7th International Conference on Electric Power Equipment– Switching Technology (ICEPE 2024)

11 / 2024-03-22 10:28:40

The Interaction between Droplets and Vacuum Arc in the Vacuum Interrupters

Vacuum arc,Droplets,magneto-hydro-dynamics (MHD)

Droplets can be generated from the electrode surface of the vacuum interrupters under high current, which may be harmful for the device. Recently, the droplets were widely studied by simulation and experiments. However, in the simulation research, the model for the arc and the one for the droplets were not coupled. In this research, droplets with a diameter of 100μm are studied. Their movement in the vacuum arc is simulated with the help of dynamic meshing technology. During the movement, the droplets are heated and charged by the vacuum arc. On the other hand, the feedback of droplets to the vacuum arc is also considered, including evaporation and cooling. The results show that with the increase of droplet diameter, the temperature increase and the velocity of droplets decrease. The influence of the vacuum arc on the droplets can be determined by the droplet ablation cloud. The ionization process of the droplet vapor leads to a lower electron temperature and higher atom density around the droplets.