Electric fuses operation, a review: 1. Pre-arcing period
Résumé
Electrical needs are continously growing because of many various factors linked to increasing consumption and a green perception. This development – geographical, increasing production, growth of transport network, interconnection of continental networks, diversity of the transport technologies … – can not be dissociated from electrical safety considerations whatever the voltage level. For the three main levels of electric network – High Voltage, Middle Voltage and Low Voltage – one has to provide efficient electrical safety techniques or schemas which integrate different electrical safety apparatus. Among well-known apparatus we can cite SF6 breakers, HV and MV switchgears (such as MV cells, MV and LV high current vacuum switchgears), and fuses. Electrical fuses are especially used in the MV and LV domains, sometimes as an additional safety device and sometimes as the main electrical safety component which is linked to the electrical current breaking function of electric fuse. In the paper, we will quickly depict the various kinds of electric fuses. We will especially focuss on the physical mechanisms – whatever the type of work, experimental, theoretical, modelling or empirical – prevailing during the pre-arcing period of the electric fuse operation.