuum switch 108 and thus in gas-free manner.
A switching sequence of that kind is now illustrated in
If the switch group 106 is moved in arrow direction (
The invention is not restricted to the above-described embodiments, but can be varied within the scope of protection of the following claims.
With respect to the embodiment of
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2013 110 652 | Sep 2013 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2014/070585 | 9/26/2014 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2015/044324 | 4/2/2015 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20160211090 A1 | Jul 2016 | US |