• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.184-190
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• 2009

One of the purposes of arc control is to change its state to the diffuse state before current zero as soon as possible. This can provide optimal conditions for full extinction of arc by minimizing the quantity of residual plasma between contacts near current zero. TRV(transient recovery voltage) occurs at current zero at the same time with current interruption. If there is substantial residual plasma near current zero it can cause 'post arc current' by the interaction of its conductance with TRV. In this paper, arc control ability as a function of configuration of spiral type VI contacts was compared on the criteria of the time taken for arc to reach to the diffuse state.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.365-368
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• 2002

The design of industrial arc plasma systems is still largely based on trial and error although the situation is rapidly improving because of the available computational power at a cost which is still fast coming down. The desire to predict the behavior of arc plasma system, thus reducing the development cost, has been the motivation of arc research. To interrupt fault current, the most enormous duty of a circuit breaker, is achieved by separating two contacts in a interruption medium, $SF_{6}$ gas or air etc., and arc plasma is inevitably established between the contacts. The arc must be controlled and interrupted at an appropriate current zero. In order to analyze arc behavior in $SF_{6}$ gas circuit breakers, a numerical calculation method combined with flow field and electromagnetic field has been developed. The method has been applied to model arc generated in the Aachen nozzle and compared the results with the experimental results. Next, we have simulated the unsteady flow characteristics to be induced by arcing of AC cycle, and conformed that the method can predict arc behavior in account of thermal transport to $SF_{6}$ gas around the arc, such as increase of arc voltage near current zero and dependency of arc radius on arc current to maintain constant arc current density.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.56 no.9
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• pp.1566-1570
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• 2007

[ $SF_6$ ] gas circuit breakers are widely used for short circuit current interruption in EHV(Extra High Voltage) or UHV(Ultra High Voltage) power systems. To develop $SF_6$ gas circuit breakers, the arc resistance value is necessary to compare experimental results to numerical ones. The arc resistance value can be obtained from a breaking test with a $SF_6$ gas circuit breaker. The direct testing or synthetic testing facility is widely used to verify the breaking ability for $SF_6$ gas circuit breakers. We employed the simplified synthetic testing facility to test a $SF_6$ gas circuit breaker prototype. The arc resistance characteristic was measured and calculated under the various experimental conditions. This arc resistance value can be used for verifying the numerical results from arc simulation in a circuit breakers.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1997.07c
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• pp.800-802
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• 1997

After flashover occurs on the overhead distribution line by lighting strokes(direct or induced), the power frequency arc current continues. If lightning flashover occurs on the overhead lines using covered conductors, the power frequency art current with fixed path overheats the conductor, and arc fusion fault can be occurred. There are two categories protecting or reducing methods of arc fusion faults caused by lightning stokes. - Reducing lightning flashover rate : G/W, LA, etc. - Protection by AFPD(Arc Fusion Protection Device) : power follow current interruption. This paper presents lightning surge phenomena on overhead distribution lines and protecting performance of arc fusion Protection devices to the lightning strokes nearby overhead line.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1993.07b
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• pp.627-630
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• 1993

The arc characteristics have influences on the current interruption phenomena in the regimes of low current as well as high current. It is very important to understand the arc characteristics for the initial design of a circuit breaker. This article describes the theoretical analysis of the arc characteristics by means of arc energy integral method when convection dominated low current arcs are produced in the dual-nozzle air and $SF_6$ gas flows of a model interrupter. The arc radius, average electric field strength and arc voltage have been investigated at the current range of 60 to 230 A and at the upstream pressure of 0.6 MPa in both air and SF6 gas. The results have been compared to show the difference of both gases and the trends similar to those of other investigations.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers B
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.387-394
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• 2000

This paper presents a method of cold gas flow-field analysis within puffer type GCB(Gas Circuit Breaker). Using this method, the entire interruption process including opening operation of GCB can be simulated successfully. In particular, the distortion problem of the grid due to the movement of moving parts can be dealt with by the fixed grid technique. The gas parameters such as temperature, pressure, density, velocity through the entire interruption process can be calculated and visualized. It was confirmed that the time variation of pressure which was calculated from the application of the method to a model GCB agreed with the experimental one. Therefore it is possible to evaluate the small current interruption capability analytically and to design the interrupter which has excellent interruption capability using the proposed method. It is expected that the proposed method can reduce the time and cost for development of GCB very much. It also will be possible to develop the hot-gas flow-field analysis program by combining the cold-gas flow field program with the arc model and to evaluate the large current interruption capability.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers B
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• v.50 no.7
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• pp.331-337
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• 2001

With the increasing reliability of analysis schemes and the dramatically increased calculating speed, the computer simulation has become and indispensable process to predict the interruption capacity of circuit breakers. Generally, circuit breakers have to possess both the small current and large current interruption abilities and the circuit breaker designers need to evaluate its capacities to save the time and the expense. The analysis of small current and the large current interruption performances have been considered separately because the phenomena occurring in a interrupter are quite different. To analyze the dielectric recovery after large current interruption many physical phenomena such as heat transfer, convection and arc radiation, the nozzle ablation, the ionization of high temperature SF(sub)6 gas, the electric and themagnetic forces and so forth mush be considered. However, in the analysis of small current interruption performance only the cold gas flow analysis needs to be carried out because the capacitive current is to small that the influence from the current can be neglected. In this paper, an empirical equation which is obtained from a series of tests to estimate the dielectric recovery strength has been applied to a real circuit breaker. The results of analysis have been compared with the test results and the reliability has been investigated.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1992.07b
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• pp.961-965
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• 1992

It is well-known that shock waves frequently occur inside the nozzle of the interrupter, and that they play important roles in the arc interruption. A model interrupter with two-dimensional dual-airflow nozzles was used for this experiment. The arc was ignited with 1.4 mil copper wire stretched between the electrodes which were spaced out 56 mm. The arc current of 60 to 230 A was achieved by adjusting the external resistance from 5.5 to 1.6 ohms. The arc tests have been conducted for investigating the air arc characteristics, and the effects of shock waves and nozzle pressure ratios on the arc voltage, the arc resistance, the arc power, and average electric field. The results of these tests have been analyzed to provide insights into the arc characteristics for gas circuit breakers. The average electric field is represented by the function of the arc current to show the negative E-I characteristic explicitly. The effects of shock waves and nozzle pressure ratios are shown to be significant for a circuit breaker performance.

• KIEE International Transactions on Electrophysics and Applications
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• v.5C no.6
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• pp.233-241
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• 2005

The present model of a SF6 arc accounts for the copper vapour contamination from the electrodes inside a Laval nozzle of a circuit breaker. Steady state simulations have been done for the arc with electrode gap of 60mm and DC electric current of 500A, 1000A and 1500A for both cases with and without copper contamination. The effects of electrode polarity are considered for the arc current of 1000A. It was found out that evaporation of copper from the anode results in a cooling of the arc in a region close to the electrodes. The electrical potential across the electrodes is not sensitive to the presence of copper vapour, typically less than $4\%$ difference. Transient analysis has been done in order to obtain the arc properties at current zero. The arc current is increased linearly from -1000 to 0A when the upstream electrode is cathode with constant dI/dt of $27.0A/{\mu}s$ (or decreased linearly from 1000 to 0A when upstream electrode is anode). It has been predicted that the presence of copper vapour reduces the interruption capability of the breaker.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.03b
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• pp.28-28
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• 2010

The higher the short circuit currents, the faster the interruption takes place. For increasing the interrupting performance of the MCCB, it is important to design optimally the adjustable tripping device, the open /shut mechanism, and the arc quenching room in the MCCB. This paper is focused on understanding the interrupting performance, more specifically of the grid and the fix contact, based on the shape of the arc quenching room in the current MCCB.