{"title":"Studying the Breakdown Electric Field in Uniform and Non-uniform Air Gaps","authors":"J. Riba","doi":"10.1088/1361-6404/ad5392","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n High voltage is essential in power grids, but it inevitably leads to high electrical stress and the associated risk of electrical discharges. Due to the complexity of the phenomena involved in electrical discharges, there are no analytical formulas for predicting the electric field strength at which they initiate, so experimental data and numerical methods are required for this purpose. According to many sources, electrical discharges can occur in air at normal pressure and temperature when the electric field strength is approximately 3 kV/mm or greater. This paper analyzes and discusses this threshold in detail by examining relevant electrode geometries used in high voltage applications from experimental data found in the scientific literature and using 2D finite element analysis (FEA) simulations. Uniform, quasi-uniform, and non-uniform field gaps are analyzed to help students draw conclusions and gain insight into the nature of gas breakdown and the applicability of the 3 kV/mm threshold. The approach proposed in this paper is well suited for a practical session or group project for undergraduate or even graduate courses. Despite the important effects and design implications of electrical discharges on high voltage devices, apparatus and systems, this topic is rarely covered in regular courses.","PeriodicalId":50480,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Physics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Physics","FirstCategoryId":"101","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6404/ad5392","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
High voltage is essential in power grids, but it inevitably leads to high electrical stress and the associated risk of electrical discharges. Due to the complexity of the phenomena involved in electrical discharges, there are no analytical formulas for predicting the electric field strength at which they initiate, so experimental data and numerical methods are required for this purpose. According to many sources, electrical discharges can occur in air at normal pressure and temperature when the electric field strength is approximately 3 kV/mm or greater. This paper analyzes and discusses this threshold in detail by examining relevant electrode geometries used in high voltage applications from experimental data found in the scientific literature and using 2D finite element analysis (FEA) simulations. Uniform, quasi-uniform, and non-uniform field gaps are analyzed to help students draw conclusions and gain insight into the nature of gas breakdown and the applicability of the 3 kV/mm threshold. The approach proposed in this paper is well suited for a practical session or group project for undergraduate or even graduate courses. Despite the important effects and design implications of electrical discharges on high voltage devices, apparatus and systems, this topic is rarely covered in regular courses.
期刊介绍:
European Journal of Physics is a journal of the European Physical Society and its primary mission is to assist in maintaining and improving the standard of taught physics in universities and other institutes of higher education.
Authors submitting articles must indicate the usefulness of their material to physics education and make clear the level of readership (undergraduate or graduate) for which the article is intended. Submissions that omit this information or which, in the publisher''s opinion, do not contribute to the above mission will not be considered for publication.
To this end, we welcome articles that provide original insights and aim to enhance learning in one or more areas of physics. They should normally include at least one of the following:
Explanations of how contemporary research can inform the understanding of physics at university level: for example, a survey of a research field at a level accessible to students, explaining how it illustrates some general principles.
Original insights into the derivation of results. These should be of some general interest, consisting of more than corrections to textbooks.
Descriptions of novel laboratory exercises illustrating new techniques of general interest. Those based on relatively inexpensive equipment are especially welcome.
Articles of a scholarly or reflective nature that are aimed to be of interest to, and at a level appropriate for, physics students or recent graduates.
Descriptions of successful and original student projects, experimental, theoretical or computational.
Discussions of the history, philosophy and epistemology of physics, at a level accessible to physics students and teachers.
Reports of new developments in physics curricula and the techniques for teaching physics.
Physics Education Research reports: articles that provide original experimental and/or theoretical research contributions that directly relate to the teaching and learning of university-level physics.