Preliminary Experimental Study on Rapid Arc Ignition of Long-segmented Arc Heater

WEN Peng; ZHU Xu; CHEN Lianzhong; YANG Guoming; YAN Xianxiang

doi:10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2026.06.006

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Equipment Environmental Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (6) : 72-79. DOI: 10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2026.06.006

Aviation and Aerospace Equipment

Preliminary Experimental Study on Rapid Arc Ignition of Long-segmented Arc Heater

WEN Peng, ZHU Xu, CHEN Lianzhong^*, YANG Guoming, YAN Xianxiang

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Abstract

The study aims to improve the arc ignition speed of the long-segmented arc heater and ensure its operational safety performance. A preliminary experimental study was conducted focusing on the four major influencing factors, namely triggering mode, triggering distance, supply current and arc chute type of the circuit breaker. Through designing supporting tests and adjusting related parameters, the main factors affecting the arc ignition speed of the heater as well as the optimal arc ignition parameters were identified. The test results demonstrated that the low-pressure argon stream outperformed the contact-type scheme, while the triggering distance had little effect on the primary triggering speed which increased with the rise of current, whereas the trigger safety dropped rapidly with increasing current. And when the current was 700 A, the comprehensive ignition performance was optimal. Among the six groups of comparative tests, the influence of the air blast effect inside the arc chute on the stepped arc drawing speed exhibited a fluctuating wave-like trend, it reached the optimum at 12.22 g/s and is reduced by 32.8 ms compared with no air blast. Triggering mode, supply current and arc chute type have a great effect on arc ignition speed, among which the air blast inside the arc chute plays an important role in stepped arc drawing speed, whereas the arc chute plate material shows no significant correlation with the arc drawing speed. The study can provide a reference for the design and improvement of arc ignition schemes for long segmented arc heaters.

Key words

arc heater / ignition safety / low-pressure argon stream / arc chute / primary arc triggering / stepped arc drawing

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WEN Peng, ZHU Xu, CHEN Lianzhong, YANG Guoming, YAN Xianxiang. Preliminary Experimental Study on Rapid Arc Ignition of Long-segmented Arc Heater[J]. Equipment Environmental Engineering. 2026, 23(6): 72-79 https://doi.org/10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2026.06.006

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