Evaluation of high-voltage circuit breaker performance with a new validated arc model

Abstract-At the high voltage laboratory at ETH Zurich switching arcs are investigated in order to understand the physical processes that determine the relationship between current and arc voltage in gas blast circuit breakers. Experiments are performed using a breaker prototype with many independently controllable parameters, and very versatile pulsed DC current source. Previous work showed that the gas pressure has a strong influence on the arc voltage, therefore changing the fluid dynamic conditions in which the arc burns can be used to create different dU/dI characteristics. In the presented paper a method to quantify these changes is presented, and the impact of the axial position of the contacts in a model gas circuit breaker on the voltage as function of current are discussed. The influence of the contact position on the average dU/dI curve were small, but the fluctuations around this average value change depending on the nozzle section in which the arc burns. These results will be used to improve the theoretical understanding of the different arc cooling mechanisms, which in turn should enable the design of new geometries that result in a more favorable arc voltage characteristics for passive oscillation HVDC circuit breaker topologies in the future.

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“…Such a model has to be able to describe different regimes, like the work of [7], [8] does by combining a Mayr and a Cassie term.…”

Section: A Determination Of Steady State Du/di Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recent black box models also exist, e.g. [7][8], as well as computational fluid dynamic simulations like [9] or [10]. Since most of this work was mainly focused on the behavior of AC circuit breakers near current zero, the voltage current relationship in the high current phase was not as important as it is for the DC breakers.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of nozzle and contact geometry on arc voltage in gas circuit-breakers

Bort

Franck

2016

2016 IEEE International Conference on High Voltage Engineering and Application (ICHVE)

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“…It is known that the Mayr arc model shows good results around current zero and the Cassie arc model for the high-current arc. The KEMA arc model combining the Mayr model and Cassie model is also used for the arc analysis including lowcurrent and high-current phases [15].…”

Section: Mathematical Arc Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of SLF Interruption Capability of Gas Circuit Breaker with CFD and a Mathematical Arc Model

Cho¹,

Kim²,

Chong³

et al. 2013

Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology

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-This paper discusses the analysis of arc conductance in a gas circuit breaker (GCB) during current interruption process and the investigation method of the interruption capability. There are some limitations in the application of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the implementation of an arc model around the current zero, despite the fact that it gives good results for the high-current phase arc. In this study, we improved the accuracy in the analysis of the interruption performance by attempting the method using CFD and a mathematical arc model. The arc conductance at 200 ns before current zero (G-200ns) is selected as the indicator to predict the current interruption of the Short Line Fault (SLF). Finally, the proposed method is verified by applying to the actual circuit breakers which have different interruption performances.

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“…In SF6, the measured arc conductivity 200 ns before current zero has been shown to be a very good predictor of interruption or failure [5,6]. This result has triggered the authors to search for equally straightforward performance indicators in the case of vacuum interruption.…”

Section: In Search For Performance Indicators Of Short-circuit Currenmentioning

confidence: 99%

In search for performance indicators of short-circuit current interruption in vacuum

Smeets

Lanen

Popov

et al. 2008

2008 23rd International Symposium on Discharges and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum

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Abstract-Current interruption in vacuum is characterized by a very rapid transition from an almost perfectly conducting arc plasma state to a very good insulating state. During the transition, the recovery process determines the success of the interruption. The aim of this contribution is to derive characteristics from measurements of the initial ("current zero") stage of this recovery process, having the potential to indicate the quality of the interruption. In the case of vacuum, a large number of measurements has been performed giving detailed information on the recovery process during the decay period of the post-arc plasma. The best-known indicator is the post-arc current, drawn from the decaying residual plasma by the transient recovery voltage. It turned out from measurement statistics, that post-arc current quantities (duration, peak value, charge) alone are not suitable as performance indicators. In addition, the role of conductivity (evolution) is examined, also showing not a very strong relationship with performance. It must be concluded that current-zero performance indicators for vacuum interruption are more difficult to define than for SF6 interruption. This suggests that vacuum interruption success is strongly related to dielectrical stesses, that are still relatively mild in the current zero period of a few microseconds duration.

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Evaluation of high-voltage circuit breaker performance with a new validated arc model

Cited by 63 publications

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Effects of nozzle and contact geometry on arc voltage in gas circuit-breakers

Effects of nozzle and contact geometry on arc voltage in gas circuit-breakers

Investigation of SLF Interruption Capability of Gas Circuit Breaker with CFD and a Mathematical Arc Model

In search for performance indicators of short-circuit current interruption in vacuum

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