Arc Extinguishing Chamber Research Articles

Optimization and Experimental Study of the Semi-Closed Short-Gap Arc-Extinguishing Chamber Based on a Magnetohydrodynamics Model

The multi-chamber arc-extinguishing structure (MAS), which consists of a lot of semi-closed short-gap arc-extinguishing chambers (SSAC) in series, can be used in parallel gap lightning protection devices to improve the ability to extinguish power frequency follow current. The arc-extinguishing ability of single SSAC directly affects the arc-extinguishing performance of the whole MAS. Therefore, the arc-extinguishing performance of MAS can be improved by optimizing single SSACs. A two-dimensional model of the arc plasma in a SSAC is built based on the magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) theory. The motion characteristics of an arc in the SSAC are simulated and analyzed. An optimization method of the SSAC structure is proposed. Finally, an impact test platform is built to verify the effectiveness of the optimized SSAC structure. Results show that the short-gap arc forms a high-speed airflow in the SSAC and the arc plasma sprays rapidly to the outlet until the arc is extinguished at its current zero-crossing point. The amplitude of airflow velocity in the optimized structure can be increased to about 8-fold the velocity in the basic structure. Experiments also show that the dissipation time of an arc in the optimized SSAC is 79.2 μs, which is much less than that in the original structure (422.4 μs).

Effect of vacuum arc cathode spot distribution on breaking capacity of the arc-extinguishing chamber

A DC circuit breaker performs a key function in breaking an intermediate-frequency (IF) current since breaking a pure IF current is equivalent to breaking a very small DC with a reverse IF current. In this study, it is found that cathode spots show a ring-shaped distribution at 2000 Hz. An arc with an uneven distribution of cathode spots has been simulated. The simulation results show that the distribution of cathode spots significantly affect the microparameter distribution of arc plasma. The current distribution on the anode side differs from that on the cathode side under the total radial electric field. Specifically, the anode current distribution is both uneven and concentrated. The applied axial magnetic field, which cannot reduce the concentrated anode current distribution effectively, might increase the concentration of the anode current. Finally, the uneven distribution of cathode spots reduces the breaking capacity of the arc-extinguishing chamber.

Problems in the Application of Low Voltage Circuit Breakers for Gassing Material

Polyoxymethylene (POM) and nylon 66 (PA 66) represent polymer gassing materials as arc extinguishing chamber side plate or shell were widely used in low voltage circuit breaker. During the short-circuit breaking test of the low voltage circuit breaker, the problems such as pressure, temperature, poisonous and harmful gas, etc. were found for gassing material application. In the application of low voltage circuit breaker, the existence of these problems has an effect on the performance of the low voltage circuit breaker and has the potential safety hazard. In this paper, these above problems were analyzed, the models were established, and the suggestions were put forward. That can optimize the application of gassing material in low voltage circuit breaker, and improve the performance of low voltage circuit breaker.

Characteristics of Arc Voltage of High-Current Air Arc in Sealed Chamber

Effect of arc voltage on different factor of design and control was investigated for high current in order to develop design guide of circuit breaker. In this study, dependences on these factors which are current, arc length, surface area on electrode and internal pressure of arc voltage were evaluated quantitatively. As a result of the evaluations, it was estimated that arc voltage near electrode surface rise linearly with arc current and the area on the surface to the power -0.8, and the voltage in arc column rise pressure increase to the power 0.3. We confirmed the validity of the characteristics of the estimated voltage by comparison with the generated voltage in an actual arc extinguishing chamber. The characteristics of the estimated voltage would be provided as effective guidelines to design arc extinguishing chambers.

Effect of Internal Electrical Field on the Electrical Breakdown Properties of Contact Materials

In order to get a deep understanding of the effect of internal electrical field on the electrical breakdown properties of contact materials, two kinds of W-Cu and Cr-Cu joints were prepared in a vacuum sintering furnace. The vacuum breakdown tests were respectively performed at the interface of two joints and pure metal ends in an arc extinguishing chamber, and the surface morphologies after electrical breakdown 50 times were characterized by a scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results show that the breakdown strength at the interface is much larger than that of pure metal ends, and the breakdown site deviates from the interface. It is suggested that the existence of internal electrical field at the interface of two contact metals changes the electronic structure, and, thus, the electrical breakdown behavior is influenced.

Interruption capability of CF/sub 3/I Gas as a substitution candidate for SF/sub 6/ gas

We studied the interruption performance of CF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> I gas because its environmental effect is smaller than that of SF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> gas with a model arc-extinguishing chamber. First, we measured the arc time constant and arc power loss coefficient using Mayr's equation. Comparing CF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> I with other gases, the arc time constants are SF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> <CF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> I<CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> < H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> <Air<N <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> . The arc power loss coefficient is H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> >SF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> >CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> >Air>N <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2 </sub> >CF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> I. Next, we evaluated the short line fault (SLF) interruption capability by measuring the di/dt-dv/dt characteristic. Consequently, the SLF interruption performance of pure CF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> I was about 0.9 times that of SF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</sub> . However, CF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> I application to gas insulated switchgear (GIS) and gas circuit breakers (GCB) is difficult because the liquefying temperature of the gas is high. Therefore, we adopted a countermeasure to obtain a lower liquefying temperature mixing CF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> I with CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> . The result showed that the SLF interruption performance of the mixture approximated that of pure CF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> I when the ratio of CF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3 </sub> I exceeds 20%