Flow Behavior in High-Voltage Circuit Breaker

Since several years, high-voltage circuit breakers (voltages of up to 800 kV) have been studied by the thermal plasma community to attain high level of reliability, good operating economy, and long intervals without maintenance. The studies are also related to gas substitution in order to replace SF₆. This feature consists to study, by a numerical tool (@Fluent) in a specific geometry, the main physical mechanisms occurring during the current intensity variation. Images of the SF₆ plasma in the reactor are presented: geometry, temperature, and pressure fields.