Outdoor high-voltage vacuum circuit breaker (column vacuum circuit breaker) has an absolute advantage in the medium voltage field (12-40.5kv), and has been temporarily exposed in the high-voltage field (72.5-252kv), so its development prospect is promising. In China, medium voltage vacuum circuit breakers accounted for 99.39% of medium voltage switches in 2009. High voltage vacuum circuit breaker has also been developed and put into operation at 72.5 ~ 126kV level. Abroad, many countries and companies are developing high-voltage vacuum circuit breakers, and some products have been put into operation for many years, such as Japan, South Korea, the United States, Germany, Russia, etc. According to statistics, 3350 72-252kv vacuum circuit breakers have been used in Japan's power transmission system. At present, the high-voltage vacuum circuit breaker has reached 145kV single break and 168kv double break. Now it is developing products with higher voltage level. The products have tank type and porcelain column type in structure. China has made porcelain column 126kV high-voltage vacuum circuit breaker, while Japan's 168kv vacuum circuit breaker adopts tank type structure. For the outdoor insulation of vacuum arc extinguishing, low pressure SF6 gas (internal charging pressure 0.12mpa) and dry pressure air are used as external insulation.

It is worth mentioning that two mainstream manufacturers of high-voltage switches in China have recently developed porcelain column vacuum circuit breakers, such as the 126kV vacuum circuit breaker successfully completed by Xidian company in 2010, which has passed the acceptance of the Ministry of science and technology. The arc extinguishing chamber of the product adopts longitudinal magnetic field coil structure and copper chromium contact material with high breaking capacity and good fusion welding resistance. The vacuum interrupter is the first product with complete intellectual property rights in China, and its technical level is at the international advanced level. The other is Pinggao group, which not only vigorously develops high-voltage and high-capacity SF6 circuit breakers, but also seizes the opportunity to develop high-voltage vacuum circuit breakers. In November 2011, the group carried out lw55-72.5 tank type SF6 circuit breaker

Zw55-63 high voltage vacuum circuit breaker, zw55-2 × Four new products of type 31.5 and zw55-31.5 vacuum circuit breakers have been identified by the state, and have generally reached the international advanced level.

At the Hannover Expo in 2011, Siemens exhibited that the traditional SF6 circuit breaker was replaced by 72.5kV vacuum circuit breaker with nitrogen filled (N2) insulation, which shows that Siemens began to pay attention to the research and development of outdoor high-voltage vacuum circuit breaker. At high voltage level, the research and development of vacuum circuit breaker is the need of the development of the situation, which can greatly reduce the use of SF6 greenhouse gas, is conducive to environmental protection and reduce the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere. At the same time, the high-voltage vacuum circuit breaker has good low-temperature resistance, which can avoid the liquefaction of SF6 gas in alpine areas. It is the best choice for high-voltage circuit breakers in alpine areas. A series of technical problems need to be solved in the research and development of high voltage vacuum circuit breaker: high voltage vacuum insulation, high current vacuum breaking, rated current and temperature rise, mechanical characteristics, vacuum arc extinguishing outdoor insulation and capacitive current breaking, small inductive current breaking, etc. The solution of these technical problems promotes the progress of vacuum circuit breaker technology. However, the development of outdoor high voltage vacuum circuit breaker is in the ascendant, and research work needs to be vigorously carried out.