Multi-Break Circuit Breaker Using Explosive Fracture and Water Arc Quenching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multi-break circuit breakers are high in cost, small in capacity, low in breaking speed, and unable to flexibly adjust the breaking voltage, making them inadequate for high-voltage and high-current applications.
Innovation Solution
An explosion-driven multi-break circuit breaker is designed with conductive plates, a detonating cord, an explosive column, a conductive cylinder, fracture zones, an explosion chamber, blocking rings, and epoxy supporting rods, allowing for flexible adjustment of breaking voltage by varying the number of breaks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a multi-break structure is designed to maintain voltage breaking ability, then the breaking voltage capability is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit breaker employs a multi-break structure where the current path is divided into multiple separate breaking points (typically 3-5 breaks). Each break is an independent contact separation point that contributes to the overall voltage breaking capability. This segmentation allows the device to handle higher voltages by distributing the breaking stress across multiple points rather than requiring a single complex breaker.
Solution Approach 2:
The circuit breaker design integrates multiple functions into a single device: current limiting protection, voltage breaking capability, and rapid fault interruption. The multi-break structure serves both as the primary arc extinction mechanism and as a means to distribute electrical stress, providing universal functionality that addresses multiple protection requirements simultaneously.
2Speed
If conventional circuit breakers are used for high-current cutoff, then the breaking speed is improved, but the capacity and adaptability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit breaker replaces conventional mechanical operating mechanisms with an explosive actuation system. High-explosive charges are used to rapidly separate the contacts, achieving breaking speeds that exceed the capabilities of traditional spring-loaded or motor-driven mechanisms. This substitution enables the device to interrupt extremely high currents (tens of thousands of amperes) that would be beyond the capacity of conventional breakers.
Solution Approach 2:
The design allows for adjustment of key parameters including the number of breaks (affecting voltage capability), explosive charge magnitude (affect(ing breaking speed), and contact geometry (affecting current capacity). By changing these parameters, the same basic design can be adapted to different voltage levels and current ratings, providing versatility without requiring completely different breaker designs.
3Reliability
If the number of breaks is increased to handle higher voltage, then the breaking voltage capability is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The voltage breaking capability is achieved through segmentation of the current path into multiple independent breaks. Each break provides a portion of the total voltage withstanding capability, and by adjusting the number of breaks (e.g., 3, 4, or 5 breaks), the device can be configured for different voltage levels. This modular segmentation allows flexible adaptation to various voltage requirements without redesigning the entire breaker.
Solution Approach 2:
The circuit breaker employs a dynamic configuration where the number of active breaks can be adjusted based on the specific application requirements. The design allows for selective activation or deactivation of breaks, enabling the same physical structure to operate at different voltage levels by engaging only the necessary number of breaks, thus reducing complexity for lower voltage applications while maintaining capability for higher voltages.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The circuit breaker achieves rapid breaking of high currents in an extremely short time, maintains high voltage breaking capacity, and allows for flexible adjustment of breaking voltage, enhancing its reliability and adaptability.
Implementation Method 1
When the explosives are detonated, detonation waves are transmitted through the deionized water, so that the fracture zones of the conductive cylinder are fractured simultaneously
Implementation Method 2
Electric arcs are occurred at the resultant breaks, and the electric arcs at the breaks are rapidly extinguished by a high-flow deionized water driven by denotation waves, so that voltage insulation is achieved
Data Source
AI summary
An explosion-driven multi-break circuit breaker is provided, including conductive plates, a detonating cord, an explosive column, a conductive cylinder, fracture zones, an explosion chamber, blocking rings, and supporting rods. The explosive column loaded with high explosives and a detonator is arranged in the explosion chamber filled with deionized water. The explosive column and the detonator are detonated using the detonating cord. The conductive plates are composed of an upper portion and a lower portion which are arranged at the outermost side of the circuit breaker in parallel. Both ends of the conductive cylinder are tightly connected to the conductive plates, and each of the blocking rings arranged at the periphery of the conductive cylinder is of a multi-break annular structure.