Experimental Evaluation of Outgassing Characteristics of Polymers on Air Arc Behavior

Low voltage circuit breaker is a crucial component for protecting power distribution system. The breaking capability is the key parameter of low voltage circuit breaker. Outgassing material is commonly used to improve the breaking capability in low voltage circuit breakers. Therefore, the evaluation method of outgassing characteristic of outgassing material is critical. This paper focus on the experimental study on outgassing properties evaluation of polymers. The detachable experimental prototype is designed and produced. In order to ensure that the arc burns in the middle of the quenching chamber, the electrode is designed in a triangular shape. Outgassing material is arranged around the arc quenching chamber. The copper wire is used to ignite arc in experiment. The arc voltage, arc current, pressure of quenching chamber, ablation mass of outgassing material, insulation resistance after arcing are obtained. The effects of different polymers on arc characteristic at various current levels are comparatively analyzed. The metrics for evaluating the properties of polymers are proposed. It provides a theoretical basis for the selection of outgassing polymers.