Numerical Study on Arc Plasma Behavior During Arc Commutation Process in Direct Current Circuit Breaker  

作　　者：杨飞 马瑞光 吴翊 孙昊 纽春萍 荣命哲 

机构地区：[1]State Key Lab of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment,School of Electrical Engineering,Xi'an Jiaotong University

出　　处：《Plasma Science and Technology》2012年第2期167-171,共5页等离子体科学和技术（英文版）

基　　金：supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.51177124,51007072);the Doctoral Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No.20110201120069)

摘　　要：This paper focuses on the numerical investigation of arc plasma behavior during arc commutation process in a medium-voltage direct current circuit breaker （DCCB） contact system. A three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） model of air arc plasma in the contact system of a DCCB is developed, based on commercial software FLUENT. Coupled electromagnetic and gas dynamic interactions are considered as usual, and a thin layer of nonlinear electrical resistance elements is used to represent the voltage drop of plasma sheath and the formation of new arc root. The distributions of pressure, temperature, gas flow and current density of arc plasma in arc region are calculated. The simulation results indicate that the pressure distribution related to the contact system has a strong effect on the arc commutation process, arising from the change of electrical conductivity in the arc root region. In DCCB contact system, the pressure of arc root region will be concentrated and higher if the space above the moving contact is enclosed, which is not good for arc root commutation. However, when the region is opened, the pressure distribution would be lower and more evenly, which is favorable for the arc root commutation.This paper focuses on the numerical investigation of arc plasma behavior during arc commutation process in a medium-voltage direct current circuit breaker （DCCB） contact system. A three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） model of air arc plasma in the contact system of a DCCB is developed, based on commercial software FLUENT. Coupled electromagnetic and gas dynamic interactions are considered as usual, and a thin layer of nonlinear electrical resistance elements is used to represent the voltage drop of plasma sheath and the formation of new arc root. The distributions of pressure, temperature, gas flow and current density of arc plasma in arc region are calculated. The simulation results indicate that the pressure distribution related to the contact system has a strong effect on the arc commutation process, arising from the change of electrical conductivity in the arc root region. In DCCB contact system, the pressure of arc root region will be concentrated and higher if the space above the moving contact is enclosed, which is not good for arc root commutation. However, when the region is opened, the pressure distribution would be lower and more evenly, which is favorable for the arc root commutation.

关 键 词：arc plasma DC circuit breaker arc commutation PRESSURE simulation 

分 类 号：TM561[电气工程—电器] O539[理学—等离子体物理]