Directional control of arcs in liquid nitrogen using externally biased magnetic fields

Abstract

Abstract Arc quenching process inside the liquid nitrogen (LN2) can be accelerated by controlling the shape, size and direction of arc plasma through the controlled magnetic fields. This paper demonstrates the experimental investigations of controlling the arcs in specific directions through NdFeB based permanent magnets. The electrodes were shorted by fuse wires to initiate arc plasmas in LN2. The effects of magnetic fields on the arcs inside LN2 were observed for the very first time. The results show that arc plasma can be stretched, lengthened and thinned in the upward and downward directions through the North-South and South-North magnetic fields approach. These findings are good news that arcs can be controlled inside the LN2 environment and several important achievements such as increasing the life time of electrodes, reduction in LN2 consumption, reduction in bubbles formation, reduction in arcing times and getting a regular cylindrical shape, can be obtained through magnetic fields.