Contact temperature and erosion in high-current diffuse vacuum arcson axial magnetic field contacts

We have investigated the surface heating effects of drawn vacuum arcs for several industrial designs of axial magnetic field (AMF) contacts, using near infrared (IR) photography of the Cu-Cr arcing surfaces with an image-intensified charge-coupled device (CCD) camera and an IR pyrometer. This enables detailed contact temperature mapping immediately after a half-cycle of arc current. The very homogeneous temperature distribution observed at current zero stands in contrast to the visually nonhomogeneous high-current diffuse arc, which was studied in separately reported experiments using high-speed digital photography and arc voltage measurements. The peak temperature at current zero increased relatively linearly with the peak current I_P, and reached well beyond the melting range. We combine the temperature maps with a heating model to determine the thermal sheath thickness after arcing and its dependence on I_P. The results suggest that near the interruption limit of AMF contacts, the interaction of the stable high-current arc with the anode and cathode is dominated by processes induced by flowing liquid metal, which redistributes the heat input from the axially concentrated arc over most of the contact surface. Furthermore, the flow of liquid metal off the cathode and anode faces contributes to the overall contact erosion     

Some Aspects of Current Interruption Physics in High Voltage Circuit Breakers

Recent results of experimental and theoretical investigations on current interruption processes are presented with a focus on SF₆ high voltage circuit breakers. Various aspects of thermal interruption at the zero crossing of the current are shown, including the scatter and the distribution of arc voltage shortly before CZ and the role of turbulence. The thermal interruption capability of air and CO₂ are compared to that of SF₆. Investigations on the dielectric recovery are shown for SF₆ and CO₂. The breakdown voltage during the dielectric recovery can be described by simple streamer and leader inception models. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Mathematical modeling of SF6 puffer circuit breakers.II. Current zero region

For pt.I see ibid., vol.24, p.490 (1996). A mathematical model of arc behavior in an SF₆ puffer gas-blast circuit breaker in the high current phase was reported in a previous paper. This model is extended to the current zero region by solving the full partial differential are conservation equations taking account of both turbulent and radiation effects. The critical RRRV for the breaker can therefore be calculated based on the whole arcing history. The predicted values are compared with the experimental results of Noeske et al. (1983), and good agreement is found providing that the free parameter in the turbulence model is set appropriately. Results for temperature, electric field, and velocity are also presented and analyzed     

The Dependence of the Air Blast Arc Characteristics on Electrode Position

The effect of the position of the upstream electrode on the characteristics of the air blast arc in a converging-diverging nozzle is investigated using a simple one-dimensional model. It is found that altering the upstream electrode position affects the pressure gradient between the electrode and the nozzle throat. The pressure gradient in this region determines to a large extent the arc area contraction rate as the arc current decreases to zero and, therefore, the interruption capability of the arc after current zero. Moreover, the upstream electrode position affects the arc diameter in the steady and transient states throughout the whole arc length. It is found that radial turbulent cooling need not be incorporated into the model to explain the experimental results. However, turbulent radial cooling, if present, is found to enhance the interruption capability of the arc by a large factor.     

Electric power switches

A review is given of the physics and engineering behavior of arcs in vacuum and axial gas blast under the conditions found in high-voltage circuit breakers. The topics included are: the zero energy switch; current limiting switches; arc control; the gas-blast circuit breakers; the low-current gas-blast arc; arcing with ablation; interruption dynamics; arc modeling; vacuum as a switching element; the vacuum arc; the constricted arc; and the properties of SF₆     

��������ϵ�Դϵͳ����������ʵ���о�

HT-7中性束诊断电源系统的计算机控制系统由PLC、工控机、逻辑控制和定时单元等组成。对起弧、束流引出等实验进行了研究。在多种参数下,通过调节弧压、进气量等观察了其对弧流的影响。初步实验结果表明,在高压35kV、弧流80A的情况下,束电流可以达到3.6A,引出的中性束流功率可以稳定地达到50kW以上。     

Similarity Relations for the Electric Arc in Forced Axial Flow

The conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy in differential form, Ohm's law, and the experimentally determined dependence of the interruption capability of the arc on current shape are employed to obtain similarity relations for high pressure electric arcs in forced axial flow around current zero. The similarity relations are then applied to assess the validity of laminar and turbulent flow models for the arc by comparing model predictions with experiment. It is found that the laminar flow model quite often predicts arc behavior contrary to experiment, while the turbulent flow model predictions are much more consistent with experiment. Moreover, the similarity relations should also be useful in exploring arc behavior under circumstances not discussed in this work.     

Scaling Laws for Gas-Blast Circuit-Breaker Arcs during the High Current Phase

A steady state nozzle arc model based on the boundary layer integral method is established and scaling laws are derived. For affinely related nozzles, the solution is uniquely determined by a nozzle coefficient N, which is related to the stagnation conditions, the arc current, and the dimensions of the nozzle. Tests have been performed on nozzle arcs in air using two geometricaly similar nozzles at three stagnation pressures. A good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained which indicates that circuit-breaker arcs can be scaled. To avoid nozzle clogging, the nominal current density at the throat (I/At) should not exceed the highest permissible nominal current density at the throat. For all affinely related nozzles, this upper limit of current density at the throat is proportional to ?p0?t, where p0 is the stagnation pressure and Zt the distance of the throat from the nozzle entrance. The overal arc voltage exhibits the precurrent-zero static behavior as indicated by Browne's composite arc model.     

The Investigation of Copper-Chromium Contacts in Vacuum Interrpters Subjected to an Axial Magnetic Field

The characteristics of a vacuum arc between CuCr contacts under an axial magnetic field have been investigated. Test samples were made of CuCr contacts, and the arcing voltage was measured. The arcing voltage of the CuCr contacts under an axial magnetic field is lower than that of pure copper contacts by 10-20 V. From the measurement of the post-arc current and interruption test results, it was found that the arc concentrates and a part of the electrode melts at a rather low current, but that the electrode melting does not affect the interrupting capability. Also, the insulation characteristics were measured. With respect to voltage conditioning, high-current conditioning improved the breakdown voltage by 50 percent for a 20-mm gap and by 100 percent for a 3-mm gap. These test results show that CuCr contacts, used with axial magnetic fields, are promising for use in high-voltage and high-power vacuum interrupters.     

A rotating arc gas pump for circuit breaking and other applications

A rotating arc circuit breaker is described which uses an auxiliary current source to generate the magnetic field for driving the arc. Test results obtained using optical fiber measurement systems have shown that there are three main arcing phases. Initially the arc rotates at an essentially constant but low velocity, subsequently its velocity oscillates between this and much higher values, and finally the are plasma may become diffuse in nature. Test results obtained with dielectric strength probes have indicated that a unidirectional flow of arc heated gas is generated. The flow is away from the moving contact of the interrupter so promoting good dielectric strength in this critical contact region. The combination of the optical fiber and dielectric probe results indicates two possible modes of gas pumping represented, respectively, by a fan and a piston-type action of the arc. Simplified analytical models for both modes are developed with predictions obtained showing good agreement with the experimental results. Discussion of experimental results suggests that the transition from oscillatory velocity changes to diffuse arcing represents an important parameter for scaling the geometries of future interrupters and arc heaters     

Experimental Investigation on Arc Phenomena in SF6 Puffer Circuit Breakers

A detailed observation of an arc in a model puffer-type SF6 gas circuit breaker in the current range between 10 and 50 kA (rms) has been carried out. It was found that the arc column remained stable on the center axis during the high-current region, then became turbulent near current zero. It was found that the time interval during which the turbulent arc was observed decreased with increasing values of the peak current. These phenomena indicated that the thermal effects of high-current arcs remain even at current zero. It also was observed that the arc diameter at the nozzle throat outlet was smaller than that at the throat (29 mm), even at a current as high as 70 kA (instantaneous), and that the boundary of gas flow at a downstream region had a very large diameter when the arcs were present. However, around current zero the boundary diameter became as small as that without arc.     

The High Current Metal Vapor Arc Column between Separating Electrodes

We observed metal vapor arcs between separating electrodes in a demountable vacuum chamber using high speed photography. The peak values of the ac arc current half-wave ranged from 5 kA to 67 kA. Determination of the arc appearance as functions of arc current and electrode gap revealed that the arc can assume various types of columnar forms when the current at the instant of electrode separation exceeds 7 kA. The duration of the columnar arcing forms is influenced by axial magnetic fields differently for different field strengths. The graphical representation of the results allows prediction of the most probable arc appearance for a given set of operating parameters. A qualitative explanation of the various arc appearances on the basis of balances between magnetic and kinetic pressures is provided.     

Influence of interrupted current amplitude on the post-arc currentand gap recovery after current zero-experiment and simulation

For commercial vacuum circuit interrupter valves with radial field contact, the post-arc current (PAC) waveform was measured after short circuit current interruption applying a transient recovery voltage (TRV) of about 15 kV/s (RRRV). Keeping the current decline di/dt at current zero constant, the power frequency (PF) current amplitude Iˆ_PF was varied from 0.5 up to two times of the rated short circuit current. Significant influence of Iˆ_PF on the gaps memory is shown in particular effecting the post-arc current duration which varies in a range between 2 and 8 μs. Based on the existing physical models an interpretation of the results is given. It is shown that the memory effect influences the gap recovery time. The experimental results were further used to determine the parameters of the sheath growth model described by Andrews and Varey (1971). The initial ion density is fitted according to the current ramp di/dt before current zero (CZ) and according to the measured Q_PF=∫i _PF×dt during the arcing phase. The results of two different test procedures were applied in order to separate the effect of current ramp di/dt and Q_PF=∫i_PF×dt. The influence of both parameters and of the rate of rise of the recovery voltage du/dt (RRRV) on the sheath edge velocity could be demonstrated by simulation     

Study on transition process of vacuum arc under transverse magnetic field

The transverse magnetic field (TMF) drives the vacuum arc to move along the surface of the contacts to prevent the local overheating and melting of the contact surfaces. The arcing process has great influence on the breaking capacity of short‐circuit current. In this paper, the arcing process between three types of TMF contacts was investigated. The transition process of an arc from the ignition stage to the diffusion stage was discussed. The transition moment, transition gap distance, and transition current were obtained. It was found that the axial magnetic field component of TMF contacts affected the arc transition process.     

Experimental and numerical studies of arc restrikes in low-voltagecircuit breakers

This paper is devoted to the study of the arc restrike phenomenon in low-voltage circuit breakers. We focused our interest on the type of arc restrike that can be described as a sudden reignition in the arcing contact region while the arc was situated in the quenching chamber a few tens of microseconds before it occurs. Our experimental investigations have established that the critical arcing contact region is still crossed by a so called residual current on the order of several amperes. A gas temperature around 4200 K was derived from electrical measurements in this region before the arc restrike occurrence, We also demonstrate that the restrike takes place through the growth of the remaining current of several amperes in the arcing contact region. A numerical approach was carried out with a two-dimensional hydrodynamic code in order to simulate the gas behavior in the arcing contact region before and during the arc restrike phenomenon. The same temperature as the measured one is calculated just before the restrike. It is demonstrated that the current density appears to be the most sensible quantity. A critical value of 5 A/cm² was calculated     

大电流下多棒极型真空触发开关电弧特性

提出了一种多棒极型真空触发开关（TVS）,利用3对棒形电极的特殊结构来增大主触头间的燃弧面积,从而有效地提高TVS通流能力。结合真空电弧电压实验,阐述了多棒极型TVS在不同的大电流等级下的电弧发展变化过程。电弧电压的变化表现了多棒极型TVS中多通道并联燃弧及其在各通道之间的电弧转移过程,从而使得真空电弧维持在扩散态。由此开发的TVS样品实现了225 kA的峰值电流,单次转移电荷量45 C。     

On the Electrode Damage and Current Densities of Carbon Arcs

Arc damage on carbon electrodes has been examined as a function of the charge passing through each arc in the range from 10-6 to 10-1 coloumb. Two forms of arcing damage were observed: that due to the so-called vapor arc, which has a very high current density (~6 × 107 A/cm2) and low erosion rate, and that due to the so-called thermionic arc with a lower current density (~2 × 103 A/cm2) and higher erosion rate. Unlike damage observed on metallic electrodes raised rims were not formed around the carbon craters. The vapor mode damage is compared with two known models of cathode erosion. Differences between the vapor and thermionic modes and the transition between them are discussed. A whitish-gray deposit observed on the arced electrodes appears to be a form of graphite.     

Ablation Controlled Arcs

An experimental and theoretical study on ablation controlled arcs in cylindrical tubes is presented. Measuring techniques for stagnation pressure, electric field strength, mass ablation rate, and arc cross section are described with which a comprehensive set of experimental data is obtained for blackened PTFE as a reference material. These data are interpreted with an isothermal two-zone model that consistently accounts for the balance of mass and axial momentum and yields simple scaling laws for the arc characteristics. Consistent agreement with the experimental data is found for an arc temperature TA = 19 000 ± 2000 K, a vapor layer temperature Tv = 3400 ± 200 K, and a transparently radiated fraction of the arc power of v = 0.32 ± 0.03. The vapor temperature can be explained with a photoablation mechanism. The ablation arc model allows quantifying of the phenomena related to nozzle clogging in gas-blast circuit breakers, namely flow blocking and reverse flow heating. How these phenomena determine the pressure rise in self-blast circuit breakers is shown.     

Initiation of Arcing at a Plasma-Wall Contact

Conditions for the initiation of arcing in a plasma-wall contact were studied experimentally. Arcing could only be initiated by applying a bias voltage producing a net ion current to the wall. Results obtained show that crucial parameters for the initiation of arcing are the wall material, surface contaminations, the voltage across the plasma-wall sheath, and the total current to the wall. The current density was found to have no significant influence on arcing. For fixed surface conditions, arcing can be described by initiation characteristics. Also characteristics of the burning arc were determined 5 ?s after initiation. The arc operates with voltages and currents lying between the initiation characteristic and the burning characteristic. This result can be interpreted in terms of a nonstationary mechanism of the cathode spot.