Thermal radiation effect on the extinction properties of electric arcs in HV circuit breakers

During the formation of the electric arc at the opening of a high voltage circuit breaker, the generated plasma will be the seat of a very important thermal exchange. Models founded only on conduction and convection thermal transfers don't reproduce the whole thermal exchanges that are governing the extinction process. This paper is devoted to the development of a model of the electric arc extinction in a high voltage circuit breaker taking in account the thermal radiation of the plasma, in addition to the conduction and convection phenomena. The Stefan-Boltzman equation is coupled with the heat equation, and both equations are solved simultaneously in order to follow the evolution of the arc voltage and the conductance of the thermal plasma. The obtained results are found in good agreement with experimental recordings.