2010-08-06 - ABB recently won its first order for Disconnecting Circuit Breakers (DCBs) in Australia for the Juna Down substation project from the international mining group Rio Tinto. Key elements for Rio Tinto in choosing the DCB technology were its reduced footprint due to space restrictions imposed by the terrain around the yard and the reduction in maintenance requirements.
The 245kV DCBs ordered by Rio Tinto are part of a turnkey substation job from design to commissioning being executed by ABB and also includes in its scope high voltage capacitor banks, current transformers, surge arrestors and disconnectors The project includes the completion of a mesh swtichyard that was delivered to RTIO two years ago and is being built in conjunction with the Juna Downs SVC also being executed by ABB.
DCB is a secure and reliable technology for high voltage switchgear up to 550kV that increases the availability and reliability in the power grid while reducing environmental impact and space requirement. The DCB is based on the conventional air insulated, live tank circuit breaker and fulfills the function of one circuit breaker and disconnector - without adding any internal moving parts that require maintenance and increase the risk of failure in the apparatus and power grid.
Use of disconnecting circuit breakers (DCB) makes it possible to remove conventional disconnectors, which saves both space and equipment. In addition there are possibilities to further simplify the substation configuration compared to conventional solutions, hence a lower life cycle cost is achieved.