6. Oil cut
Oil, which had already been used as an insulator, was employed from the beginning of the century as a breaking medium, as this technique enabled the design of relatively simple and economical devices. Oil circuit breakers were mainly used for voltages from 5 to 150 kV.
The contacts are immersed in a dielectric oil. During separation, the arc causes the oil to decompose, releasing hydrogen (approx. 70% by volume), ethylene (approx. 20%), methane (approx. 10%) and free carbon. An arc energy of 100 kJ produces around 10 L of these gases. These gases form a bubble which, due to the inertia of the oil mass, is subjected to a dynamic pressure of up to 50 to 100 bar during cutting.
The hydrogen obtained from the decomposition of the oil is used as the extinguishing medium....
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