Trigger Performance and Lifetimes of Plasma-Jet-Triggered Gas-Gap-Switch Considering Multifactors

Plasma-jet-triggered gas-gap-switch (PTGS) has significant technical and economic advantages in rapid control and protection of distribution networks. The working coefficient affects trigger conduction performance (TCP), but the scholars mostly focus on the influence of single factor. In this article, a study platform for plasma jet characteristic parameters of PTGS is set up. The results show that PTFE trigger cavity has the best gas-producing and arc-ablation-resistance capacity with the trigger lifetimes up to
$1500\times $
. The jet height at a trigger voltage of 1.8 kV is up to 10 mm, i.e., 23.5% increase compared with that of at 1.4 kV, causing the trigger delay of PTGS decreases from 67 to
$56~\mu \text{s}$
. Increasing main gap distance from 10 to 20 mm, the trigger delay increases by
$2.4\times $
, i.e., the TCP of PTGS weakens. Increasing working voltage from 5 to 30 kV, the critical trigger voltage of PTGS decreases gradually, the peak value of jet height and the induced breakdown jet height decrease accordingly, but the difference between the two heights decreases first and then increases. Increasing SF6 pressure from 0.1 to 0.2 MPa, the trigger delay of PTGS increases by 51.5%, and the main gap-induced breakdown delay increases by 63.0%, weakening the TCP of PTGS, and the induced breakdown jet height is close to the peak value of jet height gradually. Increasing SF6 content, the trigger delay and jitter of PTGS increases rapidly at first and then tends to stabilize, that of in 50% SF6 is 93.5% and 91.1% of that in SF6. The research results can provide theoretical guidance for the performance optimization and engineering application of PTGS.