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Multi-chamber arc-extinguishing has been widely researched and used to protect transmission and distribution lines from lightning. Its principle is to divide a long-gap arc into multiple short-gap arcs using multiple semi-enclosed arc-extinguishing chambers. To study the dynamic evolution of arc plasma in an arc-extinguishing chamber, we establish a three-dimensional simulation model of arc plasma in a semi-enclosed arc-extinguishing chamber by solving the Navier–Stokes and Maxwell equations. We analyze the dynamic evolution of an arc from the inside of the chamber to the outside. An impact current test platform is built and the arc motion is photographed by a high-speed camera, revealing the acceleration of the arc in the semi-enclosed chamber. Finally, the influence of chamber dimensions on key arc parameters is analyzed. In the simulation, the time when the arc completely moves out of the chamber and is extinguished is consistent with the experimental images, which verifies the accuracy of the simulation model. The arc temperature, chamber pressure, and airflow velocity first increase in an oscillating manner and then slowly decrease with time. The change of the opening diameter will lead to the obvious change of the arc temperature maximum. The opening diameter is the main chamber dimension that affects the arc temperature. The electrode spacings have the most obvious effect on the maximum pressure in the chamber. The minimum pressure in different chamber dimensions is lower than the atmospheric pressure. The influence of opening diameter, distance from central axis to closed side, and opening wall length on the maximum airflow velocity is the same, and the maximum airflow velocity decreases with the increase in these dimensions. The influence of electrode spacing on the maximum airflow velocity is opposite to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed research on the streamer discharge local mechanism is necessary to enhance and develop the streamer theory. In the present paper, the characteristics of a streamer discharge in air at an atmospheric pressure are investigated using a hydrodynamic model based on plasma chemistry. Aside from continuity equations for electrons and ions, as well as Poisson?s equation for the electric field, the model includes the electron mean energy density equation and the neutral particle density continuity equation. The electric field strength and the velocities of streamer propagations obtained from proposed model are in good agreement with experimental and simulation results in literature. The mean electron energy is nearly constant in the streamer channel, except for a peak value at the streamer tip. Although the mole fraction of oxygen is only about 0.2 in air, oxygen ions are the dominant charged particles in the streamer discharge. At the electrode surface, the charged particle densities significantly decrease in the direction of the electrode because of surface reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]