Abstract
In electric distribution systems, a parallel arc is caused by a short circuit resulting from insulation breakdown of a wire or aged equipment. A series arc occurs when a load and a power source are disconnected from a connector such as a circuit breaker, a socket-plug or a coupler. In DC systems, these arcs are not extinguished unless the arc current decreases to zero. Sustaining plasma arc current can cause huge fire disasters. To cope with the arc faults in DC systems, the characteristics of the arcs should be analyzed. Methods to extinguish the arcs should be researched. The parallel arc follows Paschen's law found in 1889. It depends on a type of medium gas. The breakdown voltage to start parallel arc discharge is defined as a function of gas pressure and gap distance between the paralleled arcing electrodes. On the other hand, in series arcs, a clear analysis method has not been suggested. This paper analyzes characteristics of a series break arc in a DC circuit breaker in three operation phases; initiation, sustenance, and extinguishment. Based on the three operation characteristics, a series-breaking arc model is proposed and evaluated through experiment.
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