Gas Blast Switch Radial Wall for Arc Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas blast switches face inefficiencies in cooling performances during AC current interruption, leading to limitations in interrupting higher currents without additional capacitors, which increases maintenance costs and reduces grid reliability.
Innovation Solution
The gas storage chamber is divided into two volumes by a flow guiding radial wall, with the gas channel opening positioned to direct hot gas into a separate volume, and a deflecting portion on the outer wall enhances gas swirling, ensuring that cold gas is efficiently used for arc quenching during the arc extinction stage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single-volume gas storage chamber is used, then the structure is simple, but the cooling performance is insufficient and cannot interrupt higher currents
Solution Approach 1:
The gas storage chamber is divided into two separate volumes (first volume and second volume) by a partition wall. The first volume stores cold gas while the second volume receives hot gas from the arc region. This segmentation prevents mixing of hot and cold gases, ensuring that cold gas is efficiently used for arc quenching, thereby enabling interruption of higher currents without increasing device complexity significantly
2Reliability
If additional capacitors are added to interrupt higher currents, then the current interrupting capability increases, but maintenance costs increase and grid reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the internal structure parameters of the gas storage chamber by dividing it into two volumes with different temperature characteristics. This parameter change optimizes the gas cooling performance and enables the circuit breaker to interrupt higher currents using the existing capacitor structure, thereby avoiding additional capacitors and reducing maintenance costs while improving grid reliability
3Stress or pressure
If hot gas from the arc region mixes with cold gas in the storage chamber, then the gas pressure increases, but the cooling performance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The partition wall divides the gas storage chamber into two distinct volumes, separating the cold gas storage area from the hot gas reception area. This segmentation maintains the temperature difference between the two volumes while allowing both to contribute to the overall gas pressure, ensuring that cold gas remains available for effective arc quenching
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the gas storage chamber are given different thermal characteristics - the first volume maintains cold temperature for gas storage while the second volume accepts hot gas from the arc region. This local quality differentiation ensures that each region performs its specific function optimally, with cold gas being ejected into the arc region for effective cooling
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
This configuration minimizes mixing of hot and cold gases, enhances arc cooling efficiency, and allows for interrupting higher currents without additional capacitors, improving the performance of circuit breakers at a reasonable cost without increasing operating energy or altering dimensions.
Implementation Method 1
The flow guiding radial wall and the deflecting portion cooperate to induce gas swirling between the second end wall and the flow guiding radial wall
Implementation Method 2
electric current is carried through an arc between the male and female arcing contacts
Implementation Method 3
The gas channel provides a path for feeding insulating gas heated by the arc... into the gas storage chamber, thereby inducing a pressure increase in the gas storage chamber
Implementation Method 4
A blast of quenching gas thus cools the electric arc and enables the AC current to be interrupted
Data Source
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AI summary
To improve cooling performances of quenching gas in a gas blast switch comprising a gas channel (32) connecting an arcing region (24) to a gas storage chamber (30) delimited by radially opposite inner and outer walls (102, 104) and axially opposite first and second end walls (106, 108), a flow guiding radial wall (110) extends in the gas storage chamber spaced from each wall delimiting the chamber, an opening (112) of the gas channel into the gas storage chamber through the first end wall faces a space (114) between the flow guiding radial wall and the inner wall, the outer wall comprises a deflecting portion (116) protruding in the gas storage chamber and facing the second end wall, and at least part of the deflecting portion is offset from the flow guiding radial wall in an axial direction (DR) oriented from the gas channel towards the gas storage chamber.