Experimental analysis of rotating arc behaviors in a rotary arc gap switch for a 500 kJ capacitor bank

Usually arc phenomena are not easily characterized due to unstable behavior, very short existence-times, high temperature and the required isolation of measurement instruments. This paper presents some arc-behaviors in a rotary arc gap-switch (RAG) using a 500 kJ capacitor bank. It includes the speed variations of the rotating arc, the impacts of the oscillating current on the arc initiations and re-ignitions. Changes in the arc-dimension with respect to time and current magnitudes are also analyzed.