Influence of Copper Vapors in SF6 Plasma

In this study a theoretical approach allows estimating the ablation mass flux of copper from a corrected Hertz-Knudsen flux. The influence of the copper vapours coming from the anode electrode to an SF₆ plasma is studied in a simplified 2D configuration. Depending on the plasma pressure an ablation or a diffusion state is considered. The amount of copper versus time is presented. An RMS current I=10 kA is applied leading at t=10 ms to an amount of copper equal to 0.55 mg. The vapours change the plasma properties mainly the electrical conductivity and radiation and so the plasma behaviour. At time t=5 ms the electrode erosion leads to a copper plasma. This simple case shows the necessity to well consider the copper erosion in plasma modelling as in High Voltage Circuit Breaker (HVCB) where higher current are considered.