Two-dimensional spectroscopic measurement of hot air gas and residual arc for applicability examination of thermal and dielectric reignition theory in air switchgear installing splitter plate

Abstract This study experimentally investigated the influences of a hot gas and residual arc on current interruption failure in a modeled air switchgear installing splitter plates, using a four-wavelength spectroscopic imaging sensor for the judgement of thermal or dielectric reignition. Experimental results showed that the interruption failure was observed both inside and outside the arc-extinguishing box. The hot gas outside the box caused thermal reignition due to retention effects caused by combustion reactions, while the residual arcs inside the box caused not only thermal reignition but also dielectric reignition. These experimental results demonstrated that spatiotemporal dynamics of hot gas and residual arcs significantly influences the reignition phenomena in the air switchgears, which can not be directly explained by traditional reignition mechanisms.