How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
(OP)
can someone explain how circuit Breaker Arc Chutes help to extinguish arcs during on and off operations?
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How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
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RE: How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
That is exactly how Arc Chutes work.
Hot air rises and arcs are the hottest 'air' on earth.
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
For a DC arc, there are blow magnets that force the arc from the contacts into the chutes where they are divided into shorter arcs, which are easier to extinguish. The arcs are prolonged when moving outwards, which decreases V/m and are also cooled by the chute walls. There used to be some agent released from the chute walls, but that is either hearsay or simply not true. The action of this agent was to make life for the arcs harder and, thus, kill them faster.
For an AC arc, the arrangement is similar. But the magnets are usually coils, so that the blowing action is in the same direction, independent on current polarity. There are also consideration regarding short circuit forces and the current path is shaped so that the forces work the "right" way.
Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
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Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.
RE: How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
It provides no function when closing the breaker, only when opening it.
"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals" -- Booker T. Washington
RE: How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
Interrupting an arc with a chute without the help of de-ion plates takes up a lot more space.
Bill
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"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter
RE: How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
RE: How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals" -- Booker T. Washington
RE: How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: How Circuit Breaker Arc Chutes Work
Insulated fin arc chutes use non conductive plates that are used to stretch the path the arc takes to make it longer and therefore making cooling and dissipation of the arc easier. Metal fin arc chutes utilize magnetic fields to aid in breaking up the arc into several smaller arcs so that the heat can be dissipated easier; these arc chutes are sometimes referred to as “splitters”.
MV breakers may use blow out coils and puffers to aid in the process.