Research on DC Current Interruption Technology by Vacuum Arcs Subjected to Adjustable Rotating Transverse Magnetic Field

The objective of this work is to determine the influence of rotating magnetic flux density and magnetic field rotating frequency on the interruption capability of the DC vacuum arcs. A novel DC current interruption method by vacuum arcs subjected to the rotating transverse magnetic field (TMF) is proposed in this paper. In the experiment of the DC current interruption, the system voltage ranged from 0 to 520 V. The current ranged from 0 to 520 A. The magnetic flux density ranged from 0 to 50 mT. The magnetic field rotating frequency can be adjusted from 230 Hz to 430 Hz and 740 Hz. The experimental results show that the arc voltage value of the DC vacuum arcs increased with the increasing of the applied rotating TMF flux density. The critical magnetic flux density window for the successful interruption was defined, under the interrupting DC voltage of 85 V, 140 V and 200 V, respectively. The DC vacuum arcs interruption capability increased with the increasing of the TMF rotating frequency, which ranged from 230 Hz to 430 Hz and 740 Hz. Moreover, the increasing of the TMF rotating frequency could decease the interrupting duration of the DC vacuum arcs.