Self-Flow Generation Phenomena in a Gas Circuit Breaker Without Puffer Action

A simulation program of the arc quenching process in gas circuit breakers was developed. The program calculates the thermodynamic quantities of the gas as a function of time taking into account all spaces concerned with the arc quenching process such as the puffer cylinder, the arc space and the exhaust space. The simulation program was verified by experiments carried out on two model breakers. As an important result of the simulation, a new arc quenching principle is proposed based on self-flow generation without puffer action. The feasibility of the principle was confirmed experimentally.