Study of a circuit-breaker arc with self-generated flow. I. Energy transfer in the high-current phase

This study deals with the first phase of operation, corresponding to the energy transfer between arc and gas and to the pressure rise. The experimental study is devoted to measurements of current, arc voltage, and pressure variations in N/sub 2/ and SF/sub 6/. For currents of the order of 10 kA the mean measured electric field was about 32 V/cm in SF/sub 6/ and 36 V/cm in N/sub 2/. Through a bibliographical study and a modeling approach of the interruption arc, an analysis of the role of the different mechanisms of energy transfer between the arc and SF/sub 6/ was conducted. With a 10 kA pulse, about 80% of the transfer is found to be due to convection and the rest to radiation from the arc. This transfer results in an overpressure of nearly 1 bar in SF/sub 6/ and 2 bar in N/sub 2/. It appears that the operation of this type of circuit breaker is limited to high currents: for currents below 7 kA the overpressure is lower than 0.5 bar, which does not provide efficient blowing at current zero.<>