Self-consistent radiation-based simulation of electric arcs: II. Application to gas circuit breakers

Abstract

An accurate and robust method for radiative heat transfer simulation for arc applications was presented in the previous paper (part I). In this paper a self-consistent mathematical model based on computational fluid dynamics and a rigorous radiative heat transfer model is described. The model is applied to simulate switching arcs in high voltage gas circuit breakers. The accuracy of the model is proven by comparison with experimental data for all arc modes. The ablation-controlled arc model is used to simulate high current PTFE arcs burning in cylindrical tubes. Model accuracy for the lower current arcs is evaluated using experimental data on the axially blown SF6 arc in steady state and arc resistance measurements close to current zero. The complete switching process with the arc going through all three phases is also simulated and compared with the experimental data from an industrial circuit breaker switching test.

HVDC Circuit Breakers: A Review Identifying Future Research Needs

“…An optimization of the breaker with these type of simulations must always be accompanied by experiments. Progress has been made in simulating AC switching arcs of gas circuit breakers [78] and vacuum interrupters [79] using multi-physics simulations that need less, or even no fitting parameters at all. These type of simulations should be used to optimize the arcing conditions for use in HVDC circuit breakers in addition to black-box models.…”

Experiment and CFD simulation of exhaust tube in highvoltage circuit breaker

“…The application and implementation of arc model are described in detail [1][2][3][4][5] and are not discussed in this work. For the sake of completeness, a brief model description and numerical details are provided: Energy source terms are added to represent the effect of the arc on the flow: ohmic heating is added based on the solution of the electric field distribution inside the arc and the radiative transfer is computed based on discrete ordinate method (DOM) approximating the radiation transfer equation on 12 ordinate directions [5]. Electric field is computed statically using a simple Laplace equation for the electric potential.…”

“…The numbers of cells in the discretization are in the range of 150-200 K for a 2D model. More details about the model and numerical methods are given in [5].…”

Perspectives on Research on High Voltage Gas Circuit Breakers

“…Significant progress has been obtained in the field of radiative energy transport modelling by use of discrete ordinate method (DOM), the P1 method, and net emission coefficients (NEC) models with suitable band averaging methods (e.g. see [17][18][19][20][21][22]). Pressure build up in the heating volume and also in the exhaust volumes can in this way quite reliably be calculated (see e.g.…”