View in EDS

Fire Resistance of Insulators in Switchgear by High-voltage Arcing: Flame-retardant Formula, Ignition and Self-sustained Burning.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Fire Resistance of Insulators in Switchgear by High-voltage Arcing: Flame-retardant Formula, Ignition and Self-sustained Burning.
Authors: Liu, Yuqi1 (AUTHOR), Ren, Meijie1 (AUTHOR), Song, Siqi2 (AUTHOR), Xie, Qiyuan1 (AUTHOR) xqy@ustc.edu.cn
Source: Fire Technology. Jan2026, Vol. 62 Issue 1, p1-14. 14p.
Subjects: Electric switchgear, Electric arc, Fire resistant materials, Combustion, Electric insulators & insulation, Fireproofing agents
Abstract: Flame-retardant (FR) formula of composite insulators is the key to the fire safety of high-voltage (HV) switchgear when arcing occurs. In this study, a series of experiments was conducted on the ignition and self-sustained burning behavior of five insulators by HV arcing (18 kV). The results show that a strong jet flame came out immediately from the hole when the initial arcing happened in all samples. In the first arcing events, intense burning near the hole quickly stopped after the arc was quenched. Successful ignition occurred after 7–8 times of 0.1 s arcing for all samples, which indicates the little dependence of the insulator ignition on their FR formula due to the high temperature of the arc and the impact of pyrolysis gases. Additionally, at t = 41.5 s, the surface temperature measured 10 mm above the hole varied by up to 32 °C among the five samples, ranging from 380 °C to 412 °C. However, in the self-sustained burning stage, upward flame spread on the samples with higher red phosphorus (RP) content was effectively suppressed. The flame duration dropped from 101 s in FR-EP-1 to 16 s in FR-EP-5 as RP content increased, with reduction as large as 84.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Fire Technology is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
Description
Abstract:Flame-retardant (FR) formula of composite insulators is the key to the fire safety of high-voltage (HV) switchgear when arcing occurs. In this study, a series of experiments was conducted on the ignition and self-sustained burning behavior of five insulators by HV arcing (18 kV). The results show that a strong jet flame came out immediately from the hole when the initial arcing happened in all samples. In the first arcing events, intense burning near the hole quickly stopped after the arc was quenched. Successful ignition occurred after 7–8 times of 0.1 s arcing for all samples, which indicates the little dependence of the insulator ignition on their FR formula due to the high temperature of the arc and the impact of pyrolysis gases. Additionally, at t = 41.5 s, the surface temperature measured 10 mm above the hole varied by up to 32 °C among the five samples, ranging from 380 °C to 412 °C. However, in the self-sustained burning stage, upward flame spread on the samples with higher red phosphorus (RP) content was effectively suppressed. The flame duration dropped from 101 s in FR-EP-1 to 16 s in FR-EP-5 as RP content increased, with reduction as large as 84.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:00152684
DOI:10.1007/s10694-025-01842-7