Rest easy this winter with the Breaker Blankit, a custom-designed system that protects your SF6 circuit breakers from cold temperatures. With a combination of electric heat and weatherproof insulation for tank and instrument line, Breaker Blankit eliminates many of the problems caused by cold weather operation of dead tank SF6 circuit breakers. This retrofit system attacks head-on one of the most serious situations confronting utilities in cold northern climates. The Breaker Blankit system is custom designed and fitted for each tank. Manufactured from Teflon impregnated fiberglass fabric and insulation rated R8, the blanket is resistant to weather and ultraviolet rays. It sheds water and is impervious to common solvents. The inert insulation system, used for years as a successful protection for petrochemical pipelines in harsh outdoor environments, is capable of withstanding 1000°F. The Breaker Blankit is designed for use with the self-protected Watlow heater, which is equipped with set points easily adjustable in the field. These thermostatic controls utilize the latest in PID (proportional, integral and derivative) technology to insure precision protection, prevent alarms and lockouts and deliver efficient, targeted heat at the exact moment you need it. The breaker insulation and heaters can be purchased and used separately. To install the Breaker Blankit to a tank takes two to three hours per circuit, depending upon the breaker style. With the ease of Velcro and "D" ring attachments, you can install the whole system while the circuit breaker is in service. Breaker Blankit Benefits: energy savings reduced 'false alarms' designed for permanent installation lower station electric demand heaters and thermal blankets designed for long life insulation and heating system designed for a 30°C temperature rise insulation system's dark gray color closely matches ANSI 70 best of all, you can put it on once and forget about it. Background: Like other cold-weather utilities, Minnesota Power experiences extremely low temperatures and the resultant stresses on its electrical apparatus. Although many of the utility's SF6 circuit breakers are specified to be operational down to -50° C, alarms and lockouts have been a source of problems. An extreme cold snap descended upon the utility's northern Minnesota service territory during the first week of February, 1996. As temperatures in the region plunged to a new state record of -60° F, Minnesota Power experienced ongoing difficulties with SF6 circuit breakers even though they were equipped with heating systems supplied by the manufacturers. During this week, breaker alarms went off 22 times and three SF6 circuit breakers locked out on a critical inter-tie. Minnesota Power engineers immediately resolved to correct this serious problem. In collaboration with NI Supply and Watlow Electric Manufacturing, the Breaker Blankit system was developed. Utilities in northern climates are faced with three problems in extremely cold situations: defective sensors, breakers low on gas, or breaker SF6 either liquefying or solidifying. In any case, a service worker must be called out to verify whether a valid alarm has occurred. The Breaker Blankit system can eliminate nuisance alarms caused by inadequate heating system performance compounded by severe wind chill. Thermal protection from the insulation blanket backed up by the low-wattage, long-life heat system provides the ultimate in breaker gas performance. And remember, Breaker Blankit's sophisticated heater system requires less energy to operate because the circuit breakers are blanketed in insulation.

Breaker Blankit: Put it on and forget about it.

Click on figures above to expand