A Reignition Installation with Triggered Vacuum Gaps for Synthetic Fault Interruption Testing

In a high power single-phase synthetic test circuit sealed-off triggered vacuum gaps (TVG's) are applied as fast switches. To discharge both capacitor banks (150 kV, 30 kJ) in the reignition installation of that test circuit two switching elements are used with four TVG's in series each. The four TVG's are fired simultaneously by means of two trigger circuits which supply the trigger energy of 2 J each TVG requires. Both trigger circuits in the switching element are fired by two laserdiodes at ground potential. since 1980 both switching elements have been in service in the 30,000 MVA synthetic test plant at KEMA High Power Laboratories