A collisional-radiative SF/sub 6/ arc plasma model using Boltzmann analysis

In order to investigate an SF/sub 6/ circuit breaker arc under nonequilibrium conditions, a complete self-consistent kinetic model has been set up. The number of chemical reactions equals 87, involving 35 different species of the SF/sub 6/ dissociation products and their ionized and excited states. The collisional-radiative (CR) model determines the plasma composition and the temperature simultaneously in one point. Additionally, the Boltzmann equation is solved to determine the electron impact parameters. Results for a free-recovering SF/sub 6/ arc as well as the SF/sub 6/ plasma exposed to electric fields are presented.