Arc erosion reduction on electrical contacts using transversecurrent injection

Electrical contact lifetime is often directly determined by arc erosion. A method for reducing are erosion was developed consisting of injecting from an external current source an additional electrical current flowing parallel to the contact surface. This method was examined in three are environments using the additional transverse electrical current with a density less than 1 A/mm²: 1) automobile ignition contacts; 2) pulsed air arc; and 3) low pressure (P=100 mTorr) arc in nitrogen, SEM and X-ray examination showed that application of a transverse current in a contact during arcing changed the phase composition and microstructure of the contact surface. Under optimal conditions, the microstructure which is formed is significantly more erosion resistant than without the transverse current injection     

W-C Synthesis in a Pulsed Arc Submerged in Liquid

Pulsed arc production of tungsten carbide (W-C) powders in deionized water and analytical (99.8%) ethanol was studied. The arc was ignited between two submerged electrodes: one of 99.99% graphite (C) and the other of 99.5% W. The pulse energy and duration were in the ranges of 7.7–192 mJ and 25–65 μs, respectively. The WC_1−x production rate was maximized by configuring the C electrode as the anode and the W electrode as the cathode. The rate was greater in ethanol than in water. The rate of producing ∼10 nm particles in ethanol was two orders of magnitude greater when using W anode -C cathode configuration, than with the opposite polarity.     

Removal of Methylene Blue from Aging Water Solutions Treated by a Submerged Arc

Low voltage, low energy submerged pulsed arcs with a pulse repetition rate of 100 Hz, energies of 2.6–192 mJ and durations of 10–40 μs, followed by aging in the dark, were used to decompose 10 mg/l methylene blue (MB) dissolved in 40 ml of water, with the addition of 0.5 % H₂O₂. Electrode pairs composed of Fe/Fe, Ti/Ti, Cu/Cu, Cu/Fe, Fe/Cu, Ti/Fe, Fe/Ti, Cu/Ti and Ti/Cu were used. MB degraded during arc treatment, and during post arc treatment aging. The aging degraded MB faster (by a factor of ~2–3) when the MB solution was subjected to arcing with dissimilar electrodes when one of them was Cu, than for arcing with other used electrode pairs. The impact of the arc treatment time and the electrode materials on the MB removal ratio (C₀–C_ta)/C₀ was determined as a function of aging time t_a, where C₀ and C_ta are the MB concentrations initially and after t_a. For a pulse duration of 10 μs and pulse energies of 2–20 mJ, the MB removal rate increased linearly with treatment time and its growth rate increased with pulse energy. The linear dependence of the MB removal rate on treatment time was violated with pulse duration of 40 μs and pulse energies of 30–200 mJ. Kinetics of the MB degradation during aging of the arc treated solution was well described by the 1st order linear rate equation.     

Submerged Arc Breakdown of Sulfadimethoxine (SDM) in Aqueous Solutions

Low voltage, low energy submerged pulsed arcs were used to break-down Sulfadimethoxine (SDM) contamination in aqueous solutions. The SDM concentration decreased exponentially with rate constants of 0.13–1.9 min⁻¹ during processing by pulsed arcs with a pulse repetition rate of 100 Hz, energies of 2.6–192 mJ and durations of 20, 50 and 100 μs. The electrical energy consumption was minimized with short duration pulses––1.5 kW-hr/m³ with 7.5 mJ, 20 μs pulses for 90% SDM removal.     

Submerged Arc Breakdown of Methylene Blue in Aqueous Solutions

Low voltage, low energy submerged pulsed arcs between a pair of carbon or iron electrodes with a pulse repetition rate of 100?Hz, energies of 2.6?C192?mJ and durations of 20, 50 and 100???s were used to remove methylene blue (MB) contamination from 30?ml aqueous solutions. The MB concentration decreased exponentially with rates of 0.0006?C0.0143?s^?1 during processing with the carbon electrode pair. With the iron electrodes, the MB concentration initially decreased faster (0.030?s^?1) than with the carbon electrodes, but later saturated. However when microparticles produced with the iron electrodes were periodically filtered, the high removal rate was maintained. Under these conditions, the volume of water which can be treated per unit energy expenditure was much higher with the submerged arc than with other plasma processes. A kinetic model based on MB degradation by OH· radicals formed by the discharge was formulated. The higher initial MB removal rate with iron electrodes is explained by additional OH· production from Fenton??s reaction between Fe⁺⁺ and H₂O₂ produced by the discharge. This rate is maintained if the eroded iron particles are filtered, but if eroded iron particles accumulate, degradation slows down and stops, possibly because the iron particles catalytically decompose H₂O₂ and hence stops Fenton??s reaction, and either directly or via increased Fe⁺⁺ dissolved from the particles, scavenge the OH· radicals.     

W–C Electrode Erosion in a Pulsed Arc Submerged in Liquid

Electrode erosion was studied in pulsed arcs ignited between two electrodes comprised of 99.99% C (graphite) and 99.5% W submerged in deionized water or analytical (99.8%) ethanol. In the both cases the erosion rate increased proportionally to the pulse energy, and the total electrode erosion per unit energy was inversely proportional to the discharge pulse duration. Fifteen and sixty-μF discharge capacitors were used for formation of the pulses in water. It was obtained that, respectively (a) erosion of the tungsten anode (W_a) was by factors of 5–6 and ∼10 greater than that of the carbon (C_c) cathode; (b) erosion of the carbon anode (C_a) was by a factor of 1.34 greater and by a factor of 2.65 less than that of the tungsten cathode (W_c); (c) the total erosion rate of both electrodes (anode and cathode) per unit pulse energy for the W_a–C_c pair was greater by factors of 11 and 12.5 than that for the W_c–C_a pair.     

Anode erosion during pulsed arcing

An experimental study of the anode erosion rates of Cu, Zr, Ti, Mo, Ta, and W is presented under conditions similar to those used for electrodischarge coating. The arcs are conducted between a small anode and a larger cathode in air with pressures ranging from 10^-4 to 10³ torr. Unipolar arc pulses of 200-400-A peak current and 0.1-ms duration are produced at a 100-Hz pulse repetition rate by an RC circuit. For most materials, the electrode mass loss is primarily from the anode, and the mass loss is independent of pressure for pressures less than 0.1 torr, decreases steeply with increasing pressures in the range 0.1 to 10 torr, and decreases more gradually with increasing pressure above 10 torr. The experimental results are explained by using a limiting case of the integral conservation laws. In the low-pressure region the input energy is expended mainly in the acceleration of the metal vapor, and thus the erosion rate is independent of pressure. In the intermediate-pressure region the metal vapor jet is braked by its interaction with the surrounding gas. In the high-pressure region the vapor jet is completely halted, and vapor transport takes place only by diffusion through the surrounding gas     

Decomposition of Dissolved Methylene Blue in Water Using a Submerged Arc Between Titanium Electrodes

Low voltage, low energy submerged pulsed arcs between Ti electrodes with a pulse repetition rate of 100 Hz, energies of 2.6–192 mJ and durations of 10–40 μs, followed by aging in the dark, were used to decompose 10 mg/l methylene blue (MB) contamination in 40 ml aqueous solutions, with and without the addition of 0.5 % H₂O₂. The impact of the arc treatment on the MB removal ratio (C₀–C_ta)/C₀ was considered as a function of aging time t_a, where C₀ and C_ta are the MB concentrations initially and after t_a (the time needed to complete removal of MB after cessation of exposure of the arc). Particles eroded from the electrodes during the discharge enabled MB decomposition during aging. The particles were studied by XRD, XPS and Raman analysis, and titanium oxides and peroxides were found. MB decomposition during aging is explained by the formation of a surface layer of titanium peroxide that forms by the interaction of titanium dioxide with H₂O₂, which produce radicals which oxidize the MB. The 99.6 % MB removal yield (G_99.6 = 90 g/kWhr) of the submerged pulsed arc process with Ti electrodes and addition of 0.5 % H₂O₂ was more than 60 times larger than obtained at 50 % removal with other plasma methods.