Pressure Rise in Electrical Installations due to Internal Arcing in CO2 as Insulating Gas

Abstract

Internal arcs cause a rapid increase in pressure in electrical installations. The type of insulation gas has influence on pressure development. Typically SF6 is used incompact metal-clad switchgear, however, it has a high global warming potential. Because of this, the replacement of SF6 by alternative gases such as CO2 is under discussion. The pressure developments in a closed vessel filled with air, SF6 and CO2 are measured and compared. During internal arcing in gas-insulated switchgear, overpressure causes a rupture of a burst plate and hot gas escapes into the surrounding room mixing with air. In order to predict the pressure development in electrical installations reliably, the portion of energy causing pressure rise, arc voltage as well as reliable gas data i.e., thermodynamic and transport properties, must be known in a wide range of pressure and temperature. These data are up to now not available for CO2/air mixtures. The thermodynamic properties are directly calculated from the number densities, internal partition functions and enthalpies of formation. The transport coefficients are deduced using the Chapman-Enskog method. Comparing measured and calculated pressure developments in a test arrangement demonstrates the quality of the calculation approach.