• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2506-2511
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• 2007

The coupled simulation is performed to find out the interaction of arc plasmas with surrounding materials in a thermal puffer plasma chamber. In order to be more realistic, PTFE nozzle ablation and Cu electrode evaporation, which are caused by high temperature of arc plasmas, are considered together. Pressure rise and temperature inside the chamber generated during the whole arcing history are investigated with the applied currents. It is very important to define how thermal flow and mass transfer are processing between the arc plasma and surrounding materials for further understanding complex physics inside the chamber. It is concluded that the result might be very useful to understand the mechanism happened inside and to design thermal puffer plasma chambers, but further experimental studies are required to verify the results for the more practical applications.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.832-839
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• 2007

The geometry and dimensions of an expansion chamber are decisive factors in thermal puffer plasma chamber designs. Because they together dominate the temperature and speed at which the cooling gas from the chamber flows back through a flow channel to the arcing zone for the successful interruption of fault currents. In this study, we calculated the flow and mass transfer driven by arc plasma, and investigated the effects of a flow guide installed inside a thermal puffer plasma chamber. It is found that the existing cold gas of the chamber mixes with hot gases entrained from the arcing zone and is subjected to compression due to pressure build-up in the chamber. The pressure build-up with the flow guide is larger than that without due to a vortex which rotates clockwise around the chamber center. By the reverse pressure gradient, the mixing gas of the chamber flows back out for cooling down the residual plasma near current zero. In the case with the flow guide, the temperature just before current zero is lower than that without, and the Cu concentration with high electrical conductivity is also less than that without the flow guide.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2011.07a
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• pp.1536-1537
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• 2011

The high-voltage circuit breaker plays an important role in the electrical system because there has been a need for suitable switching devices capable of initiating and interrupting the flow of the electric fault current. It continues as the contacts recede from each other and as the newly created gap is bridged by a plasma. The arc plasma happens inside the insulation nozzle of SF6 self-blast interrupter which is newly developed as the next-generation switching principle. The ablation of PTFE nozzle is caused by this high temperature medium, the PTFE vapor from the nozzle surfaces flows toward the outlets and the pressure chamber. The vapor makes the pressure of the chamber increased by heat and mass transfer from the arcing zone. Because the rate of ablation depends on the magnitude of applied current, it decreases when the current goes to zero. The compressed gas inside the chamber flows reversely toward the arc plasma during this moment. According to this principle, the arc can be cooled down and the fault current can be interrupted successfully. In this study, we calculate arc plasmas and thermal-flow characteristics caused by fault current interruption inside a SF6 self-blast interrupter, and to investigate the effect of PTFE ablation on the whole arcing history.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.7-13
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• 2008

The computational investigation is performed to find out the interaction of arc plasmas with surrounding materials and the thermal flow characteristics in a PASB (Puffer-Assisted Self-Blast) chamber, which is one of new breaking concepts in $SF_6$ switchgears. It is very important to define the flow and mass transfer happened during the full arcing history for further understanding complex physics inside the chamber. In this study, we have considered two diffusion processes by the hot arc plasma, one is PTFE nozzle ablation and the other is Cu electrode evaporation, simultaneously. It was found that the principle of the pressure-rise inside the chamber is confirmed by the computational results and the increase of the electrical conductivity of the residual gas near current zero is critical to the chamber design.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.9-15
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• 2010

In this study, we calculated arc discharges and flow characteristics driven by arcs in a thermal puffer chamber, which is one of most outstanding high-voltage interrupters, for understanding the complex physics and the probability of thermal breakdown. The four main parts of arc model for this virtual-reality are radiation, PTFE ablation, Cu evaporation, and turbulence. Among these important parts the turbulence model can be critical to the reliability of computation results during the whole arcing history because the plasma flow is affected by high heat energy and mass momentum. Two turbulence models, the Prandtl's mixing length model and the standard $k-\varepsilon$ model, are applied for these calculations and are compared with pressure-rise inside chamber and arc voltage between the contacts as well as flow characteristics near current zero.