Numerical simulation of the positive streamer propagation and chemical reactions in SF6/N2 mixtures under non-uniform field

Abstract

SF 6 /N 2 mixtures is considered as a practical alternative proposal of SF 6 in GIS and GIL. Simulating particle transportations and chemical reactions during the positive streamer propagation in SF 6 /N 2 mixtures assists in the insulation performance optimization of SF 6 /N 2 mixtures. This paper presents a fluid dynamic model coupled with the chemical reaction system for the positive streamer propagation in SF 6 /N 2 mixtures. The Townsend coefficients of the 20%SF 6 /80%N 2 mixture derived from the proposed chemical reaction system are in accordance with the measurement results. Based on this model, the propagation of the positive streamer in a 1 mm needle-plate gap in the 20%SF 6 /80%N 2 mixture is simulated. Simulated results indicate that there exists a negative space charge region in the streamer channel. It can be attributed to the increasing attachment rates of SF 6 yielding SF 5 − and SF 6 −, and the reduction of the ionization rates of N 2 and SF 6 in the streamer channel. Besides, it is noted that the ionization activities of N 2 and SF 6 at the streamer head are equally important to support the continuous propagation of the positive streamer. The ionization of N 2 in the streamer channel serves as an important factor to supply electrons and avoid the accumulation of the negative space charge.