Research of monitoring switching-generated arcing current during opening and closing process using Rogowski coil

The arcing current signals during the breaking and making operation of switches are measured for monitoring the opening and closing process. A current transducer based on Rogowski coil is developed to detect the arcing current with a wide bandwidth of 3 Hz to 7.54 MHz. Experiments were performed with switching containing resistance, inductance, and capacitance load respectively. Under the opening condition, post-arc currents are carried out to describe the conditions of the gap at current zero. Under the closing condition, both the appearance of prestrike arc and bounce arc are indications of the contact surface condition. This makes it possible to apply this method to online monitoring of the opening and closing process of switching.