DocumentCode :
2504759
Title :
Back communication in low voltage interrupters: influence of recovery time, geometry and materials of contacts and walls
Author :
Gauster, Ewald ; Rieder, Werner
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Switching Devices & High Voltage Technol., Tech. Univ. Wien, Austria
fYear :
1997
fDate :
20-22 Oct. 1997
Firstpage :
91
Lastpage :
96
Abstract :
Arc commutation from the arc chute back into the contact gap of a low voltage circuit-breaker caused by a high arc voltage pulse due to arc splitting was investigated in a model interrupter with the aid of a synthetic test method. In the experiment, a well defined time after the arc left the contacts a high voltage ramp was applied across the contact gap. The criterion considered was the breakdown value of the voltage. Recovery time (in the range of 500 /spl mu/s to 2 ms), geometry and materials of contacts (Cu, Ag/C, Ag/Ni, Ag/MeO) and walls (non-gassing and gassing) were varied. Increasing recovery time increased the breakdown voltage significantly due to the decrease of the temperature in the contact area. The minimum breakdown value corresponded to the instantaneous reignition voltage. An increase of the wall distance caused an insignificant increase of the breakdown voltage due to the decrease of field distortion. Gassing wall materials caused slightly higher breakdown voltages than non-gassing walls. Increasing contact gap from 2 mm to 4 mm increased the breakdown voltage. No influence was observed at lower (1.5 mm) and at higher contact gaps up to 7 mm. The influence of the contact material was generally little; Cu contacts yielded insubstantially lower breakdown voltages than the other contact materials investigated.
Keywords :
circuit-breaking arcs; electrical contacts; interrupters; switchgear testing; 2 to 4 mm; 500 mus to 2 ms; Ag-C; Ag-Ni; Cu; arc commutation; arc splitting; breakdown value; contact gap; gassing wall materials; geometry; high voltage ramp; instantaneous reignition voltage; low voltage circuit-breaker; low voltage interrupters; nongassing walls; recovery time; synthetic test method; wall distance; Breakdown voltage; Circuit breakers; Circuit testing; Contacts; Current limiters; Geometry; Interrupters; Low voltage; Switches; Switching circuits;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Electrical Contacts, 1997., Proceedings of the Forty-Third IEEE Holm Conference on
Conference_Location :
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3968-1
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/HOLM.1997.638000
Filename :
638000
Link To Document :
بازگشت