Cooperation of an Electric Arc Device with a Power Supply System Equipped with a Superconducting Element

Abstract

This paper analyses the validity of using superconductors in the power supply system of arc devices. Two cases were analysed: when an additional superconducting element was included in the conventional power supply system and when the total power supply system was made of a superconductor. The analysis was carried out by simulating the cooperation of the arc receiver with its simplified power supply system in Matlab Simulink software. The characteristics of the changes of the arc current, its conductance and voltage as a function of the arc length changes for selected superconductor parameters, i.e., different values of the critical current and different values of the resistance in the resistive state, are given. The time courses of these quantities as well as the courses of resistance changes in the superconductor at randomly varying arc lengths are presented. The analysis showed that by selecting the critical current and resistance in the resistive state of the superconductor, arc parameters such as arc current drawn and arc conductance can be influenced. By making the entire power system from a superconductor, the arc current can be increased by 1.8% for a 1 cm arc and by 1% for a 1 cm arc. The ability of the superconductor to lose its superconducting state and return to that state can be used to limit the value of the current drawn by the arc over certain ranges of arc length. The range of these lengths can be controlled by selecting the value of the critical current of the superconductor. By selecting the resistance of the superconductor in the resistive state, the value of the limited current can be influenced. In the case studied, for a 1 cm arc length, an arc current 45% lower was obtained when the superconductor was in the resistive state.