Monitoring system for a mechanically driven circuit breaker

A monitoring system for a mechanically driven circuit breaker, the circuit breaker comprising a fixed contact and a movable contact and a main actuator, wherein in a first state of the circuit breaker the moveable contact is spaced from the fixed contact and in a second state of the circuit breaker the moveable contact is in contact with the fixed contact, and wherein the main actuator is configured to transition the circuit breaker from the second state to the first state, wherein an opening shaft of the main actuator when activated enables the main actuator to operate a main shaft of the circuit breaker to transition the circuit breaker from the second state to the first state, and wherein the monitoring system comprises:

• an actuation device;
• at least one sensor;
• and
• a processing unit;
• wherein the actuation device is configured to apply a micro-motion to the opening shaft of the main actuator involved in transitioning the circuit breaker from the second state to the first state without the circuit breaker transitioning from the second state to first state;
• wherein the at least one sensor is configured to acquire sensor data associated with the application of the micro-motion to the opening shaft of the main actuator, wherein the sensor data comprises rotational movement data of the opening shaft of the main actuator;
• wherein the at least one sensor is configured to provide the sensor data to the processing unit;
• wherein the processing unit is configured to determine whether the circuit breaker has a fault, wherein the determination of whether the circuit breaker has a fault comprises utilization of the sensor data.

A monitoring method for a mechanically driven circuit breaker, the circuit breaker comprising a fixed contact and a movable contact and a main actuator, wherein in a first state of the circuit breaker the moveable contact is spaced from the fixed contact and in a second state of the circuit breaker the moveable contact is in contact with the fixed contact, and wherein the main actuator is configured to transition the circuit breaker from the first state to the second state, wherein a closing shaft of the main actuator when activated enables the main actuator to operate a main shaft of the circuit breaker to transition the circuit breaker from the first state to the second state, and wherein the monitoring method comprises:

• applying by an actuation device a micro-motion to the closing shaft of the main actuator involved in transitioning the circuit breaker from the first state to the second state without the circuit breaker transitioning from the first state to second state;
• acquiring, by at least one sensor, sensor-data associated with the application of the micro-motion to the closing shaft of the main actuator, wherein the sensor data comprises rotational movement data of the closing shaft of the main actuator;
• providing by the at least one sensor the sensor-data to a processing unit;
• and
• determining by the processing unit whether the circuit breaker has a fault, wherein the determining whether the circuit breaker has a fault comprises utilizing the sensor-data.

A monitoring method for a mechanically driven circuit breaker, the circuit breaker comprising a fixed contact and a movable contact and a main actuator, wherein in a first state of the circuit breaker the moveable contact is spaced from the fixed contact and in a second state of the circuit breaker the moveable contact is in contact with the fixed contact, and wherein the main actuator is configured to transition the circuit breaker from the second state to the first state, wherein an opening shaft of the main actuator when activated enables the main actuator to operate a main shaft of the circuit breaker to transition the circuit breaker from the second state to the first state, and wherein the monitoring method comprises:

• applying by an actuation device a micro-motion to a part of the main actuator involved in transitioning the circuit breaker from the second state to the first state without the circuit breaker transitioning from the second state to first state;
• acquiring by at least one sensor sensor-data associated with the application of the micro-motion to the part of the main actuator, wherein the sensor data comprises rotational movement data of the opening shaft of the main actuator;
• providing by the at least one sensor the sensor-data to a processing unit;
• and
• determining by the processing unit if the circuit breaker has a fault, wherein the determining if the circuit breaker has a fault comprises utilizing the sensor data.