Arc converter
An arc converter is a rectifier for high electrical voltages in the range of a few 100 kV based on an arc that has not got beyond the experimental stage . The experimental set-ups were realized by Erwin Otto Marx among others in the 1930s, who provided substantial amounts. The underlying physical effect of rectification without technical implementation was discovered in a mercury-carbon arc in 1882 by the physicist Jules Célestin Jamin . The arc converter represents a precursor to the later developed and economically successful mercury vapor rectifier .
Working principle
The arc converter is based on the principle that with an arrangement consisting of a tip and a plate, breakdown occurs sooner with a positively charged tip than with a negatively charged tip, which results in a rectifying effect. With an ignition electrode, the arrangement can be switched to the conductive state in a targeted manner.
To delete the arc is compressed air used. In order to determine the time of extinguishing as precisely as possible, several spark gaps must be connected in series . In the experimentally implemented arrangements, there were four spark gaps in series. One problem was that the quenching sometimes took place before the zero crossing , which worsened the efficiency . The disadvantage of the arc converter was the high wear of the electrodes and the poor efficiency, which is why this technology was only used in test systems such as the HVDCT Lehrte-Misburg and this process was not pursued after the Second World War.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chronicle of electrical engineering, power converters and rectifiers. Retrieved November 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Dieter Kind: About the development of Marx's electric arc converter. Retrieved November 17, 2019 .