Simulation of the Process of Arc Energy-Effect in High Voltage Auto-Expansion SF6 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.     

Calculation of Nozzle Ablation During Arcing Period in an SF6 Auto-Expansion Circuit Breaker

The nozzle ablation process is described as two phases of heat and ablation in the interruption for an SF6 circuit breaker in this paper.Their mathematical models are established with the Fourier heat conduction differential equation respectively.The masses of nozzle ablation with different arc durations and arc currents are calculated through the model of the nozzle ablation combined with an MHD (magneto-hydrodynamic) arc model.The time of the temperature rise on the inner surface of the nozzle under a given energy flux and of reaching the pyrolysis temperature under different energy fluxes is respectively analyzed.The relations between the mass of nozzle ablation and breaking current and arc duration are obtained.The result shows that the absorbing energy process before the nozzle ablation can be neglected under the condition of the energy flux entering into nozzle q ＞ 109 W/m2.The ablation is the severest during the high-current phase and the ablation mass increases rapidly with the breaking current and with arc duration respectively.     

Analysis of Arc Characteristics and Flow Field in Arc Chamber of High-Voltage SF6 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.     

Pressure and Arc Voltage Measurement in a 252 kV SF6 Puffer Circuit Breaker

The pressure distribution in an arcing chamber is critically important for the SF6 puffer circuit breaker design.In this paper,the pressure variation of four locations in the nozzle was measured by piezoresistive and fiber optical pressure sensors at two current levels of 10 kA and 50 kA.An arc voltage measurement was also taken.The results demonstrate that using either type of sensor with a connecting tube is able to detect the fast pressure variation in circuit breakers,however the possible distortion and delay to the pressure transient caused by the tube need further study.     

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 thermal 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 signi?cant 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 of Arc Chamber Optimization Techniques Based on Flow Field and Arc Joint Simulation

The preliminary design of an arc chamber in the 550 kV SF_6 circuit breaker was proposed in accordance with the technical 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.     

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.     

Study on the Mathematical Model of Dielectric Recovery Characteristics in High Voltage SF6 Circuit Breaker

According to the stream theory,this paper proposes a mathematical model of the dielectric recovery characteristic based on the two-temperature ionization equilibrium equation.Taking the dynamic variation of charged particle's ionization and attachment into account,this model can be used in collaboration with the Coulomb collision model,which gives the relationship of the heavy particle temperature and electron temperature to calculate the electron density and temperature under different pressure and electric field conditions,so as to deliver the breakdown electric field strength under different pressure conditions.Meanwhile an experiment loop of the circuit breaker has been built to measure the breakdown voltage.It is shown that calculated results are in conformity with experiment results on the whole while results based on the stream criterion are larger than experiment results.This indicates that the mathematical model proposed here is more accurate for calculating the dielectric recovery characteristic,it is derived from the stream model with some improvement and refinement and has great significance for increasing the simulation accuracy of circuit breaker's interruption characteristic.     

Coupling model of AC filter branch in SF6 circuit breaker during the break process

In this paper, a coupling model of the AC filter branch circuit with the arc plasma in the circuit breaker was built to investigate the arcing process considering the harmonic current. The comparisons among the current at power frequency (50 Hz), power frequency combining the 11th harmonic and power frequency combining the 24th harmonic show that the high-order harmonic current would lead to higher decreasing rate of current before current-zero period. In addition, the influence of arc on the amplitude of high-order harmonic current is not negligible. Thus, the coupling of arc with AC filter branch circuit is quite necessary in the numerical modeling of the circuit breaker in the AC filter branch at the high voltage direct current converter station.     

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.     

Simulation of the Effects of Several Factors on Arc Plasma Behavior in Low Voltage Circuit Breaker

Taking into account the properties of the arc plasma and the electromagnetic, heat and radiative phenomena, commercial computational fluid dynamics software PHOENICS has been adapted and modified to develop the three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） model of arc in a low voltage circuit breaker. The effects of the arc ignition location, venting size and gassing material on arc behavior have been investigated. The analysis of the results show that the arc velocity accelerates with the increase in the distance between arc ignition location and of the venting size, and the existence of the gassing material is beneficial to improving the arc voltage and reducing the arc temperature.     

The Effects of SF6-Cu Mixture on the Arc Characteristics in a Medium Voltage Puffer Gas Circuit Breaker due to Variation of Thermodynamic Properties and Transport Coefficients

In a gas circuit breaker,metal vapor resulting from electrode erosion is injected into the arc plasma.The arc then burns in a mixture of SF₆ and electrode vapor,which has properties significantly different from those of pure SF₆.Thermodynamic properties and transport coefficients of thermal plasmas formed in SF₆-copper vapor mixtures change as a function of temperature and pressure.The property that is mostly affected by the presence of copper is electrical conductivity,which is important in magnetohydrodynamic（MHD） analysis.In this study,the transport coefficients of SF₆ in the presence of 10 percent copper are considered as the basis of MHD simulation.Comparisons are made between the results during arc formation for pure SF₆ and SF₆-Cu mixture in a medium voltage（MV） circuit breaker.According to the transport coefficients influenced by the SF₆-Cu mixture,the distribution of the electric potential, temperature,electromagnetic force density and current density of the arc column are presented and discussed.Also,the arc stability and pinch effect near current zero with 3-D simulation are investigated,which is advantageous to improving the efficiency of arc plasma simulation.     

Simulation and Experimental Study of Arc Column Expansion After Ignition in Low-Voltage Circuit Breakers

The dynamic process of arc pressure and corresponding arc column expansion, which is the main feature after arc ignition and has a significant effect on the breaking behaviour of low -voltage circuit breakers, is studied. By constructing a three dimensional mathematical model of air arc plasma and adopting the Control Volume Method, the parameters of arc plasma including temperature and pressure are obtained. The variations of pressure field and temperature field with time are simulated. The result indicates that there are six stages for the process of arc column expansion according to the variation of pressure in arc chamber. In the first stage, the maximal pressure locates in the region close to cathode, and in the second stage the maximal pressure shifts to the region close to the anode. In the third stage, the pressure difference between the middle of arc column and the ambient gas is very large, so the arc column begins to expand apparently. In the fourth stage, the pressure wave propagates towards both ends and the maximal pressure appears at the two ends when the pressure wave reaches both sidewalls. In the fifth stage, the pressure wave is reflected and collides in the middle of the arc chamber. In the last stage, the propagation and reflection of pressure wave will repeat several times until a steady burning state is reached. In addition, the experimental results of arc column expansion, corresponding to the arc pressure variation, are presented to verify the simulation results.