Electrical Properties of PTFE for Circuit Breaker

차단기용 PTFE의 전기적 특성

This paper presents the electrical properties of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) nozzle for circuit breaker. PTFE has been used widely as a nozzle material for circuit breaker. In the arcing environment in a circuit breaker, radiation is considered to be the major energy transport mechanism from the arc to the wall. The fraction of the radiation power is emitted out of the arc and reaches the nozzle wall, causing ablation at the surface and in the depth of the wall. The energy concentration in the material lead to the depolymerization and eventually lead to the generation of decomposed gas as well as some isolated carbon particles. The generation of the decomposed gas in the depth of the material causes inner explosion. The surface of nozzle becomes uneven. The flow of gas is not uniform due to the unevenness of the surface. Adding some fillers into PTFE is expected to be efficient for improving the endurability against radiation. In this experiment, three kinds of fillers that have endurance in the high temperature environment were added into PTFE. Dielectric constant, dissipation factor, electrical resistivity and dielectric strength of PTFE composites were investigated.