In the process of substituting sulphur hexafluoride in medium voltage load break switches by atmospheric gases, the inferior arc quenching capabilities of possible substitutes have to be compensated. By introducing a polymer nozzle into the switching gap of a load break switch, the interruption capability can be enhanced as the ablated nozzle material changes the composition of the arc plasma. In this contribution the interruption capability of a model load break switch is investigated using different nozzle materials. The results show a good interruption capability when using polypropylene and polyamide 6.6 for high blowing pressures. Polytetrafluorethylene shows good results across a wide blowing pressure range. Polylactide has the lowest interruption capability among the polymers in this work.
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