Computational Study of the Arc Splitting in Power Interruption: The Effect of the Metallic Vapor on Arc Dynamics

Plasma-solid interaction represents one of the major concerns in many industrial applications, such as power-interruption and plasma-metal processing. Characterized by high-current density and voltage drop, the arc roots dissipate intensive heat that vaporizes the solid counterparts. The generated vapor participates in the ionization and thereby alters the plasma properties, like the electrical conductivity and radiation absorption coefficient. Currently, most of research use the NEC method to estimate the radiative heat transfer. In this study, we consider a banded radiative heat transfer via the Discrete Ordinate method to accurately compute the plasma temperature. It is found that the radiation has great influence on the thermal state of plasma. Apart from the absorption coefficient, the metal vapor also increase the permeability of plasma bulk that will enhance the local magnetic field. For a systematic study, we integrate metal vaporization, species transport and radiative heat transfer into the plasma modelling based on a magnetohydrodynamics method. The simulation results reveal that metal vapor not only helps to alleviate the overall temperature field but also expedite the arc interruption. An accurate computation of metal vapor enhanced radiative heat transfer will enhance the understanding of arc behaviors and improves the design of practically oriented low-voltage circuit breakers.