Study of vacuum arc plasma transport characteristics during the DC interrupting process

Abstract

Abstract The mechanical DC vacuum circuit breaker based on forced-over-zero technology will inevitably generate vacuum arc during the actual interrupting process. Since the current drop frequency is usually very high, the vacuum arc usually exhibits obvious transient characteristics, and the excessive transient characteristics may even become a key factor limiting the interruption capacity. In order to improve the mechanical DC vacuum circuit breaker arc interrupting capability, this paper establishes a vacuum arc transient magneto-hydrodynamic simulation model in the DC interrupting process and studies the plasma transport characteristics of the vacuum arc under different DC interrupting conditions. The results show that the ion pressure, ion density and ion temperature decrease with decreasing arc current, while the ion velocity gradually increases during the DC interrupting process. The increase in breaking current and current drop frequency will increase the ion density in the arc column at the moment of current crossing zero, resulting in more difficult vacuum arc interrupting. The results of the study can provide an important theoretical basis for a deeper understanding of the vacuum arc transient process in the DC interrupting process and improve the DC vacuum circuit breaker arc interruption capability.