• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.66 no.12
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• pp.1836-1843
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• 2017

In this paper, we investigated fire cases those are believed to be caused by explosion of a electrolytic motor start capacitor. Using two types of commercially available electrolytic motor start capacitors, capacitor current and the possibility of capacitor explosion were tested. And the ignition possibility of the internal material leaked from a capacitor was also tested. In addition, experiments were conducted to see if the fire could spread when a capacitor was exposed to an external flame. From our test we observed that the current of the electrolytic motor start capacitor rose continuously to a certain level by product, if the capacitor was continuously energized with working voltage, and then the capacitor was exploded. The gas and liquid leaked from the capacitor by the explosion could ignite by an electric arc and an external flame. The capacitor current at explosion was different product by product, but each product had a certain current level at explosion. And the increase rate of the capacitor current until explosion was 24% and 31% for the products used in the experiment. We proposed the capacitor explosion prevention method that cuts off power when the capacitor current rises to a certain threshold level. The proposed method can be used if the current of the applied electrolytic motor start capacitor rises continuously and then the capacitor is exploded at a certain current level when the capacitor is energized continuously.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.727-730
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• 2001

Electrical wire explosion (EWE) is characterized by great current density and rapid metal heating, which make itself an ideal tool for nano-materials manufacturing technology. The EWE requires a high voltage electric-energy source. In the current experimental set-up a high voltage capacitor is used for the purpose. Hence, a power supply that is capable of charging the capacitor to a target voltage is required. One of the special requirements is the precise controllability of the stored energy level in the capacitor. Through this study a high voltage capacitor charger using a series resonant converter technology has been developed for the production of nanosize powder. A load capacitor of $32{\mu}F$ can be charged up to 20kV by the developed capacitor charger and discharged through a gap switch and a copper wire.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.55 no.9
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• pp.452-455
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• 2006

The technology of wire explosion have been used to product nanopowders. A new concept was proposed to produce metallic nanosized powders, which is wire explosion in liquid media. We have exploded the Ag or Cu wires of diameter of O.3mm, 40mm long, in the de-ionized water or acetone, respectively. Electrical energy of 1.1kJ was stored in 10uF capacitor and released to the wires through a triggered spark gap switch. The process was observed by high-speed camera. Those images showed that the powders were generated by vapor condensation in the shell formed by shock wave in the water. The particles were directly dispersed into the water with collapse of the shell. The sizes of Ag and Cu nanopowders were evaluated to 35nm and 17nm, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.474-475
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• 2007

Wire electrical explosion(WEE) has been used for the production of fine metal particles. In WEE, electrical powder was stored and compressed into capacitor and released to produce fine particles through evaporation and condensation. In this study, the effect of applied voltage on the size of copper powders was investigated. High tension was added up to the explosion device by dividing 4 steps. At voltages lower than 5.2 kV, the fraction of powders finer than $44{\mu}m$ was almost negligible. The effectiveness of explosion increased sharply with increased voltage over 5.8 kV. At the highest voltage of 6.4 kV, more than 80% of explosion products were finer than $44{\mu}m$.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.103-113
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• 2021

As the use of capacitors in electrical appliances and electrical control circuits increases, the related electrical fire is increasing. There are various parts such as resistors, coils, and capacitors that make up an electric circuit. Among them, the ignition of a capacitor with a temporary charging function is closely related to the structural characteristics of the capacitor. Capacitors can explode due to various reasons, and the high heat generated when they explode ignites the inflammable dielectric, which in turn burns the inflammable materials such as the surrounding electric wires and spreads into a fire. In this paper, the ignition mechanism is studied by conducting a reenactment experiment on the various probabilities that can be ignited in an electric capacitor, and the prevention measures to be applied to the fire prevention are presented.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2020

Article 325 (Prevention of Fire Explosion due to Electrostatic) of the Rule for Occupational Safety and Health Standard specifies that in order to prevent the risk of disasters caused by static electricity, fire, explosion and static electricity in the production process, However, in order to do this, it is absolutely necessary to use a pre-detection technology and a detector for antistatic discharge prediction, which is a precautionary measure by static electricity in a fire / explosion hazard place, but in Korea, And there is no technical standard for the application of the technology of the explosion proof structure of the related equipment. Research methods include domestic and overseas electrostatic discharge detection technology and literature investigation of related equipment explosion proofing technology, domestic and foreign electrostatic discharge detection device production and use situation investigation, advanced foreign technology data analysis and benchmarking. In particular, we sought to verify the results of empirical experiments using electrostatic discharge detection technology through sample purchase and analysis of related major products, development of optimization technology through prototype production, evaluation, and supplementation, and expert knowledge through expert consultation. The results of this study were developed and fabricated two prototypes of electrostatic discharge detector based on the technology / standard related to electrostatic discharge detection technology in Korea and abroad through development of electrostatic discharge detection technology and development and production of detector. In addition, based on the development of electrostatic discharge detection technology, we developed an intrinsic safety explosion proof ib class explosion proof technology applicable to the process of using and handling flammable gas and flammable liquid vapor and combustible dust. In the case of the over voltage and minimum voltage are supplied to the explosion-proof structure ESD detector, check the state of the circuit and the transient and transient currents generated by the coil and capacitor elements during the input and standby of the signal pulse voltage. Explosion-proof equipment-Part 11: Intrinsically safe explosion proof structure The comparative evaluation with the reference curve in Annex A of "i" confirms that the characteristics of the intrinsically safe explosion protection structure are met.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 1997

The aim of the present study is to investigate experimentally the mechanism of an exploding wire in water and also to observe the bubble motion induced by an exploding wire. The experiment of an exploding wire is carried out in a water tank. As a metallic wire, a tungsten wire of 0.2mm in diameter and 10mm in length is employed. The electric energy of 50-300J is fed to the wire from a capacitor of 100$\mu$F charged up to 1-2.5kV. The explosion is recorded by a CCD camera with the resolution of 1$\mu$sec. The explosion process of metallic wire is divided into three phases. Phase 1 : As the voltage is applied to the wire, the temperature increases due to Joule heating and the wire emits light. Phase 2 : Then the wire melts and the cylindrical plasma is formed between the electrodes. Up to this stage, strong light emission is observed. Phase 3 : The light emission goes out and a vapor bubble begins to grow spherically. The radius of a bubble oscillates in time, but the amplitude of oscillation diminishes in several cycles.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2019

Recently, the circuit-breaker rated voltage is getting higher as the transmission voltage increases. To increase the circuit-breaker rated voltage, a multi-break circuit-breaker which has two or more breakers in series is adopted. For multi-break circuit-breaker, a grading capacitor is used to mitigate the Transient Recovery Voltage(TRV) and control the voltage distribution across the individual interrupter units. However, all over the world, there are many failures such as mechanical damage, explosion due to insulation breakdown. Therefore, it is necessary to study the causes of failure and the new performance verification method. In this paper, we investigate the causes of dielectric breakdown of the grading capacitors in the KEPCO power system and propose the performance verification method.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.32-38
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• 2011

As the using rate of an explosive gas has been increased in the industrial site, the regional residents adjacent to the site as well as the site workers have frequently fallen into a dangerous situation. Damage caused by accident in the process using hydrogen gas is not confined only to the relevant process, but also is linked to a large scale of fire or explosion and it bring about heavy casualties. Therefore, personnel in charge should investigate the kinds and causes of the accident, forecast the scale of damage and also, shall establish and manage safety countermeasures. We, in Anti-Calamity Research Center, forecasted the scope of danger if break out a fire or/and explosion in hydrogen gas facilities of MLCC firing process. We selected piping leak accident, which is the most frequent accident case based on an actual analysis of accident data occurred. We select and apply piping leak accident which is the most frequent case based on an actual accident data as a model of damage forecasting scenario caused by accident. A jet fire breaks out if hydrogen gas leaks through pipe size of 10 mm ${\Phi}$ under pressure of 120 bar, and in case of $4kw/m^2$ of radiation level, the radiation heat can produce an effect on up to distance of maximum 12.45 meter. Herein, we are going to recommend safety security and countermeasures for improvement through forecasting of accident damages.