The spectroscopic determination of the temperature and copper vapourconcentration for arc jets of 50 kA ac arc in the long gap

Abstract

Arc jets that spout from electrodes as a result of high-currentfault arcs cause damage to the surrounding apparatus. This paper describes theresults of the spectroscopic observation of arc jets of 10-50 kA rms ac arcsat the current peak. The electrodes were copper of 40 mm in diameter, and thegap length between the electrodes was 3.4 m. The temperature and the coppervapour concentration of the arc jet were determined by considering the selfabsorption of two spectral lines. As the arc current increased from 10 kA to50 kA, the temperature did not change greatly (10 000-11 000 K), and themaximum copper vapour concentration (molar rate) in the arc jet increased from0.03% to 3%.