The Influence of Different Wall Materials on Liquid Metal Current Limiter

It is a valuable subject for academic community how to limit the short-circuit current within the breaking capacity of breakers at all levels. Liquid metal current limiter (LMCL) can tackle this challenge with its unique advantages. However, liquid metal and cavity of the existing LMCL are severely eroded, which limits the application. From the perspective of increasing the response speed, improving current-limiting efficiency, and reducing erosion, this article designs three LMCLs with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) material, ZnO pulse power resistance (ZnO PPR) material, and Kovar 4J29 material as the wall. Specifically, the wall is an important part of LMCL cavity with a channel. In addition, there is a discussion about the reasons for the different arc plasma intensity between the insulating wall LMCL and the resistive wall LMCL, from the point of current distribution. Furthermore, for Kovar 4J29 wall LMCL, the development process of the arc plasma is analyzed, and the effectiveness of the resistive wall LMCL is proven. Finally, the five current-limiting parameters of the three LMCLs under different short-circuit currents are compared and discussed. This article opens up a new approach for parameter optimization research and diversified development of LMCL.