Experimental Study of Electron Emission Characteristics of a Surface Flashover Trigger in a Low Pressure Environment

Characteristics of electron emission induced by a surface flashover trigger device in a low-pressure trigger switch were investigated. A test method to measure the emitted charges from the trigger device was developed, and the factors affecting the emitted charges were analyzed. The results indicated that the major emitted charges from the trigger device were induced by surface plasma generated by surface flashover occurring on the trigger dielectric material. The emitted charges and the peak emission current increased linearly with the change in the trigger voltage and bias voltage. The emitted charges collected from the anode were affected by the gap distance. However, the emitted charges were less affected by the anode diameter. Furthermore, the emitted charges and the peak emission current decreased rapidly with the increase in gas pressure in a range from 0 Pa to 100 Pa, and then remained stable or changed slightly when the increase in gas pressure up to 2400 Pa.

Experimental Study on Triggering Characteristics of a Surface Flashover Triggered Vacuum Switch

Triggering characteristics of triggered vacuum switch （TVS）, including the discharge delay time, delay jitter, range of operational voltage and peak of pulsed current, are investigated. Both structure and experimental circuit of TVS are presented. The results indicate that TVS, as a surface flashover triggering device with high dielectric permittivity material, is with excellent triggering characteristics. When the hold-off voltage reaches 120 kV, the minimum operational voltage is 1.3 kV, and the minimum discharge delay time and jitter are 100 ns and ±10 ns, respectively. The peak current is up to 240 kA when the operational voltage reaches 100 kV. TVS can well satisfy the main demands of high voltage and current applications, and can also be used under a multi-crowbar circuit.

A Multiplex Multi-Stage Surface Flashover Switch

A new type of surface flashover switch, suitable for multiplex pulse generation, is studied. The switch is composed of several parallel rail gaps （PRGs）. Each multistage PRG is composed of several serial subgroup gaps （SSG） formed by intermediate electrodes. The trigger electrode of the switch is a common electrode isolated from the main discharge circuit and located parallel to the central line of PRGs. The multistage scheme of PRG is helpful to multi-channel discharge. The switch has some advantages, such as a low jitter, low conduct inductance and short switching time. These advantages and the multiplex scheme make the switch suitable for short frontal rising time pulse formation and accurate synchronization for a multi-module parallel operation device. In a primary test, the jitter of the switch is about 3.3 ns. It has been applied in a linear transformer device successfully.

Experimental Research of ZnO Surface Flashover Trigger Device of Pseudo-Spark Switch

Pseudo-spark switch（PSS） is one of the most widely used discharge switches for pulse power technology.It has many special characteristics such as reliability in a wide voltage range,small delay time,as well as small delay jitter.In this paper,the measuring method for the initial plasma of ZnO surface flashover triggering device of PSS is studied and the results of the measurement show that the electron emission charge is mainly influenced by trigger voltage,gas pressure and DC bias voltage.When the bias voltage increases from 2 kV to 6 kV with the gap distancc fixed at 3 mm,the electron emission charge changes from 2 μC to about 6μC.When the gap distance changes from 3 mm to 5 mm with the bias voltage fixed at 2 kV,the electron emission charge increases from 1.5 μC to 2.5μC.When the gap distance is 4 mm,the hold-off voltage of PSS is 45 kV at gas pressure of 2 Pa,the minimum operating voltage is less than 1 kV.So,the operating scope is from 2.22%to 99%of its self-breakdown voltage.The discharging delay time decreases from 450 ns to 150 ns when the trigger pulse voltage is 1 kV and the discharging voltage is changed from 1 kV to 12 kV.When the trigger pulse voltage is 6 kV,the discharging delay time is less than 100 ns and changes from 100 ns to 50 ns,and the delay jitters are less than30 ns.

Zinc Oxide Surface Flashover Triggering of Pseudospark Switch

Accurate and reliable triggering is one of the most important issues with high power pseudospark switch, because it not only has an impact on the design of discharge chamber of switch, but also has an influence on the dynamic range of operation voltage, repetition frequencies and lifetime of switch. The unique feature of pseudospark switch is its hollow cathode geometry. The hollow cathode effect produced by the hollow cathode provides the protection of the switch for the triggering unit from erosion by high discharge plasma. In this paper, a zinc oxide (ZnO) surface flashover triggering is presented. This trigger unit possesses an excellent time delay (80 ns - 360 ns) and jitter (20 ns - 50 ns) at the switch voltage of 30 kV - 2 kV. The emitted plasma electron density is high enough to trigger switch reliably down to switch voltage of 440 V.

Enhanced surface-insulating performance of EP composites by doping plasmafluorinated ZnO nanofiller

The surface flashover of epoxy resin(EP) composites is a pivotal problem in the field of highvoltage insulation.The regulation of the interface between the filler and matrix is an effective means to suppress flashover.In this work,nano ZnO was fluorinated and grafted using lowtemperature plasma technology,and the fluorinated filler was doped into EP to study the DC surface flashover performance of the composite.The results show that plasma fluorination can effectively inhibit the agglomeration by grafting –CFxgroups onto the surface of nano-ZnO particles.The fluorine-containing groups at the interface provide higher charge binding traps and enhance the insulation strength at the interface.At the same time,the interface bond cooperation caused by plasma treatment also promoted the accelerating effect of nano ZnO on charge dissipation.The two effects synergistically improve the surface flashover performance of epoxy composites.When the concentration of fluorinated ZnO filler is 20%,the flashover voltage has the highest increase,which is 31.52% higher than that of pure EP.In addition,fluorinated ZnO can effectively reduce the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of epoxy composites.The interface interaction mechanism was further analyzed using molecular dynamics simulation and density functional theory simulation.

Aging Characteristics on.Epoxy Resin Surface Under Repetitive Microsecond Pulses in Air at Atmospheric Pressure

Research on aging characteristics of epoxy resin （EP） under repetitive microsecond pulses is important for the design of insulating materials in high power apparatus. It is because that very fast transient overvoltage always occurs in a power system, which causes flashover and is one of the main factors causing aging effects of EP materials. Therefore, it is essential to obtain a better understanding of the aging effect on an EP surface resulting from flashover. In this work, aging effects on an EP surface were investigated by surface flashover discharge under repetitive microsecond pulses in atmospheric pressure. The investigations of parameters such as the surface micro-morphology and chemical composition of the insulation material under different degrees of aging were conducted with the aid of measurement methods such as atomic force microscopy （AFM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）. Results showed that with the accumulation of aging energy on the material surface, the particles formed on the material surface increased both in number and size, leading to the growth of surface roughness and a reduction in the water contact angle; the surface also became more absorbent. Furthermore, in the aging process, the molecular chains of EP on the surface were broken, resulting in oxidation and carbonisation.

Deposition of SiCxHyOz thin film on epoxy resin by nanosecond pulsed APPJ for improving the surface insulating performance

Non-thermal plasma surface modification for epoxy resin（EP）to improve the insulation properties has wide application prospects in gas insulated switchgear and gas insulatedtransmission line.In this paper,a pulsed Ar dual dielectrics atmospheric-pressure plasma jet（APPJ）was used for Si CxHyOzthin film deposition on EP samples.The film deposition was optimized by varying the treatment time while other parameters were kept at constants（treatment distance：10 mm,precursor flow rate：0.6 l min-（-1）,maximum instantaneous power：3.08 k W and single pulse energy：0.18 m J）.It was found that the maximum value of flashover voltages for negative and positive voltage were improved by 18%and 13%when the deposition time was3 min,respectively.The flashover voltage reduced as treatment time increased.Moreover,all the surface conductivity,surface charge dissipation rate and surface trap level distribution reached an optimal value when thin film deposition time was 3 min.Other measurements,such as atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscope for EP surface morphology,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for EP surface compositions,optical emission spectra for APPJ deposition process were carried out to better understand the deposition processes and mechanisms.The results indicated that the original organic groups（C–H,C–C,C=O,C=C）were gradually replaced by the Si containing inorganic groups（Si–O–Si and Si–OH）.The reduction of C=O in ester group and C=C in p-substituted benzene of the EP samples might be responsible for shallowing the trap level and then enhancing the flashover voltage.However,when the plasma treatment time was longer than 3 min,the significant increase of the surface roughness might increase the trap level depth and then deteriorate the flashover performance.

Surface Charging Phenomena on HVDC Spacers for Compressed SF_(6) Insulation and Charge Tailoring Strategies

Surface flashover of spacers is a key factor limiting the application of HVDC GIS/GIL,while the charge accumula-tion on the surface of the spacer could have a potential adverse effect on the surface flashover voltage.This paper discusses the laws regarding distribution patterns of surface charges and the related mechanisms.The field-dependent property is discussed in detail to comprehensively illustrate the charge transport mecha-nism and explain the research differences regarding different surface charge patterns obtained by previous researchers.In addition,the main surface charge control methods for epoxy resin are summarized and discussed.The potential research directions of charge control methods and key points in manufacturing of spacers used in HVDC GIS/GIL are also explored.

Experimental study on the effect of applying a crossed magnetic field on the insulator flashover behavior in high vacuum

In this study,a possible method of reducing the flashover stress is achieved by the effect of an additional magnetic field in the transverse direction on the main applied electric field.The degree of vacuum used in this study was 5×10^(5) Pa.The magnetic flux density B employed in this study extends from 4×10^(3) to 24×10^(3) T.From the results obtained throughout this work,the transverse magnetic field increases the flashover voltage and decreases the leakage current.The effect of the transverse magnetic field on the surface flashover of the dielectric solid in vacuum shows a marked dependence on the material and the thickness of the test specimen,the vacuum degree,the type of electric field(AC or DC)as well as the type of magnetic field(AC or DC).

Metal Particle Contamination in Gas-insulated Switchgears/Gas-insulated Transmission Lines

Metal particle contamination in a gas-insulated switchgear(GIS)or a gas-insulated transmission line(GIL)is an important factor leading to the decline of insulation performance.Exploring the deterioration mechanism and suppression measures of metal particles on insulation is a key technical problem in enhancing the dielectric strength of GIS/GIL equipment.In this paper,the charge and motion characteristics of metal particles are first introduced.The gas gap breakdown caused by free metal particles and the surface flashover caused by metal particles near or adsorbed on the insulator are then analyzed according to different particle motion patterns and spatial locations.Subsequently in terms of operation managements,the existing methods of particle detection are analyzed.In addition,the main inhibition methods of metal particles are introduced from three aspects:particle trap,insulator surface treatment and electrode coating.Finally,the prospects in the future research on particle pollution in GIS/GIL are also pointed out.