The Influence of Contact Space on Arc Commutation Process in Air Circuit Breaker

In this paper, a 3D magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） arc simulation model is applied to analyze the arc motion during current interruption in a certain air circuit breaker （ACB）. The distributions of pressure, temperature, gas flow and current density of the arc plasma in the arc region are calculated, and the factors influencing the commutation process are analyzed according to the calculated results. Based on the airflow in the arc chamber, the causes of arc commutation asynchrony and the back commutation are investigated. It indicates that a reasonable contact space design is crucial to a successful arc commutation process. To verify the simulation results, the influence of contact space on arc voltage and arc commutation is tested. This research can provide methods and references to the optimization of ACB design.

Numerical Study on Arc Plasma Behavior During Arc Commutation Process in Direct Current Circuit Breaker

This paper focuses on the numerical investigation of arc plasma behavior during arc commutation process in a medium-voltage direct current circuit breaker （DCCB） contact system. A three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） model of air arc plasma in the contact system of a DCCB is developed, based on commercial software FLUENT. Coupled electromagnetic and gas dynamic interactions are considered as usual, and a thin layer of nonlinear electrical resistance elements is used to represent the voltage drop of plasma sheath and the formation of new arc root. The distributions of pressure, temperature, gas flow and current density of arc plasma in arc region are calculated. The simulation results indicate that the pressure distribution related to the contact system has a strong effect on the arc commutation process, arising from the change of electrical conductivity in the arc root region. In DCCB contact system, the pressure of arc root region will be concentrated and higher if the space above the moving contact is enclosed, which is not good for arc root commutation. However, when the region is opened, the pressure distribution would be lower and more evenly, which is favorable for the arc root commutation.

Simulation of Arc Rotation and Its Effects on Pressure of Expansion Volume in an Auto-Expansion SF_6 Circuit Breaker

A 3D Magnetohydrodynamics （MHD） arc model in conjunction with an arc move- ment model is applied to simulate the arc rotation as well as to solve its effect on the pressure in an auto-expansion circuit breaker. The rotation of the arc driven by an external electromagnetic force is simulated in the case with 200 kA of the short circuit current and 16 ms of arc duration. The arc rotating process and the speed of arc rotation have been obtained in the simulation. A comparison of the pressure in the expansion volume with and without an external magnetic field has been carried out based on the calculation results of two cases. The results of the simulation reveal that the arc rotation, which causes more energy exchange between the arc and its sur- rounding gas, can evidently bring about the pressurization in the expansion volume, which would contribute to more effective arc quenching at current zero and further reducing operation power.

Research on Online Monitoring Methods on SF_(6) Circuit Breakers

To promote the accuracy and application of arcing time measurement for SF_6 circuit breaker in substation,five measurement methods are investigated by two cases experimentally. First,the test results of the five methods for a circuit breaker in different stages of wear and a circuit breaker with a component failure were presented. Then,the time error is analyzed by simulation.Finally,the advantage and disadvantage of these methods are discussed.

Simulation and Experimental Analysis of Arc Motion Characteristics in Air Circuit Breaker

In this paper, to simulate the arc motion in an air circuit breaker （ACB）, a three- dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） model is developed, considering the influence of ther- mal radiation, the change of physical parameters of arc plasma and the nonlinear characteristic of ferromagnetic material. The distributions of pressure, temperature, gas flow and current density of arc plasma in the arc region are calculated. The simulation results show some phenomena which discourage arc interruption, such as back commutation and arc burning at the back of the splitter plate. To verify the simulation model, the arc motion is studied experimentally. The influences of the material and position of the innermost barrier plate are analyzed mainly. It proved that the model developed in this paper can efficiently simulate the arc motion. The results indicate that the insulation barrier plate close to the top of the splitter plate is conducive to the arc splitting, which leads to the significant increase of the arc voltage, so it is better for arc interruption. The research can provide methods and references to the optimization of ACB design.

Research on arc root stagnation when small current is interrupted in self-excited circuit breaker

The self-excited DC air circuit breaker(SE-DCCB)has been widely used in urban rail transit due to its excellent stability.It can realize forward and reverse interruption,but has difficulty interrupting small currents due to the phenomenon of arc root sticking at the entrance of the arc chamber in the splitting process,which is known as arc root stagnation.A coupling model of the self-excited magnetic field and magnetohydrodynamics is established for the SE-DCCB with the traditional structure.The magnetic field,temperature and airflow distribution in the arc chamber are investigated with an interrupting current of 150 A.The simulation results show that the direction and magnitude of the magnetic blowout force are the dominant factors in the arc root stagnation.The local high temperature of the arc chamber due to arc root stagnation increases the obstruction effect of the airflow vortex on the arc root movement,which significantly increases the arc duration time of small current interruption.Based on the research,the structure of the magnetic conductance plate of the actual product is improved,which can improve the direction and magnitude of the magnetic blowout force at the arc root so as to restrain the development of the airflow vortex effectively and solve the problem of arc root stagnation when the small current is interrupted.The simulation results show that the circuit breaker with improved structure has a better performance for a small current interruption range from 100 A to 350 A.

Analysis of Arc Characteristics and Flow Field in Arc Chamber of High-Voltage SF_6 Auto-Expansion Circuit Breaker

A new magnetic hydro-dynamics model for nozzle arc emphasizing the interaction of arc with PTFE （polytetrafluorethylene） vapour is established based on the conservation equations. The interruption of auto-expansion circuit breaker is simulated numerically by finite element method and the influence of PTFE vapour on the arc is analysed with this model. The results reveal that the flow field inside the arc chamber is determined by the arc current, the arcing time, the nozzle arc and the clogging of its thermal boundary. The establishment of quenching pressure relies on both SF6 gas and PTFE vapour that absorbed arc energy in the nozzle. The PTFE vapour leads to an increase in the pressure of nozzle arc obviously, and a decrease in the temperature of arc. But it enhances the temperature of arc at zero current and slows down the decreasing rate of arc temperature as the current decreases.

Simulation of the Process of Arc Energy-Effect in High Voltage Auto-Expansion SF_6 Circuit Breaker

A new magnetic hydro-dynamics （MHD） model of arc in H.V. auto-expansion SF6 circuit breaker that takes into consideration nozzle ablation due to both radiation and thermal conduction is presented in this paper. The effect of PTFE （polytetrafluorethylene） vapor is considered in the mass, momentum and energy conservation equations of the constructed model. Then, the gas flow fields with and without conduction considered are simulated. By comparing the aforementioned two results, it is indicated that the arc＇s maximal temperature with conduction considered is 90 percent of that without considering conduction.

Numerical Simulation of Gas Flow During Arcing Process for 252 kV Puffer Circuit Breakers

A numerical simulation model for 252 kV puffer circuit breaker is constructed, by using a proven commercial computational fluid dynamics （CFD） package, PHOENICS. The model takes into account the moving parts in the circuit breaker, turbulence enhanced momentum and energy transport, radiation transport. The arcing process in a SF6 puffer circuit breaker with two hollow contacts is simulated under different conditions, and the simulation results are verified with experimental results. Through simulation, the pressure, temperature and velocity in the arc quenching chamber can be obtained. The simulation model is also capable of predicting the influence of design parameters variations on breaker performance, and can thus help to reduce the number of short-circuit tests during the design stage.

Research of Arc Chamber Optimization Techniques Based on Flow Field and Arc Joint Simulation

The preliminary design of an arc chamber in the 550 kV SF6 circuit breaker was proposed in accordance with the technicai requirements and design experience. The structural optimization was carried out according to the no-load flow field simulation results and verified by no-load pressure measurement. Based on load simulation results such as temperature field variation at the arc area and the tendency of post arc current under different recovery voltage, the second optimal design was completed and its correctness was certificated by a breaking test. Results demonstrate that the interrupting capacity of an arc chamber can be evaluated by the comparison of the gas medium recovery speed and post arc current growth rate.

Fluid-chemical modeling of the near-cathode sheath formation process in a high current broken in DC air circuit breaker

When the contacts of a medium-voltage DC air circuit breaker(DCCB) are separated, the energy distribution of the arc is determined by the formation process of the near-electrode sheath. Therefore, the voltage drop through the near-electrode sheath is an important means to build up the arc voltage, which directly determines the current-limiting performance of the DCCB. A numerical model to describe the near-electrode sheath formation process can provide insight into the physical mechanism of the arc formation, and thus provide a method for arc energy regulation. In this work, we establish a two-dimensional axisymmetric time-varying model of a medium-voltage DCCB arc when interrupted by high current based on a fluid-chemical model involving 16 kinds of species and 46 collision reactions. The transient distributions of electron number density, positive and negative ion number density, net space charge density, axial electric field, axial potential between electrodes, and near-cathode sheath are obtained from the numerical model. The computational results show that the electron density in the arc column increases, then decreases, and then stabilizes during the near-cathode sheath formation process, and the arc column's diameter gradually becomes wider. The 11.14 V–12.33 V drops along the17 μm space charge layer away from the cathode(65.5 k V/m–72.5 k V/m) when the current varies from 20 k A–80 k A.The homogeneous external magnetic field has little effect on the distribution of particles in the near-cathode sheath core,but the electron number density at the near-cathode sheath periphery can increase as the magnetic field increases and the homogeneous external magnetic field will lead to arc diffusion. The validity of the numerical model can be proven by comparison with the experiment.

Simulation of Arc Motion in Air Switching Devices Taking Ferromagnetic Material into Accout

FLUENT and ANSYS codes are used to solve the magnethydrodynamics （MHD） equations and electromagnetic field equations, respectively. An interface code is developed to implement the bi-direction transfer of calculation data between FLUENT and ANSYS. Then a 2-D MHD arc model is built up with the consideration of the nonlinear ferromagnetic material. The arc shape, gas flow velocity and magnetic field distribution are presented at a current of 200 A. The influence of the number of splitter plates on arc motion is also analyzed.

Electrode Evaporation Effects on Air Arc Behavior

A numerical study of the effects of copper and silver vapours on the air arc behavior is performed. The commercial software FLUENT is adapted and modified to develop a twodimensional magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） models of arc with the thermodynamic properties and transport coefficients, net emission coefficient for the radiation model of 99% ai-1% Cu, 99% air-1% Ag, and pure air, respectively. The simulation result demonstrates that vaporization of the electrode material may cool the arc center region and reduce the arc velocity. The effects of Ag vapour are stronger compared to those of Cu vapour.

Experimental Study of the Influence of Gassing Material on Blow Open Force and Arc Motion

The study of arc behavior is important to understand the dynamic phenomena concerning the interruption process in a variety of switching devices. This paper is devoted to investigate the influence of gassing material on blow open force and arc motion. To one double- breaker model, measuring the arc current, voltage and force acting on the moving conductor, the characteristics of the ratio of the emerging blow open force over arc power FB/（ui） could be obtained. With the help of a 2-D optical fiber measurement system, to one arc chamber model, arc motion behavior was measured, too. It is demonstrated that, with the action of gassing material, FB/（ui） will increase 2.5 times, and the arc will enter the splitter plates much easier.

Convection effect on an arc plasma evolution process in a two parallel contact system

A low voltage circuit breaker(LVCB)is an important piece of protection equipment which will switch off the fault current in a power system.The moving contact of a low voltage circuit breaker with a higher rated current consists of two parallel contacts.Therefore,the convection effect on the air arc evolution process in a two parallel contact system is analyzed.A threedimensional(3 D)magneto–hydro–dynamic(MHD)model of arc simulation is built.In this model,the anode consists of two parallel contacts and a bonding conductor.A nonlinear voltage–current density characteristic is employed to represent the near-anode and near-cathode voltage.The current density,arc voltage and currents through every contact are obtained.The influence of convection and conduction on the arc evolution process are quantitatively calculated.The displacements of the arc roots are obtained and the asymmetry of the arc root motion is analyzed.The arc evolution process of a two parallel contact system is preliminarily revealed.

Investigation of a CO2 Switching Arc Using Spectroscopic Diagnostics and Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations

A deep understanding of the physical processes coming along with the current interruption in high voltage circuit breakers is essential for the optimization of today’s switching technologies.Therefore a switching arc in a model circuit breaker is studied by means of computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulations and optical emission spectroscopy(OES)in this contribution.Experimental investigations are performed in carbon dioxide(CO2)at absolute filling pressures of 0.1 and 0.5 MPa.CFD simulations are carried out based on a model of the arcing zone including a consistent treatment of the radiation transport and the wall ablation.Carbon ion line radiation is analysed in the experiment using an optical path in the heating channel between the electrodes inside the nozzle system.The pressure value in the arc is estimated based on the line width-intensity dependence.Obtained values correspond to the measured pressure outside the arc.For the temperature profiles,a good agreement within the accuracy of the approaches is observed between the CFD simulations and the results of OES.

The Voltage Distribution Characteristics of a Hybrid Circuit Breaker During High Current Interruption

Hybrid circuit breaker （HCB） technology based on a vacuum interrupter and a SF6 interrupter in series has become a new research direction because of the low-carbon requirements for high voltage switches. The vacuum interrupter has an excellent ability to deal with the steep rising part of the transient recovery voltage （TRV）, while the SF6 interrupter can withstand the peak part of the voltage easily. An HCB can take advantage of the interrupters in the current interruption process. In this study, an HCB model based on the vacuum ion diffusion equations, ion density equation, and modified Cassie-Mayr arc equation is explored. A simulation platform is constructed by using a set of software called the alternative transient program （ATP）. An HCB prototype is also designed, and the short circuit current is interrupted by the HCB under different action sequences of contacts. The voltage distribution of the HCB is analyzed through simulations and tests. The results demonstrate that if the vacuum interrupter withstands the initial TRV and interrupts the post-arc current first, then the recovery speed of the dielectric strength of the SF6 interrupter will be fast. The voltage distribution between two interrupters is determined by their post-arc resistance, which happens after current-zero, and subsequently, it is determined by the capacitive impedance after the post-arc current decays to zero.

Influence of the axial magnetic field on sheath development after current zero in a vacuum circuit breaker

After current zero,which is the moment when the vacuum circuit breaker interrupts a vacuum arc,sheath development is the first process in the dielectric recovery process.An axial magnetic field（AMF） is widely used in the vacuum circuit breaker when the high-current vacuum arc is interrupted.Therefore,it is very important to study the influence of different AMF amplitudes on the sheath development.The objective of this paper is to study the influence of different AMF amplitudes on the sheath development from a micro perspective.Thus,the particle in cell-Monte Carlo collisions（PIC-MCC） method was adopted to develop the sheath development model.We compared the simulation results with the experimental results and then validated the simulation.We also obtained the speed of the sheath development and the energy density of the ions under different AMF amplitudes.The results showed mat the larger the AMF amplitudes are,the faster the sheath develops and the lower the ion energy density is,meaning the breakdown is correspondingly more difficult.

Transient Ablation Regime in Circuit Breakers

Nozzle wall ablation caused by high temperature electric arcs is studied in the context of high voltage SF6 circuit breakers. The simplified ablation model used in litterature has been updated to take into account the unsteady state of ablation. Ablation rate and velocity are now calculated by a kinetic model using two layers of transition, between the bulk plasma and the ablating wall. The first layer （Knudsen layer）, right by the wall, is a kinetic layer of a few mean-free path of thickness. The second layer is collision dominated and makes the transition between the kinetic layer and the plasma bulk. With this new coupled algorithm, it is now possible to calculate the temperature distribution inside the wall, as well as more accurate ablation rates.

Equilibrium Composition of a Plasma in the Low Voltage Air Circuit Breaker Contaminated by the Vapor of AgSnO2 Alloy Electrical Contacts

When the circuit breaker cuts the electric current, an electric arc is created between its electrodes. The success or failure of breaking the electric current by the circuit breaker depends strongly on the physico-chemical properties of the electric arc created, such as the composition of which depends on the material of the electrical contacts. In this work, we determine the equilibrium composition of the electric arc in the low voltage air circuit breaker with silver tin dioxide alloy contacts, in a temperature range from 500 K to 15,000 K and at atmospheric pressure. We use the Gibbs free energy minimization method and develop a computer code to determine the equilibrium composition of the created plasma. The analysis of the results obtained shows that O2 particles with a dissociation energy of 5.114 eV, NO with a dissociation energy of 6.503 eV, and N2 dissociation 9.756 eV dissociate around 3500 K, 5000 K, and 7500 K, respectively. We note that the electro-neutrality is established between the electrons and the cations: Ag+ and NO+, for temperatures lower than 6500 K. For temperatures higher than 6500 K, the electro-neutrality is established between the electrons and the cations: N+, O+, and Ag+. The numerical density of the electrons increases when the proportion of the vapor of the electrical contacts increases in the mixture, in particular for temperatures lower than 11,000 K.