The discharge development and arc modes in vacuum at a long gap distance in vacuum interrupters

The influence of an arc current on the discharge development and the arc modes of a single coil type axial magnetic field (AMF) electrode were investigated by a high-speed charge couple device (CCD) video camera in a long gap distance of 40 mm. The distribution of the axial magnetic field of the single coil type AMF electrode was computed. By computational results, the single coil type AMF electrode could generate higher axial magnetic flux density than the slot type AMF electrode. It was found that the single coil type AMF electrode could perform better than the slot type AMF electrode with the same designing parameters. And the development of the arc modes experienced diffuse mode, constricted but unstable mode, and constricted and stable mode with the amplitude of the arc current increasing. The correlation between the vacuum arc and the noise components of arc voltage was investigated too. The interruption capability could be known in a practical commercial vacuum interrupter by the test results in a demountable vacuum interrupter (DVC) with a electrode diameter of 50 mm and a gap distance of 40 mm. The test results could provide reference to design the high voltage vacuum interrupter adopting the single coil type AMF electrode.