4th International Conference on Electric Power Equipment– Switching Technology (ICEPE-2017)

471 / 2017-07-05 17:00:50

Experimental study on the influence of vent aperture size and distribution on arc motion and interruption in low-voltage switching devices

14839,13614,14837

会场 > Switching Phenomena in Air (Low-voltage Circuit Breakers and Relays)

Enhanced switching performance during the interruption process is achieved when the arc quickly enters and stays within the splitter plate region with the arc itself remaining attached to the surface of the plates.
It is well known that the vent design in low-voltage switching devices (LVSDs) has a significant influence on the arc motion during an interruption event: however, there is little empirical work correlating the arc motion in the whole quenching chamber to the size and distribution of the vent apertures, which are important in determining the plasma flow conditions in LVSDs.
This paper uses high speed optical arc imaging to investigate the arc motion as the vent aperture conditions are varied in a LVSD. It is shown that the arc moves further and more quickly if there is the larger vent size in the quenching chamber. In addition, the well distributed vent contributes to an increase in the arc motion velocity and reduction in the total arc duration.