A new optical technique for investigations of low-Voltage circuit breakers

The technique of broad-band optical absorption spectroscopy has been successfully used for investigations of transient media in low-voltage circuit breakers, thanks to an intense radiation source developed at our laboratory. It enabled the determination of the concentration of copper atoms and C/sub 2/ molecules in hot gas behind a moving arc. The temperature of this gas was estimated using the molecular absorption spectrum of C/sub 2/ Swan bands. Thanks to the high-spectral intensity of the auxiliary source, measurements were also performed in an electrical arc. The measurements allowed the determination of the population of excited levels for several metallic atoms in the arc. Assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium, the electron temperature of the arc and the total concentration of these metallic atoms, coming from contacts and splitters, were deduced. This temperature is in good agreement with the one deduced from optical emission spectroscopy.