U.S. patent number 3,912,650 [Application Number 05/364,597] was granted by the patent office on 1975-10-14 for hydrated zinc borate, dimethyl silicone resin arc extinguishing material.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Square D Company. Invention is credited to Joseph M. Khalid, Richard W. Niccolls.
United States Patent |
3,912,650 |
Khalid , et al. |
October 14, 1975 |
Hydrated zinc borate, dimethyl silicone resin arc extinguishing
material
Abstract
Arc-extinguishing materials are selected in accordance with
criteria such as first ionization potential of each of the
constituents, carbon content, boiling, sublimation, or
decomposition temperature, endothermic character of decomposition,
electronegativity of decomposition products, rate of reformation,
dimensional and chemical stability, ease of application, cost,
toxicity, and coefficient of thermal conductivity.
Inventors: |
Khalid; Joseph M. (Cedar
Rapids, IA), Niccolls; Richard W. (Cedar Rapids, IA) |
Assignee: |
Square D Company (Park Ridge,
IL)
|
Family
ID: |
25769335 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/364,597 |
Filed: |
May 29, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
524/405; 524/603;
106/425; 218/85; 218/158; 218/90; 218/150 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01H
33/76 (20130101); A62C 3/16 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01H
33/76 (20060101); H01H 33/70 (20060101); A62C
3/00 (20060101); A62C 3/16 (20060101); H01B
003/46 () |
Field of
Search: |
;423/279,280 ;106/292
;260/37SB,46.5 ;252/63.5 ;200/144C |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Padgett; Benjamin R.
Assistant Examiner: Lloyd; Josephine
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Rathbun; Harold J. Kettelson;
Ernest S.
Claims
We claim:
1. An arc-extinguishing material comprising a filler of hydrated
zinc borate in a dimethyl silicone resin, the carbon atoms in said
resin being no greater than 15 percent of the total number of atoms
in said hydrated zinc borate and dimethyl silicone resin
combined.
2. An arc-extinguishing material as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
filler has the formula 2ZnO.3B.sub.2 O.sub.3.31/2H.sub.2 O and the
resin has a
3. An arc-extinguishing material as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
filler
4. An arc-extinguishing material as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
filler
5. An arc-extinguishing material as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
filler comprises about 56 percent by weight of the material.
Description
This invention relates to arc-extinguishing materials usable as
molding compositions for molding arc shields, arc chute frame
components, cases of electrical devices, and the like and also
usable in coating form for coating surface portions of a member
wholly or partly defining an arc chamber in which separable
contacts of an electrical circuit interrupting device are
disposed.
Arc interruption requires the establishment of conditions promoting
a higher rate of recombination than the rate of ionization. The
problem reduces to one of recognizing the basic factors that
control these two rates.
One of the factors which should be considered in the selection of
arc-extinguishing materials is the first ionization potential of
each of the constituents of the material. The first ionization
potential of an element is the amount of energy required to remove
one electron away to infinity from a neutral atom of that element.
For silver, the first ionization potential is 7.54 electron volts,
while the first ionization potential for aluminum is 5.98 electron
volts. To appreciate the significance of a difference of one
electron volt between the first ionization potentials of two
elements, consider that the temperature difference between two
particles having an energy difference of one electron volt is
7,730.degree. Centigrade.
Another factor which should be considered in the selection of
arc-extinguishing materials is electronegativity of decomposition
products. This is a measure of the affinity of an atom of an
element for electrons. As an arc current approaches zero it would
be desirable to have an electronegative gas in the arc chamber that
would capture the cooling and slowing electrons. Such electrons
would otherwise be accelerated by the rising recovery voltage and
cause further ionization and possible reignition.
Yet another factor which should be considered in the selection of
arc-extinguishing materials is the boiling sublimation, or
decomposition temperature. During the few microseconds preceding
and following the passing of the current through zero in an
alternating current system, the arc column temperature decreases
rapidly until it reaches the temperature of the arc chamber walls,
which act as a constant temperature sink. The higher the boiling
temperature of the material of the arc chamber walls is, the lower
the recombination rates will be.
Endothermic processes have their primary importance at current
zero, particularly in the mode of arc interruption wherein a
post-arc current flows. Under this latter condition the energy
being absorbed in an endothermic process taking place in the arc
chamber on a modest scale may approximate the energy being put into
the chamber by the post-arc current. This effect, complemented by a
favorable boiling temperature, significantly contributes to the
success of arc extinction.
If an arc-extinguishing material decomposes to yield free carbon,
this carbon may be oxidized to carbon dioxide. The process is
exothermic, and its timing is bad, because it is as the arc current
approaches zero and the temperature drops and recombination of ions
and dissociated molecules starts to take place that the exothermic
formation of carbon dioxide occurs. Deposits of free carbon can
also cause tracking and dielectric failure. However, to limit
arc-extinguishing materials to those containing no carbon would too
severely limit the choice of materials. Moreover, hydrogen has been
found to be a desirable component of the gas medium surrounding an
arc, especially when an application makes it desirable to force
motion of the arc by a transverse magnetic field, and carbon and
hydrogen generally occur together. It has been found that the
number of carbon atoms as a percentage of the total number of atoms
in an arc-extinguishing material should not exceed a value of about
15 percent.
An endothermic process of decomposition is exothermic on formation.
Therefore it is desirable to select materials having formulas such
that the probability of reformation after decomposition is small.
Aluminum oxide (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) and boron oxide (B.sub.2 O.sub.3)
are materials with such formulas, because the probability of two
aluminum or boron atoms colliding simultaneously with three oxygen
atoms, or with one molecule and one atom of oxygen, is small.
However, aluminum oxide is undesirable as an arc-extinguishing
material because the ionization potential of aluminum is low and
the boiling temperature of aluminum oxide is too high. In this
respect, the present invention is a departure from the prior art as
represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,768,264, and 3,071,666 which tout
aluminum oxide as a good arc-extinguishing material.
SUMMARY OF CRITERIA
In accordance with the invention, the first ionization potential of
each of the constituents of a suitable arc-extinguishing material
should be equal to or greater than 7.54 electron volts, which is
the first ionization potential of silver. The atomic concentration
of carbon in the material should not be greater than about fifteen
per cent. The boiling, sublimation, or decomposition temperature of
the material should be as low as possible consistent with other
requirements, preferably below two thousand degrees Centigrade.
Decomposition of the material should be a strongly endothermic
process, the more endothermic the better. The products of
decomposition of the material should be as electronegative as
possible consistent with other requirements. The material should
have a formula such that the rate of reformation after
decomposition is vanishingly small near the zero point of the
alternating current, such as that for B.sub.2 O.sub.3 or H.sub.3
BO.sub.3. The material should be non-toxic, non-caustic,
non-inflammable, easy to process and apply, and dimensionally and
chemically stable under operating conditions. Further, it should
have good thermal conductivity for an electrically insulating
material, preferably greater than 0.001 calories per second per
square centimeter per degree Centigrade per centimeter.
REPRESENTATIVE MATERIALS
In general the oxides, borides, borates, silicates, and the
ammonium complexes of the elements having a first ionization
potential equal to or greater than that of silver (7.54eV) are
suitable arc-extinguishing materials, and so are their hydrated
forms. A preferred selection of such elements, with their first
ionization potentials shown in parentheses, is tantalum (7.70eV),
copper (7.72eV), cobalt (7.86eV), rhenium (7.87eV), iron (7.90eV),
tungsten (7.98eV), silicon (8.15eV), boron (8.29eV), palladium
(8.30eV), antimony (8.64eV), tellurium (9.01eV), zinc (9.39), and
selenium (9.75eV). These substances may also be used as fillers in
suitable resins provided that the atomic carbon concentration does
not exceed the nominal limit of 15 percent. Silicone resins are
suitable. The use of resins becomes mandatory when the filler
material cannot be used in its pure form. For example, pure silicon
dioxide cannot be used because its boiling temperature is too high,
and pure boric acid cannot be used because it is water soluble and
therefore dimensionally unstable, but these materials are suitable
when used in suitable resins.
Beryllium (9.32eV), arsenic (9.81eV), and mercury (10.43eV) have
first ionization potentials higher than that of silver, but these
elements are toxic and therefore undesirable. Sulphates,
phosphates, nitrates, and halogens are also undesirable as
toxic.
Silver, platinum, and gold oxides, borates and silicates, with or
without ammonium complexes, would be suitable arc-extinguishing
materials except for high cost.
In particular, a material composed of 55.8 per cent by weight
Firebrake ZB and 44.2 per cent Sylgard 182 has been found to be a
very suitable arc-extinguishing material. Firebrake ZB is made by
United States Borax and Chemical Corporation of Los Angeles,
Calif., and has a formula 2ZnO.3B.sub.2 O.sub.3.31/2H.sub.2 O.
Sylgard 182 is made by Dow Corning Corporation of Midland, Mich.
and is a dimethyl silicone resin having a basic monomer represented
by the following structural formula:
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