Analysis of Pressure Rise in a Closed Container Due to Internal Arcing

Peng Li, Jiangjun Ruan, Daochun Huang, Ziqing OuYang, Li Zhang, Mingyang Long and Mengting Wei
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Peng Li: School of Electrical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Jiangjun Ruan: School of Electrical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Daochun Huang: School of Electrical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Ziqing OuYang: School of Electrical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Li Zhang: School of Electrical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Mingyang Long: School of Electrical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Mengting Wei: School of Electrical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: When an arc fault occurs in a medium-voltage (MV) metal enclosed switchgear, the arc heats the filling gas, resulting in a pressure rise, which may seriously damage the switchgear, the building it is contained in, or even endanger maintenance personnel. A pressure rise calculation method based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been put forward in this paper. The pressure rise was calculated and the arc tests between the copper electrodes were performed in the container under different gap lengths by the current source. The results show that the calculated pressure rise agrees well with the measurement, and the relative error of the average pressure rise is about 2%. Arc volume has less effect on the pressure distribution in the container. Arc voltage Root-Mean-Square (RMS) has significant randomness with the change of arc current, and increases with the increase of gap length. The average arc voltage gradients measure at about 26, 20 and 16 V/cm when the gap lengths are 5, 10 and 15 cm, respectively. The proportion (thermal transfer coefficient k p ) of the arc energy leading to the pressure rise in the container is about 44.9%. The pressure is symmetrically distributed in the container before the pressure wave reaches the walls and the process of the energy release is similar to an explosion. The maximum overpressure in the corner is increased under the reflection and superimposition effects of the pressure wave, but the pressure waves will be of no importance any longer than a few milliseconds in the closed container.

Keywords: switchgear; arc fault; closed container; pressure rise; arc voltage; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); pressure wave (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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