Research on Gas Arc-Spinning Morphology by Magnetic Blowing for Environmental-Friendly High-Speed Grounding Switches

The high-speed grounding switch is an important component of gas-insulated switchgear (GIS), which is used to quickly cut off the fault current. However, it is difficult to break the Class-B electromagnetic induction current when the environmental-friendly high-speed grounding switch is working in the high-voltage condition. In this article, a method of rotating the gas arc by magnetic blowing is proposed to change the arc morphology through the action of electromagnetic force, in order to drive the arc to rotate and come into full contact with the air. This method is expected to cool the arc temperature rapidly, increase the instantaneous power dissipation, and enhance the arc quenching capability of high-voltage equipment. This article through the establishment of gas arc magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulation model analyzes the gas arcing characteristics in the magnetic field, and finally uses a high-voltage power supply to the test switchgear to complete the arcing experiments. The results show that after adding the magnetic field, the highest air arcing peak power is 5.96 times higher than that without the magnetic field, which verifies the effectiveness of this method in improving the performance of small-current disconnecting.